Scavenger Hunt with USCRI

The Saint Michael’s College Natural Area is in full bloom right now! Recently, we were fortunate enough to share this beautiful space with a summer camp that occurs right here on campus. The Summer Institute for New American Youth, led by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) is a two week camp based on campus that connects high school aged New Americans with engaging experiences in the area. Thanks to a previous connection with USCRI through our graduate assistant Julie, we were able to arrange a fun and educational activity for the summer camp in our very own Natural Area. 

After picking up the 21 high schoolers, we trekked across Route 15 to the teaching pavilion at the mouth of the Natural Area. At the pavilion, George greeted us and had already set up tables and chairs, as well as the activity materials for the students. The students broke up into 6 groups, each with clipboards, two iPads, and two pairs of binoculars. The clipboards were equipped with our Natural Area scavenger hunt, a bingo board style activity of plants and critters that are commonly found in this space. We gave the students a brief overview of our Institute for the Environment programming, as well as the iNaturalist app and the ways that we can all contribute to citizen science through the app. The goal was for the groups to find as many things on the board as possible using the iPads and iNaturalist app for assistance with plant and animal identification. An interpreter or counselor was with each group to make sure no one got too off course! Then we were off to the great outdoors! We wandered down the trails, identifying and checking things off as we went. Many of us stuck together – until they realized it was a competition and things got a little more serious. I heard many students saying how beautiful the flowers were and many adults commenting on how exciting it was to learn about this outdoor space so close to home! It was very special to see such a large group of young people exploring the Natural Area, on the hunt for wildlife. One of the best parts about the activity was the built in physical ability differentiation. Students could venture as deeply down the trails as they wanted, or they could stay along the road and still take part! 

We were even lucky enough to run into Professor Declan McCabe, Professor Trevian Stanger, and our summer stewards hard at work on their eco-restoration efforts. Professor McCabe gave us an awesome peek at goat skeletons hidden in the woods, a highlight for lots of kids! And Professor Stanger and the stewards helped us spot some frogs in the flood plain to check off a box for the more determined groups. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the teaching pavilion. Each group tallied up their findings and reported out. Our winning team had 24 of 25 boxes checked off! The winners were given a special prize, but every student received a sustainability inspired goodie bag, with a reusable water bottle, seeds, and some SMC swag, as a thank you for taking part. We took a second to reflect on the new plants they had learned about and discussed their contribution to our iNaturalist database in the Natural Area. Then it was time to say goodbye and make the walk back across to Alliot for lunch. Thanks for exploring with us USCRI! 

P.S. Don’t forget to sign on to the SMC Natural Area and contribute to our INaturalist area! Every observation counts!