Family Nature Activities

Trash Time Capsule

On Earth Day, PEEC's Kinnikinnick Club kids unearthed a trash time capsule that they buried last October. The garbage we chose to dig through was an assortment of lunch trash from the dumpster of Mountain Elementary School. Alas parents we found whole sandwiches, celery and oranges lying limp among empty chip and candy wrappers. There were many a "Yuck" and moans during the project, but also equal amounts of laughter. Seven months later the children were amazed to find out that many things had disappeared while some things didn't change a bit. In the process we also discovered several bugs and a skink which all seemed to like our burial spot and a zip lock bag that proved it really can keep things fresh... well sort of.

So if you think it's time that your kids understand what it means to "take the trash out," try this activity at home. You are sure to have an interesting conversation or two on the topic of trash.

You'll need:

• Rubber gloves
• Panty hose leg
• Trash
• Shovel

What to do:

• Collect trash that is a mix of organic and non organic materials typical of what your family throws away.
• Cut one leg off of a panty hose.
• With your gloves on stuff the panty hose leg with trash and be sure to keep a record of what you put in it.
• Dig a whole and bury the whole panty hose. Bury it deep enough so that animals won't disturb it.
• Dig up your trash time capsule in the fall and let us know what you find!

Science fair project idea: try burying a time capsule in different areas for example a wet area versus a dry area. Remember kids learn best through experience. Have fun!

Shower Power

Sometimes when visiting a farm you can still find a small red hand-pump in the yard. Many years ago families got all their water for cooking and cleaning from this pump. Families who used these hand-pumps couldn't help but conserve water, in part because hauling the water inside wasn't very convenient. Today we have faucets in our homes that give us water on-demand. What do you think happened to a family's water usage when this happened? Yes, with increased convenience there was a decrease in conservation of good clean water. When a person turns on typical faucet and takes a five minute shower they use a whopping 25 gallons of water. Imagine having to haul that from your hand-pump to the house before taking a shower!

Today, people who want to help conserve water can buy low-flow shower heads. These shower heads add air to the water and cut the amount of water used from five gallons a minute to two and a half gallons a minute. In a years time you could cut your shower water usage from 10,000 gallons to 5,000 gallons. That's "shower power"!

Now are you wondering if you are using too much water in your shower? Try this test with your parent. You'll need an empty half gallon box type milk carton and a watch with a second hand. Open up the top of the milk carton so it forms a square. Turn on your shower and get in (not with your clothes on of course). Hold the milk carton up to the shower head when the adult with the watch says go; hold it there for 10 seconds. (The adult will tell you when time is up). If the carton overflows in less than 10 seconds, your shower head uses too much water. It's time to consider a low-flow shower head and put "shower power" to work helping you to conserve water. You'll be doing something to help the Earth.

Meet the Roly-poly

They don't bite, aren't slimy, don't slither, and to some of us, are rather cute. You have seen them in your backyard and they are known by several names: roly-poly, pillbug, wood lice or potato bug, to name a few. These tiny creatures can offer children a world of delight and discovery.

First consider these interesting facts. Roly-polies are not insects, but are crustaceans. This means they are related to lobsters, crabs and shrimp. They belong to a very ancient subgroup called isopods with most of its other members living in marine habitats. They actually breathe through gill-like structures and therefore must live in moist places. Some roly-polies are "rollers," that is, they roll up into balls when it is dry or they feel threatened. Others are "hikers" and do not roll into balls, but move quickly to escape sunlight and other threats. These isopods are decomposers who eat decaying leaves, wood and other vegetation. Roly-polies are cold blooded and molt as they grow. The females produce up to 200 eggs, which are carried in a brood pouch under their thorax. When the babies hatch, they are fully self-sufficient and look like miniature adults.

With simple materials such as a hand lens, stop watch, cups and spoons your child can pose simple questions and then test their predictions. Try placing a roly-poly on its back (test both rollers and hikers). Can the roly-poly turn over? Dunk a roly-poly under water for three seconds. What does it do? Hold a sheet of paper a couple of centimeters over the top of a table and place a roly-poly on top. What does it do when it gets to the edge of the paper? Lay out a piece of one-centimeter graph paper and make an "X." Gently set the roly-poly on the "X" and time it for 15 seconds. Count how many centimeters it crosses. How fast does it move? Your child can also test different objects to see which ones roly-polies prefer to hide under: wet cardboard, rotten wood, rocks, big flat pieces of sliced pumpkin and more. Also feel free to come by PEEC and use one of our microscopes to look at a roly-poly close up.

Remember while working with roly-polies that they are small and fragile. So they don't get crushed, transfer the roly-polies using a plastic spoon. Create a temporary "hideaway" while studying them, using a little soil and leaves in a plastic container. Be sure to put small holes in the lid and to keep the hideaway damp, not soaked.

Once children start getting to know these ancient creatures, they'll think of even more exciting questions to explore. As always, have fun discovering nature's secrets with your child.

Who Ate the Goodies?

Many wild animals are secretive, nocturnal or scarce. So it is often easier to see evidence of animal activity, than it is to actually see them. On a hike outside you might observe nibbled twigs, burrow holes and scat left on a rock. These signs are often confusing except to the most experienced tracker. This is not the case with animal tracks which are easily seen and can often be matched to the animal that left them.

Figuring out which animal left tracks is a nature detective job, one which kids love. With so much snow and mud in Los Alamos right now, it is an especially good time to get kids on the case. So try this activity with your children. In the evening set out some "goodies" on a flat surface. This could be bits of dog food, fruit, peanut butter spread on bread or table scraps. If you do this where there is no snow or mud, try sprinkling flour on the ground around the goodies. Go to bed and in the morning when you wake up go outside and see if your goodies have been eaten. If so, you'll see tracks. Try drawing (or photographing) and measuring the tracks as well as counting the number of toes and measuring the distance between prints. There are many animal tracking guides that can be referred to once you've collected your evidence. With good detective work the case of who ate the goodies will be solved.

Starting a collection of plaster casts is also fun and informative. First cut a half gallon milk carton into four horizontal sections. The spout section is not needed. The bottom section should be tall enough to mix the plaster. The two other upper sections, each about 2inches wide, can be used for containment moulds around each track. Second mix the plaster and gently pour it over the track within the mold walls. Leave it to harden. When it is finished, write on the bottom of the cast the date, location, and, if known, the kind of animal that made the track. By starting a collection and comparing and contrasting their tracks, much can be learned about the animals that roam our area. As always, have fun doing nature science with your family.

Vernal Pools, Ephemeral Oasis

Early American explorers, Zebulon Pike and Randolph Marcy, characterized the southwest as the "The Great American Desert," akin to the Sahara. Yet the Spanish who had settled the area prior to the Americans knew otherwise. Over the course of 150 years, the Spanish had explored and carefully documented the significant water sources of the southwest. Their settlements grew up around these and to this day, place names reflect the importance of water: "rio" for river, "cienega" for marshy places, "laguna" for permanent lakes, and "bosque" for woods near water. Not only were these water sources important to the Spanish, but also to wildlife. For example, New Mexico is along the Central Flyway, a route used by millions of waterfowl on their annual migrations. In a fine orchestration of nature, our seasonal water sources peak with their migration times.

Many of New Mexico's water resources are ephemeral; it rains or the snow melts, the water collects for a time and then disappears. During a springtime hike in Los Alamos, you might notice the most humble of aquatic resources, vernal pools. Vernal is Latin for spring, the typical time of year when heavy rains pool in terrestrial depressions underlain by clay or rock hardpan, which keeps the water from draining out. The pools last only a few weeks or months. As the rains taper off, the pools dry out and flowers move in until the next period of rain starts the cycle again.

Vernal pools are fascinating miniature wetlands with a nearly closed ecosystem and huge food web. Importantly, and due to their seasonal nature, they lack fish, which allows for the safe development of amphibians and insects. Things happen very quickly once heavy rains begin. The buried cyst-like eggs of the Daphnia, or water flea, begin to hatch. They become food for many species including the dragonflies living out their larval phase in the pool. With the advent of rain, aquatic beetles deposit their silk-encased eggs on plants. Spadefoot toads emerge from underground to breed in the pool where their tadpoles hatch and develop. Garter snakes are good swimmers who lie in wait on the banks for a meal of frogs and salamanders. Red-tail hawks swoop down upon unsuspecting lizards and insects. Despite their importance, vernal pools are easy to ignore; some people see them as glorified puddles. Due to their seasonal nature, they are easily destroyed before they are even discovered. Next time you see one of those funny looking puddles, pause for a moment to look for the life that abounds within them.

Collecting Raindrops

The raindrops that splash down on dry ground and eventually form a vernal pool are interesting in themselves. A naturalist named Wilson Bentley wanted to know what raindrops looked like and devised a method to collect them that you can try at home. Beware, you will get wet!

You will need:

• a metal pie plate and piece of cardboard to cover it
• flour
• zip-lock baggies
• ruler
• dark construction paper
• fine mesh strainer.

First, sift the flour into the pie dish so that it is 1 to 1.5 cm deep. Second, cover your pie pan with the cardboard and go outside in the rain. Go where there are no trees or buildings, just you and the sky. Third, briefly remove the cardboard cover from the pan for 8-10 seconds, then cover it back up. Fourth, take your pan inside. The raindrops will have formed little dough balls. Carefully separate these floured raindrops using the sieve. Fifth, dump the raindrops on the construction paper to dry for two minutes. You can sketch, measure and sort your raindrops by size. If you like, you can date a zip lock bag and store your raindrops in the freezer. Did you know that the size of the raindrop indicates how far it fell? While all the drops are generally the same shape, the ones to have fallen the farthest are the largest. Try doing this experiment during different types of rain showers, but definitely do not try it while there is lightning nearby. Be safe and have fun discovering the wonders of nature.

Darling Dandelions

Among the first flowers of spring are the cheerful yellow dandelions. Most of us think of the dandelion as a weed because it grows where we do not want it. When I was young it was my endless chore to remove dandelions from the yard. I disliked my job so much that my forth grade invention project was an automatic dandelion weeding machine. All the difficulties I encountered in performing my chore were the direct result of the dandelions tenacity for survival. For example, dandelion leaves grow in flat rosettes close to the ground that defy mower blades while blocking out the growth of nearby plants. They have deep taproots, which store an abundant winter food supply, but alas make it tough to pull out completely an unwanted dandelion. If these survival strategies weren't enough, the dandelion produces an abundance of seeds with the wind as a joyful accomplice. As a child I knew I was defeated in my labor when I could not resist picking one of its ephemeral seed heads, make my wish and blow its next generation into the blue sky.

The observation of the dandelion and its adaptations can be a fun jumping off point for the understanding of other flowers. Flower names often have interesting entomologies. The name dandelion comes from French "dente de lion" or "tooth of the lion" which may be from its jagged edged leaves.

First, try "Watching the Shepherd's Clock". Find a dandelion with flowers. Record these times: 1) when it first starts to open in the morning, 2) when it finishes opening in the morning and 3) when it closes at night. Observe these times during different kinds of weather such as rainy or cloudy days. Historically the dandelion was nicknamed the "shepherd's clock" because its flowers open at the beginning of the day and close at the end. See if you agree that the dandelion makes a good clock.

Second, try "How many seeds?" Count the number of seeds in a seed head then count the number of blossoms or seed heads on a plant. Multiply the two numbers and you'll have the number of seeds the plant produced. The number will be large.

Third, try making different crafts from dandelions. Braid a crown with a large collection of dandelions. Create a chain by taking off the flower heads, bending the stems and inserting the smaller end into the larger one. Make dandelion curls by cutting four slits in the stem and tearing each cut 2-3 inches. Then dip the divided stem into water and the stem pieces will curl up tightly. Lastly, try blowing bubbles through the stem. Just remove the blossom, dip one end in bubble solution and blow through the other end.

If after all this you are hungry, pick the leaves off a young plant that hasn't bloomed, pour bowling water over the leaves, let stand for about five minutes then eat with a little butter, salt and pepper. Bon appetite!