Since the 1990s, kids in the northern Shenandoah Valley have spent summers doing environmental research across Blandy Experimental Farm, the University of Virginia’s 700-acre research and learning facility.
This season, elementary schoolers explored the natural world through crafts and games in the Wild Things program, while rising middle schoolers designed and carried out original ecology and environmental projects in the weeklong EcoExplorers day camp.
One student’s before-and-after pictures of what a scientist looks like. Organizers say the camp shows students that science does not always take place in a lab. (Contributed artwork)
“They’re discovering new information they are excited about,” Ariel Firebaugh, Blandy’s director of scientific engagement, said.
EcoExplorers ended June 26 with a research forum where students presented posters of their projects to family, friends and the Blandy community.
Comparing drawings made before and after camp, students show how working with six UVA undergraduate researchers changes their perception of scientists, from lab workers to researchers in places like greenhouses. (Contributed artwork)
“One group studied which habitats at Blandy tree swallows were found in the most,” she said. “They observed tree swallows in woodland, wetland and field habitats.”
Another group investigated whether prickly pear cacti and sedum plants, another succulent, occur at the same abundance at limestone rock outcrops near Blandy’s Lake Georgette.
In the drawing on the right, created at the end of the program, a student depicts a plant scientist working outdoors, reflecting a broader view of science careers shown in the drawing before camp began, left. (Contributed artwork)
Blandy’s environmental educator, Stefany Feldbusch, whom Firebaugh called “the real camp mastermind,” designs the camp activities. Continuing a longstanding tradition, undergraduate researchers spending the summer at Blandy serve as guest presenters during both programs.
“We want campers to see what it might look like to be an undergraduate ecology or environmental science student, and we want the undergraduates to get that practice talking about their research in front of kids,” Firebaugh said. “So, we offer a science communication workshop for the undergraduates every year, and then they design activities for the summer campers that are based on their own research projects.”
In this student's drawing made at the end of the program, colorful flowers reflect the hands-on lessons that introduce campers to the natural world. (Contributed artwork).
One goal of the program is to expose children to a wider array of what science can look like, rather than just the stereotypical lab scientist. To measure this, campers are asked to draw pictures of scientists before and after camp to see whether their perceptions have broadened.
“Often we’ll find that the campers are drawing someone that looks a lot like one of the undergraduate scientists they meet here at Blandy,” Firebaugh said.
Hands-on activities exploring plant growth inspire this student's drawing of a scientist studying plants.. (Contributed artwork)
This summer, two UVA undergraduates have been studying various aspects of plant growth, so they worked with elementary school campers to carefully remove potted black-eyed pea plants from their pots and observe the leaves, stems and roots.
Another group of undergraduates is studying how human activity affects insects. Middle school campers worked with them to measure the wings of dead moths collected from sites with brighter and darker night skies due to light pollution and record the data.
