2021 BNZ camp

In 2021 we held our Bonanza Creek Science Adventure Camp on the UAF campus (because we could not put kids in vans). This gave us a chance to do try some new things, like canoeing on Smith Lake.

Our home base was the grassy field known as the "potato field".

The camp theme was "Eco-Olympics", and every day we practiced our Eco-Athlete skills.

Day 1: Observing

On Day 1 we learned about our "true colors" -personality traits we identified with. Then we built structures with teams with the same color and talked about how a mixed team might have done.

Of course, we had lunch.

We were introduced to nature journaling by Artist-in-Residence Natalie Schuldt, who worked with us every day to improve our artistic and observation skills. With Kara Kornhauser we learned to describe plants using senses like touch and smell, and described them to each other. At the end of this day and every day, during closing circle, we gave each other "shout-outs".

Day 2: Data collection and observation

On Day 2 we did an egg toss with boiled and raw eggs and learned how to tell them apart. We learned more about water colors with Natalie. We learned about sphagnum moss, stairstep moss, and peat bogs with Kara. We learned out to measure dissolved oxygen in lake samples with guest scientist Elena Sparrow. And we went canoeing with Christa, Steve, and Isaac. We saw a beaver lodge and ducklings, we watched gulls protect their nests from a swan, and we explored lily pads and lily flowers. It was a blast!

To our great surprise (and joy) we found a mud trampoline. Check out our video!

Day 3: Creativity and Innovation

We started the day learning about animal tracks with Steve, and we played a "Guess Who I am" game that tested our knowledge. We did creative movement activities with guest dancer Molissa. Over lunch we "hot-seated" guest scientist (and director of the Institute of Arctic Biology) Brian Barnes and found out what makes him tick. We went canoeing again, too...and this time we saw a muskrat! We got to practice our track ID skills along the shores of Smith Lake.

Day 4: Teamwork

On Day 4 we did team building exercises with Kara, and then we did creative movement with Molissa. We "hot-seated" three river scientists visiting from North Carolina and learned why they love to study rivers. Then we went on our "big hike" and ended up at the botanical gardens. There we learned about plant medicines with Katie and performed skits illustrating what we had learned. We hunted for about spiders and bees with Leslie and Kara.

Day 5: Leadership

On day 5 we did The Amazing Race! Each team had to go to nine different stations and use everything they had learned during the week to get letters to solve a word puzzle. We also got medals for demonstrating different eco-athlete skills. Then we prepared for Sharing Day and gave our final shout-outs (that took a while). And at the end of the day we got rid of baggage in our lives symbolically by tossing it into Smith Lake.

Sharing Day

On sharing day, friends and family joined us at the Georgeson Botanical Gardens. Teams of 4-5 kids shared what they had done and learned on each day. It was difficult to fit so much into so little time! We also watched a video of everything we had done. What a week!

A special thank-you to...

Guest artist (dancer) Molissa Udevich for spending two whole days with us, and the many guest scientists who made this week possible.

Elena Sparrow (GLOBE Water Quality)

Pat Doak (Insects)

Brian Barnes (Amphibians)

Jamie Hollingsworth (Soil Coring and helping with logistics)

Kane and Turetsky Labs (APEX peatlands science)

Tamlin Pavelsky, Chao Wang, Julianne Davis (University of North Carolina hydrology)

Michelle Mack (Family Sharing Day)

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