The kids drew a little ecosystem which consisted of lady bugs, a rollie pollie, a jack rabbit, a flower, a tree and the sun. They eagerly shared their thoughts about how important trees are for providing hiding spots and play areas for lady bugs, rollie pollie’s and jack rabbits.
Our group was full of energy, excited to express their experiences and opinions about different species they have encountered. A common theme among the kids was their dislike for insects specifically mosquitos, which they have found to bite and swarm near them frequently. We took the opportunity to educate the kids about the importance of insects (“bugs”) in our ecosystem. Also emphasizing that while some insect behaviors may be annoying they, pose an important roles in our environment that we might not notice. We gave examples like how insects serve as food for other species and how butterflies help pollinate plants. These insights helped change the kids views of insects from being “scary” and “sucky” to appreciating them. As a result, our group thereby came up with a quote: “Mother Nature is Beautiful.”
The kids also seemed to agree on the importance of trees in our ecosystem and made a comment like…
“I think that is an Oak tree” “Guess how tall I want to be?” “I want to be that tall” (pointing to the tree which I believe was actually an Oak tree”
I was impressed to know that one of the students had a prior knowledge of the certain tree species.
Another comment I thought was cute was…
“What if you walked up to a tree and saw maple syrup falling from it, that would be so cool”
UW Oshkosh Nature Connection Program 