Emily’s Recap - Week 6

Week 6 was a mix of extension and research related things. We started the week off with the PALS event, where Jenny and I taught the kids about trees and played a relay race. If I’m being honest, it seemed like kids now act way different than when I was a kid. When I was young, I would have LOVED something like PALS where I got to just run around all day playing games and earning prizes. Yet the kids that were there this year seemed unexcited about the game and overall not that interested in being there at all. Of course, there were exceptions. There were some kids that had a blast and listened well and really got something out of it, which was great! Most of them were definitely excited about the Oreos they got at the end though, of course. I already knew I didn’t have any interest working with young kids, but this event really solidified it. No thanks, not for me. Jenny however was really great with them all day and she looked like she had fun (for the most part). Glad she was there, because I couldn’t have done that alone!

Up until Thursday, Jenny and I have just been finding ways to fill our time. We’re all caught up on pretty much everything we need to be doing, like our final poster presentation, our final PowerPoint, and our manuscript. We’ve been really good about keeping up with everything along the way so that we wouldn’t be behind or rushing at the end, but that’s kind of caused us to be at a standstill these last couple days while everyone else is rushing to finish up their data collection. Because we are all caught up, it’s given us the opportunity to help the other groups with their projects and see some cool things. On Tuesday, we went out with Avery and Mia (the mammals group) and helped them retrieve their cameras and pitfall traps (to catch insects). Yesterday was really cool because we went out with the streams crew to help them retrieve their fyke nets and collect data on the fish that were in the nets. We were expecting to find some turtles because they have in the past, and boy did we find some. The first net had 3 snapping turtles in it, and the second had another! They were all so big.It was a little hectic trying to get them all out but we had a lot of hands on deck helping. Thankfully, they all got out and back to the water safely, with no harm done to them except a bad attitude.

Really though, they got to sit in the net and munch on the fish that were stuck in there with them. I don’t know why they were so grumpy when they got a free meal out of it. The last net also had a pretty cute painted turtle in it, and I got a pic of Avery holding the lil’ dude.Besides turtles, there were lots of small green sunfish that wandered into the nets, which are the fish that Taylor and Reece (streams group) were measuring. This little guy was really pretty and had really vibrant coloring.

This Saturday is Riverfest! Jenny and I decided to make a cool poster and to do a mini version of our relay game instead, because there is limited space and time. I’ve never been to Riverfest so I hope it’s cool! I’ll have to go a little bit earlier than when I’m supposed to be presenting so I can look around and check out all the stuff that’s going on.

I can’t believe that next week is already week 7. The weeks seem long but looking back, time has really flown by. It’s almost over!

This week’s Blog challenge is to come up with a pun about your research project. When Megan announced this, Jenny and I looked at each other with a confidence like no other because we were practically born ready for this. We’ve been coming up with puns left and right for our project the entire time, so I’m just going to go ahead and list some of our most popular ones:

1.) Butternut mess with these trees

2.) Butter me up and call me nuts

3.) Butter late than nutter

Until next time.

Emily