Spineless Wonders

This week, campers have learned about creatures without spines, like spiders, pillbugs, worms, butterflies, and millipedes! To go along with this theme, both age groups have care of monarch butterfly caterpillars this week. It is amazing to see how these hungry critters grow: out of three caterpillars, there were two chrysalises by Thursday, and as I write this Friday morning we are wondering if we will have a third by the afternoon.





Campers went fielding with insect nets near the bike path at Amherst College. We discovered monarch butterflies, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, moths and other animals in this meadow habitat.



We walked through the woods and found cool mushrooms, birds' egg shells and interesting flowers!


Climbing a huge mulch pile was a huge hit!


Campers got a chance to meet our live animals.


Some of whom were "spineless"...


...and others who were not!


Campers worked hard building little homes in the woods for fairies, squirrels and insects.


Campers became limnologists, exploring pond insects, mud and other aspects of freshwater science!

We hope your camper has had a wonderful experience at the Hitchcock Center summer camp! See you next year!

Bottle Rockets! Corn Snake! Beaver Pond!

The Explorers weren't afraid to get muddy yesterday at the farm irrigation pond.




Today's catch: green frogs!




Later, each camper got to make a bottle rocket and Bob helped set them off. Whoa!




It is always incredible to watch Maizie the corn snake eat her weekly mouse.




The Young Naturalists explored the beaver pond at the bike path.




And saw not one, but two great blue herons!

Fishing Fun

Both groups of campers have been having fun with fishing! Today the Young Naturalists hiked to Turtle Pond hoping to have a look at the catfish that live there. It was a success! Keegan caught one with a fishing pole, and before long all the campers were making their own fishing poles and digging for worms to try their luck.





The Explorers have been perfecting their fishing skills too. Campers dug for worms at the Hitchcock Center and then went fishing at Quabbin on Friday and today they are at Puffer's Pond seeing what they can catch. At the Quabbin Reservoir, campers toured the visitor center and had fun playing in the old jail downstairs!

Water Olympics

On Friday the Young Naturalists explored the properties of water in Water Olympics! There were several stations set up at the outdoor picnic tables with different water activities.

At the boat station, campers strategized to fit as many pennies as they could on a piece of aluminum foil without sinking it! Many campers just kept the foil flat; others built it into a boat.


At the eye dropper table, campers were challenged to make the eye dropper go up and down inside the soda bottle without opening the bottle! Some people realized if you squeezed the bottle hard, the eye dropper would go up and down!


Campers tried to beat the record of how many water droplets could fit on one penny. I heard one camper say he got up to 32!


Oobleck was popular as campers got to feel a substance that behaved sort of like water in some ways, and not at all like water in others!

Rivers, Rivers, Rivers

The Explorers were busy yesterday, first visiting the Great Falls Discovery Center in Turner's Falls, and then exploring the river at the Mill River recreation area. Among the highlights in the river were a crayfish claw, a cicada that had fallen into the water ("it's an alien!" one camper said), and the favorite by far, a huge smelly dead animal we determined to be a possum. (There is a photo but I will spare you!) Campers were fascinated, wondering what it could be.

Below are some photos of the river village creation that the younger campers and older campers worked on together on Wednesday.

Jewelweed Pollinators and River Village Creation

Yesterday the Explorers had an opportunity to meet Carolyn, a PhD candidate from the University of Virginia who is doing research here at the Hitchcock Center. She told campers how she is comparing the pollinators of two different plants: native jewelweed, which campers are very familiar with as it grows all over the Hitchcock trails, and a non-native species of jewelweed from India that Carolyn brought in pots. Campers compared the two plants side by side, noting the differences in leaves and flowers. Then Carolyn invited us to observe pollinators, and see if they preferred one plant over the other. Not many pollinators showed up in the time campers were watching, but they learned that sometimes happens in scientists' research!




Meanwhile, it was the Young Naturalists' turn to visit Skinner State Park, the site of Mount Holyoke. First Ted visited in the morning, telling the campers about basalt and other special kinds of rocks found at the mountain. When it was time for the hike, the counselors were very proud: ALL campers made it to the top! Keegan's group had a lot of fun climbing around the rock structures at the top. When they were not hiking, they were building a "river village" in the wood chips outside. First they built their houses and towns, and then turned on the hose to make the river come through. The Explorers joined the younger campers for the afternoon on this project and had an awesome time! It's always a favorite activity here at the Hitchcock Center!

Water Scientists

"The River in Our Backyard," this session's theme, is all about water: water habitats, properties of water, and humans' use of water. Yesterday the Young Naturalists had a very busy day being water scientists. In the morning they went for a water table hike on the Hitchcock trails, stopping periodically to dig for water:



They noticed that in all the different habitats they tried, they couldn't reach water! We discussed why this was so in a discussion later. In addition to digging, they stopped at different water habitats along the way to collect water samples with test tubes, noting the color and temperature of the water:






After lunch and play time, campers discussed their findings of the water conditions: which was warmest, which was coolest, which was darker, which was lighter. Not all results were the same, we noticed.

Then Katie the camp director visited with a groundwater exhibit. In the exhibit, campers could see what wells, septic tanks, and lakes look like underground and how the groundwater flows through the ground. Campers took turns coming up and "polluting" the different parts of the groundwater exhibit with food coloring. They noticed that the pollution didn't stay in one place; in fact, it traveled through the groundwater and made it all the way to the Connecticut River, and ultimately the ocean!

We also discussed what the water table is and why we didn't reach water when we dug our holes today: could it have something to do with the lack of rain we've had lately? Perhaps would it be different if we dug for water at the seashore, or the desert?

Geology of the Valley and Animal Who Am I?

Today at camp the Explorers are hiking Mt. Holyoke, a geological wonder of the Pioneer Valley. To prepare for the experience, we had a visitor: Hitchcock Center naturalist Ted Watt. Ted began with a world map, explaining the breaking apart of the Pangaea supercontinent 300 million years ago. Two campers volunteered to draw the continents of Africa and South America on one large piece of paper, then did a demonstration of what happens when two continents collide. When the two continents were pushed together, a "mountain range" of paper formed! Then Ted pulled out a map of Lake Hitchcock, the huge body of water that covered the valley after the glacier melted. Campers were very enthusiastic about these geologic events, especially the parts involving lava and earthquakes. They also got to handle basalt, a kind of rock that can be found all over Mount Holyoke, which makes a cool sound when you hit two pieces together! Below: here they are after reaching the summit!


Yesterday the Young Naturalists kicked off the camp session with lots of get to know you games and a Hitchcock favorite: Animal Who Am I? In this game, campers try to guess what animal picture they have on the back. They go around the room, asking each other yes or no questions about their animal such as: Do I have fur? Can I fly? Do I eat meat? It is great fun and also a great ice-breaker!

Chocolate River

Wednesday the Explorers went to the irrigation pond at Bramble Hill to catch frogs, water boatmen and other pond critters.



The Explorers played one of Hitchcock's best-loved group challenges yesterday: Chocolate River. The object of the the challenge is to make it from one side of the chocolate river to the other stepping only on marshmallows (carpet squares). However, there are only a limited number of marshmallows to begin with, and the hungry chocolate monsters (counselors) will snatch the marshmallows away if there is no campers touching it. Campers have to rely heavily on each other, especially when they decide to exchange things like their sight, speech or a limb for another marshmallow!





They also went to the Smith College Greenhouse to explore the many plants indoors, as well as the botanical gardens outside. They retreated to the Hitchcock Center in the nearly 100-degree heat for an air-conditioned lunch, and then jumped in the pool at Mill River to cool off!