This week at camp has been wild – wild with adaptations!
On Monday, the campers learned all about what an adaptation is.
They learned all about how natural selection works with a made-up animal called a Pilose, whose habitat changed – and the Piloses had to change with it!
Then, they engineered their own animals based on an environment that we gave them. They drew their animals and gave them adaptations that would help them thrive in their environment. Then, they built the animals out of craft supplies!
On Tuesday, campers learned all about habitats!
First, they got to dive deep into ocean habitats. They found out what lives in the shallow regions of the oceans – and what lives all the way at the bottom!
They also got to be penguins in a game where they traveled the currents of the sea to find out what obstacles penguins face.
After that, they learned about the stages of a forest, and each of them got to draw one of the stages! Then, they got to look at pictures of camouflaged animals to see if they could spot them.
On Wednesday, campers talked all about plants.
They looked at seeds, and learned how different plants disperse their seeds.
They spent time designing a special seed that is dispersed in a unique way!
They also learned about pollination! They talked about which pollinators are attracted to which flowers. Then, they got to design a flower for a specific pollinator.
On Thursday, we went to Nichols Arboretum!
The kids got to test out their own camouflaging skills when we played the Thicket Game! We also took a nature hike to see if we could spot any animals. We identified some seeds we learned about on Wednesday!
On Friday, campers learned all about survival.
We talked about what life might look like on other planets after looking at some of the hardiest creatures on our own planet.
We also had our Adaptation olympics, where we tried our best to imitate the adaptations of tons of animals and plants.
After we tested our bodies, we tested our minds by playing Animal Adaptation Brainium!
We had a great last week here at camp explorations. Thanks so much for a wonderful summer!