(Re-posted with permission from the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation blog)
Just above the surface of an old farm pond at Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, the airspace is buzzing with dragons. It’s the perfect spot for young researchers to test their agility by balancing on logs while swinging their nets.
Dragonfly Detectives is an innovative partnership of the state parks system and the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences that trains 4th and 8th graders as dragonfly citizen scientists at five state parks – Jordan Lake, Merchants Millpond, Lake Waccamaw, Cliffs of the Neuse and Goose Creek. During six separate field trips to a state park, students learn how to identify species, how to describe dragonfly behavior and how to capture and mark them on the wing.
An important lesson for the kids is that science requires a lot of patience and careful record-keeping. The students sit in total silence for multiple three-minute sessions while they count their study species, the crimson red Carolina saddlebags.
Read the whole post about this great partnership on the N.C. State Parks Blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments to this site are subject to the N.C. Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties. Please identify yourself in posts. Off-topic posts, "spam" or posts with offensive or inappropriate language will be removed.