Dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of the water resources and natural communities of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed
October is National “Go on a Field Trip Month”, and there’s no better way for kids to learn science than outdoors in nature. Just look at all the new research that shows the benefits of getting kids outdoors to learn.
So, grab your students, kids, friends, loved ones, and come to CREW to take a walk, explore the wetlands, find frogs and bugs, watch the fall migrating birds fly through and just enjoy the calming, healing world that is CREW!
On October 18th, Brenda Thomas – FGCU instructor and former EE Specialist for CREW – will be leading a fall wildflower walk at the CREW Trails. Fall blooms are special because they include such rarities as the endangered Pine Lily (also known as the Catesby’s Lily) and many grasses which seed out only during the autumn months. Come learn from an expert, enjoy a cooler fall day on the trails, and feel the magic of the seasons changing.
To register for the fall wildflower walk, go to http://crewfallflowers.eventbrite.com
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in. – Rachel Carson
Silent Spring author and biologist Rachel Carson understood the importance of every child having a caring adult take him/her by the hand and share the wonder of nature. For the first time in history, we have the majority of an entire generation of young adults who have NOT grown up outdoors playing in the woods and streams, catching fireflies in a jar, fishing and hunting, and watching the stars. This disconnect from nature is wreaking havoc in the form of obesity, disease, attention deficit disorders, and mental illness, not to mention growing a generation of citizens who do not appreciate or understand how nature provides resources and services that help humans exist on the planet and therefore do not know to vote and organize to protect it.
To help remedy this disconnect and get more children outdoors, the NC Museum of Natural Science and cooperating partners declared September 24 – 30 as National “Take a Child Outside Week”. The CREW Trust challenges its members and the public to take up the challenge and take a child outside this week – or anytime! You can pledge and record your activity on their website. And we encourage you to tell us about it here or post it to the CREW Facebook page.
Go on! Find your favorite kid. Take her outside. Play, walk, find bugs, go fish. Enjoy the moments. Build a sense of wonder. And create a better world.
Fall is right around the corner and that means cooler weather (we hope) and more trail activity, including visitors and school groups coming to CREW to learn and play. We’ve got some fabulous programs planned for you this year. Here’s a sneak peek at our fall schedule. For full details and/or to register for CREW programs, check out our list of events on Eventbrite (or use the calendar on the CREW homepage to scroll through the months and see what’s coming).
September 2014
October 2014
November 2014
December 2014 – Bicycle tour at Bird Rookery, Geocaching, and more….
See you on the trails – let’s do this!
Eagle Scout candidate, Kevin Link, completed an outstanding project at the CREW Cypress Dome Trails last week. Here, he shares some of the process via video. Thanks to Kevin and all of his team for an extraordinary project to help beautify and provide shade and seating at the Cypress Dome Trailhead and parking area and to help educate people about native plants and landscaping.
We’re wrapping up the third year of the CREW Strolling Science Seminars – our scholarly walks for adults – and we want to publicly thank our seminar leaders who planned and led these fun, hands-on walks at CREW. Much thanks to Kathleen Smith, FWC’s CREW biologist for her session on Florida Black Bears; to FGCU student, Ben Dion, and Dr. William Sanders for their session on The Lives of Fungi at CREW; to Dr. billY Gunnels for his all-day scientific method session called Science in A Day; to Mike Duever for showing us how plant communities respond to Hydrology; to Jack Berninger for a fun seminar about Ferns; and to Ian Bartoszek for his lively session on the American Alligator.
We also want to thank the 113 folks who registered and attended these seminars. Their participation makes it all work!
So, what did they like and learn? As we scanned the participant surveys, we were delighted to discover these insights:
“This was my first attendance at a CREW event (and very definitely not the last). I appreciated the warm welcome and the introduction to other attendees. Three hours packed with information, enthusiasm and laughter. Thoroughly enjoyed it.”
- From the Bear seminar: “Kathleen Smith, FWC biologist was well prepared, knowledgeable and pleasant. She answered all questions even if they were off topic. Very informative. I learned a lot about black bears that I didn’t know before.”
- From the Fern seminar: “I had never heard of the Azolla event. Learned this is a very important and helpful fern. We saw 15+ different ferns. We learned how ferns reproduce. He also gave us hints on how to tell them apart. We saw that the spores are in different places depending on the type of fern.”
- From the Hydrology seminar: “I learned that in Florida two feet of change in elevation can take you through five different ecosystems. (Excellent visual evidence) Maintaining constant water levels is not a good idea even if possible because diversity of plant life needs periods of drought and flooding to create various species that acclimate to changing conditions.”
- From the Fungi seminar: “Don’t eat the blue latex ‘shrooms, and orchids need mycelium to grow.” And… “Lichens incorporate cyanobacteria to fix nitrogen.” and “Most of the fungi is underground. What is seen is only the reproductive part. This underground part is being used to further several ecological goals such as filtering pollutants and replacing Styrofoam packing materials.”
- From Science in a Day: “As a longtime hiker I finally took the time to stop and understand the spiders in the canopy..prior to this they were just something I brushed away. Then I learned about Cabbage Palm “Boots’ , Wax Myrtle, etc. I also learned I can write a rap song in 5 minutes.” And…”I would have loved to have billY [Gunnels] for a professor, and I wished I had been exposed to these kinds of experiences and these sorts of people when I was a student, as I feel my life would have been much different.” And…”The scientific process is complicated Learning is easier when you are having fun.”
“Nature attracts a diverse, curious population.”
Thanks to CHNEP for partial funding of this environmental education program and to all our participants for making this year’s Strolling Science Seminars such a great success!
The CREW Trails are spectacular showcases for wildflowers in the springtime. The CREW Marsh Trails and the Cypress Dome Trails are particularly bountiful. We are already seeing a few grass pink orchids (Calapogon tuberosus) popping up along the trail edges, along with sneezeweed, shiny blueberries, marsh pinks, violets, a variety of milkworts, and much more.
To celebrate and help you enjoy these flowers, we have two special wildflower walks scheduled for early April:
You’ve seen them. You may have even heard them bellow. But how much do you really know about the science of the American Alligator? Here’s your chance to learn what makes this amazing animal tick, how it helps other species, and what it does to impact the functioning of wetlands in south Florida.
Sign up today for the last CREW Strolling Science Seminar of this season, The American Alligator: Engineers of the Everglades led by Ian Bartoszek, biologist with The Conservancy of SWFL. This walking seminar will be held at the Bird Rookery Swamp Trails on Saturday, March 29th, 9 AM to noon. Registration is required. Register today by clicking here ( http://goo.gl/VTX8lR ).
We are happy to announce an additional Spring Wildflower Walk has been added to our spring schedule. Local authors and wildflower experts, Glen Stacell and Dr. Gary Schmelz have agreed to lead a walk at the CREW Marsh Trails on Friday, April 4th. Register today for this one-time walk. Click the link below to register…
Wildflower Walk with Glen Stacell and Gary Schmelz on April 4, 2014, 9:30 AM to noon
Other CREW guided walks can be found here.
There are still tickets available for this CREW Strolling Science Seminar, Paleo-Plants that the Dinosaurs Ate – Ferns of CREW. Jack Berninger, teacher and naturalist, will lead this in-depth strolling seminar to help you learn to identify ferns and their relatives and discuss the natural history and science related to these primitive plants. Register today for this popular seminar.
