Written by 2nd-6th Graders

On April 21, the 2nd to 6th graders attended the NatureFest hosted by UC Hopland Recreation and Extension Center in celebration of Earth Day. It was a perfect spring day to explore the biodiversity found on the beautiful campus of HREC. Each group rotated through three different outdoor stations and hiked on nature trails. 

Birds

What we liked about the Birds Station was that we got to look through binoculars and try to identify the bird by seeing and hearing. One bird that we identified was the acorn wood pecker that uses its talons to grip the wood. We also learned a lot about different species we didn’t even know existed. Some birds can be very aggressive; we mean so aggressive that they even eat other birds! We got to look at dead preserved birds and we were able to noticed all the details, and what they can do for our planet.

Hike

During the hike, we learned about different plants. We learned about a lot of new plants such as the Daylily, also known as the Warrior’s Spear. The view was amazing! Our favorites were the Pacific Madrone Tree and Buttercups. We also saw a tree with dark green and light green leaves. The dark green leaves stayed on the tree longer than the light green leaves. There were big rock formations covered in moss that looked like statues.

Creek

How can you find out if a creek is polluted? There are many organisms that live in the creek. Some are affected by polluted water, while others are not. They gave us a few nets to catch bugs in the water because some bugs are really sensitive to pollution. For example, the Mayfly is extremely sensitive so if the water was polluted, there wouldn’t be any Mayflies. Thankfully, a classmate caught some which led to our conclusion that the creek was not polluted!

Cover boards

This station was one of the coolest and exiting stations of them all. We followed the tour guide to big boards on the ground. They lifted up the board and we saw a small skink (half snake and half lizard)! Then we lifted up another board and there were ants with their larvae. And guess what? There were two bigger skinks crawling through the soil. The last board we lifted had a millipede underneath.

Special thanks to the UC Hopland staff and volunteers, our teachers, and parent chaperones/drivers, Mrs. Blanc, Mr. Shi, Mr. Ed, Mr. Desai, and Mrs. Akin-Paz. We had a fun filled day exploring and learning outside!