{"id":92,"date":"2023-06-16T08:41:05","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T08:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/?p=92"},"modified":"2023-06-16T13:15:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T13:15:00","slug":"owl-prowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Owl Prowl"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Back in February\/March this year, I started talking with the library about running some kind of class with them. \u00a0After sitting down and talking with them, though, I realized that the way we run classes in schools doesn\u2019t work in libraries. \u00a0In schools, kids are* in the same class, day after day, week after week, so you can run a sequential class that builds on previous classes. \u00a0In a library, *especially* a kid\u2019s library, people come and go as they please. \u00a0The sequential class structure wouldn\u2019t work. \u00a0I had to fink about this for a sec, because all the teaching materials we\u2019d been building were for sequential classes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>*well, at least in theory<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That afternoon, by pure chance, I was hanging out with other parents at my daughter\u2019s school during pickup. \u00a0I mentioned to another dad that I\u2019d seen a screech owl in a nest that day, and a kid overheard and was curious. \u00a0Before long, five more curious kids popped up, so I offered to bring everyone over to have a look at the owl.\u00a0 Like a snowball, one kid told another told another, and eeeeveryone wanted to come see an owl.\u00a0 Soon, a convoy of cars followed us to the local cemetery for an impromptu owl viewing.\u00a0 I ran home to grab my camera and long lens as a way, and set it up so that kids could see the faraway animals on the camera screen without disturbing the owls.\u00a0 Another parent took this picture while we were in the middle of things.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-100\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwl-1-1024x869.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"636\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwl-1-1024x869.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwl-1-300x255.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwl-1-768x652.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwl-1.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The gears in my head started turning after that, and I pitched that we run a ~2-month class meeting with families once a week, after work. \u00a0In honor of our first foray with children, we called it the Owl Prowl. \u00a0The library didn\u2019t have budget for this first class, so Jasmine and I found a group called the Gathering of Ocean Science Hardware that was offering $500 micro-grants for running science-y events, and we put an application together.\u00a0 Most applicants were using their funding for materials or space rental, but for us, we had space in the cemetery and the materials were all there in nature &#8212; we mostly just needed something to pay my teachers for running programs.\u00a0 In the stuff-oriented world of science, we were the weirdos here &#8212; I think we came in eigtheenth out of twenty applicants in the review process, but hey, we got the grant, and we got cracking!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-103\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwlPoster-1-791x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"971\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwlPoster-1-791x1024.jpg 791w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwlPoster-1-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwlPoster-1-768x994.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwlPoster-1-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owlProwlPoster-1.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The whole thing came together in a few days.\u00a0 We intentionally didn&#8217;t do any signup process &#8212; just told folks to come meet us at the cemetery gates at 5pm on Mondays, and we&#8217;d run a free, hour-long nature walk for kids.\u00a0 It was a series of nine walks, every Monday in April and May.\u00a0 Every week, we said, we&#8217;d focus on a different aspect of nature.\u00a0 We didn&#8217;t publish a schedule of what we&#8217;d do each week &#8212; we figured we&#8217;d plan it out as we go.\u00a0 It was enough to just say<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">free\u2022nature\u2022kids<\/h2>\n<p>We printed a bunch of fliers and put them around, gave them to all the libraries in town, and told everyone we knew.\u00a0 It seemed like it would work, but it was still a bit nerve-wracking to go out the first day without <em>any<\/em> idea if people would show up.\u00a0 As luck would have it, though, we got a pile of kids coming through on day 1.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_104\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-104\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-104 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230403_214021117-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230403_214021117-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230403_214021117-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230403_214021117-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230403_214021117-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230403_214021117-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230403_214021117-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-104\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kids looking through owl pellets underneath a Great Horned Owl nest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Week after week, our small team would design an activity for that week&#8217;s Owl Prowl.\u00a0 We had a bunch of basic kid materials on hand &#8212; a bag full of dollar store markers, some paper, clipboards, and we could always make a run to the dollar store for simple additional supplies.\u00a0 The goal was just to engage kids with the natural world for an hour, and, as it turns out, you don&#8217;t need much\u00a0<em>stuff<\/em> in order to do that.\u00a0 Mostly, you just need to find the interesting thing in nature and figure out how to make it interesting for a young child.\u00a0 If we ever needed stuff for a class, we could often just ask our community, and they were happy to bring it.<\/p>\n<p>Our classes ended up going like this:<\/p>\n<p>Week 1:\u00a0 Watching owl fledgelings and picking apart owl pellets<\/p>\n<p>Week 2:\u00a0 Scientific illustration and drawing the natural world<\/p>\n<p>Week 3:\u00a0 Turkaoke<\/p>\n<p>Week 4:\u00a0 Knotweed bubble tea<\/p>\n<p>Week 5:\u00a0 Painting and stamping with found materials<\/p>\n<p>Week 6: 12 cent microscopy<\/p>\n<p>Week 7:\u00a0 Pond animal collection<\/p>\n<p>Week 8:\u00a0 Pond animal release<\/p>\n<p>Week 9:\u00a0 Cyanotype printing with sunlight and found materials<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These are a lot of different activities, and I want to go into some detail describing our work with four of them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Scientific Illustration<\/h2>\n<p>I like this class because the only materials were paper and pencils.\u00a0 Jasmine led this class &#8212; she has a background in illustration, and she teaches scientific illustration to adults and children.\u00a0 This class was about drawing what you see &#8212; the basic skill in observation and illustration.\u00a0 She started with a line drawing exercise, and then had children pick a subject, get down the form, and then fill in the details and texture.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-92 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/owl-prowl-2-2-2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-2-1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-117\" style=\"width:100%;height:66.68%;max-width:2560px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-117'>\n\t\t\t\tengaged, drawing children\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/owl-prowl-2-3\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-3-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-118\" style=\"width:100%;height:66.68%;max-width:2560px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-118'>\n\t\t\t\tJasmine leading the class\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/owl-prowl-2-4\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-4-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-119\" style=\"width:100%;height:66.68%;max-width:2560px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-119'>\n\t\t\t\tjust idyllic\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/owl-prowl-2-6\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-5-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-121\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-5-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-5-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-5-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-5-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-5-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-5-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/owl-prowl-2-5-1568x1568.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;max-width:2250px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-121'>\n\t\t\t\tour classroom\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<h2>Knotweed Bubble Tea Straws<\/h2>\n<p>We went all-out for this class!\u00a0 Japanese Knotweed is an invasive plant that grows everywhere in our town.\u00a0 Last year, I noticed that it&#8217;s hollow, with nodes, similar to bamboo, and the diameter of a good-sized knotweed stalk is similar to a bubble tea straw.\u00a0 It&#8217;s also easy to cut with a knife, and I figured it would make good material for kids learning to use knives.<\/p>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t have the budget to buy bubble tea, so I visited every bubble tea shop in town, asking them to sponsor us with 30 free teas.\u00a0 I got lukewarm responses from the first seven shops, but the eighth &#8212; Kimochi bubble tea &#8212; was run by two sisters, one of whom had a two year-old son who was into nature, and they had just set up shop and were looking to get the word out.\u00a0 They were up for sponsoring the project.<\/p>\n<p>One parent had been bringing his daughter to our classes regularly, and had asked me if he could help volunteer with us.\u00a0 He happened to be a veteran of the Marines, and I asked if he had any knives (as it turned out, he had an extensive collection!).\u00a0 He and his wife brought a stack of knives, and we set up some knife stations where kids could use knives on their own, but in a safe way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We had about sixty people show up for this event, including parents.\u00a0 We went down to a knotweed stand by the river, harvested stalks that were the right size, then each kid cut out a section of a stalk, cut a point in one end so that it would poke through the bubble tea lid, and trimmed the other end below the node in the stalk so they would get a hollow straw.<\/p>\n<p>When everyone had made straws, I mentioned that there was a cooler full of bubble tea hidden in the woods.\u00a0 This was a surprise to everyone, but they found it in short order and\u00a0<em>everyone<\/em> had a bubble tea!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-92 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/0b6ef29e-13e6-4836-81a7-0293ec24f237\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0B6EF29E-13E6-4836-81A7-0293EC24F237-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-105\" style=\"width:100%;height:75%;max-width:2000px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-105'>\n\t\t\t\tbubble tea + knotweed\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/pxl_20230424_201220081\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230424_201220081-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-110\" style=\"width:100%;height:133.33%;max-width:1500px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-110'>\n\t\t\t\tKimochi bubble tea:  our sponsors\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/pxl_20230424_211136520\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230424_211136520-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-111\" style=\"width:100%;height:75%;max-width:2000px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-111'>\n\t\t\t\tthe crowd arrives\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/pxl_20230424_214452752\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230424_214452752-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-112\" style=\"width:100%;height:75%;max-width:2000px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-112'>\n\t\t\t\tcutting a straw out of knotweed\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/a2e704c3-d7d8-4037-8b3d-1213222f8683\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/A2E704C3-D7D8-4037-8B3D-1213222F8683-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-108\" style=\"width:100%;height:133.33%;max-width:1500px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-108'>\n\t\t\t\teveryone gets to do knifework\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/pxl_20230424_214923670\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230424_214923670-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-115\" style=\"width:100%;height:75%;max-width:2000px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-115'>\n\t\t\t\tstraw army\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/pxl_20230424_214909983\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230424_214909983-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-113\" style=\"width:100%;height:75%;max-width:2000px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-113'>\n\t\t\t\teveryones&#8217; straws!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/pxl_20230424_214911323\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230424_214911323-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-114\" style=\"width:100%;height:75%;max-width:2000px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-114'>\n\t\t\t\taaaaaah\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/725f9d30-c112-4086-aec7-36a24d057675\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/725F9D30-C112-4086-AEC7-36A24D057675-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-107\" style=\"width:100%;height:133.33%;max-width:1500px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-107'>\n\t\t\t\tenjoying the fruits of our labors\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/3ae8d8b4-719c-4bac-8431-59576249c5c3\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/3AE8D8B4-719C-4BAC-8431-59576249C5C3-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-106\" style=\"width:100%;height:75%;max-width:2000px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-106'>\n\t\t\t\tenjoying the fruits of our labors\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/fa7397fe-49a4-464e-9491-15bb1ba7bb1e\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/FA7397FE-49A4-464E-9491-15BB1BA7BB1E-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-109\" style=\"width:100%;height:75%;max-width:2000px;\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-109'>\n\t\t\t\tenjoying the fruits of our labors\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pond Collection and Exhibition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/social-net-work-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-122\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/social-net-work-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/social-net-work-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/social-net-work-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/social-net-work-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/social-net-work-1536x1536.png 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/social-net-work-1568x1568.png 1568w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/social-net-work.png 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This idea was our most powerful program, and also one of the most complex ones to design and think about.  We had more people learn about the Owl Prowls through this class and mini-exhibit than from any of our other marketing efforts.  It was also a reminder that, in cities, there&#8217;s always a funny balance between bringing people to wildlife vs bringing wildlife to people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s a small artificial pond in the cemetery.  It has no inflow or outflow &#8212; it&#8217;s fed by runoff and a hose, and there is no way for water to get out.  Still, it&#8217;s full of life &#8212; bullfrogs and tadpoles, fish, snails, insect larvae, herons, snakes and more.  Every one of our activities involves looking at wildlife <em>in situ<\/em>, without capturing or disturbing the animal.  Still, all of us also have the same shared childhood experience of catching animals in our backyard and keeping them in terrariums, learning about wildlife by bringing it into our homes.  In fact, every naturalist we know has that same common activity as a child. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We decided to try our first activity taking animals from the wild and having children collect and make a week-long exhibit, in the library, about wildlife in our local pond.  We asked a friend, Lea Fabre, from the <a href=\"https:\/\/naturelab.risd.edu\/\">RISD Nature Lab<\/a> to come help children ID species that they found in the pond, and Lea was kind enough to bring along several field guides, as well as lend us a bunch of high-quality nets from the Nature Lab.  We also went in ahead of time and set up an aquarium and an amphibian-friendly terrarium in the library, so the tanks were cycled and were set up to support life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"133\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04099-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04099-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04099-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04099-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04099-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04099-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04099-1-1568x1568.jpg 1568w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04099-1.jpg 1702w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"136\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213257536-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213257536-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213257536-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213257536-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213257536-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213257536-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213257536-1-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"134\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04087-1-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04087-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04087-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04087-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC04087-1.jpg 1210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"138\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213259776-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213259776-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213259776-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213259776-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213259776-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213259776-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213259776-1-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"137\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213546903-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-137\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213546903-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213546903-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213546903-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213546903-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213546903-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213546903-1-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213818631-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213818631-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213818631-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213818631-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213818631-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213818631-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_213818631-1-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"139\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214118214-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-139\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214118214-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214118214-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214118214-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214118214-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214118214-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214118214-1-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"141\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214212338-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-141\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214212338-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214212338-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214212338-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214212338-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214212338-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214212338-1-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"142\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214342415-1-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214342415-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214342415-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214342415-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214342415-1-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214342415-1-1568x2091.jpg 1568w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230515_214342415-1-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"135\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/1-DSC04200-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/1-DSC04200-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/1-DSC04200-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/1-DSC04200-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/1-DSC04200-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/1-DSC04200-1-1568x1045.jpg 1568w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/1-DSC04200-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As you might expect, catching animals was a huge hit with children.  It is tricky, with large numbers of kids, to keep an attitude of care and respect for the animals we&#8217;re collecting.  Some of the children (as well as many of the parents) had never done this before, and while they were naturally curious about the animals they were finding, didn&#8217;t know how to draw the line between &#8220;I&#8217;m fascinated by this tadpole&#8221; and &#8220;I should stop touching the tadpole because I&#8217;m stressing it out&#8221;.  Fortunately, we had lots of adults who work with wildlife around to help us out, and we were able, with a fair amount of effort, to keep children engaged and animals unharmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the ideas behind children making an exhibit for other children is based on a social theory I have.  I think that, when a child discovers something interesting about the natural world, if we highlight that child&#8217;s story and discovery in the community, then other children will get intrigued and look for their own discoveries in the natural world.  Along those lines, if a child and their parents gave their permission, I took photos of the children collecting the animals, and put their photos up on the wall in the library as &#8220;official pond collectors&#8221; of the pond wildlife exhibit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230516_235501870-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230516_235501870-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230516_235501870-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230516_235501870-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230516_235501870-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230516_235501870-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230516_235501870-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This mini-exhibit stayed up for a week.  After a week, at the next Owl Prowl, we returned the animals back to the pond (except for the invasive snails, which I moved to my fishtank at home).   While planning the return activity, I couldn&#8217;t shake two images from my head:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While we were catching animals, this kid who kept going back to the bucket with minnows and trying to grab them, saying, &#8220;I have to help them breathe!&#8221;  We dissuaded him (gently) from doing this maybe 5-10 times, but his parents, who were right next to us as we dissuaded him, kept overriding us and encouraging the kid.  Grabbing fish (roughly and unnecessarily) from a bucket doesn&#8217;t sit feel right to me &#8212; it feels like that kid doesn&#8217;t have it in his head that these are live animals and need to be treated with care.  He&#8217;s treating them more like stuffies.  But it&#8217;s not really the kid that I have issue with &#8212; the kid is just a kid, he&#8217;s not expected to have a solid concept yet of how to catch and care for wild animals.  What bothers me is the parents, who are in a position of power in this kid&#8217;s life, who are encouraging the wrong behavior.  They&#8217;re not modeling it, but they are steering the kid in the wrong way.  Jasmine saw it, too &#8212; we talked a lot about how we could structure the activity to avoid casually veering off in a careless direction like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other was, when the animals were in the library, we had all these signs up saying, &#8220;Don&#8217;t tap the glass!  It scares the animals.&#8221;  Several times over the week, I saw a parent come in with a small child, go right up to the glass, and tap the glass.  The librarians would say, &#8220;please don&#8217;t tap the glass&#8221;, the parent would nod, and then go right back to tapping.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the same trouble I have with zoos &#8212; when you have this power dynamic, an animal trapped in a cage, I feel like people are almost guaranteed to abuse that dynamic.  Add that to a culture where we don&#8217;t empathize or connect well to wildlife, where we&#8217;re never <em>taught<\/em> what wildlife is or how to be around it, and you get this kind of casual abuse born out of fear, ignorance, curiosity and boredom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s not to say that everybody acts this way &#8212; the stories I mention are a minority of the families we worked with, or who came to see our library exhibit.  Most people were perfectly careful and respectful.  Still, as someone who works all the time with young children, I&#8217;m very sensitive to the idea that young children are often copying what they see their parents do.  When I see a parent modeling poor treatment of a wild animal to their child, it&#8217;s not hard to imagine that the child will grow up thinking that that&#8217;s the right way to treat a wild animal.  We started talking about how we might structure this activity &#8212; the only activity where we set up a power dynamic between humans and wild animals &#8212; to get us connection to wildlife, rather than casual abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230522_180533893-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-154\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230522_180533893-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230522_180533893-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230522_180533893-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230522_180533893-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230522_180533893-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230522_180533893-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"644\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/thanks-1024x644.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-153\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/thanks-1024x644.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/thanks-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/thanks-768x483.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/thanks-1536x966.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/thanks-2048x1288.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/thanks-1568x986.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I was talking over this issue with my neighbor, a conservation ecologist who has raised two children, and he suggested making a ritual around catching and release.  Children, he said, respond well to ritual.  That had the ring of truth to it, so I decided to make the release day follow a theme of thanking the animal, including writing a thank-you note to the animal that would go on display in the library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"678\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.11.49-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-156\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.11.49-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.11.49-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.11.49-768x508.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.11.49-1536x1017.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.11.49-1568x1038.jpg 1568w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.11.49.jpg 1857w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"677\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.13.13-1024x677.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-155\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.13.13-1024x677.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.13.13-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.13.13-768x508.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.13.13-1536x1016.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.13.13-2048x1355.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-05-25-17.13.13-1568x1037.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This worked well, I think.  We went down to the pond, released the animals one at a time, thanking them as we released them, and then the kids spent the rest of the time writing their own thank you notes, which we collected and put up on display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I were to do this again, I would start the catching with a ritual, something to hammer home the idea that these are live, wild animals that we are going to, more or less, kidnap and hold captive.  That&#8217;s not to say that we shouldn&#8217;t do it, but that, if we&#8217;re going to do it, we should do it in the most careful and respectful way possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jasmine found that this idea actually a common practice across many indigenous cultures, and it&#8217;s called <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yesmagazine.org\/issue\/good-health\/2015\/11\/26\/the-honorable-harvest-lessons-from-an-indigenous-tradition-of-giving-thanks\">The Honorable Harvest<\/a>.<\/em>  That idea, for how to carefully and sustainably take animals from the wild, is one of these big things that we <em>don&#8217;t<\/em> learn about how to interact with the natural world.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Honorable Harvest takes different forms, and is taught in different ways by many different cultures, but it goes more or less like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ask permission of the ones whose lives you seek. Abide by the answer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Never take the first. Never take the last.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Take only what you need and leave some for others.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Use everything that you take.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Take only that which is given to you.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Share it, as the Earth has shared with you.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Be grateful.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Reciprocate the gift.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sustain the ones who sustain you, and the Earth will last forever.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Twelve Cent Microscopy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213944072-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213944072-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213944072-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213944072-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213944072-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213944072-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213944072-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Since we were supported by the Gathering for Open Science <em>Hardware<\/em>, I guess I should talk about our most hardware-focused Owl Prowl.  This was an activity that I call the twelve-cent microscope, where have children turn their parents&#8217; cell phones into a capable microscope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213600253-2-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213600253-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213600253-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213600253-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213600253-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213600253-2-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213600253-2-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We do this using only three materials:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bobby pins &#8212; $.01<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scotch tape &#8212; $.01<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebay.com\/itm\/115726166177?var=415786642514\">A 7mm plastic collimating lens<\/a> &#8212; $.10<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The collimating lens is the only unusual part here.  I first learned this activity by getting cheap laser pointers from the dollar store and popping the collimating lens out of the laser pointer.  That works great for one or two &#8212; if you need more, pick up some off ebay or aliexpress (link above at the lens).  They cost $.10-$.12 per lens.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Building the microscope is super easy &#8212; you use the bobby pin to hold the lens, and then you tape the pin onto the back of a phone, so that the lens is directly over the camera&#8217;s lens.  Looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1018\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/microscope-1-1018x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/microscope-1-1018x1024.jpg 1018w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/microscope-1-298x300.jpg 298w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/microscope-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/microscope-1-768x773.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/microscope-1-1527x1536.jpg 1527w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/microscope-1-2036x2048.jpg 2036w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/microscope-1-1568x1577.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1018px) 100vw, 1018px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This is powerful for many reasons.  First of all, microscopes are amazing, but most kids have never seen a microscope.  Conventional microscopes are also tricky for kids to use &#8212; lots of kids have trouble putting their eyes up to the eye cups on a microscope, as it feels distracting, and they spend their time thinking about how they feel instead of what they see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Phone microscopes get away from that &#8212; suddenly, the image is right on front of you.  The way you use the phone scope is also very different from using a conventional microscope:  you don&#8217;t <em>bring nature to it,<\/em> you can <em>bring it to nature<\/em>.  You don&#8217;t have to fiddle with a focus knob or stage adjustment, you just move the phone around and see if the image looks right.  This freeform use of technology to let you see nature in a different way is the big philosophical concept at the center of a lot of our teaching, and I think it&#8217;s a very powerful concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, of course, the phone is a <em>phone<\/em>!  Use it to record photos and videos.  Pick out your favorites!  Edit the videos together!  Put in subtitles!  Share your creations with your friends!  Set up a micro-facetime call between your grandmother and an ant!  All these things that phones are really good suddenly also apply to this new, unexplored world of <em>tiny stuff in nature.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, the child <em>built<\/em> this tool that they are using to explore the world.  That&#8217;s powerful!  If it breaks, they can fix it!  If they want to adjust the zoom by changing the lens spacing, they can do that with a bit of cardboard!  Building your own tools for exploration is a wonderful way to get into the spirit of exploration.  This particular tool is great because it just takes five minutes to put together, and suddenly the phone works in a dramatically different way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the class, I got everyone set up with the building activity.  For 5-10 minutes, everyone is working on getting the materials and putting it together onto a phone.  Finally, people all got it working.  I stood up, wondering if I needed to run an activity about looking at stuff&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>and everyone was quiet.  They were all quietly walking on hands and knees, each lost in their own world of exploration and discovery.  For 20 minutes, everyone was totally self-directed and engaged.  As a teacher, this is my favorite thing to see.  It&#8217;s what learning &#8212; <em>true learning<\/em> &#8212; looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"162\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_212946460-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_212946460-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_212946460-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_212946460-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_212946460-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_212946460-1568x2091.jpg 1568w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_212946460-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"163\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213638897-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213638897-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213638897-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213638897-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213638897-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213638897-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213638897-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"165\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214013399.PORTRAIT-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-165\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214013399.PORTRAIT-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214013399.PORTRAIT-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214013399.PORTRAIT-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214013399.PORTRAIT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214013399.PORTRAIT-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214013399.PORTRAIT-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"168\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214021452.PORTRAIT-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214021452.PORTRAIT-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214021452.PORTRAIT-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214021452.PORTRAIT-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214021452.PORTRAIT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214021452.PORTRAIT-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214021452.PORTRAIT-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"166\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214039826-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214039826-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214039826-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214039826-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214039826-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214039826-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214039826-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_215617337-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_215617337-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_215617337-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_215617337-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_215617337-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_215617337-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_215617337-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"175\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_221834048-5-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_221834048-5-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_221834048-5-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_221834048-5-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_221834048-5-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_221834048-5-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_221834048-5-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"179\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214126561.PORTRAIT-2-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214126561.PORTRAIT-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214126561.PORTRAIT-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214126561.PORTRAIT-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214126561.PORTRAIT-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214126561.PORTRAIT-2-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_214126561.PORTRAIT-2-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213819176-2-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213819176-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213819176-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213819176-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213819176-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213819176-2-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PXL_20230508_213819176-2-1568x1176.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I love this design, and I think it can serve as the foundation for a great number of activities around exploring small things with young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>We ran our final Owl Prowl on May 29.  In my view, this was an extremely successful program.  We ran nine classes, completely free for the attendees, and we probably averaged ~50 people attending each class.  We were able to highlight student work and discoveries to the greater community through the public space of the library.  I thoroughly believe that libraries can serve as a place for young people to connect with the natural world, and this program helps us show  libraries that it can work, <em>without<\/em> taking a ton of money or requiring extra effort from the staff librarians.  If this program was a prototype, the next step is to make a batch &#8212; try it out in several different libraries and locations around the city, invite several different teachers to help run the program, and to continue to create and try out new ways to engage young people with the natural world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8211;a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in February\/March this year, I started talking with the library about running some kind of class with them. \u00a0After sitting down and talking with them, though, I realized that the way we run classes in schools doesn\u2019t work in libraries. \u00a0In schools, kids are* in the same class, day after day, week after week,&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/2023\/06\/16\/owl-prowl\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Owl Prowl<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7,13,12],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-classes","tag-library","tag-one-off","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wildlives.world\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}