Pierre Native Headlines Earth Day Event

Stephanie Arne, a Pierre native, grew up to be Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Ambassador. She travels the world, teaching and speaking about nature wildlife and the environment. Arne will present at the South Dakota Discovery Center’s Earth Day early release program on Wednesday April 29 at 1:10, 1:50, 2:30 and 3:10. Her topic will be plastic in the ocean, how it affects wildlife and what folks in SD can do to prevent it from growing.

“We’ll  also have special activities in the exhibit hall in addition to Stephanie,” says event organizer Anne Lewis. “Everything from gardening to learning about the sun as an energy source.”

Lewis says the theme of the event is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Restore. “We added restore because we want to promote things people can do like picking up trash, planting trees or putting in a butterfly garden. These things all help restore the environment and our community.

Both the presentation from Stephanie Arne and the exhibit hall are free and open to the public. The special exhibit hall activities will be available from 1-4.  Groups of larger than 10 should contact suedouglas@sd-discovery.com to reserve space in one of Arne’s presentations.

April 10-11 Professional Development at Sinte Gleska University

Teachers and youth program staff, get ready to teach hands-on in and about the outdoors this spring. Join us at Sinte Gleska University April 10-11, 2015 for All about the Earth!

All about the Earth features  Project WET, intro to GLOBE, the Leopold Education Project and more!

These hands-on experiential resources will equip you to better address standards and engage your students in authentic, place based learning, indoors AND out.

Friday April 10, 4:30pm - 8:30pm CDT
Saturday April 11, 9:00am - 3:30pm CDT
Student services building at Sinte Gleska University.

Bring a lunch. Dress to go outdoors.

To register, email Anne or call 605-224-8295. Credit is available through SGU for $45.

Paws and Claws Exhibit Open House Friday 3/20.

Paws & Claws Vet Clinic Exhibit opens this Friday!! 

All are invited to the open house, ribbon cutting and check presentation by SD Community Foundation at 9am. The entire SD Discovery Center will open early for the event and stay open until 5pm.

The exhibit will be the first "business" in our new Discovery Town exhibition to open. Kids are welcome to bring in their own stuffed animals to give them check ups and groom them.

Activity Challenge!

The Pierre Let’s Move Student Committee, with support from the Pierre School District, would like to challenge all students in the Pierre School System to get 60 minutes a day of physical activity five days a week.

All students are encouraged to keep track of their progress on the provided calendar for March.  At the end of each month, students can turn in their calendar at their school office.

Calendars signed by a parent or guardian will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

Robin Watch Part 2

Robin watch is our informal citizen science project to encourage families, classes, and people who are so very ready for spring to watch for and report about robin activity in their locale on Twitter, using the hashtag #robinwatch.

The name Robin watch is borrowed, in part, from a BBC television series called Springwatch which runs in late May through mid June and is a show dedicated to phenology. With its quiet production values and things like badger cams and videos of foxes cavorting in gardens, it's a lovely treat to watch.

Alas, RobinWatch will not have production values given a non-existent budget. Rather, there will be tweeting about... er, literal tweeting and robins and things phenological in South Dakota. The event will run from around President's Day to the first day of spring.

What should you tweet? If you see a flock, tweet it. If you see a single robin, tweet it. If you hear a robin, tweet it. If you find a robin poem, or know a good book or have a lesson plan involving robins, tweet it. Pictures? Tweet it.

What if there are no robins evident? Tweet it. Seriously. Zero robins is a legitimate data point.

Your tweet should have your location (generally, not like your home address), robin behavior and include #robinwatch or we won't be able to find it unless you tweet it directly to us.

Happy tweeting!

Robin Watch (or #RobinWatch) Part 1

Winter got you down? Feeling like spring will never, ever truly be here? We at the South Dakota Discovery Center have just the ticket to get you through the next month of this special season called "Will winter ever end?" Robin watch!

Robin watch, or more precisely #robinwatch (don't forget the hashtag) is an informal citizen science project about robins. Robins are a gateway bird to birding, great for families and classrooms because robins habituate to people (meaning you can get relatively close), are widespread, and are easy to identify in species and gender.

One of the little known facts about robins is that you can find them this far north even during the winter. They stay fairly hidden, usually in densely vegetated wooden areas which in this part of the world means riparian areas. You don't see them unless you are looking and you don't hear them since they are quiet for, you know, robins. You may hear cheeps that they use to stay in contact with the flock but no rocking (robin) out singing from the treetops. That's mating behavior.

Another little known fact is that the males will start moving into neighborhoods in mid to late February, usually right after a warm spell. You might hear them sing on an especially nice afternoon. But if a cold snap comes along, they will return to the flock and stop singing.

You have to be alert to see these initial stirrings of robins. If you aren't paying attention, then it seems one morning you step out of your house and bam! there are robins. Singing. Hopping. Flapping. But there is a quiet build up before this, akin to actors taking their place on stage.

The timing of this quiet build up will vary even within South Dakota. Thus we are inviting everyone to join us in #RobinWatch on Twitter to tweet out what robins are doing in your locales. Do you see solitary males? Are they singing? Is there a large flock on your lawn? How long till there are just a few? Is there nothing yet, so you are contenting yourself with listening to their songs on All About Birds? (We've all done it, no shame.)

If you need a primer on your robin watching, we point you to Journey North which has all the background information you'll need on robins.

Upcoming Workshops

The SD Discovery Center has two exciting workshops for teachers and out of school program staff.

Grades 3-8 Earth Systems is a weekend workshop focused on connecting kids to the Earth. Participants will receive high quality curriculum resources from Project WET, the Leopold Education Project and Project Learning Tree. Planning time will be allocated to strategize how to integrate material into your class or program.
Jan 24-25, 2015
SD Discovery Center Pierre
For more information go to: http://www.sd-discovery.org/for-teachers/professional-development/#K5NaturalResources


K-5 Natural Resources is a 5 week blended learning opportunity via DDN and online. Participants will receive resources from SD Ag in the Classroom, Project WET, Project Learning Tree, and Project WILD. Class does not meet Feb 16.
Feb 2, Feb 9, Feb 23, Mar 2, Mar 9
5:00pm - 8:00pm CST
DDN
For more information go to: http://www.sd-discovery.org/for-teachers/professional-development/#earthsystems 

Youth program staff learn how to test dissolved oxygen

(c)Anne Lewis