On a recent warm Wednesday in November, a group of scientists prepared to search for tagged animals in a forest park. Well, not all of them were scientists – at least not yet.
Ron Esterwald, Carmelo Hunter and their sixth-grade classmates from St. Louis Public Schools’ Long International Middle School had come to Forest Park to learn about science and local wildlife. They formed a circle around Stella Uitawar, who held a mold of a device glued to a turtle’s shell.
Mr. Witerwaal said, Forest Park Living Laba collaboration between institutions including Saint Louis University, Washington University, the zoo, and the National Great River Research and Education Center to study urban wildlife in the park.
Uitawar set up a sharp metal tracking antenna for the students.
“So when you turn this on, can you hear this?” she asked. “Is this a beeping sound?”
White noise and beeps began to fill the air. When the antenna was pointed in a different direction, the sound became louder, suggesting the location of the toy animal the students were searching for.
Ron and Carmelo walked around in the leaves, drawing circles trying to decipher the volume of the device.
Brian Munoz
/
st louis public radio
Brian Munoz
/
st louis public radio
The Living Lab team has been teaching classes in Forest Park for several years to get more students interested in nature and science.
This field trip was one of four held this fall in part through a grant from the Taylor Geospatial Institute. Gateway to the great outdoorswhich provides environmental education experiences for students in low-income schools, partnered with other organizations to organize the trip.
Forest Park Living Lab works to understand the wildlife that calls our parks home. For that, Research on Missouri’s state reptilesRed-bellied box turtle.
Ron and Carmelo were also chasing a turtle, but it turned out to be a stuffed animal. When they finally found the turtle, they learned how to put it in a bag and weigh it so it couldn’t crawl away.
Brian Munoz
/
st louis public radio
Students took turns doing activities about monarch butterfly migration, local snakes, and how to identify trees using fallen leaves.
Hannah Griffiths of the National Great River Research and Education Center dipped a net in leaf litter to look for macroinvertebrates near the edge of Deer Lake behind the Muny. She placed the turtle in a white plastic tray for the children to see.
“We have one big leech here so we hope the kids won’t be too surprised,” Ms Griffiths said. “And she has one mayfly. That’s a sign of good water quality in general, so I’m looking forward to seeing that.”
Griffith’s colleague, Jolena Pan, was also setting up a station for students.
“We want to teach them that science can be done, it’s not so intimidating, it’s not so scary,” Pan said. “Because the next generation really needs more environmental scientists.”
Brian Munoz
/
st louis public radio
Brian Munoz
/
st louis public radio
This is especially important as the climate continues to change. As the students were exploring this little corner of the park; The National Weather Service stated: St. Louis recorded the highest temperature of the day.
The children, who were finally able to see the water dwellers that Griffith and Pan had prepared, let out cries of disgust and joy.
Ron wasn’t as gross as some of his classmates. There are creepy, crawly pets at home, including scorpions and geckos. He is already planning to become a scientist.
“I want to be a veterinarian when I grow up, so I’m reading about animals and stuff,” Ron said.
Carmelo’s plans are less set in stone.
“We don’t know yet, but we still have a lot of time to think about it,” he said.
