Bean Museum Field Trip Videos - "Using Resources"

Bean Museum Field Trip Videos 

Week 4 - "Using Resources"

In our most recent Nature Field Trip video, we talked about identifying organisms while in the field. One of the resources you can use for identification is books. We've compiled a list of identification books that are especially good for junior scientists to use. These books are available for check out from the Provo City library, but there are many others that can be found online or at other libraries.

Trees, Flowers, and other Plants

Title Trees of Utah and the intermountain West : a guide to identification and use

Author Kuhns, Michael Richard, 1955-

ISBN 9780874212440

Title Trees

Author Hickman, Pamela. author.

ISBN 9781771388047

Title Plantopedia : a celebration of nature's greatest show-offs

Author Barman, Adrienne, author, illustrator.

ISBN 9781786031396

Title Wildflowers

Author Romero, Libby, author.

ISBN 9781426329968 9781426329951

Title Botanicum

Author Willis, K. J., author.

ISBN 9780763689230

Title Trees

Author Daniels, Patricia, 1955- author.

ISBN 9781426328923 9781426328916

Title Rocky Mountain plants : trees, shrubs, wildflowers

Author Pfaffmann, Garrick.

ISBN 9781882426263

Title Great Basin wildflowers : a field guide to common wildflowers of the high deserts of Nevada, Utah, and Oregon

Author Blackwell, Laird R. (Laird Richard), 1945-

ISBN 9780762738052

Title Wild flowers of the United States and Canada.

Author Forey, Pamela. Wild flowers of North America.

ISBN 9780716642206

Title Trees

Author Coombes, Allen J.

ISBN 9780789489890

Title Utah Wildflowers : a field guide to northern and central mountains and valleys

Author Shaw, Richard J.

ISBN 9780874211702

Birds

Title The atlas of amazing birds

Author Sewell, Matt, author.

ISBN 9781616898571

Title Bird guide of North America : the best birding book for kids from a National Geographic bird expert

Author Alderfer, Jonathan K., author.

ISBN 9781426330742 9781426330735

Title Birds : discovering North American species

Author Raines, Shirley C., author.

ISBN 9781486713202

Title Birds

Author Beer, Julie, author.

ISBN 9781426323003 9781426322990

Title Look up! : bird-watching in your own backyard

Author Cate, Annette.

ISBN 9780763645618

Title National Geographic kids bird guide of North America : the best birding book for kids from National Geographic's bird experts

Author Alderfer, Jonathan K.

ISBN 9781426310942 9781426310959

Title National Geographic backyard guide to the birds of North America

Author Alderfer, Jonathan K.

ISBN 9781426207204

Title National Geographic field guide to the birds of North America

Author Dunn, Jon L. (Jon Lloyd), 1954-

ISBN 9781426208287

Title Peterson field guide to birds of Western North America

Author Peterson, Roger Tory, 1908-1996.

ISBN 9780547152707

Title Rocky Mountain birds

Author Pfaffmann, Garrick.

ISBN 9781882426287

Title Backyard birds of Utah

Author Fenimore, Bill.

ISBN 9781423603535

Title National Geographic field guide to the birds of western North America

Author Dunn, Jon L. (Jon Lloyd), 1954-

ISBN 9781426203312

Insects and Bugs

Title Dragonflies : hunting, identifying, how and where they live

Author Earley, Chris., 1968-

ISBN 9781770851856 9781770851863

Title Caterpillars : find, identify, raise your own

Author Earley, Chris., 1968-

ISBN 9781770851825 9781770851832

Title Caterpillars and butterflies

Author Trueit, Trudi Strain.

ISBN 9781608702435

Title Rocky Mountain bugs : insects and other crawly things

Author Pfaffmann, Garrick.

ISBN 9781882426324

Title Butterflies and moths

Author Carter, David J. (David James), 1943-

ISBN 9780789489838

Title Butterflies

Author Latimer, Jonathan P.

ISBN 9780395979433 9780395979440

Title Caterpillars, bugs, and butterflies

Author Boring, Mel, 1939-

ISBN 9781559714792 9781559716741

Title Peterson first guide to butterflies and moths

Author Opler, Paul A.

ISBN 9780395670729

Title The National Audubon Society field guide to North American butterflies

Author Pyle, Robert Michael.

ISBN 9780394519142

Mammals, Fish, Reptiles, and Amphibians

Title Kids' guide to fishing : the young angler's guide to catching more and bigger fish

Author Maas, David R., author.

ISBN 9781633223820

Title Wildlife around us : field guide & drawing book. Volume 1

Author Fisher, Diana (Diana L.), illustrator.

ISBN 9781633223837

Title Reptiles & amphibians

Author Howell, Catherine Herbert, author.

ISBN 9781426325441 9781426325458

Title National Audubon Society field guide to North American reptiles and amphibians

Author Behler, John L., author.

ISBN 9780394508245

Title National Audubon Society field guide to North American mammals

Author Whitaker, John O., author.

ISBN 9780679446316

New Programs at the Bean Museum!

School is back in session all over Utah county! The Bean Museum is so excited to be interacting with students again. It is a historical school year. All of our normal outreaches have been replaced with Zoom sessions with students. But, not only is the teaching format new, all of our programs are new!!

               

The state of Utah has revamped their science curriculum standards and so have we! This summer our educators, namely: Alyssa, Nathan and Carter, studied the curriculum requirements and created totally new presentations. They did an excellent job. Different grades received different updates according to the connected curriculum but some of the updates include: greater detail on the structure and functions of plants, conversations on energy and matter, and more! Each presentation also has a more streamlined presentation which better facilitates kids’ retention of the material. And do not get me started on the new videos! They are so interesting and helpful for us visual learners. Programs are still for kids ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. We also create some new "bio-cards" to go with each of these new programs.

We had a really successful educator training this summer where we revised and practiced every single presentation in preparation for the new school year. It was so nice to have all of the educators all together for the first time since the pandemic back in the museum. Everyone shared great comments about teaching skills and ways to better explain tougher material. We also were able to find efficient ways to make the newer, more difficult material understandable for kids. It was a really helpful day for everyone. 

Sign up for a school program

Check out our new online programs:

• Ask a Scientist

• Organism of the Week

• Citizen Science

• Discovery Reading (Facebook Live on Thursdays at 11AM)

• Life Science Live (Facebook Live on Fridays at 11AM)

• Field Trip videos

We also have brand new FHE programs via Zoom on Mondays! Presently we are totally booked for the next 6 weeks. These programs are a lot more interactive and adaptable to the ages of the participants creating a better experience for museum guests and making FHE more fun! We would love to see you there! 

Sign up for FHE

Overall, the museum and all of its educators have been working hard to try and create the best learning environment we can for our guests and students. We care very much about you all! The museum is now open for limited hours so we will see you soon to answer your questions and continue learning together. 

Sarah Robinson, museum educator

Goodbye to the live animals

Earth Day 2020

Happy Earth Month everybody!

This April 22nd we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. This holiday was originally started in 1970 to celebrate the Earth and teach about conservation. In the past, many people have celebrated this historical event by cleaning up rivers and highways, planting trees, and holding conferences to help make better environmental decisions. This year has been very different however, and you may be thinking, how can I still celebrate the Earth this month? Here are some ideas for practicing conservation from home:

• Start (Or continue!) to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Reduce the amount of water you use by taking shorter showers, scraping scraps into the trash (instead of down the sink) or combining loads of laundry. Just don't skimp on that hand washing! 
• Pick up trash around your neighborhood. When you are walking around your neighborhood, pick up any trash you see and put it in the proper receptacles. It may not feel as big as cleaning a whole river, but every little bit counts. This can help reduce the micro-plastic that is found in many waterways today. 
• Plant a garden. Now is an excellent time to learn about and try your hand at growing your own food. Not only is it satisfying to see your hard work go straight onto your dinner table, it also reduces carbon emissions by cutting out shipping. 
• Become an ereader! Many people may be missing their local libraries, but many of them still offer books through apps such as Libby or Overdrive. The "e" stands for "electronic", but it could also stand for "environmental", since reading digital copies of books cuts down on the amount of paper produced to create books. 
• Practice citizen science. A big part of science is simply observation. Many scientists use citizens in their research to track the habitat and migration of different animals. Look for websites, apps, or Facebook groups that need observations of plants, animals, insects and birds, and submit what you see day to day! Share your observations on the website or app called iNaturalist. You can use lots of apps and internet communities to help you identify species, but here are a few to get you started: 
• "Merlin" for birds 
• "PlantSnap" for plants 
• "Picture Insect" for insects 
• "Seek" by iNaturalist

Comment below if you can identify the birds in these photos.

• Look to see what others are doing! There are many people celebrating in their own way, look on social media to see how people are celebrating the Earth. And don't forget to post your own!

2020 Tomb Raider Date Night

On March 7, 2020 approximately 30 couples gathered in the Bean Life Science Museum for Tomb Raider’s date night. The mission was simple enough: retrieve the jewel encrusted skull of Monte L. Bean for Madam Duvalt. After eating a delicious meal and being briefed on the dangers of the mission guests were ready to begin the mission. This particular group was quite brave and enthusiastic in the face of danger. Guests were asked to maneuver through the museum completing various riddles from our cast members, remaining wary of the shadow guards who would strike when thunder would sound throughout the museum. 






Guests made use of strategy and pure speed to evade the shadow guards’ cold grasp. In order to receive a map piece guests had to shoot the shadow guards in the nautical themed shooting gallery ran by the Ship Captain and her First Mate, overcome their fears as they went through the Mystic’s blind folded maze through some of the exotic animals from her past, and cautiously move through Cleopold’s laser course, among others challenges in the museum.

The last map piece is always the most elusive! Guests would have to really face their fears by facing the shadow guards themselves in order to truly succeed, even though it would be risky and dangerous. In the end, one couple was victorious over the rest, and Madam Duvalt finally had her prized skull at last.  

Sarah Robinson, museum educator

2020 Night at the Museums

Last Friday, BYU’s seventh annual Night at the Museums event brought over 1,000 visitors to the Bean Museum!

Guests had a blast participating in the Vertebrate Variety Program, taking pictures at our photo booth, getting a hands-on experience with specimens from Utah’s native animal species, and snacking on “mini Cougar tails”—maple bar donuts—after exploring the exhibits. They also participated in the Night at the Museums scavenger hunt, where each of the five museums awarded a sticker to guests who could solve their riddle.

Congratulations to anyone who figured out all five clues and won a water bottle!

If you weren’t able to join us, here’s a chance to see if you can solve the Bean Museum’s riddle. The answer is below the picture!

I’m silent but deadly, and move in the night.

To mice I’m not friendly; I kill and take flight.

lʍo :ɹǝʍsu∀

Brie Hardy, educator

Winter 2020 Birding with Merrill Webb

Before the sun even rose, patrons gathered with birding expert, Merrill Webb, in the parking lot of the Bean Museum. Rising before the sun was key to see the species we were hoping to spot: Bald Eagles. Our nation's symbol can be seen in Utah during the winter when the eagles fly south from Alaska and Canada to roost. The best viewing time for these rapturous raptors is during the month of February.

Driving out to Palmyra, Utah, the group stopped at a known roosting site, and immediately spotted a subadult Bald Eagle in it’s nest. These hunters leave their nests at sunrise to begin hunting, and we were able to watch this one take off in search of food. Three other eagles were spotted in the area, flying, or occasionally landing in the trees.

Continuing the drive, several different bird species were spotted from the vans, including American Kestrels, Red-tailed Hawks, European Starlings, Black-billed Magpies, and Great-tailed Grackles. Pulling up by the airport, several Northern Flickers were spotted, and a tree full of the gorgeous red-bellied American Robins.

The next spot that was chosen was the shores of Utah lake. Right away, there were many different species of birds all around us. Red-winged Blackbirds flitted about in the trees; Grebes and Coots swam around in the water; and Canada Geese, Mallards, and an American Wigeon called out to each other from every direction. Excitingly, a Great Blue Heron rested directly across from us, about 15 yards away. Once everyone got out to see him, he flew a little further back, but we were still able to capture him in our scopes, binoculars, and cameras.

Moving down the shore, we found a cluster of gulls resting on the ice. We were told that if they have yellow legs, they were Ring-billed Gulls, and if they had pink legs, they were Herring Gulls. After examining all the legs of the birds, one sharp eyed birder was able to spot a single Herring Gull out of dozens of Ring-billed Gulls.

Moving along the lake, we were able to spot more gulls, more Canada Geese and Mallards, a Green-winged Teal, and five more Bald Eagles. Everyone was very excited to see more of the birds we had originally set out to look for, and we stayed watching them until it got too cold to stand it.

Finally, we took a short detour by the new Provo High to try and see some new species, and were able to spot some Song Sparrows and one Northern Harrier, before we headed back to the museum, everyone feeling excited about a morning well spent.

Birds Seen:

Bald Eagle

European Starling

Black-billed Magpie

American Kestrel

Red-tailed Hawk

Great-tailed Grackle

Ring-billed Gull

Northern Flicker

Canada Geese

American Robin

Mallard

Red-winged Blackbird

Great Blue Heron

American Coot

Pied-billed Grebe

American Wigeon

Herring Gull

Green-winged Teal

Song Sparrow

Northern Harrier

Maren Hatch, educator