Nature Experienceship - Wild Edibles with Tom Smith

Embracing our gatherer heritage we met together on Saturday the 15th in the basement of the Joseph Fielding Smith Building on BYU campus to be instructed by the BYU professor, Dr. Tom Smith. He shared some of his knowledge of edible plants, talked about books to look at like Stalking the Wild Asperagus, and then prepared some acorn flour muffins for us to eat later. As we wandered on campus we gathered acorns, both from White and Bur oaks. Native peoples lived off of acorns because, "they are just a package of fat!" Tom said, "You can't get that much energy from one food source!". We also gathered yew berries from yew bushes. While the leaves and stems are usually toxic, doctors have discovered a way they can be used to treat ovarian cancer. We also collected Oregon grapes (which taste like sour peas), the flowers, buds, and stems of the day lily (which taste like asparagus), and pine nuts from the local pinyon pine, a tree naturally abundant in Utah.  Tom also taught us about how you can eat wild sunflower seeds. Although they are tiny, you can mash them up to eat them. 

After traipsing all over BYU campus, finding all sorts of edible plants, we returned to the kitchen to whip up some wild concoctions. Our feast consisted of Oregon grape and smooth sumac juice (which is tart, like cranberry juice), acorn muffins, pine nut cookies, birch syrup, cacao beans (very bitter...), morrel mushrooms, bacon, and purslane (which is a succulent weed that grows in our gardens and tastes a lot like spinach when cooked.) 

Nature is still full of food that we can use, the key is simply knowing how and where to find it. Not as many plants are actually toxic as we expected. Most of these plants are not exactly what we are used to eating but they are worth knowing. And hey, at least now we can freak people out by eating, what is to them a random flower, but is actually a sweet and spicy nasturtium. 

Here are some pictures from the event. If you are ever interested in joining us for one of these Nature Experienceships, check our website for details on how to sign up!

http://mlbean.byu.edu/Education/Programs/NatureExperienceships

Nature Experienceship - Birding with Merrill Webb

This week was an official changing point as summer turned to fall on Thursday September 22. And we sure felt it. Buckets and buckets of rain seemed to just be waiting for the signal. Although we were worried the rain might make things difficult, Nature Experiences’ Birding with Merrill Webb was still a huge success. We all were grateful for thick coats as we all gathered before dawn to begin our adventure. And what an adventure it was! Beginning at Utah Lake State Park we saw a huge number pelicans, seagulls, killdeer, osprey, and many more. Right as we were about to leave we saw a beautiful Merlin perched up in a tree This was quite the treat for us; we were so excited to see this rare, small species of falcon.

After Utah Lake, we headed off towards Spanish Fork to a rural little area called Palmyra. Although worried that the rain might have driven them away, we were determined to hunt out the the magnificent Whooping Crane. And find them we did! Huge flocks of them flying overhead and standing idly in old corn fields. This definitely proved a highlight of the trip.

Moving on, the third place we went to was Salem Pond. Considering how rainy and grey the day was, it was no surprise when we caught a bandit creeping around in the bushes: the Black-hooded Night Heron! His partner in crime was also there, the dipping and diving grebe. We felt especially lucky as we watched a mother grebe repeatedly dive under the water the find some food and bring it back to her little baby.

Here is the more-or-less comprehensive list of all the birds we saw:

Canada Goose

Mallard

Ring-necked Duck

Pied-billed Grebe

Western Grebe

American White Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Black-crowned Night-crane

White-faced Ibis

Osprey

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Merlin

American Coot

Sandhill crane

Killdeer

American Avocet

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Caspian Tern

Eurasian Collared-dove

Mourning Dove

Northern Flicker

Say’s Phoebe

American Robin

Tree Swallow

European Starling

American Crow

Black-billed Magpie

Again, we’d love to give a huge shout out to Merrill Webb, because without him, we would have just been a group of freezing kids standing around a pond asking “what’s that?” Fortunately, he knew all the answers.

Yours Truly,

The Bean Museum Educators

Nature Experienceship - Insects with Dr. Shawn Clark

It may have been difficult for us to get up at 9 am for our Nature Experienceship with Dr. Shawn Clark, but apparently it was even harder for the insects. Ectothermic animals heat themselves using the sun, so these creatures didn’t come out until it’s nice and warm outside. We explored the museum’s massive insect collection until it warmed up enough for some bugs to make an appearance. Once the sun came out, we made our way to Hobble Creek. We dredged the river, swept the bushes, stayed good and clear of the hornet’s nest, and filled our bottles with all sorts of insects.

It's All About The Birds

That's not just the bird, it's the BIRDS.  The Bean Museum is proud to present its newly renovated exhibit, the Morris Waterfowl Gallery.  Home to dozens of birds, including the mallard duck, wood duck, swan,  emperor goose, lesser flamingo, and much much more, this exhibit takes an artistic approach to displaying waterfowl.  Now, you can walk entirely through the room (most of the birds are now on mounts on the wall) to discover all sorts of fowl play...

If you haven't been in to see it yet - make sure you drop by to test your knowledge of your flying friends.
Remember, you penny hoarders - it's free!  There's hardly a better way to spend you Wednesday afternoons.

Live Animal Shows

Parents, teachers, scout leaders - school is about to be back in full swing, and you're busy looking for ways to keep the kids entertained.  Whether it's for pack night, field trip, or just to keep your children happy, the Bean Museum's Live Animal shows are a great option.
Our shows are designed and centered are the Utah Science State Core Curriculum.  Shows can be offered in-house or as an outreach at a location of your choosing.  Free public shows are held Monday-Friday at 7:30 in the auditorium of the museum.  Additionally, we hold public shows at 6:30 Monday for family night and Saturday at 1 and 3.  Shows typically last 30-45 minutes, and the current show schedule is as follows:

Free Weekly Show Schedule
Monday: Utah's Diversity at 6:30 PM and Adaptations at 7:30 PM
Tuesday: Adpatations at 7:30 PM
Wednesday: Utah's Diversity at 7:30 PM
Thursday: Classification at 7:30 PM
Friday: Adaptations at 7:30 PM
Saturday: Animal Discovery at 1 PM and Animal Comparisons at 3 PM.

Private shows may be scheduled here for a fee.  You can read about our shows online at this link.

Wildlife Adventures: Cave Crawlers

The adventure began on Tuesday when the young explorers came to the museum to learn the basics behind caves. We learned about the different types of caves, the many ways in which they can be formed as well as some of the animals that can be found inside! The kids even got to meet some of the museum’s live creepy crawlers to help them learn about cave insects!

After the lesson, things got a little batty as the kids decorated their very own flying bats and then got to work on their echolocation skills in a bat-themed game of marco polo (also known as “eek squeak”)!

Thursday’s trip began at 12:00pm, when our adventurers made their way to the trailhead of Timpanogos Cave. It was a warm day, but the cool breeze made it the perfect temperature for an adventure!

The hike was steep and stretched on for about a mile and a half, but the kids were determined to make it to the top!

After a little over an hour of hiking, we finally made it to the entrance of the cave! Upon entering, we learned that the oils in our fingers can do damage to the various cave formations and were very careful not to touch or break anything.

On the cave tour, the kids got to see firsthand the many different geological processes that we had talked about on Tuesday and they were very eager to learn more about caves from Ranger Curtis!

At the end of the day, our feet were aching and our bellies were hungry, but it’s pretty safe to say that everyone made a few special memories!

If you’re sad that you missed Cave Crawlers, make sure to join us for our Wildlife Adventure programs next summer! You can also visit the Bean Museum Monday through Friday 10-9 or Saturday 10-5 for some free educational fun!

Wildlife Adventures: Animal Occupations

Our focus for this week's Wildlife Adventures was animal occupations. On Tuesday, our adventurers learned about what it takes to be a zookeeper, wildlife rehabilitator, and wildlife biologist. We showed the kids what work we have to do in the Bean Museum's live animal room to keep all of our animals happy and healthy. They even got to see Mojo, our bearded dragon, eat some crickets. The rest of the afternoon was spent listening to special guest speakers. Brock McMillan, a BYU professor and wildlife biologist, came and showed the kids what he does with small mammal capture and release. Later, the kids got to meet live birds while Allie Leavitt and Jim Fowers talked about wildlife rehabilitation. Our adventurers got up close and personal to a red-tailed hawk, peregrine falcon, great horned owl, and Eurasian eagle owl! 

On Thursday we reviewed zookeeping by going to explore the wonders of Hogle Zoo. The kids got to experience how the animals are fed, trained, and cleaned, and see what a day in the life of a zookeeper is like.  We were able to introduce our young adventurers to all sorts of careers this weekend, and are excited to see them reach their goals!