Nature Experienceship - Birding with Merrill Webb

We had a great group join us for our bird watching trip with Merrill Webb on a snowy April morning. In spite of the weather, we saw 37 species of birds and four of them were new for Mr. Webb's year list.

1. Black-billed Magpie
2. American Robin
3. Brewer's blackbird
4. Red-wing blackbird
5. Cinnamon teal
6. White crowned sparrow
7. European Starling
8. Western Meadowlark
9 Northern Harrier
10. Gadwall
11. Ring-necked Pheasant
12. Red-tailed hawk
13. American Kestrel
14. Rock Pigeon
15. Killdeer
16. Mallard
17. Sandhill Crane
18. Yellow-headed blackbird
19. House Sparrows
20. Snowy Egret
21. Osprey
22. American White Pelican
23. Canada Goose
24. Northern Shovelers
25. American Coot
26. Say's Phoebe
27. Barn Swallow
28. California Gulls
29. Redhead
30. American Wigeon
31. Greater yellowlegs
32. Snipes
33. Long-billed Dowtichwer
34. Willet
35. American Avocet
36. Black-necked stilt
37. Snowy Plover

Saturday Safari - A Dive into the Ocean

On our last Saturday Safari of the semester we took A Dive in the Ocean. We learned about all of the strange looking deep ocean fish, and other awesome animals in the deep blue sea. We watched a special ocean episode of the Magic School Bus, and then after that the kids made their own craft fish. It was a lot of fun. Saturday Safari is done for this semester, but it will start back up in the Spring!

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Ecosystems

This last Saturday Safari we learned all about ecosystems and the animals that live in them. We focused mainly on the grasslands, wetlands, and the tropical rainforest. We watched a Magic School Bus episode dedicated to habitats, and then we created our own habitats for our craft. It was so much fun. Next week we will be learning about the Desert, and it will be very exciting!

Emilie, museum educator

CLUE - Date Night

This semester’s Date Night was a total success! The theme was Clue: Museum Caper. There was a giant game of clue set up, each of the rooms was represented by a section of the museum, and every character was there, including the Butler (Matt Meese) who was a crack up the whole night. The weapons were objects that could were found right in the museum. The guests came, all dressed up ready to solve a mystery. They sat and had a dinner beforehand polished off with a delicious slice of cheesecake. Afterwards they were split into six groups, and were given a checklist. The guests went from room to room, answering riddles and getting clues, trying to figure out who killed our generous host, Jimmer Fredette.

After many riddles and much deducing a group finally figured out that it was Mrs. White in the Kitchen with the Ram Horn! They even won a prize at the end, two fun filled Easter baskets. Fun was had by all; it was a great night with great food and great company! Check out the pictures!

Saturday Safari - Animals without feet

This last Saturday Safari we learned about the walrus, seahorse, and snake; and a whole bunch of different animals that do not have feet. The kids were able to touch different snakes in our museum, and we watched many educational and fun clips about all of the animals. Our craft that we worked on was a tissue paper seahorse. It was a lot of fun. This Saturday we will be learning about animals and their habitats.

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Butterfly

This last week’s Saturday Safari was such a fun treat. We learned all about the life of the butterfly from the hatching of the egg, to the forming of the chrysalis, we even watched The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Our day finished with working on two crafts. One was a coloring page of a butterfly, and the other project was a mobile that displayed the different stages of the butterfly. This next week we will be learning about Animals without Feet, it will be a lot of fun!

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Animal Defenses

On February 26th, the Saturday Safari group learned all about animal defenses. From raccoons to the glass lizard; the kids even had a chance to meet Bandit, the Honduran Milk Snake. Bandit defends himself with his patterning; he looks like a coral snake. The craft that we worked on were sock puppets, the kids made an animal that they had learned about. We concluded watching an episode of the Magic School Bus that was about sneaky spiders and how they survive. This next week will be all about Butterflies.

Emilie, museum educator