Tree Frog Treks

Well, Weeks 3-5 are done but there is still time to sign up for Weeks 7-9, with plenty of getting out and getting dirty to be had. The last week, which begins August 8th is almost full but there are a few spaces available. Weeks 7 and 8 have a little more room but might not last long so don’t delay.

Water Wonderland (week 3)
Water makes the world go round! Take out your dip nets & buckets, this week we took a closer look at life in ponds and marshes. We learned the water-cycle boogie and adventured through the park looking for animals that live near the water like turtles, snails, slugs, bugs, birds, and bees! We practiced using a magnifying lens, and experimented with measuring liquids using tools like beakers, flasks, and cylinders!

Destination Desert (week 4)
Have you ever been to a cactus hotel? We went out to the cactus garden this week, to see if we could catch a glimpse of animals who don’t mind a prickly perch! We learned how desert plants protect themselves, and how animals survive & thrive in this unique habitat! Got up close and personal with some scaly lizards, slithery snakes, and a tortoise too!

Out of This World (week 5)
3,2,1…blast off! Greetings earthlings! This week was an adventure through space! Say there, what is this big planet we are on? Why is Earth so special? Let’s blast off rockets, make some space slime, and learn about the sun & stars. We made our own animal constellations, and met our own animal super stars! Turned over a rock or a log, to discover strange creatures with multiple legs, antenna, and compound eyes – did they come from Earth or Mars?

Last weeks camp theme was ‘Come Fly with Me’ so there were of course tons of activities based around this. The half day campers made flying machines and the full day campers made themselves wings. We learned about clouds and how weather is made. As always we got to meet some cool Animal Ambassadors, we don’t have anything that can fly but the kids don’t seem to mind. They think all our critters are cool.

As well as flying machines the kids made balloons filled with various gases to see which ones would float away. To get the gases they did a bunch of chemical reactions and tried to figure out which gas they made and which ones were lighter than air.

The full day campers got to go to Mt Tamalpais for a hike, while the half day kids got to explore the hidden wonders of Golden Gate Park. Everyone gets to help the parks gardeners with the never ending task of weeding and clearing away unwanted invasive plant species.

We kicked off our summer this week, with the theme “Adventure Time” – the campers found out what it was like to be true adventures, trekking near and far around Golden Gate Park.
The half day campers went on many near-by adventures, using all of their senses along the way. They learned about what kinds of tools explorers use, like binoculars, made journals to document their findings, used magnifying glasses to take a closer look at things, and collected insects along the way (releasing them at the end of each day). We met our animal ambassadors, like Clark the Western Toad, Neptune the Blue Tongue Skink, and Blondie our big Burmese Python. On our hikes we found banana slugs, salamanders, and observed pocket gofers and red-tailed hawks. To finish the week the half day campers used compasses and maps, and took a quest to find a hidden treasure!

Our full day campers had many adventures near and far this week, spending time doing science experiments on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday the hit the trail at Lands End – doing a scavenger hunt along the way. They spent time collecting, charting, and classifying their findings each day. On Thursday, they took a field trip to Tennessee Valley on a Tom Sawyer Adventure! They found oodles of snakes including Terrestrial Garter Snakes, Rubber Boas, and Yellow Racers. Friday we finished off the week doing some conservation work with the gardeners in the park, ending a great week with fun games and new friendships!

Space is still available for most future weeks so sign up now for some Outdoor Adventuring!!

Ok folks. Three camp updates for all to be aware of, Winter Camp Session 2, Spring Camp Session 1&2 and finally Summer Camp 2011. Registration is open for all of them now, so get on the website and sign those kids up for some fun.

Winter Camp Session 2. 02/21/2011 – 02/25/2011 from 9am to 4pm and is based out of Frog Hall here at 2114 Hayes St.

Spring Camp Session 1. 03/28/2011 – 04/01/2011.
Spring Camp Session 2. 04/18/2011 – 04/22/2011.
Half Day Camp for Pre-K and Kindergarten age kids is from 9am to 1pm.
Full Day Camp for 1st to 5th Grade age kids is 9am to 4.30pm.
Again based out of Frog Hall here at 2114 Hayes St.

Space is limited for Winter and Spring Camps so sign up a.s.a.p. to make sure you get a spot.

Finally the big one, Summer Camp 2011.
Starts on 06/06/2011 and runs through until 08/12/2011 with the exception of the week of July 4th.
Half Day Camp is from 9am to 1pm for Pre-K and Kindergarten.
Full Day Camp is from 9am to 4.30pm for 1st Grade through 5th Grade.
Summer Camp is different from the others in that we are based out of Golden Gate Park.
Please check our website for the complete details of all camps and hopefully we’ll see you at one or all for some getting out and getting dirty.

So Christmas is fast approaching and one sure sign of that is the Tree Frog Treks Annual Great Cookie Exchange. It will be here at our Frog Hall space on December 15th between 5 and 9pm. Bake some of your favorite cookies, then bring them along to share with others. We will give folks a chance to meet some animals, some staff members and partake of some holiday goodies. Hope to see you there.

This is just a reminder to get out into the beautiful outdoors around us in the Bay Area. These pictures were taken at the beach in Tennessee Valley across the Golden Gate in Marin. It was almost sunset and there was a rain storm blowing in. It looks like we might have snow on the higher elevations this weekend. This would be a nice chance to go out and get some fresh air and experience a sample of a ‘real’ winter.

Dear Mr. Science,
What is the fastest swimming fish?
Jacob, age 7

Hi Jacob,

The fastest swimming fish is the Sailfish. This fish can swim at speeds of close to 60mph. They are extremely fast because of their fin shapes and their long pointy bill.

Keep those questions coming!
Cheers,
Mr. Science (aka Chris Giorni)

Photo credit: e-fishingnews.com

Just a reminder to all of you folks out there in Tree Frog land that Winter Camp is approaching fast and space is limited. Sign up now to get a spot for some outdoor adventuring and nature detecting. Just head to the home page and follow the registration process.

Hope to see you there.

Ok, so this weeks post is going to serve a couple of purposes, 1. Is to tell all you folks out there that there will be a new person posting the blog entries, so things may look a little different and bare with us if anything doesn’t work properly and 2. To tell you that this week our teachers have been spreading the knowledge all about nocturnal creatures. We do this every year at this time to tie in to the wonders of Halloween.

As you can imagine there is a treasure trove of learning to be delved into concerning nocturnal animals and their adaptations to life in the dark. We will be teaching all about the super senses that nature has equipped the night dwellers with such as improved sight and hearing, as well as a keen sense of touch. Finding out that lots of nocturnal animals come from very warm countries and they sleep, hidden away, during the hot daytime and come out at night to hunt and forage for food. Learning how some animals try to avoid certain predators by only being active in the dark and conversely how nature has also made quite a few specialized nocturnal predators as well.
The picture above is of one of our Green Tree Pythons (Morelia or Chondropython viridis) These snakes are almost entirely nocturnal and arboreal (lives in the trees). They are equipped with special pits along their lips that are heat sensitive. These act like infrared vision, allowing them to ’see’ their prey by its body heat, they can detect changes in temperature of as little as a 100th of a degree. This is very handy when you are trying to catch a rat, bird or bat while hanging from a branch in the middle of the night.

So, Happy or Spooky Halloween to you all. Have a safe and fun time Trick or Treating.

Here are some more of Tree Frog Treks nocturnal creatures.

Another Green Tree Python (Morelia or Chondropython viridis)

A Whites Tree Frog (Pelodryas caerulea)

A Tokay Gecko (Gekko gekko)

Photo Credit: Ross Beswick

This week students in our After School Programs will be learning all about raptors. They will learn about the relationship between predators and prey, to observe and identify raptors found in the Bay Area, and investigate some adaptations that make raptors so special.

A raptor is a carnivorous bird that feeds chiefly on meat taken by hunting or on carrion (carcass of a dead animal). Raptors hunt on the wing (while they are flying). The word raptor comes from the Latin word rapere, meaning to seize and sweep away. Raptors have keen senses and primarily use their vision to hunt while using their powerful talons to kill and carry their prey. Raptors are unique among birds because of their special survival tools (adaptations). Among these are their relatively large size, powerful flight, keen eyesight, hooked beaks, and long, curved claws, called talons.

The four most common species of diurnal raptors counted at the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory are Red Tailed Hawks, Coopers Hawk, Sharp Shinned Hawks, and Turkey Vultures (in the 1000’s during fall migrations). Red shouldered hawks are also very common, especially in Golden Gate Park. So if you see a raptor on your trek, chances are it’s one of those five.

Check out these books for more information:
Bird (DK Eyewitness Books) by David Burnie
Birds of San Francisco and the Bay Area by Joseph Morlan, Chris Fisher, Gary Ross, Ewa Plucienni

Photo credit: birdseek.com