On our recent trip to Gundabooka National Park near Bourke we focussed on documenting through photos the diversity in insects and spiders we found.
..our littlest with a great big praying mantis on her hat (and a fly on her chin!)...
Photographing a range of insects and spiders while out camping and bushwalking has provided the kids with their own little ecological / environmental study - learning things like what time of day different critters come out, watching what different things eat and what kinds of habitat you find them in. I think this understanding of nature is an important facet of their development and helps them to truly have an appreciation and understanding of the living world around them - a skill that I am often trying to initiate in the adult learners I encounter through my teaching in conservation and land management.
What activities do you do with your children to help them gain a better understanding of the natural world around them?
Others who have joined in the Get Outdoors Challenge have been doing a range of activities that bring children closer to nature as well - see some of the ideas and things others have been doing.
Here are some of the more photogenic things we found.... many of which we are still trying to name or find out more about....
.... a leafy looking grasshopper.... the boys found these in a range of colours...
... Golden Orb-weaving Spider... we had to avoid these webs everywhere... the kids often experimented with how strong the lines of web were.... we also saw many locusts trapped in the webs of these spiders. In many webs we could see the large female spider and also the much smaller male spider.
... the mound of the Mulga Ants (Polyrhachis macropa).. these ants are nocturnal so we saw very little activity during the day... but the kids went back with torches to see them active at night......
... the small Jewel Spiders were seen often by the kids...
... more grasshoppers .... good camouflage for hiding on sticks and branches....
.. this was a pretty amazing hairy caterpillar....
.. this one wanted to come home with us.... we found him packing up the tent..
.. this locust was laying her eggs into the dirt - see the disturbed dirt under her body..
.. the Giant Burrowing Cockroach.... the legs of this cockroach are specially designed for digging in sandy soils - it can apparently dig down 20 - 100cm... they apparently make good pets but we left this one in the bush....
... another cool cricket found on our tent....
..our camp light was a great insect attractor... including this lacewing...
and finally .. a caterpillar we found on a mistletoe.....
To find out more about other things we saw on our trip follow the links on this page.
No comments:
Post a Comment