Hello, everyone! Today was Fishy Thursday here at MSU Tollgate Education Farm Center. Fish are vertebrates that live in water and have gills, scales, and fins on their body. They come in many different shapes and sizes, and the peppers had a chance to explore all the different fish in Tollgate’s pond.
Red Peppers with our fishing helpers Jim and Tom.
As usual, the day started with a pepper party (moo!) where Mr. Alex, Ms. Jackie, Ms. Mandy, and Ms. Courtney told the peppers about all the adventures they were going to have. Before heading off on a fishing adventure, the peppers learned a bit more about the ecosystem fish live in, the pond. The organisms in the pond’s ecosystem are broken down into three categories: producers, consumers, and decomposers. The producers are the plants that grow in the pond like phytoplankton, which are microscopic algae. The consumers include invertebrates (animals without backbones) like centipedes and zooplankton as well as vertebrates such as fish and frogs.
An Orange Pepper filling a test tube with pond water.
Now that the peppers knew a bit more about the pond’s ecosystem, it was time to go fishing! Some of the peppers had been fishing before and for others it was their first time! The peppers learned how to safely handle a fishing pole and were assisted by our fishing helpers Chet, Jim, Tom, Elliott, and Eric. While there are both omnivorous and carnivorous fish, the peppers caught all carnivorous fish: sunfish, bass, and bluegill. The peppers learned that fishing takes a lot of patience and there are many tricky fish that will eat the worms off the hook and swim away! Though not every pepper caught a fish, everyone had a chance to observe the fish from the pond up close.
You can do it Orange Pepper! Keep reeling it in!
After an exciting morning of fishing, it was time for a snack. Swamp Juice Smoothie (also known as Green Slime) to be exact! Ms. Katie explained how smoothies are made and let the peppers blend all the ingredients. I bet the cold smoothie felt nice after a hot morning of fishing. Ms. Katie also showed the peppers a milk experiment. She poured milk on to a plate and added food coloring to the middle. Then she added soap, which spread the fat to the outside of the plate forcing all the color away from the middle. The peppers enjoyed watching the reaction and experimenting further by adding soap to different parts of the plate.
The peppers and their milk experiment. Soap spreads the fat!
To end the morning, the peppers learned how to identify different animals by their footprints and made their very own print moldings. Remember the split hoof on Pasquale and Brownie? It helped us identify them as herbivores. Tracks can provide some detail to an animal such as size, weight, adaptations, etc. I wonder what animals frequent the backyards of my peppers friends. I’ve seen a couple cloven hoof prints about my pen lately. I think goats and sheep must frequent my backyard!
The peppers created print molds to help them identify animal prints in the woods.
The afternoon brought the peppers even more adventures. Once again, the peppers played in dirt. This time they learned about the different soil types. They learned that there are three major types of soil: sand, clay, and silt. Clay lacks air and tends to retain moisture and fertilizer. Sand, on the other hand, has plenty of air so it doesn’t hold any water. Silt’s particles are intermediate in size between clay and soil, so it tends to hold water well, but not to the extent of clay.The peppers used clay and silt to make seed balls, which are balls of clay and seeds that are great to use in dry areas because the seeds are not stimulated until it rains. The peppers threw their seed balls into the field and washed up for some cooking in the Garden Kitchen.
The Red Peppers waiting for Mr. Alex to give them seeds for their seed balls.
In the Garden Kitchen, the peppers made hummus and homemade pita chips. Yum! They also enjoyed a strawberry blueberry lemonade sorbet to fuel the peppers for the rest of the day.
A Green Pepper squeezing a lemon to use the lemon juice to make hummus.
After the Garden Kitchen, the peppers spent time in the Maple Forest exploring and learning about the different plants and animals. Goldy the kid goat and Eric even tagged along! The peppers identified cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west) to help them navigate the woods so they wouldn’t get lost.
Ms. Mandy pointing North.
To end the day, the peppers learned about different types of animals. They learned that herbivores eat only plants, carnivores eat only meat, and omnivores eat both meat and plants. Then they played a game where the counselors said an animal such as “fish” and the peppers had to run to the right sign. All the peppers ran to the carnivore sign when fish was called. Those smart peppers!
The Green Peppers, Eric, and Tom with all their carnivorous fish.
I’m very sad and excited for the last day of camp tomorrow. I’ve had such a great week with my new pepper friends and tomorrow will be the best day by far! It’s feeding time here at MSU Tollgate Farm, so I’m off to grab my bottle of milk, but check out the gallery below to see more fun from our day.
Until tomorrow,
Clifford the Calf
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- The Green Peppers planning their skit for tomorrow. Can’t wait to see it!
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- The Yellow Peppers discovering the living items living in the Maple Forest.
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- The Yellow Peppers orienteering in the Maple Woods.
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- The Yellow Peppers misting to cool off in the hot sun.
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- The Red Peppers walking their seed balls to the field.
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- The Green Peppers resting after a short walk.
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- The Green Peppers taking Goldy on a walk through the Maple Forest.
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- Mr. Alan distributing seeds to the Red Peppers.
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- The Red Peppers waiting for Mr. Alex to give them seeds for their seed balls.
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- An Orange Pepper cleaning the outside of a lemon.
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- An Orange Pepper slicing pitas to make pita chips.
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- Mr. Alex explaining to the Red Peppers that clay holds water really well.
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- A Green Pepper squeezing a lemon to use the lemon juice to make hummus.
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- Ms. Courtney showing the Orange Peppers what happens to an egg after sitting in vinegar.
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- The Orange Peppers spent some time with the chicks after snack time!
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- Ms. Mandy pointing North.
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- The Yellow Peppers exploring in the Maple Forest.
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- The peppers and their milk experiment. Soap spreads the fat!
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- Ms. Katie sharing Swamp Juice Smoothie with the Red Peppers.
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- Ms. Katie prepping the sorbets for the afternoon.
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- Nice catch Orange Pepper!
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- You can do it Orange Pepper! Keep reeling it in!
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- The Orange Pepper and her bass.
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- Elliot setting a bass free.
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- This Orange Pepper even brought his own fishing pole from home. He’s a pro!
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- The Orange Peppers caught a fish within minutes of casting their lines!
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- An Orange Pepper’s first catch of the morning.
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- Elliot helping the Orange Peppers with the weight of the fish.
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- The Yellow Peppers celebrating after a great morning of fishing.
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- A Yellow Pepper checking out her fish.
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- Some peppers caught as many as four fish!
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- Jim helping a Yellow Pepper set the fish free.
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- A Yellow Pepper proud of her fish.
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- A Yellow Pepper showing her first catch.
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- A Yellow Pepper waiting patiently for a fish to bite.
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- The fish were really biting today. These Green Pepper caught fish at the same time!
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- The Green Pepper helper and her catch of the day.
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- The Green Peppers all caught a fish at the same time with the help of Eric and Tom!
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- Mr. Alex showing the Red Pepper girls the mouth of bass.
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- A Red Pepper and Tom with her catch.
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- A Red Pepper with a sunfish.
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- The Red Peppers bringing in a fish.
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- A Green Pepper checking out the bass’ tongue.
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- A tiny Green Pepper caught a really large bass!
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- A Red Pepper and his helpers Elliot and Chet with their beautiful bass catch.
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- A Red Pepper waiting anxiously for his fish to make it out of the water.
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- A Red Pepper and her catch.
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- Chet providing extra expertise to bring in the fish.
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- A Red Pepper using all her strength to reel in a fish.
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- A Red Pepper very excited about his catch.
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- A Red Pepper reeling in a fish.
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- A Red Pepper with his first catch of the day.
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- Red Peppers with our fishing helpers Jim and Chet.
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- Yellow Peppers attempting to identify critters in their test tubes.
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- Green Peppers looking for a tiny fish.
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- Ms. Courtney showing the Green Peppers little critters they found in the water.
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- The Red Peppers examining their findings.
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- Ms. Courtney gathering water for the Green Peppers.
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- Ms. Courtney showing the Green Peppers an interesting tree.
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- An Orange Pepper filling a test tube with water.
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- The Orange Peppers exploring water ecology.
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- The Green Peppers mixing plaster to make animal prints.
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- Ms. Jackie explaining how to make animal prints.
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- The peppers created print molds to help them identify animal prints in the woods.
