Oklahoma Science Adventure 2015

Oklahoma Science Adventure 2015 Blog

July 7

Oklahoma Science Adventure is off to an awesome start! After spending a great afternoon at the OU Ropes Course on Sunday, where we learned about teamwork and communication, we traveled up to the Rogers County Conservation District in Claremore. Here, with the help of our scientist mentors (and lots of mud!), we are learning about the scientific method and designing our own research projects. Check back soon for more updates and pictures as our adventure continues!

July 8

Our day didn’t go quite as we had planned today, but we didn’t let the rain stop us from having fun and learning about science! Instead of canoeing the Illinois River in Tahlequah, we packed up early and went to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. We saw a lot of really interesting aquatic life from all over the world, while learning about ecosystems and adaptations. After we returned to Norman, Nick Czaplewski, the associate curator of vertebrate paleontology, took us down to the river to learn about animal tracking and observation. We’ll go to bed a little early tonight, but not until we start planning for our trip to collect fossils at White Mound, a limestone hill where fossils of ancient invertebrates – animals without backbones – erode out and litter the ground! We asked our participants: what was your favorite part of working at the Rogers County Conservation District, and why?

Gunner A.: Hey guys! Its been an amazing half a week so far! Sadly canoeing was cancelled, but we had an amazing time at the aquarium with a great scavenger hunt hosted by the AMAZING Emily, Josie, and Jes. They have been wonderful this week. The last few days we have been RSU, swimming being with Robert and Kylie, and Katrina teaching us lots about insects, fish, and many more! We have seen many deer at the reservation. Before I forget– thanks to all the sponsers and hosts of what we did this week. 

Britt T.: I am having a great time here!!!!! We went to the Oklahoma Aquarium today and it was very fun! Explorology is the best ever! RSU did a great job hosting us!! My favorite thing I did at the Conservation District was the night hike with Robert! I loved learning about all of the different animals, both day and night!! 

Joshua W.: Hey guys! We have had a great time even though we didn’t get to canoe. However, we got to go to the aquarium. We went to RSU aqua lab with staff Robert and Kyle and we went on a night hike where we found lots of aquatic life, like male water bugs with eggs.We went to the river with Nick, where we learned to identify animal tracks and plants.Thank you for reading, and I am excited to report on the rest of the week later! 

Jaylei G.: My favorite thing about working at the Rogers State University was working on our projects with my partner! We surveyed two different ponds to see how many animals come and go from the sites. Robert helped us study and research four different water sites, like wetlands and ponds. We also had a night hike which was really fun! It was really exciting and I would really like to go back one day. 

Jenny L.: Hi everyone, I’m having a good time here, and the three day stay at RSU was fun. The night hike and going into the pond was dirty but fun. We didn’t go canoeing today, but we went to the aquarium in Jenks and took pictures. The walk along the bank tonight with Nick was interesting and we found lots of animal tracks. Tomorrow we will be going to White Mount to dig fossils. 

Allie W.: I have been having a great time at Explorology so far. I had a ton of fun at RSU. My favorite part was getting dirty and collecting water samples because i love the thrill of finally catching something in my net. I will continue to have a fun time at Explorology. See you soon mom :3 

Madelynn: We had lots of fun getting wet and muddy at the RSU conservation district. We went on hikes and ruined our shoes for science. I liked seeing the biodiversity in all of the sites that we went to. We saw leeches, minnows tadpoles, and a lot more. We collected insects with Katrina, and saw the biodiversity at night using a light trap. I am very excited to go collect fossils at White Mound. 

Allorah V.: We had fun working at RSU. We found lots of different animals in water and on land. We did a night hike and heard lots of different sounds in nature. We got into several wetland and pond sites, which was muddy, dirty, and fun! We actually were able to perform a scientific experiment and present it to people. Canoeing was cancelled I was really looking forward to it, but we made other plans instead at the Oklahoma Aquarium. 

Gabriel W.: me and my parter got to test the water and we sank knee deep in the mud but it was good because we went to rib crib and the Oklahoma Aquarium it was alot of fun 

Lydia K.: The last few days we spent at exploring RSU and they were really interesting. I discovered organisms, especially insects and spiders, I see all the time on a whole new level. Exploring and getting dirty really pushed me to a new level of comfort. My favorite thing at RSU was exploring the fields and identifying the different types of bugs. Today our schedule changed up a bit, and we went to the aquarium instead. I hope tomorrow at the paleontology site will be just as awesome as our previous days. 

Brandon W.: We had lots of fun at the RSU conservation district! We waded, walked, and swam through literally thick and thin as we went into mud and performed various experiments that we came up with ourselves! We heard lots of “for science!” ‘s and met some really cool scientists who made science more interactive! We caught lots of minnows, tadpoles, crayfish, and more! I had fun with all my new friends, and created short stories about new animals and exploration for one of our activities as well! As far as my family and friends, I miss all of you and I’ll see you soon! 

Jason B.: We had lots of fun at RSU. We found lots of different water animals in four of the different sites we visited at the aqua lab at the Conservation District; we also visited a terrestrial site where we caught all kinds of different types of insects. Katrina, Robert, and Kylie were awesome. They taught us all so much. Sadly, we did not get to go on the canoeing trip because of the recent rain, but we did not let the rain stop our fun. We went to the aquarium and had scavenger hunt instead! I am really excited about the rest of the week, especially White Mound tomorrow!

Lexi C.: Hey everybody! It has been a blast; we saw and explored a lot of awesome ecosystems and designed our own experiment about dragonflies. We went to the aquarium today instead of going canoeing because the river was up.The aquarium was really interesting! We saw sharks, sting rays, and lots of other cool stuff. We have gotten really muddy,dirty,and wet, especially on our night hikes.

Davyn S.: We had loads of fun. We caught organisms in the water which was messy. My favorite part was when me and my partner caught 24 crayfish. I kind of ruined two pairs of socks but it was totally worth it. We ate lots of yummy food and went to the aquarium which was really cool because we got to touch the sting rays and see the sharks. 

July 9

Today, Nick helped us to collect fossils of ancient animals without backbones – crinoids, corals, brachiopods and trilobites. We worked with partners to decided on a research question, and then collected the fossils we needed to answer our question (and avoid the rain!). We made it back to the museum safely, where we learned about the geologic history of Oklahoma and how it has changed over time. Soon we will start working on our presentations for Saturday so that we can show our families what we have discovered! We asked our participants: describe your White Mound research project to your friends and family (hint: remember the scientific method!).

Gunner A.: Today we went out with Nick and the gang and headed to White Mound with laughters on the van. When we got to our sites Josh and I looked for aquatic fossils and we found many fossils from long periods ago. When we got back to the museum we cleaned our fossils then identified them figuring out our hypothesis was correct (we thought there would be aquatic animals which was our hypothesis). Next, we went and explored the museum with Jes teaching us about all different time periods then ate amazing dinner! 

Lydia K.: Today was super awesome! We got to go and find fossils at White Mound. Since it had rained so much, we had to hike out to the site. Dr. Nick helped us identify each different type of fossils we found. My partner and I were specifically trying to search for different types of fossil to show what type of ecosystem this site was. We had guessed the site was going to have both ocean and terestrial life. Our hypothesis was only half right. The site only had ocean life. I hope tomorrow will be just as awesome. 

Jason B.: At White Mound we met NIck; he was awesome he taught us how to track animals and told us what kind of fossils we found. We found lots of fossils everywhere. My research partner and I formed a hypothesis was there would be more land animals than water animals, but once we got there we found so many shells (brachiopods) and quickly realized that it used to be part of the ocean and our hypothesis was rejected. So we just explored the site for a while. So excited for tomorrow!

Davyn S.: We went to White Mound and it was really fun. We found lots of cool fossils such as coral, brachiopods, trilobites, and crinoids. First we made a question: how many species can we find? My partner and I made a hypothesis that we could find ten different species of animal’s fossils. Then we went to White Mound to find fossils. After we collected them and got back to the museum we cleaned them and identified them. Then we checked to see if our hypothesis was supported. Our hypothesis was not supported, we only found six species of animals. We had lots of fun! 

Lexi C.: Today was great we went to White Mound and look for fossils like inprints on rocks.The ecosystem was interesting and rocky.We were with Mr. Nick, our scientist mentor, he told us very awesome types of stuff. My research partner and I wanted to know how many different species of animal fossils we can find; we thought we would find between three and five. Our hypothesis was not supported, in that we did not find any land animals at the site at all. After we were done at White Mound we headed to Norman to study are fossils. I know tomorrow will be fun.

Allorah V.: Today we went to Sulphur to go to White Mound, which is a site where we can find fossils. We waded through some really cold water to get to the site. Some people went through with bare feet and it was really refreshing. Then we went to the museum and cleaned and identified our fossils. My partner and I found out that our hypothesis was supported, which was that the fossils we found were from before dinosaurs. Had a really fun time, I can’t wait untill tomorrow. 

Britt T.: My question was that will the fossils be scattered or grouped together? My hypothesis was that they were going to be scattered. And the conclusion was that it supported our hypothesis that it was scattered! White Mound was great, it had so many fossils! Then we came back to the museum and Jes took us through the gallery! (very cool) Having a great time!!! Talk to you tomorrow! 

Gabriel W.: Today we got to go to White Mound with Dr. Nick, and found a couple trilobites. I had a theory that there was going to be more land animals than water animals, but my hypothesis was not supported at all; there were a lot more water animals there. When we got back to the museum we took a tour through the different time periods. Then we ate Qudoba’s and it was delicious. Talk you guys tomorrow. 

Brandon W.: This was another amazing day!!! We had lots of fun collecting fossils at White Mound, and we got to keep whatever we found! We met up with Nick, an awesome person who can track animals! We learned more about the scientific method, and even had a dance-off in one of the vans! I won second place after my friend Madelynn! I did another research project about what would be at White Mound as well. My hypothesis was that we would find ten different species, and we only collected about six, but it was still really fun! We found coral, brachiopods, trilobites, and crinoids. It was great. Overall it was a fun day. I am looking forward to going swimming later tonight! I will talk more later! 

July 10

We spent our day at the Sam Noble Museum, touring galleries and collections behind-the-scenes. First, we went to the vertebrate paleontology collection where we got to see and touch real fossilized dinosaur bones. Then, Katrina took us on a tour of the recent invertebrates collection. We even saw some of the types of insects and crayfish that we found while we were doing our field research in Rogers County. In the afternoon we had a guest speaker from our sponsor OERB, who spoke to us about geology in and out of the oil and natural gas industry. It was a busy day, but we learned a lot about different types of sciences!

Right now, we’re looking forward to this evening. After we practice our presentations for tomorrow, we’ll watch a movie on the museum’s big screen and then sleep under the dinosaurs in the Ancient Life Gallery!