Oklahoma Science Adventure 2013

Oklahoma Science Adventure 2013 Blog

Every year, Adventurers get to share their thoughts, updates and discoveries on the ExplorOlogy Facebook page. Check out the posts and participant responses from our Adventure this year!

Day One

Hello everyone! Oklahoma Science Adventure had a great first day! We played some games to get to know each other and then had to learn how to work together and grow as a team at a ropes course. After some challenging activities, we headed to Claremore where we will spend the next few days at the Rogers County Conservation District. There we will get to explore all aspects of nature including insects, plants, reptiles and more! We ended our first day with a hike around the area and then spent some fun time together around the camp fire eating s’mores. We are ready to begin our adventures! Keep checking back to see what we are doing in the field! – Jes & Kristi

Days Two and Three

Hello! These past two days have been filled with mud, pond water and fun! We have explored the ecosystems around the area with Robert who is an environmental educator at Rogers State University and found so many animals like fish, frogs and of course cool insects! Dr. Katrina Menard, the Sam Noble Museum’s Curator of Recent Invertebrates has joined us out in the field and is helping us learn all about the insects of the area and the proper way to use insect nets in order to catch and study them closer. Dr. Nick Czaplewski has also joined us for the next few days! He will be working with us on animal tracking and helping us better understand the world around us. We are conducting on our own research projects using the scientific method in order to understand more about the area and the ecosystem. We have learned so much and can’t wait to share it with everyone! Tomorrow we will head to Tahlequah to take a trip down the Illinois River! We can’t wait to explore a new area and see what kind of new things we can discover. -Jes & Kristi

Day Four

Today was a great day filled with discovery! We woke up before the sun rise and Dr. Nick led us in exploring what happens in nature when most of us are still asleep. We saw some really interesting birds and other animals and we discussed their adaptations in order to better understand how they survive. Then, we traveled from Claremore to Tahlequah for our river adventure! We had a great time canoeing down the Illinois River and eating our lunches next to the water. Tomorrow we are looking forward to some invertebrate paleontology as we travel out to White Mound to explore the Devonian Period; a time when Oklahoma was under water! Stay tuned for more of our adventure! – Jes & Kristi

Clay D.: We did a few trust excersises at a ropes course that were pretty fun. Later we drove to Rogers State University in Claremore and spent some time at a nature reserve and did a night hike. Day 2: Spent some time catching bugs, tadpoles, and minnows. We brought them back to the lab to study them. Day 3: We’re still at the reserve and we split into groups of two to conduct an experiment. Mine was testing to see if darker colored tadpoles swam closer to the bottom of the pond and lighter colored tadpoles swam closer to the surface. They do. Day 4: We woke up early to go on a morning hike and saw fireflys, deer, satellites and shooting stars. Later we drove to Tahlequah to canoe down the Illinois River and we saw a bald eagle, carp and or catfish, and some gar. P.S. In need of sleep! 

Logan L.: Over the past four days I have had lots of fun. The camp has gone great and we have made lots of friends, human, and animal. We took a night hike the first night and the hike taught us to use our other senses other than sight. On the second day we went to 3 different ponds to catch insects and tadpoles and anything else we could find. Then our environmental educator took us to an area full of insects. There were grasshoppers, dragonflies, mayflies, and bees. The third day we did our own science experiment and me and my partner caught tadpoles for 3 hours and then we took it back to the lab and analyzed the data. After we did that we had to do a slide show about the data we had obtained. Today on the fourth day we woke up at 4:00 and went for a morning hike until 6:15. We went all the way to Tahlequah to canoe down the Illinois River. 

Andy L.: Wazzzz upppp world !!!!!!!! Andy here. I am in the Explorology program and it’s a blast. We did some much things like today we went on a morning hike at 4 in the morning. The last four days we went on three hikes. While at the hike we saw deer, frogs, birds, bugs, racoons and ducks. It felt breezy and sticky. We also went cannoning we saw fishes, snakes, and a BALD EAGLE !!!!! On the first day we went to a rope course. My favorite game was the seesaw of death because we all work together. Then later we went on a three hour drive to Claremore. I was sleeping half the way. When we got there we went to the Aqua Lab and meet Robert. Then at the Aqua Lab we went on the first hike and it was at night. That night we ate at Golden Coral. The next day we went to the Aqua Lab and got mud. We went to four sites. First three were in the ponds full of mud. We caught tadpoles, leaches, minnows, baby bass, clams, water bugs, and stick scorpion. The last one had tall grass where we caught bugs like grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterfly, spiders, and katydid. On that day we ate Rib Crib. On the third day we did our experiment at the Aqua Lab. Some people got muddy and some people didn’t depending on your experiment. We also learned more about tracks with Nick. We got to play games with the sand to make tracks. Today we went cannoning and saw lots and lots of fishes like catfish, diamond heads and fishes I don’t even know. We check in our hotels. Then we ate Chilis and it was good. Then we practiced on Paleontology. That’s all we did so far we still got three more days. PEACE!!!!!!!! 

Abby H.: On the first DAY, we drove back to the Aqua Lab and met Dr. Katrina, we studies insects. Also, Mr. Gibbs took us around to four different sites, three of which were pond sites, and one that was a field. At the first three sites, we waded around in the water, looking for tadpoles, waterbugs, fish, crawdads, anything that lived in the water. We saw a couple turtles, of which I’m sure were box turtles. The water was pretty much the samw temprature throughout the three ponds, and all that changed at all was the bottoms of the pond. The first two were more muddy, and had a lot less vegatation. The third pond was rocky ont eh bottom, and had a LOT more vegatation. The field was, well, a field. it had lots of tall vegatation, with some flowers and weeds. We used aerial nets to catch dragonflies and butterflies, and sweeping nets to catch bugs on the ground. That meant lots of bug bites. We went back to the lab and thought about what we had seen. After that we came up with a question, hypothesis and an experiment to perform the next day. Our question was “Where are grasshoppers mostly found?” On the second DAY, we performed the experiment. My partner Nathalie and I went around to three of the four sites we visited the day before to observe the number of grasshoppers. At the end, our hypothesis was proved true! Most grasshoppers where found at the site farthest from water! That’s all i have time for today. Missing my family, but having a great time! Can’t wait to see you guys on Saturday! 

Hannah S.: I have had a lot of fun this past week. I really liked going on the morning hike. We saw owls, shooting stars, and all kinds of bugs. When we went canoeing today we saw a lot of big fish, an eagle, and snakes. Tomorrow we will be going to white mound to look for invertebrate fossils. 

Natalie O.: It’s been four days since I’ve been here, it’s been so much fun and full of learning. We’ve been working with scientists that actually work with real life fossils, and bugs. We’ve been going down a river canoeing, we had also saw snakes, fish, and many different types of bugs. We had went on four hikes one of them on our first hike was at night, then the next in the middle of the day collecting different creatures like tadpoles, frogs, water bugs, and small fish. We also went back to the sites we had been hiking on and collected different bugs, fish, and or tadpoles. The last hike we went on was in the morning at 4:00 a.m. to see the sun rise and all the noises change as the sun rose like from night creatures to the morning birds and grasshoppers. we had also went to a garden and saw many different and new plants we had never seen before like a moon flower that only blooms when the moon is out unlike other plants that bloom when the sunshine was shining on them. We had already stopped at two places one of them being Claremore, and Tahlequah two very different places with a lot to show us about science and different aspects of the many different kinds of science using fossils, insects, and animals. Also playing very unique games that can teach us observation skills, listening skills, and leader skills. This is also a place where you can be yourself and your ideas can be listened to. 

Katie R.: We are having a lot of fun in Explorology this week! On day 1 we did some teamwork games. One game that we did was that one person stood outside of a roped off area with balls in it and one person stood in it blind-folded. Whoever was outside of the area was giving directions to the blind-folded person. You were teamed up and there were 2 people to a team. The person outside of the area was trying to give directions to the blind-folded person so that he/she could find a ball and throw it at another blind-folded person. If you got hit three times, you are out. On day 2, we went to the aqua lab and started to learn about aquatic animals and bugs and land animals and bugs. We waded into ponds that day and caught different bugs and tadpoles. I loved catching tadpoles! After the ponds, we went sweeping for grasshoppers and other insects in tall grass. On day 3, we started our experiments. We had to pick a problem/question then write down our hypothesis. Yesterday, we started (and finished) our slide show presentations. Today, we went canoeing in the Illinoi River. It was really hot and we all got sunburned pretty badly. We also started learning about digging fossils. 

Hanna G.: Umm… hey guys. For the first few days we stayed at an aquatics laboratory at Roger State where we met Robert, a naturalist and Katrina, an entomologist. We toured the reserve and caught insects and aquatic animals at four different sites. We also got super muddy but the experience was definitely worth ruining a pair of old shoes. After the tour I split up from the fourteen others to go with just Katrina and Katie (my partner) to do a research project on different types of grasshoppers we caught. We also went on night hikes and did some animal tracking with Nick, the paleontologist. When we returned we learned a little about paleontology basics and more about animal tracks with games and sand. This morning we went for a very early, like before the sun shone, hike to say our good byes to the beautiful reserve. Later on today we rode in canoes down the Illinois River. Right before the blog I’m writing now we discovered fossils in a little sand pit and talked some more with Nick. He’s really interesting. Bye guys. 

Garrett K.: When we got here we met every one at did team activities. We did a night tour to learn the area we’d be working in. Monday we decided what our experiment would be on. Tuesday we did our experiment. Ours was on tadpoles. Today we came to Tahlequah and went canoeing which was my favorite thing so far and talked about fossils. See every one Saturday. 

Sierra B.: Hello, my name is Sierra and I am having an awesome time at the 2013 Explorology Camp. I expected this camp to be more of a week of learning about animals, but it is so much better! With going hiking late at night or early morning to catching tadpoles in a pond, and finding other insects I’ve never seen before. In the past four days I’ve done one experiment on tadpoles, two hikes and have seen for the first time a shooting star. But my most favorite part of the camp was canoeing down the Illinois River. I got the hang of canoeing after half an hour and with my friend Ella we followed the group for a while until we found the perfect river bed to park our canoes to swim. The water was so clear and full of fish! Tomorrow they said we’d be heading to Sulphur to a fossil site and I hope to have some more fun. 

Naima K.: Hi, my name is Naima, I really enjoyed the last four days .I had a lot of fun working on projects and learning about the life of the fossils and bugs .on the four day we went canoeing and i saw a lot of bugs, fish, and snakes. We also woke up at 4:00 in the morning and we went for the morning hike and i really enjoyed watching the stars. 

Ethan B.: So far the trip has been lots of fun. One the first day we went from the museum to Claremore. We got to go on a ropes course and some of the obstacles and games were fun but hard. Then we went on a night hike through the woods, there were lots of deer and frogs and other noises and sounds. On the second day we got to go through the swamp and wet lands to catch frog, tadpoles and bugs. We got to do a presentation. Then today we got to go on a canoe trip, we got to see lots of fish. There was some fish larger than I am tall.

Ella M.: We are having so much fun! We just spent the last few days at the wetlands at Rogers State. We were able to take out some nets to various ponds and we caught tadpoles, dragon fly larva, and someone even caught a leech! This morning we got up at four o’clock to go hiking and even though I was still half a sleep it was really cool. We saw things like shooting stars and we heard owls. We also went canoeing today. It was lots of fun and a bit wet a times! Can’t wait to go dig for some fossils tomorrow. 

Jason A.: Wazzzzzz up world !!!!!!!! Havin lots of fun learning new things had fun doing presentation about grasshoppers. Meeting new friends. Ready for a trip home peace out!!!!!!!!!!! 1st day: we had lots of fun got to meet people and went to a rope course and played a lot of games that I have not my life I just can’t wait to show my friends and family how to play them my favorite was tank pretty awesome. 2nd day: we went to Claremore met a naturalist named Robert. He was pretty awesome. He took us on a night walk and got to hear lots of bugs and fish jumping out of the water. 3rd day: we did an experiment on grasshoppers jumping. Pretty interesting. We measured their legs, body and how far they jumped. Saw a lot of deer and ponds. 4th day: we met an awesome guy named nick. He showed us how to track animals and how to tell steps of the animals in the track. Went floating down the river and had fun. Ready for home sweet home. 

Day Five

Hello! Today we traveled from Tahlequah to White Mound to work on some invertebrate paleontology in order to discover what Oklahoma was like about 400 million years ago! Just like at Rogers County, we composed our own research projects using the scientific method in order to understand the time period, what Oklahoma was like at that time and what kind of plants and animals lived there. We found crinoid stems, a variety of coral and even some trilobites and of course tons and tons of brachiopods! We were able to keep what we discovered so we will be returning home with some really neat fossils that we can’t wait to share. A special thanks to Dr. Nick for coming out there with us and helping us on our projects. After a day of collecting fossils, we got to go to Braums and eat some ice cream! It was a great way to finish our day in the sun. We traveled back to Norman after Braums to finish up our invertebrate paleontology projects and to share what we found with our fellow adventurers. Tomorrow we get to explore the museum and see what happens behind the scenes. Can’t wait! – Jes & Kristi

Ella M.: We went fossil digging today! After spending a lot of time in the car we finally got to white mound where we dug for invertebrate fossils. It was so, so, so hot outside. We were roasting in the sun but it was a lot of fun seeing all the cool animal fossils. After that we came back to Norman. We are at the museum now were we just finished a cool scavenger hunt game. I can’t wait for tomorrow. 

Hanna G.: Hey there… Well today was a lot less exhausting as yesterday, we got to sleep nine hours. After we drove for a while we arrived at White Mound, which is a fossil site with a boat load of invertebrate fossils, like Brachiopods, Trilobites, horned coral, Colonial coral, and Katie and I did another research project about what the environment was around 420 million years ago. After that we stopped for ice cream and said goodbye to Dr. Nick Czaplewski. Then we drove from Sulphur back to the Museum for a scavenger hunt. That was super crazy and fast and also it’s a good life skill to know how to work a walkie talkie. 

Ethan B.: Today we got to see lots of cool fossils at white mound. We got to go on a scavenger hunt in the museum. We saw lots of creatures from millions of years ago. Some of the creatures are huge. We got keep some of the fossils we found. I’ve had a great time at camp. 

Jason A.: Wazzzzz up world!!!!!!!!!!! I had a blast to day went and found fossils at white mound very hot today. Went to Braum’s for ice cream and eat ice cream, then we headed to Norman and ate mexican food then had a scavenger hunt. 

Katie R.: Today was a lot of fun! First, we drove 3 hours to the dig site. We found out that the site used to be covered in water. It was a shallow ocean 420 million years ago! We found things like shells, horned coral, Trilobites, colonial coral, and crinoid stems. Then, we went to Braum’s and got some ice-cream because everyone was dripping in sweat. After Braum’s, we headed back to the museum and did a scavenger hunt. We were the 3rd team done! 

Andy L.: WAZZZZZ UUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPP World Andy here. Today we went to a site where we got to get fossils. It was hot. We found shells, and snails. Then we went back to Norman. Then we ate Mexican food. Then went on a scavenger hike at the Sam Noble Museum. PEACE OUT!!!! 

Hannah S.: Today we went to white mound and looked for fossils. We had a lot of fun and got to keep a lot of fossils. We stopped at Braum’s and at ice cream. We just got done playing a scavenger hunt in the museum. It was a lot of fun even though James told us a lot of hints. 

Sierra B.: Today was a great! I found many fossils at the site in Sulphur and learned a lot about Invertebrate Paleontology. Dr. Nick Czaplewski was a big help too. The site we visit was called White Mound. It was really hot and dry there too. After we went to Braum’s to eat ice cream! Then headed back to Norman to have a scavenger hunt in the museum. 

Logan L.: Today we went to Sulphur, Oklahoma and went looking for invertebrate fossils and we found a few fossils in almost perfect condition. Then we came to the museum and looked at the fossils and then we ate. Afterwards we did a scavenger hunt. 

Naima K.: Hi! Today was a lot of fun ,we had to wake up at 7:00 in the morning . we drove for 2 hours to get to the site .I found a lot of shells ,horned coal and trilobites .then we went to Braum’s and we had ice cream and we drove to Norman and we went straight to the museum and we had Mexican food than had a scavenger hunt. 

Abby H.: Hey guys! Today we went to White Mound, a fossil sight out in the southern part of Oklahoma! My partner Nathalie and I found a lot of cool shells- 84 to be exact. A little while into it, I got overheated. I was light headed, and sweating like crazy… but I lived! It was a cool experience, and I wish my siblings could have been there to find all the cool stuff with me, too. After we went to Braum’s, and I enjoyed a nice cool birthday-cake ice cream shake! Very yummy! We said goodbye to Dr. Nick Czaplewski, a curator of vertebrate paleontology who had been staying with us for the last few days. We had Subway for lunch, and a Mexican restaurant catered for dinner. Also very yummy! I got finished with a scavenger hunt, in which my partner Hannah Sorrells and I finished third. (Continuation of week from Day 3) On day three we went on a four and a half hour canoe trip down the Illinois River. I was partnered with Hannah Sorrells. We were canoeing down the river, and we came to some rapids. We tried to go through it, but our boat veered to the side in the current and we capsized! Hannah and I fell out, and so did our lunches, water bottles, and the water pulled my hat of my head. I never found it. But we found everything else. James, Kristi, Hannah, Ethan, Jason, and I were able to get the boat unstuck, and we were back canoeing in no time. We stopped and swam every so often, and we had a race. My group won! We had sandwiches and chips for lunch, and Chilli’s for dinner. We saw two snakes and a lot of fish. I got sunburned on my legs and face.  

Clay D.: Today we woke up and drove four hours to white mound outside of Sulphur. We spent an hour and a half collecting ancient invertebrates such as brachiopods, trilobites, and different species of coral all from the Devonian Period. After that we drove back to Norman to have dinner and a scavenger hunt in the museum. That’s pretty much it. So far… 

Garrett K.: Hey guys, this camp has been a blast. We are playing games and finding fossils, and did a scavenger hunt. I’m having so much fun here and can’t wait to see everyone Saturday. 

Natalie O.: Today was so much fun! We went to look for fossils my partner Abby and I had found 84 fossils in total and many different types. We had also went to Braum’s and had really good ice cream. It was so hot today we were all so glad to go inside the air conditioned van. We had also had a really fun but hard scavenger hunt. We also had Mexican food it was so good, it was delicious. I am so glad I had this opportunity to go to this amazing program and learn and meet so many new people and experience this, but i am so sad that it is almost over but I have this time to enjoy it now!! More to come! 

Day Six

Hello! What a fun day exploring the museum! We were able to go behind the scenes into the collection area of the museum. Dr. Katrina showed us around her collection of recent invertebrates and we got to see interesting insects from all over the world! We also got the chance to explore the vertebrate paleontology collection with manager Jen Larsen. We were able to see where dinosaur bones are excavated from a jacket and where they are stored in the collection. A special thanks to both Jen and Dr. Katrina for sharing their collections with us, it was a very unique experience! After that, we took some time to work on our presentations and go out for our last dinner together. After that, we got to watch a movie in the auditorium and we spent the night in the galleries under the Apatosaurus and the Saurophaganax which was really exciting! We can’t wait to see all of our friends and family tomorrow and can’t wait to share our presentations with everyone! – Jes & Kristi

Day Seven

Hello every one! We had an excellent last day! It was so fun to see friends and family again and share our experiences with them! We learned so much and again, a thanks to all who helped us along the way: Robert, Dr. Katrina, Dr. Nick and Jen. Also, thank you to the Whitten-Newman Foundation and the Sam Noble Museum for making this trip possible! We can’t believe this week is already over, we had so much fun! – Jes & Kristi