Day 1 Recap

On the first day of Botany camp, students identified unique characteristics of leaves and organized them into groups. We walked around campus and collected leaves and flowers to place in our plant press. At the end of the week, the leaves and flowers will be dried and students will make cards and stationary. In the afternoon, students worked with Nate Burtch, Finger Lakes Institute GIS specialist, and learned how to use GPS units. The students divided themselves into three teams and used their GPS units in a tree scavenger hunt on the HWS campus. Students used the GPS units to navigate to 11 different trees. At each tree, students had to conduct a bark or leaf rubbing, identify the tree as deciduous or coniferous and determine the leaf arrangement. Six of the trees contained puzzle pieces which the students had to put together and at the end, find the puzzle's picture on campus. The secret location was the statue of Elizabeth Blackwell on the Hobart Quad. When they arrived at the statute, students were rewarded with candy. Sheila's team of Hannah, Morgan, Brianna and Lucy came in first. Even though counselor Sam borrowed a golf cart for Christine's team of Damon, Tristan and Max, they finished last.