More Details on 6/28 & 7/30

On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 11:39 AM, Alison Reber wrote to Joyce Steiner, Lawrence Public Library: Hi Joyce! I'm helping out with Grassland Heritage Foundation's Rolling Prairie Learning Labs this summer. These are topics we anticipate having activities for the June 28th & July 30th:

1 - insect vision; We plan on having some insect eye glasses and be able to talk with people about how insect vision differs from human vision. We'll have something resembling an obstacle course. I'm not sure how elaborate it'll be yet but the goal will be to be moving pollen from one area to another. We need a space we can rope off for kids to wander around with the glasses. We don't need a table for this; just a designated space. (The library will handle this.)

• Stephanie Barrows is tracking down the glasses.
• We need some of those footies they wear at hospitals, white flour (to represent pollen), and some kind of treat (to represent nectar).
• We need a couple buckets of plants with flowers - grass is fine.
• We'll need to brainstorm the obstacle course.

2 - dragonfly morphology; We have a large dragonfly puppet (4 feet) made out of found objects. There'll be an opportunity for people to construct their own dragonfly puppets with found objects - this won't be a craft project. The point will be to think about how dragonflies are put together and to do some creative problem solving. Any odds and end craft supplies you've got would be greatly appreciated - no glue. Any extra kid scissors you can add to the mix would be fantastic! We'll need 2 tables for this - ideally picnic tables but tables & chairs will work too. (The library will handle this.) Anyone with mechanical talents interested in helping out with this activity? I have visions of tinker toys crossed with a recycling bin.

3 - prairie sounds & storytelling; The kids will be making sounds with their hands & such to round out a story about a prairie adventure. I'd like to stage this under a tree and somehow incorporate the puppets they've made. We don't need a table for this; just a designated space in the shade. I'm thinking we can adapt "Going on a Bear Hunt" to include whatever facets of prairie life we feel are more important. I would love help compiling ideas about cool things to include.

4 - prairie plants; This will be a touch & feel activity for kids to look at and handle prairie plants from a pollinator perspective. There will be live specimens to dissect, look at under magnifying glasses, draw, do plant; rubbings, etc.... Two tables would be ideal for this activity - one for specimens and one for activities. (The library will handle this.) This is pretty straight forward. Any related materials - plants, etc... would be greatly appreciated --- as would volunteers for this activity station.

5 - insect exhibit; We'll have an assortment of live insects for kids to observe & perhaps draw, etc... One table should be sufficient. (The library will handle this.) The activity table will share with the prairie plant table (so they should be close together). This activity should be shaded so we don't bake the bugs. :) I caught a couple of dragonflies this morning - never done THAT before!! We'll probably have to let them go before next week but it would be helpful if folks can start stashing insects that can be kept for a week in jelly jars (be safe, etc...)

6 - bug habitats; This is a land planning activity for people to move around "habitats" and figure out where different kinds of insects might be able to survive. I'm envisioning this being like a magnet board but it might end up being slightly different --- we'll see. ANDREA -- Do you still have those pictures (both the prairie & urban planning) you mentioned last night? I have magnet "paper" we could print them on. If we can track down a couple of magnetic white boards we'll be set! I have several different art easels we can use to prop the boards on and either line them up so its like on long landscape or have individual work stations.

This is really much more detail than I typically have sorted out going into an event so you'll need to give us a bit of creative latitude for the day of.... If I've misunderstood what I'm supposed to be doing or what the libraries role will be I hope people will speak up. I'm looking forward to seeing this fall into place.

Many thanks! -Alison Reber