Nature and Out Door Education
At Camp we live in the out
of doors most of the day. We would be a miss not to try our best
to teach the campers at Cedar Lodge about the environment they
are living in,both to educate and to teach appreciation. It is a
shame that so many are afraid of the dark. We have found that as
campers are able to identify the sounds they hear at night they
lose much of the fear that they may come in having. Leaving trash
on the grounds is easy before you realize how that trash can hurt
our wild and plant life. IT is easy to hate or fear certain wild
animals before you realize why they live the way they do and why
they do the things they do.
Every year we hire someone
that specializes in Nature and the Environment. Usually that
person enjoys hiking, wildlife, plant life and has a strong
background of teaching.
Nature hikes are held most days,5 days a week. During
these hikes, campers may find a wild turkey feather and come back
to camp to research their habitat. They may count the rings on a
fallen tree, or check out the different types of mushrooms on a
rotting log.They may start a aquarium and fill in with it's
own ecosystem. What is important is that they are finding out
more about the world that they live in. They are learning not to
fear it and how to respect it so that as time goes on they can
fight to protect it. That fight will some day be in their hands.
We feel inclined to make them aware of it.
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