Launching seed balls, learning about plants and insects, engaging with interactive games and coloring were just some of the events that the 91ֿ Child Development Center’s preschool and kindergarten classes participated in for Pollinator Day on Sept. 5.
91ֿ hosted Pollinator Day, its first event since joining Bee Campus USA in December of last year. Bee Campus USA is a program from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a nonprofit that works toward pollinator conservation.
The event featured Undergraduate Fellows from the Environmental Science and Design Research Institute and students and staff from the Department of Biological Sciences conducting bee sampling demos, identifying pollinators and playing games with the center’s children.
91ֿ’s Bee Campus USA committee members, comprising professors, institute employees and staff from University Facilities Management, the Office of Sustainability and the Office of the University Architect, hosted Pollinator Day to celebrate the campus pollinators and promote the importance of their conservation.
“The committee thought we would launch our program by launching native flower seed bombs,” said Rebekkah Berryhill, grounds manager at 91ֿ. “The seed bombs are created by mixing compost, native clays or flour, and seeds into a muddy slurry and then rolling the mixture into a round ball, which can be thrown or dropped.”
Berryhill told 91ֿ Today that the seed bombs slowly dissolve over the fall, winter and early spring months with different types of precipitation and temperature fluctuations.
Annie Engel, the center’s lead preschool teacher, found that Pollinator Day was impactful for the children and that the lessons resonated with them.
“I thought throwing the seed bombs was a great culmination at the end of our visit and will be exciting when the flowers come up in the spring,” Engel said.
“It was rewarding to see just how excited the children were to be outside,” said Katie McNamara Manning, Ph.D., coordinator of the institute’s Fellows Program. “They actually really loved going over to the garden and seeing the flowers, bees, beetles and other insects pointed out to them.”
The Bee Campus USA committee had stations for the children to visit during the event. One station provided children with bees and butterfly masks to color. At another station, children pretended to be pollinators by wearing butterfly and bee wing costumes.
“One of the games was learning how insects, including pollinators, see with a compound eye,” said Leah Graham, sustainability coordinator for 91ֿ. “The kids had goggles they could try on and wear so they understand that pollinators see the world differently.”
The children created native plant seed balls before the event, which they then launched into fields on the way back to the field to help develop and enhance pollinator habitat on campus.
“We did a countdown, and they launched them into a field,” Graham said. “In the spring, when they walk past, they’ll be able to see the plants they planted and the habitat created for our campus pollinators.”
The Office of Sustainability and University Facilities Management’s Grounds Department recently hosted a seed bomb-making workshop in the Herrick Conservatory Greenhouse. These new seed bombs will be launched later in October.
“I think this event was great to see the 91ֿ students and professors sharing their knowledge and information with the younger group of children,” Graham said. “The next generation is coming up, and it’s nice for students to share their interests and passions with the kids.”
WRITTEN BY:Haley Reedy, Flash Communications
PHOTO CREDIT:TJ Laryea