Kick-netting

It was a raining, cold day; the we (campers) went to a creek to learn and find macro-invertebrates. We all have to wear our rain coats and water shoes, and get our hands, feet wet. At first the counselors taught us about macro-invertebrates, which are small organisms, but visible to the human eye, and without a spine or backbone. They also taught us to recognize the organism and to do identify them so we can find out if the creek is healthy and clean or dirty and unhealthy. The way it worked out was like this, every person have to go with their project group and a net, we have to find a place in which we could possible found macro-invertebrates, then we set the net and after a while get the net out of the water and with some twirler pick the organisms and put it in a bucket of water. Then we have to identify the organisms and sum all of the type of organisms between the other group.

Nighthike

Yesterday evening we took our vans to pymetuning state park to start a nighthike. Before going in the dark forests the ranger explained the dam nearby and showed us the steel logs which can handle how much water flows in the river. After sunset she presented different kinds of felt and traps in the wood. We didn't find any deers or hawks, but if you were quiet you can hear all type of interesting animals.

Catching salamander rivene

After an awesome presentation on amphibians and reptiles by April Claus and some real live experience of different species, we, the campers, had the chance to catch species which live close to water just behind our dorm. Getting on some water or creek shoes, we jumped right into action because we were already familiar to searching for salamanders which we had done earlier the first week. We quested for cray fish, salamanders and larva for an hour, nonetheless, a myriad of aggressive and biting mosquitoes was kind of constraining our work ability. Our actual assignment was to look for salamander, though, and tell April how many we found. The major specie we identified was the 'Dusky'. After a little while, most campers' attention shifted more and more to abuse the environment of the amphibians by getting each other wet. However, one needs to explain that this was the very last activity we Creek Campers had scheduled. Subsequently, the increasing excitement for the upcoming fancy dinner and pool party was obvious.
At this point, I think I can speak for all campers if I say that we all enjoyed the two weeks very much and we want to thank the staff for picking outstanding activities for our stay.

One of our trophies

Herb Programm

On Friday, the first of August, we listen after lunch to an very interesting presentation by April Claus.
She told us a lot about the different kinds of nativ amphibians and reptilians in Pennsylvania.
So April shoed us different kinds of frogs, like the big bullfrog salamanders.
Also she shoed us the different turtles, from the big snapping turtle to the small musk turtle.
Also we was able to see a lot of different snakes, we could watch how they eat and were able to hold them.
It was really interesting and we all enjoyed it a lot!!!

Abandoned Mine Drainage and creeks

On Monday afternoon, Rebecca Holler from "Trout Unlimited" visited us in Edwards House. She explained to us the consequences of Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) in creeks. With the aid of a simple experiment with iron pyrite and lime (from limestone), we demonstrated the chemical reactions that occur in creeks which are polluted by mines. Of course, we also learned about techniques to clean these creeks. Huge ponds were built there for cleaning the water. We are all excited about the work of "Trout Unlimited" because they do a really good job to help the wildlife in and around creeks.

Today we visited the Bayer Material Science Headquarters in Pittsburgh. We were lead by Marquis Johnson who led us all around Bayer's facilities. First when we arrived we presented our research projects to Bayer executives and were able to demonstrate what we learned. Then we were able to tour around Bayer and see several different labs all around Bayer. We even got to hold Styrofoam cups that were just in a 880 degrees Celsius.  Overall it was an extremely fun and educational day for everyone.

Kayaking

Today we went kayaking at Goddard State Park in Lake Wilhelm. We were led by a DCNR (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) officer. He discussed the plants, water qualities, and resource management. We went under a bridge in interstate 79 and saw birds, such as the bald eagle. It was a relaxing and fun trip.