First day of camp!!

Collecting specimens from pan traps.

We are really happy and excited camp is starting! To get to know each other better, we welcomed campers with a name game. Campers got to know the lab and talk about some norms and procedures for working both in and out of the lab. Then we got some snacks and headed out to collect insects! For this process to be faster and for each camper to have an opportunity to participate, we split into two groups to collect insects from our pan traps that we set. Campers had so many questions as they were really interested about the different types of insects they saw in different locations around campus.  They got to walk around and get to know more of the Northwestern campus in the process. Some even mentioned how they saw the pan traps set up last week when they walked around with family and friends. Soon after collecting insects, we had an enjoyable lunch before heading back to the lab where we began identifying our specimens and getting to learn to use dissecting microscopes. We ended the day with an activity called “Art Assemble”. In this activity, campers worked in groups of 4 to draw an entire person. The catch was that each camper was assigned to independently draw a different body part, and at the end they put their drawings together to create a person. 

Collecting specimens by the pond.