Thanks to Tennessee American Water’s STEM grant funding, Reflection Riding offered a week of spring break programming this year! Our team had great fun taking 160 students (and about 25 adults) through hands-on STEM programming during what turned out to be a soggy spring break week. From guided hikes, to animal encounters, to pond studies, to log rolls, and learning all about insect life cycles, it was a week full of outdoor fun and exploration.

Our educators and naturalists worked closely with our long-term partners to make this happen… so we want to thank Camp Hope, Girls Inc. of Chattanooga, Bridge Chattanooga, and Lookout Valley Elementary too!

Spring Break Camp programming was designed to increase student interest in STEM topics, but also to build interest and confidence in being outside in the natural world. Just one example, one Reflection Riding naturalist will always remember the impact of teaching about arthropod life cycles. “We came up with an acronym ELPA (egg, larva, pupa, adult) and chanted it while we were looking at a beetle larva on our morning ecology hike in the rain. Later on, I quizzed the kids about it while holding a crayfish, and several of them remembered and answered correctly! At the end of the day, we had an ultimate test where I quizzed the whole class on concepts we had touched on throughout the day and handed out prizes. An astute budding naturalist proudly carried home her prize for correctly answering what stage of the life cycle a caterpillar was. It's one of my favorite teaching memories now.” 

What did Spring Break Camp look like day-to-day?

• Students learned Leave No Trace principles and gained an understanding about why they are important, then collected trash as a hands-on service project.

•  Students did “log rolls”, where they looked under logs in wetland areas to see what life can be found under them. We found arachnids, myriapods, termites, ants, annelids, crustaceans, and amphibian eggs.

• A group explored the Brown's Ferry Tavern site (part of our local National Park) and talked about what they found: insect life cycles, classification, and behavior. They enjoyed meeting an opossum and a corn snake during an animal encounter. 

• A pond study is always fun and exciting, and our students really enjoyed collecting a sample of benthic macroinvertebrates, crustaceans, amphibians, and fish, learning a lot about water quality.

• Students went behind the scenes to explore Reflection Riding’s native wildlife conservation area. They got to meet American Red Wolves, raptors, and opossums, among other native animals that live on our property. 

• Hikes across the property exploring plant life cycles were also a lot of muddy fun.

• A cookout lunch of grilled hot dogs was really simple, but a huge hit! 

• One group of students even camped on our campus for the night. For some students, that was their first time camping in a tent!

Do you have a child who would love to explore like this? Registration for summer camp is open and spots are going fast!