July 2023 Newsletter
The Ohmapi Nature Project July 2023
This fantastic photo came from the internet. This tiny critter is native to Africa and I haven’t been to Africa…yet. It is a Picasso bug. Its beautiful carapace has geometric patterns that resemble a work of art, like a Pablo Picasso painting. To see photos of more bugs that look like works of art: https://owlcation.com/stem/Most-Stunning-Beautiful-Insects
Aaah, summer - that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It's a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends.
Darell Hammond
In today’s newsletter
Tiny Critters
Insect Quiz
A Peek at What We’ve Been up to Lately
Enrollment
Elective Day
Summer Camps
Hiring
The Tiny Critters That Support The Earth.
This fantastic photo came from the internet too…It is not so “tiny”.
This summer I am diving deep into bugs! Yep, all sorts of bugs: big ones, tiny ones, biting one, squirmy ones, slimy ones, flying ones, swimming ones…you get the idea…there are a lot of bugs out there. An estimated 10 quintillion individual insects are on Earth. That’s 19 zeroes after the 1! Insects make up 75% of all animals. I am not just diving into insects. I am also learning more about worms and arthropods! For the 2023-2024 academic year, our nature focus is: The Tiny Critters That Support The Earth. And so, I research them. I read books, I listen to books and podcasts and I observe. Observing is easy because everywhere, there are tiny critters. I drop a pencil, bend down to pick it up and whoa..what’s that tiny critter scurrying off? A spider? A beetle? A true bug? Little green bugs land on my arms. They don’t bite, but they tickle and annoy. Before flicking them off, I take just a few seconds to observe and ponder. What kind of critter it is? Is it a true bug? Does it have sucking mouthparts? I notice its “hard” wings, the elytra, they are just a bit metallic and shimmer faintly of pink. Even though it is tiny, it has some oddly human characteristics. Not sure why, but it looks quite intelligent with those eyes and antennae. Instead of flicking it off, I gently blow it off my arm to give it a boost as it takes flight.
The more I research, the more fascinating I find these creatures. Did you know:
Houseflies find sugar with their feet, which are 10 million times more sensitive than human tongues?
Dragonflies have been on earth for 300 million years?
Caterpillars have 12 eyes?
When cricket rub their wings together it makes music? The rubbing of body parts together to make a sound is called stridulation.
It is so very easy to overlook how interconnected the world is—and how much we rely on the work of tiny critters to keep it healthy and buzzing along. The smallest creatures make big changes and contributions, and without them, the Earth would be a very different place. Without insects, Earth would be quite smelly and icky. Many tiny species take on the messy and unglamorous job of decomposing organic matter like leaf litter, feces and animal carcasses. All that decomposition supports new plant growth and ensures ecosystems receive a constant flow of nutrients.
During the Carboniferous period, famous for its coal deposits, insects and animals had not yet evolved to eat plants (most animals were carnivores at the time). When plants died, they simply fell to the ground and got buried by other falling plants. Because the animals and insects had not developed the ability to eat cellulose and lignin, these plants did not get recycled into soil like they do now. Instead they were buried and turned into coal.
But lucky for us, the tiny critters did develop the ability to decompose the giant plants of the time. If they hadn’t the world would be quite different. And possibly much bigger. Just think of your compost pile before you let it compost and then what it looks like 6 months later. In OC, I would fill a 24” h trough with browns and greens. Then let it sit. Six months later, the compost in the trough was less than halfway to the top. In 6 months it went from 24”h to 12”h. That’s a big difference in a short time. But what if I hadn’t done that? And the tiny critters hadn’t done their very important part? How big would the pile of all those branches, potato peel, leaves, etc.. be by now? Now imagine 4.1 billion years of Earth’s history. If we didn’t have critters breaking down trees, all those trees and dead animals would be piled “miles” high. The “crust” of the earth would be much thicker. It would be a different place indeed without those decomposing critters.
So next year, we will not only explore the cool, weird and interesting qualities of tiny creatures but we will also show how they are the backbone of life on this planet. We will explore the things they “eat” and we will explore the things that eat them.
My current favorite buggy resource is: Why Insects Matter from Great Courses. https://www.amazon.com/Why-Insects-Matter-Essential-Species/dp/B09PMBQYSV
Enrollment for Fall…
Enrollment is now open for fall! If you are looking for an alternative to public/ private schools or a homeschool enrichment program and have a nature loving child, reach out to schedule a call or arrange a visit to see if our Learn Through Nature While in Nature Program is a good fit.
Our mission is to connect children to nature and to one another. Our approach toward achieving that goal is multi-faceted. First and foremost, we get the kids outside. By teaching academics outdoors, the kids are outdoors for a good chunk of their day. Just by being outdoors, they benefit from grounding, fresh air and moving their bodies. Also, just by being outside, they learn about the natural world. Subtlety, subconsciously, they viscerally acquire understanding about plants, animals, the seasons, air, water, soil, etc..
Additionally, each day, we our structured activities to include nature awareness games and lessons, Waldorf-style lessons, peer connection time and independent/self-directed learning time.
The Ohmapi Nature Project is a very unique academic nature immersion program in which our students learn academic skills through the study of nature topics. Each year we focus on one or two nature topics. This year, our nature focus is The Tiny Critters That Support The Earth.
During main lesson time, we explore language arts, math, science, social sciences and making. For example, during the language arts part of the lesson, we tell a story. This story acts as a lecture and also helps children develop listening, comprehension and vocabulary skills. Language arts lessons vary per age group but typically include writing a summary of the story. Math lessons also develop from the story. For example, as many tiny critters have 6 legs, for our younger students, we may explore multiples of 6 by counting legs on insects. For the more advanced students studying algebra, we may explore the order of operations using 6 operations. And for social science, as many of our stories are legends, myths or historical accounts, the lesson may be an exploration of the location or peoples in the story.
The making portion of our day varies from nature journaling to making ant farms. Our approach allows us to explore deeply our chosen nature topic. It also makes the academic lessons meaningful and relevant as all the critters we study are ones we see, experience and live with in our area.
In addition to lesson time, we hike, play games, share meals and embrace independent learning time as a key part of our day and a child’s development.
Our enrollment options vary from 2 days to 4 days per week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. We meet from 8:45am to 3:15pm…as much of that time as is possible, is outdoors…in nature! Applications are due August 1.
Open House on Sunday July 23, 10am-Noon
On July 23 from 10am-Noon, we are hosting an Open House. Join us to meet our staff, see examples of student work, hear more about our approach, ask questions and tour our campus. Please contact me to RSVP if you would like to attend.
New Offering…An Elective Day!
This fall we are excited to announce that we are offering something brand new. Each Friday, for the entire 16 week semester, we will host skilled mentors to guide children in learning various enrichment activities. Each Friday, children can choose, based on their individual interests and curiosities, 4 electives to explore. These electives may include foreign language, music, primitive skills, indigenous wisdom, handwork, culinary lessons, fine art, etc…
We are interviewing mentors for elective day. If you’ve got a skill to share or know someone that would be awesome, inspiring and nuturing to our eager-to-learn kids, contact me.
Elective Day is open to everyone in the community…not just the students in our academic nature immersion program. All kids, ages 7-15, can enroll in this one day per week offering. The elective day is a 16 week term from September 15 - February 2, 8:45am-3:15pm. Go here for more info.
Tiny Critters Quiz..
1. How many days (on average) does a bumblebee live?
a) 19
b) 28
c) 36
Answer: b
2. How many different species of ladybird beetles are there in the world?
a) 2000
b) 5000
c) 8000
Answer: b
3. Which beetle is the strongest insect on the planet?
a) Rhinoceros beetle
b) Bull-headed dung beetle
c) Hercules beetle
Answer: b
4. What insect was the first living creature to be sent into space?
a) Soldier ant
b) Cockroach
c) Fruit fly
Answer: c
5. What percentage of all the species in the world are insects?
a) 25%
b) 40%
c) 75%
Answer: c
6. Insects have structures known as simple eyes, in addition to the compound eyes they use to see. But what do they use these simple eyes for?
a) Detecting colors
b) Magnifying images
c) Detecting light
Answer: c
7. What is the loudest insect in the world?
a) Cicada
b) Cricket
c) Bee
Answer: a
from: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/insect-quiz
A peek at what we’ve been up to lately…
The students discovered a sweet little ring-neck snake on June 5th. One of my favorite snakes. Ring-necked snakes are rarely aggressive. Rather than trying to bite, the snake winds up its tail into a corkscrew, exposing its brightly colored belly.
Elly and I rescued an erratically flying chickadee in WI. It repeatedly fluttered up, spiraled and then crashed to the ground. We took it to a local bird rescue. The animal rehab facility said it was most likely poisoned from pesticides. They gave it charcoal. We are hopeful that it will pull through and be released into the wild.
Our field in WI is filled with wild strawberries. I took this photo from a tiny critter’s eye view to get a better understanding of how wild strawberries look from the perspective of a tiny critter. P.S..Don’t let the small size of wild fruits fool you. Even though these berries are tiny, they pack the same nutritional value, maybe even more, as the big, conventionally grown berries.
This is just one of the ways we are getting buggy this summer. We recently hosted this nature craft at the Nevada City Farmer’s Market. We will be hosting crafts every other Saturday all summer long at the market. We will also be at Nevada City Nights on July 12, 19 and 26 from 6:30-9pm. Hope to see you there!
Summer Camps
It’s not too late to sign up for summer camps. We have 3 more weeks of camp this summer!
The Gnomesters Camps are perfect and delightful for ages 5-8. To sign up: https://theohmapinatureproject.com/summer2023
For older, water loving kids, The Water Ways Camp is sure to be just the right camp for hot summer days. Sign up at: https://theohmapinatureproject.com/summer2023
We are hiring…
We are seeking a few passionate, creative and outdoor loving individuals to nurture and inspire our students. If you are interested in joining our team as an intern, part-time or full-time instructor refer to our website for more details or contact me.
We would be especially delighted to receive inquiries from mentors that would like to teach history, geography and science.
The Ohmapi Nature Project
Nevada City
CA 95959
US
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