"No Child Left Inside" at Spring Conservation Sensation
May 8, 2008
The Spring Conservation Sensation, an outdoor festival for elementary grades, hosted 297 students from area schools on May 7 at Czechland Lake near Prague.
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4th, 5th and 6th grade students from 10 local schools attended the 2008 event, which featured hands-on activities designed to teach them about the importance of conserving natural resources. The students rotated through eight 25-minute sessions focusing on a variety of topics.
At "Tree Trivia," students worked in teams to answer forestry-related trivia questions while constructing a model tree. "Oh Fish!" had students take on the role of fish in a fast-paced game that taught them about the importance of habitat and predator-prey relationships. At “Wildlife Roundup,” students learned about wildlife conservation and management while getting a hands-on look at pelts, turkey legs, elk antlers, rattlesnake rattles, and more.
At other stations, students got to plant trees; practice casting and other fishing skills; examine the parts of a lake ecosystem; role-play as predators and prey to learn about bird migration; and use GPS technology to locate hidden items.
More than 5,000 students have attended the Spring Conservation Sensation since it began in 1991. The event is open to schools from Butler, Saunders, Platte, Colfax, and Dodge counties.
Attending the 2008 event were classes from Ashland/Greenwood Elementary, Bellwood Attendance Center, East Butler Elementary (Brainard and Dwight), Logan View Elementary, North Bend Elementary, Platteville Elementary, St. Mary's (David City), St. Wenceslaus (Wahoo), and Trinity Lutheran (Fremont).
The event was sponsored by the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District. Additional presenters came from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Aksarben Aquarium, and the Lower Platte South NRD. High school students from Mead served as group leaders. In-kind services were provided by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Youth Fishing Program.