Nature Scopes' Binocular Blitz Field Day at The Rookery

Each May for a whole week The Rookery in Chester and Newbury Townships is alive with classes of fifth-graders sporting Bushnell binoculars and field guides. The students, teachers and parent chaperones are participating in the Binocular Blitz, the year-end culmination of Geauga Park District’s Nature Scopes program organized with substantial volunteer support.

Students rotate through 3 learning stations at the park with Park District Naturalist staff and volunteers doing the instruction and proving to them how much they have learned during their year in Nature Scopes. Stations include forest, pond and wetland habitats:

• At the pond, students practice using their binoculars as a microscope in order to learn more about tiny creatures they didn’t even know existed. They scoop up living creatures from the water and muddy bottom and put them into petri dishes for identification.
• Later at the forest habitat, a volunteer explains the 5 different layers of a forest (forest floor, herb, shrub, understory and canopy) using the analogy of a movie with 5 different scenes all of which work together to tell a story.
• Finally, at the wetland habitat, students identify birds and reptiles and discover the difference between a beaver lodge and a dam.

Students' main task during the Binocular Blitz is to use their binoculars effectively to observe animals in their natural setting. Many people are frustrated when using binoculars because they have never learned the skills for using them effectively. These students have learned and practiced LOOK, LOCK, LIFT as the best method for using binoculars to explore the natural world.

Since Nature Scopes began in 2003-04, more than 2,000 Geauga County fifth-graders have completed the program and, when funding has allowed, received their own pair of binoculars and Peterson field guides. Evaluation results show the program is successfully connecting young people to the outdoors while simultaneously helping them meet Ohio’s Content Standards for Science Education.

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Geauga Park District wishes to thank the following dedicated and enthusiastic Nature Scopes volunteers:

Georgie Steigerwald • Kathy Allen • Roy Podojil • Jean Frohring • Jean Dively • Fred Dively • Barb Parkinson • Patti Cook • Sr. Julie Boehnlein • Susan Marn • Barb Emch • Carol Owens • Judith Politzer • Kelli Meer • Sandy Wiebusch • Barb Rasmussen • Jane Hall-Nemeth • Al Zack • Barbara Bloch • Joan Francis • Alice Merryman                               

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