Posted November 27, 2014
When I got out of my car at Blair this morning, I heard a familiar sound, a welcome one that’s been absent here for a while. A flock of about a dozen pine siskins were in the tree tops, and eventually came down to dine at the nyger feeder. Siskins are birds of the conifer […]
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Posted November 26, 2014
I have some Grade 1 classes coming to visit the Blair OEE Centre beginning next week. At school they are, or will be studying two science topics – Characteristics and Needs of Living Things, and Daily and Seasonal Cycles. Miss Morsink’s class from Crestview P.S. have been brainstorming some questions to ask when they get […]
Read more about Better Get My Homework Done… »
Posted November 21, 2014
I have been playing with the PNNL 1 dollar microscope. It certainly works but it can be tricky getting good pictures out of it. I was looking around the internet for ways to improve image quality when I stumbled on this instructable for making a smartphone microscope using the lens from a laser pointer. http://www.instructables.com/id/10-Smartphone-to-digital-microscope-conversion/ […]
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Posted November 17, 2014
A while ago Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Tweeted about their 1 dollar smartphone microscope. http://availabletechnologies.pnnl.gov/technology.asp?id=393 It involved some small glass beads and a 3D printed clip to hold the bead in front of the camera on a smart phone. The larger beads can give you 100x magnification, smaller beads provide 350x and even 1000x magnification! Wouldn’t […]
Read more about 1 Dollar Smartphone Microscopes… thanks PNNL. »
Posted November 14, 2014
This morning while studying habitats with a class from Forest Hill, one of the students pointed up and said ‘look!’. We all looked up to see 25 Sandhill Cranes flying in ‘V’ formation over the farm field, over our heads, and disappearing over the forest – calling as they flew! It was quite exciting to […]
Posted November 13, 2014
People often ask me if we see fewer animals at Laurel Creek now that we are surrounded by housing developments. The answer is that, as the land around Laurel Creek has become more developed, the property around the Laurel Creek Nature Centre has become a more diverse environment. Laurel Creek was once a farm. In […]
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Posted November 11, 2014
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Posted November 4, 2014
Here are three trail cam videos taken within seven hours on Halloween morning. The camera was placed right beside Laurel Creek. [wpvideo vjFmcaXg] [wpvideo 9XiCz1MO] [wpvideo KnozNZR2] There were eleven videos in total with two different raccoons, two different beavers, and three different deer. On Friday, I dropped the camera on the floor and everything […]
Read more about Creatures of the Night »
Posted October 30, 2014
[wpvideo QMMBf3b4] I only got one short video last night before the trail cam batteries died. Do you know what kind of animal it is? The scientific name for this animal is Neovison vison. Google it if you’re not sure…
Posted October 28, 2014
Mama always said, “Trail Cams are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” We put the camera out in the forest at Laurel Creek last night. Got this at 5:30 PM: [wpvideo XWqC3Wxb] Tonight I set the camera up beside the stream where beavers have been working. And I […]
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