2017-Lake International Youth SWAT: Denver Zoo/VOC Project at Genesee Mountain Park

Start Date-End Date: 04/26/2017-04/26/2017 Land Manager Office: City and County of Denver - Parks and Recreation Land Manager Contact: Ryan Phillips Funding Partner: National Recreation Foundation Programmatic Partner: Denver Zoo, Lake International School Summary: The 6th grade students from Lake International Middle School will come out to Genesee Mountain Park with VOC and the Denver Zoo for fun-filled day! Students will help the zoo with a bison dung beetle collection project in the bison pasture, and then go on a wildlife hike with VOC. They will get to talk with Park Rangers and the bison herd managers. Description: The 6th grade students from Lake International Middle School will come out to Genesee Mountain Park with VOC and the Denver Zoo for fun-filled day! Students will help the zoo with a bison dung beetle collection project in the bison pasture, and then go on a wildlife hike with VOC. They will get to talk with Park Rangers and the bison herd managers. Latitude/Longitude: 39.711503, -105.303626 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 100 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 11 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 110 Total Volunteer Days: 121 Total Unique Volunteers: 121 Total Volunteer Hours: 726 Staff Hours: 33 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: On Wednesday, April 26th, 110 6th graders from Lake International Middle School came out to Genesee Mountain Park. This project was part of VOC's new 3-year partnership with Lake International, and was the first project with the entire 6th grade. The kids were split up into two groups upon arriving at the park. One group went with the Denver Zoo to do a lesson on dung beetles, and the role they play in a grassland ecosystem. The Zoo has developed this curriculum with entyomologists from the Zoo and the bison caretakers from Denver Mountain Parks, and they modified the curriculum to be appropriate for the 6th graders. The other group went with VOC staff on a ~2 mile nature hike on the South Chief Hosa Trail. During the nature hike, the kids played name games, had their own nature "sit spots", played camoflauge, and talked about the different sites they were seeing. All the kids ate lunch together near the Patrick House, and then the groups switched for the afternoon. Following the afternoon session, the kids took the buses to the bison overlook, where bison caretakers and Denver Mountain Parks Rangers talked to the kids. Unfortunately, the bison were a bit hidden, but the kids were able to see them from a far distance. Successes and Challenges: The in-depth site visit to Genesee really ensured that the day ran smoothly. Everything was coordinated and easy to roll out from the moment the kids got to the park. The pre-work that the kids did in class also helped them to have a good day doing the dung beetle lesson. VOC staff gave the Zoo curriculum plus some developed questions around stewardship to Lake International staff, and they developed a lesson plan around that information. The Zoo paid for one porta potty at the Patrick House, which was definitely needed. The Bison Caretakers who talked at the end of the day to the kids are not great at talking to large groups of kids. Teachers and VOC staff had to interject often to keep it lively. Lessons Learned: Partnership projects are great - switching groups kept things interesting for the kids, and it seemed like they enjoyed both activities. DMP staff are not all well equipped to talk to large groups of kids, so keeping their parts BRIEF is advised. This can be true with a lot of land managers and large groups of kids. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Provided extensively by Denver Zoo and VOC staff. Whole day was focused around environmental education and stewardship education. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: