Scouts will earn their Wild Wonders Patch

by joining us for the

Great Bug Hunt!

Eco-Detectives: The Secret Life of Bugs

This immersive educational experience transforms Scouts and their families into field scientists exploring a lakeside ecosystem. By focusing on the hidden and often overlooked micro-habitats around us, the walk reveals how insects, bugs and arachnids act as nature's ultimate recyclers, pollinators, and pest controllers. Through hands-on use of field equipment, participants learn to observe without disturbing, gaining a deep appreciation for biodiversity and sustainability. Key Activities: Beat sheeting, log/rock flipping, spider web appreciation

Investigative Field Methods:

The Beat Sheet Shake-Down:  A beat sheet is a sturdy piece of cloth stretched across two diagonal pieces of wood joined at the center.  Participants will hold these under tree branches and shrubs, which will be "beaten" with a stick. This harmlessly dislodges camouflaged caterpillars, beetles, etc. allowing scouts to observe them up close against the white background. Magnification will be utilized to examine and identify our finds.

The Micro-Habitat Flip: Scouts learn the proper, safe way to gently roll over logs and rocks to discover a bustling hidden world of decomposers.

Web Architects & Tracing: Using spray bottles to lightly mist water onto vegetation, participants make invisible spider webs magically appear, allowing them to identify different web designs and discuss the spider's role in natural pest control.

• Free to participate

• Registration is required

• Spaces are limited

• Suitable for Daisies-Cadettes

Once registered, you will be contacted with a time slot in for your troop.

Questions? Contact Master Gardener Cheryl Duber at cd692@cornell.edu