By Michelle Waltos

Librarian

How do plants grow? What is an ecosystem? What is a pollinator?

Each week over a dozen students explore questions like these as they participate in the Northern Onondaga Public Library (NOPL) Nature Camp, a weekly series of eight classes held at the Cicero branch that continue through the end of August.

During the first session, students learned different parts of a plant, built a mini hydroponic system, and prepared and planted pea plant seedlings in a garden bed in the LibraryFarm.

In the following weeks, the camp goers identified different types of plants using field guides, learned about the role of worms in our ecosystem (and handled the worms!) and explored the LibraryFarm as they embarked on a search for bumble bees after learning about the importance of pollinators.

Time is devoted each week to measuring the growth of the seedlings that were planted during the first session of Nature Camp, and many of the plantings have grown more than two feet in just a few weeks — a fact that amazes many of the kids.

“The goal of Nature Camp is to pique the students’ curiosity, to get them interested in exploring the environment without being afraid, and to help them understand how everything in nature is interconnected,” said Deanna King, the LibraryFarm coordinator who developed this year’s curriculum for the camp.

With just a few sessions remaining, camp goers will be learning how they can become citizen scientists and play a role in collecting important data, and will use apps to help them identify and document different types of birds. At the very end, final measurements will be taken of their seedlings and they will participate in harvesting produce from the LibraryFarm.

Commenting on the benefits of spending part of their summer in the program, Nicole Hershberger, the children’s librarian at NOPL Cicero who assisted in leading the program noted the long-term impact on the campers. “They are sure to take home a greater understanding and appreciation for the natural world.”