2022 Farm Animal Camp: Day 1
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EmailWelcome to the first day of Farm Animal Camp!
Farm Animal Camp: Day 1
Duck!
AH wait! I am talking about the animal! We have some lovely ducks at Tollgate farms that our campers got to see today. Campers learned about the different parts of what makes a duck, including the special little gland that secretes the oil that quite literally makes water roll off their back! What a cool thing!
Wagon Ride
What's the difference between straw and hay? Straw is for sitting, hay is for eating, but it's still easier to say 'hayride' than 'straw-ride'. Campers got to be pulled around the farm by our amazing tractor to see the giant fields that stretch beyond our gardens and animal pens
Muffins & Bark
Egg muffins were a great way to start our morning session of garden kitchen, with a delicious smell permeating through the space. Campers got to participate in the making of the meal by cracking the eggs and adding handfuls of spinach to the mixture. The yogurt berry 'bark' was made with strawberries, blueberries, yogurt, maple syrup, and granola pieces and frozen before eating, which it most definitely was, with campers asking for seconds and thirds.
Tie-Dye
A time-honored tradition at MSU Tollgate farms is to have every camper make their own Tie-dye shirts, that they'll get to take home, wash and then finally on Friday, wear it! Campers got to choose what kind of designs the t-shirt would have with rubber bands, then with our Stewards and SIT's helping, sprayed lots of colors!
Wool Bracelets
Sheep also reside here at MSU Tollgate Farms, and as we do, we try to learn about anything and everything that happens here, including how we make wool into yarn. Campers today made wool bracelets, by washing, spinning, and dyeing small pieces that we dried and the campers will be able to wear starting tomorrow!
STEAM
This week's STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics) project consisted of making a project centered around an animal and it's environment. It could be an actual animal on the farm, or it can be two animals combined, or even one completely from the imagination! We shall see how these fun creatures come to life throughout the week!
Ruminant Stomach
A ruminant stomach is the stomach of a cow, goat, or any other herbivore. Today we learned specifically about cows, and the campers got to learn about the four different sections: The rumen, the reticulum, the omasum and the abomasum, all have different functions for moving and digesting food. We simulated the four stomachs using 4 buckets, and campers got to feel what the inside of all 4 stomachs felt like! Wow!
Casting Practice
Every week, the campers get to practice casting fishing lines on the grass lawn, so they can fish in the MSU Tollgate Pond tomorrow! Each group of campers practiced today, with some very eventful fun with really, really tangled fishing lines and strong winds blowing the lines everywhere! Tomorrow we will have some really fun times with fishing!
Check out more of our photos here!
