On April 14, 2017 80 SMILE students attended the second annual Fourth Grade Ecology Field Day at the University of Rhode Island. Hailing from 6 school districts and 8 elementary schools across Rhode Island, the students rotated through three ecology-themed stations, enjoyed lunch in Butterfield Dining Hall, and interviewed URI students. SMILE students were easily spotted across campus with neon green “SMILE! You’re a scientist” sweatshirts. Undergraduate and graduate students from the College of the Environment and Life Sciences volunteered time as mentors and led stations.
Several members from Society for Women in Marine Science (SWMS) led activities for the Marine Encounters station. During this station, students searched for pieces of plastic in the guts of seabirds, used a dichotomous key to identify a variety of marine organisms, and looked at plankton under a microscope.
Mentors also led activities in the greenhouse. There, students planted cherry tomato plants to take home, checked out rare plants in the conservatory, and tested soils for permeability.
The third station brought students into North Woods. Here students flipped logs and searched for critters. The most exciting find was spotting a red-backed salamander, a common salamander found in woodlands. At North Woods, they also explored a vernal pool and counted wood frog egg masses. They also learned about dissolved oxygen and pH.
As the day started to wind down, SMILE students returned to the science quad and sat down with an undergraduate student. For about thirty minutes, students took turns asking questions. Mentors talked about what it was like to apply to college and shared their own academic journey. SMILE students also learned about a few different types of environmental scientists including, horticulturalist, soil scientist, herpetologist, ecologist, and marine scientist.
After the mentor interviews, students shared posters created in their clubs showcasing activities at Family Science Night and stewardship projects. SMILE students said farewell to the URI mentors and headed to the buses with tomato plants in tow. For the majority of the students, this was their first time on a college campus. We can’t wait to see them back on campus again soon!