Students taking part in the Bernard Harris Science Summer camp at Lamar University continued to study science concepts this week by participating in the Big Thicket demonstration. The demonstration took place on Monday and served as an introduction to the Big Thicket National Park in Kountze, which the students visited Tuesday.
During Monday’s demonstration, students learned about some of the animals and natural resources that the park provides.
Big Thicket park ranger Bill Watkins explained how the Big Thicket has a wide variety of plants and animals that depend on one another and the importance of preserving its environment.
“We tried to talk about biodiversity and inform them on how important it is that everything depends on one another,” Watkins said.
The students demonstrated this by participating together in a circle of life activity. They stood together in a circle and all fell back on one another. Like Big Thicket’s environment, removing any one of them from the chain disturbed the entire chain and it fell apart.
Students also got a chance to experience the animal life that the Big Thicket has to offer. Ranger Bill brought unique animal skins for the children to observe including, bear, raccoon and mink.
“We are learning about the Big Thicket and the animals that live there and touching animal skins,” said Areal Hawthorne, an incoming eighth-grader at Odom Middle School in Beaumont.
The camp introduces middle-school students to math and science concepts using hands-on, real-world lab activities in a way that is entertaining and can lead to rewarding opportunities in the future.
“I like doing hands-on things and science is pretty much the only subject where you get to do that. I like science,” said Hawthorne.
For more information on the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps, visit www.theharrisfoundation.org.
