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Great Plains Nature Center Field Trip

By Terry Lawrence on April 25, 2017

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What a great time we had on our Field Trip to the Great Plains Nature Center.  We started off our adventure by going to the classroom and were introduced to some amazing Kansas animals.  Our guide, Miss Amanda, started off with a salamander.  Most of us had never been so close to a salamander and it was a great learning experience.  We learned that salamanders need to keep their skin moist at all time so we had to quickly feel the skin before it dried out.  We were amazed at how smooth it was.  Our next animal was a turtle.  First we were able to hold a turtle's shell and look at all the details - the backbone was the most interesting.  Miss Amanda then brought out a small turtle for us to hold.  It was amazing to learn about the turtle.  Finally, Miss Amanda brought a snake which was shedding its skin so we had to be very careful when we touched it - yes we touched it.  We even saw some of its skin shedding.

Our next adventure would be outside to do our nature hike.  We were able to feed the turtles and boy, were they hungry and glad to see us.  Next, we learned about all types of trees and plants.  Miss Amanda had us all stop and listen to the leaves as the wind blew them - what a beautiful sound they made. We also heard Cardinals singing and had a fun time trying to find them.  As we were hiking we came across milkweed which butterflies love and what a great discovery we made - butterfly eggs on some of the leaves.  Miss Amanda told us that this was a great discovery.  We were so excited!

Our final learning adventure would be in Habitat Hall.  Here we discovered lots of animal artifacts, saw bees making honey, and saw some unique fish inside a huge aquarium that we didn't even know we had in Kansas.  Some of the boys wanted to go fishing! 

What a great learning experience for all of us.  We all decided that we are for sure coming back to the Nature Center.  So if you have a day with nothing to do - go check it out.  You'll be glad you went!

Check out our slideshow to see the great time that we had! Great Plains Nature Center Field Trip