After arriving on the school bus at the cabin on Porter Lake in Forest Park, 4th grade students will begin their ECOS program by studying habitats. Through hands-on discovery activities, such as temporarily netting and capturing and then examining the creatures and plants in forest, field and pond environments, they learn about the different plants and animals that live in each and how they are interconnected. Students learn the basic survival needs of all living things: sun, food, air, water, shelter and space.

But it is the plants and animals and places that they may have never seen, some quite exotic, that stir the students� imaginations and encourage them to look around at the world we share. Nearly all of what you see here has been either caught (and later released) or discovered by fourth and fifth grade ECOS students during the spring of 2006. Some plants and animals that were seen over the summer are included.

The ponds are especially rich in plant and animal species. Here some insects begin life as nymphs; carnivorous beetles dive for food within a bubble to use for air; tadpoles turn into frogs and snapping turtles eat anything they want.

The students learn that the best way to capture specimens is to drag the net through the mud at the edge of the pond and then use their fingers to find anything moving in it. After one classmate finds a fish or a tadpole by getting muddy hands, most of the rest of the students resign themselves to it. When the plants and animals have been netted, they are examined, identified and counted. After the ECOS staff leads a discussion of the habitat's dynamics, it's time for lunch.

A windy May morning at the ECOS cabin on Porter Lake.
Students, teachers and parents head to the pond with their nets and containers for their catches.

ECOS teacher Ms. Orellana's students drop by the Duck Pond to observe...

... a Canada Goose and its 7 goslings.

ECOS teacher Mr. Freedman demonstrates use of the net at the pond.


The students get started looking for something to catch.

A pair of students search through the mud in their net for creatures from the pond.

ECOS teacher Mr. Haley helps a student identify his catch before placing it in the collection bucket with the other animals and plants.

Elodea, a water plant, is an important source of food in the pond, and is on the list of plants and animals the students are asked to search for.

One of the other important food producers in the pond is Duckweed, here seen greatly magnified. It is often mistakenly called algae.

White Water-Lilies cover many of the ponds, and their leaves, called pads, provide frogs both places to hide from predators and places to perch for catching insects.

Cattails grow at the edges of ponds and lakes and in marhes.

The Cattail flower is in two parts. The top or tail contains the male flowers. Just below are the brown female flowers.

A Pickerelweed flower, growing among Cattails, attracts a Bumble Bee.

The Arrowhead, named after the shape of its leaves, flowers from July to September. The plant produces an edible tuber that was a favorite food among Native Americans.

Swollen Bladderwort is a carnivorous plant. Below the surface, it has leaves that suck in tiny animals to eat. It grows in still water ...

...and can be found in the lily ponds at Forest Park.

Fringed Loosestrife grows in wet areas around the ponds. The flowers mostly face downward, like the one on the left.

Swamp Milkweed in flower.

Pink Azalea is a wild cousin to the flowering shrubs you see in many yards. It blooms next to ponds and swampy areas in early spring.

This Flame Azalea is uncommon to see growing as far north as Springfield, but it is listed among the flora growing in the park in an annual report written in 1903, along with the Pink Azalea. It is most commonly found in the mid-Atlantic states, making a spectacular show of color in the Appalachian Mountains. It blooms in June, over a month later than the Pink Azalea. Like the Pink Azalea, the Flame Azalea grows by the side of a pond.

The Dogwood tree with its white blossoms is most often seen near ponds or streams in the wild.

Sometimes a sharp eyed student finds a mystery in his net, like this minuscule egg sack, which hasn't been identified yet.

A Wheel Snail; a small, numerous pond organism.

A Winkle Snail, about 2 inches long.

A tiny Papershell Clam.

An isopod, a tiny crustacean.

A variety of drangonfly nymphs, one of the most numerous insects caught in the pond.

A dragonfly in the process of metamorphosis, changing from a nymph that lives in the pond to a flying insect.

A close-up of the exoskelton the dragonfly leaves behind. You can see it is empty by looking at the clear shell where the eyes were.

A dragonfly, the Eastern Pond Hawk, that has completed its metamorphosis.

Another adult dragonfly, the Blue Dasher. Its adult habitat is also ponds.

The Yellow-Legged Meadowhawk is commonly found in fields or near bodies of water late in the season -- July through October. This one was found near the cabin on Porter Lake.

A Halloween Pennant dragonfly, found near the Duck Pond.

An adult damselfly lands on a lily leaf where a damselfy nymph is caught in a pool of water.

The Common Water Strider moves along the top of the water, hunting for insects that have risen to the surface or have fallen onto it.

A Water Scorpion. This pond insect breaths through the two tubes that look like a tail.

A student studies the Diving Beetle.

A closeup of the Diving Beetle.

A Backswimmer, named for the way it uses its legs to swim.

A Freshwater Leech, a member of the aquatic worm family.

A young Pumpkinseed fish.

An adult Pumpkinseed, about 5 inches long.

A small Catfish.

The Eastern Crayfish, about 4 inches long, resembles a small lobster with thinner claws. It lives in ponds and small streams, eating plants and small animals.

Tadpoles at the edge of the pond waiting to be netted.

A young tadpole.

A tadpole in the first stage of metamorphosis, growing hindlegs.


A tadpole continues its metamorphosis.

A Bullfrog in its adult form sits on an upturned lily leaf.

A Pickerel Frog.

The Painted Turtle is an omnivore. You can often see them warming themselves on rocks or logs in the ponds and lakes.

Snapping Turtles, like this specimen found climbing up a hill alongside Lake Porter, is at the top of the pond food chain: the snapper eats other organisms in its habitat, but it has no predators.

A close-up of the Snapping Turtle's head. This was found covered with mud, close to a trail near the skating pond. It was about a foot and a half long.

This Snapping Turtle, about 16 inches long, floats near the edge of one of the lilly ponds in late March. Snapping Turtles bury themselves in the bottom of ponds to keep warm in Winter. Like all cold blooded animals, it depends on external energy sources (such as the sun) to maintain its body temperature. This one must have just risen from the mud to warm itself -- it appeared "frozen," not attempting to swim away or move at all despite attracting many onlookers in the park, some of whom got very close to take pictures.

The Common Loon has a distinct tremulous wail that can be heard clearly at night. In its habitat of freshwater lakes it dives for fish and eats them while still submerged.

The Red-Winged Blackbird male, at top, and female are commonly found nesting near ponds and swamps. The red spot and yellow fringe on the wings of the male tend to fade in late summer and fall. The female is colored to blend into her nesting area.

The Spotted Sandpiper's habitat is ponds and streams.

A Great Blue Heron crosses from one pond to another looking for a meal. Frogs and tapdpoles are among its favorite foods. It, too, is at the top of the food chain in the pond.

A close-up of the Great Blue Heron.

A rare visitor to the park, a Great Egret stops by Porter Lake. Marshes are its habitat.

This Green Heron came to feed at the edge of a lilly pond while an ECOS class was collecting specimens. It is much smaller than the Great Blue Heron -- about the size of a crow. The Green Heron eats mostly small fish, but it also eats crustaceans, mollusks, insects, reptiles, amphibians, spiders and leeches, standing very still on shore or in shallow water to await prey. They sometimes drop food, insects, or other small objects on the water's surface to attract fish, making them one of the few known tool-using species.

A Muskrat forages in the grass near a lily pond. It mainly eats water plants.

This Mink, which was spotted near the covered bridge in Forest Park, eats a wide variety of animals, including rodents, muskrats, fish, birds and frogs. Minks are members of the weasel family.

Beavers, North America's largest rodent, live in lodges built from layers of branches, mud and reeds and reached by tunnels under water. They eat the bark and leaves of broadleaf trees, and stash branches near their lodges for winter use. Beavers also create ponds by damming small streams. They are active mainly at dusk and night, year-round.

ECOS teacher Ms. Martinez orgnanizes a viewing station for the students to see what their class caught.

A student uses a magnifier to look at one of the organisms on display.

Taking a census of tadpoles, frogs, plants and everything else captured in the morning is part of every class at the pond. After a count is made, the students return the specimens to the pond.

Time to pack up the tools and head to the cabin for lunch.

ECOS teacher Mr. Freedman puts the pond experience in perspective, illustrating how producers -- plants such as Elodea and Duckweed -- provide sustenance at the bottom of the food chain, and where the other organisms fit in.

After lunch activities include a "quiet sit," where the students find a place near the lake to be still, write down what they hear, and draw something around them, aiming to capture in their notebooks the elements of the habitat surrounding them.

Fifth grade students use rafts to determine how fast the Pecousic River is flowing. They drop the rafts from the bridge and time how long it takes them to move 100 feet.

Some of the rafts that passed the flotation test.

When their afternoon activities are done, the 4th graders leave behind their drying nets at the cabin and head for the buses that will take them back to their school in time for dismissal.

Fourth and fifth graders go into the forest to explore. They get down on the forest floor, turn over logs, collect specimens -- it's hands-on discovery. They learn that there's little to fear from the animals, plants and insects they encounter, and that mushrooms and molds might not be beautiful, but they play an indispensable part in the cycles of life in the forest.

A tour of the woods at Forest Park reveals a great diversity in plant and animal makeup. Slope and orientation to the sun, elevation, maturity, destructive pests, soil content, proximity to bodies of water, plus the effects of the surrounding communities and use of the woods by the people who visit the park are some of the factors that affect these habitats.

By getting their hands dirty, the 4th and 5th grade students learn about the interrelationships of organic and inorganic elements in different environments, and about how decomposers, producers and consumers keep the park's habitats in healthy balance.

This day in May starts with rain at ECOS.

Rain or shine, students at ECOS leave the cabin to experience Forest Park.

The class begins climbing into the forest.

Once in the area they will study, the students take containers to collect organisms in the forest environment, with a focus on consumers and decomposers. Decomposers work constantly to turn dead leaves, trees and other organic matter into soil to replace what is lost to erosion and depleted by the living plants that rely on the soil�s nutrients.

Inside a rotting tree trunk there are many decomposers at work.

Termites, beetles and insect larvae are some of the favorite foods of all species of woodpecker in the park. Removing the bark from this dead White Birch branch shows what woodpeckers listen for as they move up and down a tree.

The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in Forest Park. It is also the loudest -- the hammering sound it makes can often be heard ringing through the woods. Here it is building a nest in dead pine tree.

A Hairy Woodpecker searches for food.

The Northern Flicker is a member of the woodpecker family, though it often feeds on insects on the forest floor. This is a male -- females lack the black "mustache." The flicker is migratory, flying south of New England in the coldest winter months, between November and March.

A close look at the trees and the floor of the forest will reveal many extremely small creatures. This red mite and a camouflaged spider, greatly enlarged in this photo, are good examples.

Sow Bugs, about 1/2 inch long, are found under rocks, logs and stones and in other damp, dark places. The Sow Bug is not an insect or arachnid, but a crustacean adapted to living solely on land. It eats decaying plant matter.

Wolf spiders roam all the habitats of forest park save the water. This one is carrying an egg sack.

Some caterpillars feed on the leaves of the particular tree a butterfly or moth laid its eggs on, or may move around. They are often food for birds and small carnivores. This specimen displays confusing coloring -- it appears to have a head at both ends.

This caterpillar was found by a student at the edge of the woods near a lilly pond.

Many moths live exclusively within the forest. Coloring often matches their environment.

Many butterflies that inhabit the forest are also colored to fit into their environment in order to escape predation by birds and other insect eaters. This butterfly is called a Mourning Cloak. Its preferred food is tree sap, especially that of the oak tree.

Slugs like this one leave silvery trails behind on the leaves they travel over in search of food.

Finding organisms that decompose matter on the floor of the forest often requires turning over logs under which they live or hide during the daylight hours.

The Eastern Red-Backed Salamander lives under logs in the forest during the day, and differ from the Dusky Salamander by having three toes, instead of four. Some Earthworms, often found alongside the salamanders under logs, are in the foreground.

Close-up of the Eastern Red-Backed Salamander.

The Red Spotted Newt, a common salamander in North America, is not found in Forest Park, but lives nearby. This one was found on a hike up Mount Tom, roaming around the forest floor in daylight (unlike the nocturnal Eastern Red-Backed Salamander). Eastern newts have three stages of life: the aquatic larva or tadpole stage; the red eft or terrestrial juvenile stage; and the aquatic adult. The larva possesses gills and does not leave the pond environment where it was hatched. Larvae are brown-green in color, and shed their gills when they transform into the terrestrial red eft, seen above. During this stage, the eft may travel far, from one pond to another. After two or three years, the eft finds a pond and transform into the aquatic adult. Eastern newts live in the forest; they need a moist environment with either a temporary or permanent body of water. Eastern newts have some of toxins in their skin, and their coloring may serve as a warning to predators. It eats a variety of foods such as insects, small mollusks and crustaceans, young amphibians and frog eggs.

Holding it the proper way -- by its hind legs -- students display a large toad. The life cycle of the toad includes all three major habitats; the pond, where it is born; and the field and forest, where it roams in search of food.

Ms. Orellena holds a toad out for the students to feel its dry, bumpy skin.

Wood Frogs live in the leaves on the forest floor. They range from light red to dark brown.

Wood Frogs breed in vernal ponds, which are bodies of water formed by snowmelt and spring rains, often drying up by midsummer.
Most animals that live in vernal ponds stay when the water dries up, burying deep into the soil until the water returns. Their reproduction and development has to be fast or else they wouldn't survive in the vernal pond habitat.

The vernal pond, which dried up in August.

Frogs, like this Green Frog, are often found in vernal ponds.

The Grey Tree Frog, which is rarely seen during the day, has suction pads on its toes. It can change its color from grey to green or brown to match its surroundings. It makes a fluttery, musical trilling sound at night.

The Chipmunk lives in the forest or around its edges in underground burrows.

The Chipmunk's rodent cousin the Grey Squirrel is a great distributor of seeds, burying them in the ground during fall to store food for winter and early spring. In the warm months the squirrel lives in tree nests. During the colder months it lives in more protected areas, such as the hollow of a log.

The Little Brown Bat, like this one that was found inside the ECOS cabin, feeds on insects such as moths, beetles, mosquitoes, and flies. A single Little Brown Bat can catch 600 mosquitoes in just one hour. Bats rest in roosts - often trees, or in crevices where they form tight clusters. During the summer months, the bats consume about half their weight in insects each night. The bat is the only mammal that can truly fly (like a bird).

During a trip to the woods with his class, Mr. Freedman, who found the Little Brown Bat in his classroom, released it by letting it attach itself to a tree. It used its claws to climb up the tree until it was out of sight in the upper branches. Bats are nocturnal, so it was climbing to finding itself a safe place to sleep until nightfall.

The Catbird lives on the edge of the forest and in dense shrubs. It is able to mimic other birds, but it gets its name from its call, which sounds like a cat meeowing.

The Northern Mockingbird most often nests near the tops of trees or in dense thickets, sometimes in suburban or urban areas. It is a year-round resident, though may fly south to escape harsh winters. It forages on the ground or in vegetation, eating mainly insects, berries and seeds. It aggressively defends its nest and the surrounding area against other birds and animals, including humans.

This Red-Tailed Hawk has its eye on its prey, which can include squirrels, chipmunks, smaller birds, snakes and other small animals. It hunts in both fields and forests, and is at the top of the food chain in both habitats.

The speckled brown and white feathers on this Red-Tailed Hawk indicate that it is immature. It was seen hunting near Fountain Lake.

The speckled feathers on this hawk also indicate it is immature, though it is not a Red-Tailed Hawk, but a much less commonly seen Cooper's Hawk. It feeds on birds, which it hunts primarily in the forest, though it sometimes hunts quail and poultry.

The Red-Shouldered Hawk favors woodlands near water. This one was part of a pair that built a nest near Fountain Lake in Forest Park this spring. Red-shouldered Hawks eat small mammals, the largest being rabbits and squirrels; it also consumes reptiles and amphibians, such as snakes, toads, frogs, plus small birds and large insects.

One of the Red-Shouldered Hawks' offspring.

Wild Turkeys were successfully reintroduced recently into Southern and Central New England after the regrowth of broadleaf forests restored their habitat. Many now live in Forest Park and venture out into the surrounding towns in search of food.

Many wildflowers only grow in the shade of the forest, but bloom early to catch the sunlight before the trees leaf out. And like this Purple Trillium, their growing period can be very short.

The Trout Lilly blooms from April through May in the park, then dries up and decomposes. It grows in the forest and on its edges where it is wet. It is named for the spots on its leaves.

The Eastern Starflower blooms in moist woods from May to June.

The Jack-in-the-Pulpit ranges from the deep forest to its edges.

Closeup of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit's flower.

Closeup of the berries the Jack-in-the-Pulpit produces in near the end of summer.

Bunchberry blooms in the woods in early to late spring.

The Pink Lady's Slipper, one of relatively few North American orchids in New England, is becoming scarce in Forest Park because people dig it up to plant in their gardens. It does not transplant, however. The plant is very sensitive to soil and light conditions.

This Fringed Polygala, also called "Gaywings," is an small orchid-like plant that blooms May to June.

A Wild Geranium, which blooms in spring in wooded and shady areas across Forest Park.

A Maple-Leaf Viburnum budding in early spring.

The Maple-Leaf Viburnum blooms from May to July.

The Maple-Leaf Viburnum then produces berries beginning in August.

Orange Jewelweed is sometimes called "Spotted Touch-Me-Not" because the seed capsules the flower produces burst when touched.

The Rosebay Rhododendron prefers moist woods or streamsides. It is a large, evergreen shrub that blooms June through July.

Spotted Wintergreen blooms June through July.

The Cinnamon Fern is named for the 4 foot cinnamon-colored stalk growing among its fronds. Ferns are among the oldest families of plants still alive. In New England, most grow in woodland habitats.

Mushrooms, mosses, lichens and molds play a large role in the decomposition of organic material in the forest.

This bracket fungus, which prefers to grow on living or dead broadleaf trees, is named Artist's Fungus.

This fungus is called a Pinecone Mushroom.

Indian Pipe, which grows in shady woods and around its edges, gets its food from dead organic matter.

Beechdrops is a parasitic plant that, as its name suggests, can be found under beech trees, where it feeds on the tree's roots.

The Beaver, a member of the rodent family, has been multiplying in Forest Park. Evidence of their work at felling trees and chewing bark can be seen widely in the areas around the dams.

The European Larch tree, seen in late April, is a conifer which loses its needles in the winter. The cones of the larch are a bright red in early spring. Its American relative, the Tamarack, prefers wetland habitats. In Forest Park, the European Larch is one of many specimen trees that were planted, some marked with plaques for identification -- a reminder that the actions of people are an integral part of the forest ecosystem.

A close-up of the European Larch pinecone in early spring. Later, they turn brown.

The students quietly study the trees around them, describing in their journals the type of trees in their vicinity, the presence of fungi, lichens and mosses, as well as nests, animals and many insects.

Examining the bark of one tree, a student notes the design and texture of the bark.

Mr. Haley's class collected plants, rocks, insects and earth to bring back to class to study under microcsopes and record their observations about each.

Crossing a marsh on the south side of Porter Lake to get to and from the forested hills, students often observe footprints of deer, birds, and other animals that come down for water and food. They learn the marsh is a habitat in its own right. Technically, Forest Park is a watershed area, meaning water within the park and from its periphery gathers to form lakes, ponds and streams, which empty into the Connecticut River via the Pecousic River.

Photo by Liam Doran

A female Common Whitetail Dragonfly lands on the marsh bridge, immediately joined by ...

... a male Common Whitetail Dragonfly.

A male Ebony Jewelwing Damselsfly. It lives near woodland streams and rivers.

Raccoon prints in the marsh mud.

Aside from the aftermath of major floods, the ability of moving water to create new landscapes is seen dramatically in Forest Park's erosion gullies. Erosion gullies between the many hills in the park connect the forest to the marsh, and the marsh to the pond or lake, a prime example of the interaction of habitats. Nutrient rich soil gets washed down from the forested hills by rain and snowmelt. The streams in the gullies carry it along, depositing some along the way.

Here the fall of water has stripped away a wall of clay and created a small waterfall and pool. Clay is beneath the relatively shallow layer of topsoil almost everywhere in the lower areas of the park. It is also evident in the lower part of the previous photograph.

Upstream from the marsh, the soil has been washed away from the roots of this tree. As the process of erosion continues, more and more silt gets deposited in the marsh and beyond, creating ...

... deltas, which project out into lakes and ponds and begin to support vegetation. The delta will continue to grow unless rising water levels or floods wash them away.

The flower of the skunk cabbage, which grows in late winter. The flower generates enough heat to melt the snow around it. The foul smell, from which the plant gets gets its name, together with the heat, attract the year's first insects -- flies, which like foul smells -- to pollinate it. The leaves, wound tightly in a cone shape, appear soon after the flowers.

Skunk Cabbage lives only in areas where the soil is wet for some time during the year.

The Blue Flag, a wild iris, is another species of plant that grows only in a marshy habit.

This Yellow Flag is not a native iris like the Blue Flag, but a specimen brought from Europe that escaped from gardens and became an invasive plant. It also grows in marshes and beside bodies of water in Forest Park.

Purple Loosestrife is another invasive plant from Europe. It can be seen blooming in profusion in wetlands from July through September.

Dusky Salamanders are an example of variation in organisms. Adapted to the wet areas of the forest, it is only found near water. Their markings vary widely from a dull tan with spots to nearly black. They also differ from the forest salamanders in that their hind legs are noticeably larger than their front limbs, they have a moveable lower jaw, and their tails are triangular rather than rounded like the Eastern Red-Backed Salamander's tail.

A scarlet tanager comes down from the treetops.


The Scarlet Tanager take a bath in the marsh.

After learning observation skills in the forests, most students want to see more, even when they are on their way back to the cabin for lunch.

To find and capture animals in the field requires a keen eye and quick reflexes. Garter snakes, which have been caught in abundance this year, are shy creatures and fast movers. Anyone who has tried to catch butterflies knows that even with a net it can be a frustrating exercise. And many of the other insects and spiders are camouflaged and are skilled at hiding in the deep grass. But 4th graders are quick too.

The field helps demonstrate the interaction among habitats through some of its creatures. The students know that many of the creatures found in the field start out in the pond: the dragonfly, the damselfly, and the toad are the most prominent examples. They also know that the basic outline of the food chain is the same -- plants, which they also collect, are producers, and the animals are either consumers or decomposers. And though fungi, moss and lichen are usually associated with the forest, where they help break down organic and inorganic materials to produce soil, all three can also be found in the field or around its edges.

There are a variety of after-lunch activities for the ECOS staff to choose from. The web game, illustrated in this section, is one of them, designed to get the students to make connections among randomly chosen members of the three groups in the food chain and inorganic elements.

Then it's off to the bubblegum tree ...
April morning, a beautiful day at ECOS.

The Horsetail is a living relic from over 300 million years ago, the only member of its plant family still in existence. It can be found just about anywhere in the park where there is moist soil, so in the field habitat it is most often found near wooded edges. This plant is about 5 inches tall, but its ancestors grew up to 100 feet tall.

Violets of many varities also grow all around the park, most being able to grow in wet, shady areas as well as drier, grassy land. Most flower from early to late spring.

Bluets are tiny flowering plants that bloom for a short time in mid spring. They get their name from the bluish tinge of the white flowers.

A close-up of the Bluet.

Wild roses hug the edges of the field, often climbing over bushes to catch the sunlight. They flower in mid-spring. This one has a sweet scent.
The fruits the rose are called rose hips.

The Blackberry also grows at the edges of the field.

Blue-Eyed Grass has a tiny flower that only opens for one day in the morning on a sunny day. It is found in the field and in marshes.

White Clover is a major source of nectar for bees and other insects. It has a cluster of three leaves. Finding one with four leaves is considered a sign of good luck.


The Common Buttercup is sometimes called the "Tall Buttercup" because the flower stalk grows up to 2 feet high. It blooms in fields from May through August.

Tall Meadow Rue grows in fields, usually near the wood's edge, and in swampy areas.

Black-Eyed Susan blooms in fields from June to September. It is common to see varieties of this flower in gardens.

The old saying about Poison Ivy -- "leaves of three, let them be" -- is sound advice. Touching any part of this plant, which sometimes grows as a vine, will cause severe skin inflammation.

Mushrooms often appear suddenly in fields after soaking rains. This mushroom is called an Alcohol Inky, partially named for its dark black underside, where it carries its spores.

Moss and lichen (the light green patches), like mushrooms, are most often associated with wooded areas but are also present in the field. Moss helps to decompose rock into the sand that makes up part of soil through the action of the water it absorbs. In winter the water freezes in little cracks in the rock, causing the cracks to widen. Lichens, through the action of acid that it uses to create tiny holes for gripping, also act as decomposers of rocks.

The American Robin most often nests near fields. The whitish rim around the eye identifies this bird in its nest...

...which it builds using mud to hold together grasses and small twigs.

The American Robin specializes in catching earthworms from spring through summer. In the fall and winter, it eats berries.

The male House Sparrow. This 6-inch bird is a European import which has made itself at home in parks and in backyards, often being the biggest eater at bird feeders. It is also known to kill nestlings and remove eggs of other birds in birdhouses. The female is mostly pale brown on top with some black streaks, and dusky below.

The Mourning Dove gets its name from its mournful call. It eats mostly seeds.

An adult Garter Snake, approximately two feet long. They are named after the straps men used to wear to hold up their stockings. They are not poisonous and are easy to handle.

Ms. Orellana holds a young Ring-Necked Snake caught by her class. The snake can grow up to a foot long and constricts itself around its prey -- earthworms, frogs, and salamanders.

A student holds a young Garter Snake, discovering that its skin is not slimy, but feels dry and only slightly scaly.

A beetle commonly found in the field.

The Woolly Bear Caterpillar is often seen crossing roads and trails in late fall before going into hibernation. It will often roll itself into a ball if touched.

A female Cabbage White butterfly. The male has only one spot on its forewing.

The American Lady butterfly's habitat is fields and gardens.

The underside of the wings of an American Lady butterfly.

The Great Spangled Fritillary is another butterfly that likes fields and gardens.

The Great Spangled Fritillary with its wings open.

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail prefers open woods and fields.

Side view of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

Monarch butterflies were seen in abundance around Forest Park and in gardens this summer and fall.

Side view of the Monarch butterfly.

The Silver-Spotted Skipper is an aggressive butterfly that will often chase others away.

A Peck's Skipper butterfly.

The American Copper butterfly, about half the size of the Monarch, is usually found in dry fields.

The Summer Azure butterfly gets its name from the color of the tops of its wings -- "azure" being the color of the cloudless sky.

This butterfly is called the Eastern Comma because of the small, curved silver line on its hind underwing. This one has a grey underside, but there are Eastern Commas whose undersides are orange -- an example of variation in nature that can occur within one species.

The Eastern Comma butterfly with its wings open.

This is a hybrid, meaning that it is the offspring of two distinct varieties of butterfly -- the White Admiral, whose territory reaches farther north, and the Red-spotted Purple, whose territory is more to the south. As a result of the interbreeding, this hybrid shares a few characteristics from each of its parents.

Photo by Peter Doran
The Hummingbird Clearwing Moth is often confused with the bird when spotted in gardens and fields. Though smaller, the moth sips nectar from the same types of flowers, and both the moth and the bird are able to hover in the air with wings that beat at high speeds.

Katydids can be found in fields near broadleaf forests where they live. Their wings mimic the color and veined pattern of leaves, making them less visible to predators.

The Praying Mantis captures other insects with its two powerful "praying" forelegs. It has large eyes and one of the most flexible necks of any insect, enabling it to hunt prey and look out for danger at almost all angles. Its habitat is fields and gardens.

A large reddish ant.

When dragonflies were nymphs in the pond they hunted smaller insects. The adult dragonfly seeks its prey flying above the field. This is an Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly.

A daddy long legs is aply named -- its legs can be many times as long as its body. It can be found in the forest, field and in your backyard.

The Wolf Spider, greatly enlarged in this photograph, is also carnivorous, but it is not an insect, which has six legs, but an arachnid, which has eight.

Millipedes are common to the forest and field habitats. They eat plant material.

Two Centipedes of different size and color. Variation among related organisms is something the students take note of when examining the day's catch.

The Garter Snakes caught by this class are put in a special holding tube so they can be measured. These young snakes were six inches and eight inches long.

As the class brings specimens to the ECOS teacher, they are identified and sorted into inorganic, producer, consumer and decomposer.

Ms. Martinez leads a game which illustrates the interconnections of these groups.


Ms. Martinez throws a ball of twine to a student, each of whom has been assigned to play the role of a producer, consumer, decomposer or inorganic substance. The student holds on to the string and throws the ball it at random on to the next student, who must say how the two elements of the environment are connected.

The game is done when the web of interconnections is completed, reinforcing the idea that no one part of the environment is separate from another.

At the end of their last day at ECOS, every fourth grader gets what they've been eagerly anticipating -- a piece of "The Bubblegum Tree." Its real name is Black Birch or Sweet Birch. Its nickname comes from the delicious smell of chewing gum it gives off when the bark of a sapling twig is stripped off. They take their twigs with them and head back to school from ECOS till next year.

When they show up at Porter Lake for Winter Survival, the 6th grade students should be dressed warmly, because they are going to be outside for most of day one, which is for practice, and all of day two, during which they will put to use the survival skills they have
learned.

How to build a shelter to help protect them from the elements, how to build a fire to keep warm and heat their lunch over it, and how to break camp and leave their area the way they found it are the major lessons of day one.

In order to succeed, students learn to work together to reach a common goal. Weather conditions and being in an unfamiliar place are motivators that encourage cooperation, which is the goal of this program.

By the time they reach the bus to take them back to school after surviving a winter's day outdoors, the students realize the importance of working together as a group, because students cannot individually master each skill they learned on day one. And despite all the work it took to survive, many of the students say that Winter Survival was the most fun they have had at ECOS.

The day starts out sunny and cold at the cabin on Porter Lake.

On day one, the first lesson is practice-shelter building. Learning how to tie the knots in order to string a rope between two trees is the first step. The rope will hold up the shelter.

It takes group effort to put the shelter together. While some students work on attaching the rope, others gather the poles and pine fronds -- which come from used Christmas trees -- that make up the shelter. After everything is up, sometimes the rope needs to be tightened, as these two students are doing.

The second lesson on day one is how to build a fire by placing small to larger pieces of dry wood on a platform of small branches. The students have to pay close attention because they are going to build their own fires the next day and they are given only one match to light them.

After the fire is started, the students are taught how to keep it going with "feeder wood." When there is no snow on the ground, a perimeter must be cleared around the fire to make sure it doesn't spread. When there is snow, it is used to put out the fire. When there isn't, the students must get some water from a nearby source, or bring some along.

While walking from the cabin to practice and camping areas, the teachers at ECOS take advantage of the time to point out to the students the way other animals like these ducks adapt to and survive winter.

The Canada Goose and the Mallard Duck are two species of water fowl that stay in the ponds over the winter.

A typical camp set up by the students with supervision on the second -- all outdoors -- day of Winter Survival.

A winter survivor heats his lunch.

While the other students finish lunch, two students stand by their fire to keep warm as snow starts to fall.

One of the classes heads out of the woods, lugging equipment, after breaking camp.

The sixth graders head for their buses, having officially survived Winter Survival.

At the height of the environmental movement, Springfield Public School educators Lorraine Ide and Clifford A. Phaneuf realized the necessity of educating students to appreciate and understand their role in nature. Working in collaboration with the Springfield Park Department and the School Department, these two innovative teachers opened the Environmental Center for Our Schools in 1970. This unique school has now provided an exciting environmental education program for generations of Springfield residents.
ECOS is designed for elementary and middle school students in Springfield. Each student and her/his teacher spend two school days at the Clifford A. Phaneuf Environmental Center in Forest Park. Students are transported from their school to Forest Park each morning and returned to their school in time for dismissal.

The 750 acres of Forest Park provide a classroom which contains a treasure of environmental experiences. Some students have never had the opportunity to explore natural areas. ECOS provides an activity centered program in which students can expand their knowledge of the natural world by exploring the diverse habitats of the park.

STAFF

ECOS is staffed by certified teachers interested in environment education, adept at using the outdoors as a teaching tool, and skilled in the discovery method of teaching. The ECOS staff is assisted by the students’ classroom teacher a well as parents and visitors.

CLOTHING

Students should wear appropriate clothes for the outdoors, such as jeans, sweatshirts, sneakers or boots, etc. Since the program is held outside throughout the school year, students should dress according to the season and weather. Students should dress in layers because it is always a little cooler in the forest. They can always take off a sweatshirt if it gets warmer. (For a guide to dressing for Winter Survival see "6th-Grade Activities.")

LUNCH

Lunches are handled the same way as in school. Students who bring lunch to school should bring their lunch to ECOS. Students who receive a school lunch will receive their school lunch at ECOS.

AN INVITATION

Get in to your spirit of adventure! Get into some old clothes, dress for the weather, pack a lunch and tell your child’s teacher you would like to accompany the class to ECOS for one day or the entire session. We look forward to having you join us.

IMPORTANT

Sign the permission slip and return it to school as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please contact the school or your child’s teacher.
We look forward to having your child participate in the ECOS program and hope you will consider joining us also.

Ron St. Amand, Director of Science

Day 1

Morning
Students will learn to keep warm in Winter by:
-- making group decisions.
-- building a one match fire using available materials found in the forest.
-- dressing appropriately

Lunch – outside if weather permits

Afternoon
Students will learn to:
-- build a shelter using available materials found in the forest. Branches from used Christmas trees and natual debris will be made available to students.
-- the knots necessary in building shelters.

Day 2

Students will spend the entire day in a designated survival area. They will work together cooperatively in small groups without teacher assistance but with teacher supervision. The survival experience will include:
-- choosing a site in the survival area.
-- building a shelter.
-- building a one match fire.
-- heating food over the fire.
-- the importance of leaving the area as clean as it was found – if not cleaner.

Standard(s): English Language Arts
Strand: Language
Learning Standard #2: Questioning, listening, and contributing – Students will pose questions, listen to the ideas of others, and contribute their own information or ideas in group discussions or interviews in order to acquire knowledge

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This activity is optional. If you choose not to have students make rafts, we can still do the stream activity. For more information or help with the design call ECOS at 787-6493.

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