The natural way to learn

View larger image Abby Major, 6, tries to identify the type of clouds by using her fist to compare and measure the size of the clouds during the Young Naturalist Program at Blandy Experimental Farm near Boyce on Saturday. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image Lillian Ledford, program presenter, holds an anemometer to show the group how to measure wind speed during the Young Naturalist Program at Blandy Experimental Farm near Boyce on Saturday. Andrew Thayer/Daily

Blandy event gets children close to nature

By Sally Voth -- svoth@nvdaily.com

BOYCE -- The highlight of Brigid Tamas' day at Blandy Experimental Farm Saturday was acting like a molecule.

"I was a molecule and I was cold," the 9-year-old Front Royal resident said. "I didn't like the cold part, but I liked pretending to be a molecule."

Tamas was participating in the Foundation of the State Arboretum's Young Naturalist Program, which runs every other Saturday January-March.

Environmental educator Lillian Ledford took a batch of clipboard-clutching third- through fifth-graders outside on the grounds to gain a better understanding of weather measurements. The children recorded different readings on charts -- temperature, wind speed, cloud coverage.

Ledford showed them how an anemometer would record wind speed, and temperature variances among different environments. She divided the youngsters into two sets of molecules -- one hot and one cold -- to show how two fronts collide to create sometimes bumpy weather.

After everyone trooped inside, it was time to make their own anemometers out of paper cups and straws, and barometers out of balloons and soup cans. For a snack, the children were given tortillas to fold up and cut snowflake designs into. Those were then baked, covered with powdered sugar and served with chocolate milk.

Winchester resident Kimmy Gronauer, 9, has been coming to the Young Naturalist program for a long time now, she said.

"[It is] very fun," she said.

Her favorite part of the program, Gronauer said, was "probably the tortilla."

This was Craig Robertson's first class. The 11-year-old came from Round Hill.

He pronounced the program "fun," and said the best part was "making everything."

"I love science," Robertson enthused. "I wish it was the only subject in school some times."

His mother, Jackie Robertson, is a science teacher in Loudoun County Public Schools. She said they learned about the Young Naturalist program during a visit to the Arboretum in the fall.

"This is his very first class today, and he seemed very excited about going in," Mrs. Robertson said. "He really enjoys science. He loves doing experiments. He loves finding out why things are the way they are."

Public program director Steve Carroll said the remaining afternoon sessions are full, but there are some openings left in the morning classes, which are for first- and second-graders.

"[The purpose is to] get them outside in the winter, get them to realize you can [go] out and see and do things and find things, have fun, learn something," he said. "And, in a less structured way than a formal classroom, but still with some cohesiveness and direction."

For more information, visit www.blandy.virginia.edu.