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Show THE Page 10 OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume XI Issue IX February 15, 2005 NATURE ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee Along the Way... A Guide to Nature along the. Ogden Valley Pathways. Te Drawing by Stephen ee ee ee Did You Know? | February isa romantic month for | owls. They are one of the earliest J] birds to begin hatching eggs in the I year. They will mate and lay two white eggs which take about 30 daydl to incubate. This nocturnal bird has excellent I hearing that has nothing to do with the "ear" tufts. Owls are able to hear a mouse crawling under a foot J snow. I Great horned owls are sometimes called "flying tigers" because they I are not afraid of skunks or sid pines. They eat rodents, sn: I birds and small mammals, a tetash skunks are actually their prey of choice since they have lots of meat J and owls don't smell that well. I The great horned owl does not build a nest of its own but steals one from either crows, great blue herons or wks. The cavities in the large, old cottonwoods ane our streams Ormsbee The Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus Wings: 44" brownish, yellowish, Feet: ee with blends of gray on the white tips of feathers t Il with sh: Slane am win snarp are vital to owl habi Owls are the originators cept " branching out." of the con- J Young owls climb out of the nest and test out their ‘Bying skills from the surrounding branches of the tree. first find has will At I J] Legs: _ short, round legs Sea at flying or it will find I I its way er I the top of its head, large bright yellow orange eyes Chest: mostly white with dark markings Throat: doesn't really have a throat; it has heaps of feathers on its neck back up to the lower branches of the tree. ext by 7 onathon Holley an Size: Taryn 21" to 25 Students working on field inventory. life cycles impact the food chain within a habitat, and the chemical changes plants undergo during the fall season. More importantly, students learned to really “see” wildlife and plant life and its role within an ecosystem instead of responding to something they see as “just a leaf” or a picture in a book. The students soon learned to identify plants by their color, shape, stem, veins, flower, and seeds. Of course, many of them learned the hard way about how seeds spread; if you lean too close to a burdock, you can very quickly become a “burr head.” With the help of Sharon Beddes in the curriculum lab, students learned to compose scientific descriptions of birds and plants. She and Carolyn designed a writing rubric Einstein the pelican, Sampson the red-tailed hawk, and Chitters the owl gave students an up close and personal opportunity for contact with these birds’ very unique and fun personalities. It was definitely a highlight of the project Sorensen’s Art II class composed of 8th and 9th graders drew the plants. Because of the fall season, it was impossible for the students to render their drawings from actual plants, so to prepare for their drawings, the students went into the field and drew as many plants as they could. “The challenge was to get them to slow down enough to really see the contour of leaves, the vein structure, and the way leaves connect to the And then, because plants can be a static thing to draw, she taught students to add interest to the drawing (so the reader wouldn’t go to sleep) by the use of thin and thick lines and texturizing. Both teachers state that they feel that the project allowed the students to make a powerful connection with our Valley’s natural community and environment. To know a thing is to own it. Now when students see a bird with a speckled chest, black and red points, and red underwings they are likely to they are not very good. If you I one on the ground, leave it. It not been deserted. Its parents I come feed it until it gets a little J Bill: — sharp, short and hooked Face: — gray to rusty with two horns of thick feathers on Delanie Griffin OGDEN VALLEY NEws Using field guide photos for models, students from the Advanced Art class drew pictures of the various birds they found in Ogden Valley—a very difficult task. These are 9th grade students who are still in the process of developing their artistic talents and observation skills. The students first blocked in the shape of a particular bird in pencil. “You would think birds are a simple shape,” says Sorensen, “but the kids found that there are so many subtleties of beak, legs, curve of chest, and angle of tail. These are all characteristics of the different species that allow us to identify them.” Next, the students worked at identifying the values—meaning the lights and darks. Finally, they learned to render the textures and type of feathers by using rolling ball pens and the pen techniques of hatching, cross-hatching, and stiple. To give students a chance to see birds on the move and to learn more about them in nature, the grant provided for the Ogden Nature Center to bring to the school some of Kelly I I I I I I Drawing by Jonathen Lowe l LAKESIDE —" iru ual Sierra Casa works on a heron. that gave students a method for recording collected data. These written descriptions will appear in the trail guide as well as in the bi-monthly newspaper journal pages found within The OGDEN VALLEY News throughout the year. Jennifer Sorensen’s art students also worked hard at creating beautiful drawings that will be featured in the guide and in The 801-745-4000 VILLAGE 2555 WOLF CREEK DR. ae Join us for an Apres Ski Party Come and meet new friends while enjoying refreshments from local valley restaurants. asta 2 liters $1.00 with coupon Grand Ice Cream << oO La ol 7H empires 3 SAS $5.00 Expires 3/1/05 mn Enter to win a drawing Phone: 801-745-0404 www.LakesideVillage.com ae ° with coupon for a weekend getaway! White or Wheat Expires 3/1/05 a eu. iI =a a © = a 5 = hh oS cS Lakeside Village is located on the south shore of Pineview Reservoir at the intersection of Old Snowbasin Road and Highway 39. Lakeside offers the closest accommodations to Snowbasin Ski Resort 175 q with coupon ycamore’s Bread 24 oz. toaf -_ 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 3 for a oS = 2. B Each Friday and Saturday EDEN HOURS: AT. - ee 0 az mm nky Soups 1s .00 Ze with coupon Expires 3/1/05 = mn a Ol ail Oll rT pe cont. from page 1 e Each month the OGDEN VALLEY News will print a new page of the “Ogden Valley Nature Guide.” Readers can then cut out and collect these pages to create their own resource guide featuring wildlife and fauna found in Ogden Valley. GUIDE fication, students determined which plants were most commonly found within the environment; these are the ones that will appear within the brochure. They do not include all species of wildflowers found within Ogden Valley, such as those found at higher, less impacted elevations. Students then took their lists of species to the Utah State Extension office for formal verification This project tied into Snowcrest’s core curriculum by helping students develop scientific observation skills, an understanding of scientific physical properties, how plant ° Along the Way... A Guide to Nature along the Ogden Valley Pathways rchard Apple Juice Drinks 64 oz. & with coupon Limit 3 per coupon Expires 3/1/05 ASSORTED I I |