Wilson School second graders make impressions in clay with a variety of objects to determine which objects make the best fossil. Photo credit: Mrs. Jasmane, Wilson School.

Alpena National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (NFWCO) is currently working with Wilson Elementary School to develop a Children and Nature Program.  As part of this effort, Biologists Heather Rawlings and Andrea Ania met with the principal, Jean Kowalski, on May 15^th to identify a suitable site on the school grounds to develop a natural area (nature acre).  The goal of the nature acre is to provide students access to nature during recess breaks and allow students the opportunity to engage in unstructured play outdoors.  Based on research findings presented in Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods, contact with nature improves student learning and children who feel connected to nature have better physical, mental, and emotional health.  Site design is complete and the project is pending native plant purchase. 

On May 21^st, Rawlings and Ania visited the school to teach second graders about fossils.  They discussed the geologic time scale, how the different types of fossils form, and the petrification process.  Rawlings and Ania had students make impressions in clay with a variety of objects to determine which objects make the best fossils, conducted a celery petrification experiment, and had students cast a fossil of their favorite object.  The students shared many of their own fossil findings, stories, and asked questions about the types of fossil found in the local area.  Alpena is located in an area where fossils are abundant due to the vast sea that once covered the area, including the state’s Petoskey stone, a fossilized coral.