Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center Phone: 952-854-5900 |
Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts |
Requirements filled according to the 1997 Interest Projects for Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts Book. Numbers correspond with badge requirements.
Travel
Skill Builders
2. Plan a day trip to Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Read pages 132-134 in A Resource Book for Senior
Girl Scouts, and answer the questions on pages 133-134. With the help of refuge staff or volunteers, research recreational opportunities at the refuge including costs, activities, public educational programs, attractions, seasonal events, special events, exhibits, and volunteering. Keep a trip journal of your visit.
All About Birds
Skill Builders
2. Birds can be identified by size, shape, body patterns, color, flight patterns, bird calls, and behavior. Walk the trails and visit the Wildlife Viewing Areas at the refuge with a field guide to birds. Observe, identify, and make notes about five birds.
3. Learn to identify five birds by their songs or call notes with the cd's, More Birding by Ear (1-3), at the wildlife viewing area at one of our visitor centers. Walk the trails and identify five birds by their calls. Use the Long Meadow Lake Unit's Hillside Song Bird Trail Pack, borrowed from the information desk at the Bloomington Visitor Center, while on your hike.
6. Visit the Bloomington Visitor Center and choose a bird mount, exhibit, or look at illustrations in the book store or in a field guide. Then create an original work of art, such as a woodcarving, drawing, painting, or series of photographs of the bird of your choice. Another option is participating in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Art and Conservation Program. Learn about waterfowl and wetland habitat conservation then articulate your newfound knowledge by drawing, painting or sketching a picture of a North American waterfowl species. For more information or to participate, contact the Minnesota State Coordinator at 952/854-5900.
Technology
1. The information desk at one of the visitor centers has several binoculars to lend and there is a spotting scope on the observation deck you can use to view birds.
2. Contact either the Bloomington Visitor Center, 952/854-5900, or Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center, 952/361-4500 to discuss with a staff or volunteer the benefits of bird banding, methods of banding and recording, and ways Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service use bird banding as a form of wildlife management.
5. Visit one of the visitor centers and explore the observation deck and wildlife viewing area. Use the scopes and binoculars to watch for waterfowl and nesting birds. Record what you see. Find a staff member or volunteer to help you identify birds that you may see. Focus on at least five different birds.
Service Projects
2. The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a great place to see birds. Take a hike on one of our trails to see many different species.
3. Bird surveys are conducted throughout the year at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Ask for more information about surveys you can participate in.
5. Volunteers are always welcome at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Stop by the information desk to get more information about what you can do to help.
Career Explorations
4. There are biologists whose work involves birding and ornithology (the study of birds). Arrange to shadow the wildlife biologist or biological technician, or go on a bird walk. Call ahead for details, Bloomington Visitor Center, 952/854-5900, or Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center, 952/361-4500. Learn about the training needed, hiring process, and tasks of the job.
Eco-Action
Skill Builders
2. Contact a local community representative to learn more about what environmental concerns there are in your
neighborhood. Do research at your local library to find out more about your local and national laws concerning
the environment. Explore the River Channel exhibit at the
Bloomington Visitor Center to learn about environmental problems with the watershed. Then try and discover what Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are doing to conserve the environment as well as wildlife.
4. Rachel Carson is a famous environmentalist who worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a biologist. She is most well known for her book Silent Spring about the effects of pesticides on the environment. Learn more about her at the Blufftop Bookshop in the Bloomington Visitor Center.
Service Projects
2. Volunteers are always welcome at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge to help out with a variety of different projects. Stop by the information desk at one of our visitor centers to get more information about what you can do to help.
Career Exploration
3. Interview three people with different jobs at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Learn about
careers related to the environment and/or the law. Find out the educational requirements and nature
of working in each area. Come with prepared questions, and call ahead for contacts,
Bloomington Visitor Center, 952/854-5900, or
Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center, 952/361-4500.
4. A well-known pioneer in environmental concerns was Rachel Carson. The information she wrote in her books came from research done with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Look in the bookshop at the Bloomington Visitor Center or check out a book from your library about Rachel Carson to learn more about her work in helping the environment.
5. Identify three or more degree programs in fields concerned with the environment. Visit one of our visitor centers and speak with someone that was once enrolled in a similar program. How are the programs alike and how are they different?
Wildlife
Skill Builders
1. Visit Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and find an area such as a forest, pond, or a meadow that you could use as a field ecology site. Visit the site and take some time to make some observations. Create a nature journal entry, recording what you see, smell, feel, or even think. Record the date, time, temperature and weather conditions. You may add sketches also.
2. Visit the various trails at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Identify as many of the flowers, shrubs, and trees as you can. Sketch some of them in a field notebook. Use field guides to identify them and record the names alongside of the sketches in your notebook.
3. Select a field ecology site at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Identify and record the names of animals you see or see evidence of. Learn how to identify at least three different sets of tracks. Use field guides to help you identify various animals and animal tracks. You may want to take pictures of some of the animals and tracks.
4. Visit a field ecology site at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Record the date, time, location, and weather conditions at the time of your observation. Create an ethogram (a detailed record of animal behavior) by putting down categories of the animal’s behavior in the form of a table. Note which behavior they do, and how long they do it for. Also note how the animal interacts with others around it.
Technology
1. Visit Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and explore the exhibits at the Visitor Center. Pay close attention to the explanations of how each animal or topic was/is researched and lives along the Minnesota River Valley.
Service Projects
2. Contact the Bloomington Visitor Center, 952/854-5900, or
Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center, 952/361-4500 to find out how you can volunteer your services. This may involve exotic species removal, putting up bird boxes, trail monitoring, cleaning a stream, or assisting at one of the visitor centers. Involve other Girl Scouts in the project. Record your results as you carry out the project.
Career Explorations
1. Explore some careers involving wildlife and the environment. Contact the refuge to schedule an interview with an employee to discuss and learn how they got involved in the field, what their training/schooling was like, and what their typical day is like.
2. Contact the Bloomington Visitor Center, 952/854-5900, or Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center, 952/361-4500 to interview a Visitor Services staff. This career combines wildlife and people. Explore ways in which the public and private groups can learn about what Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge is doing to conserve wildlife.
3. Arrange to shadow a Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge biologist or biological technician for part of the day to learn about their jobs.
Museum Discovery
Skill Builders
1. Visit one of Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge's Visitor Centers. Ask if someone is available for a behind the scenes tour. Determine the missions, objectives, strengths, and weaknesses of the Visitor Center. Discuss with others what you liked most about the exhibits, and how you would change it to meet the needs of different age groups, cultures, or people with disabilities.
4. Visit one of Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge’s Visitor Centers and check and see if it is accessible to people with disabilities. What technologies are used to aid people with disabilities? After your visit make a list of recommendations on how you would improve the facilities.
Career Explorations
1. Visit one of Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge’s Visitor Centers and locate jobs or duties that people may not notice right away. Museums and exhibits require lots of duties that the public may never see. Look around and make a list of these. For example; cleaning exhibits, running/fixing AV equipment, educational programs, developing handouts and pamphlets, working in the book store, etc. Try and see how many different jobs you could find in a museum.
Women Through Time
Career Exploration
4. A well-known woman pioneer of environmental concerns was Rachel Carson. The information she wrote in her
books came from research done with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Look in the bookshop at the
Bloomington Visitor Center or check out a book from your library about Rachel Carson to learn more about her work in helping the environment.
Backpacking
Service Projects
4. Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge has many environmental projects ongoing throughout the year. Stop by one of the visitor centers to learn about ways in which you can participate.
Career Exploration
2. Arrange to shadow a Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge wildlife biologist, wildlife operation specialist, or visitor services staff for part of the day to learn about their jobs. You may also want to speak to volunteers about the special role they play in outdoor recreation on the refuge.
Camping
Service Projects
2. Offer your services to maintain a hiking trail on the refuge. Learn the proper ways to cut unwanted
growth, control erosion, and divert water off the trail. Call
Bloomington Visitor Center, 952/854-5900, or
Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center, 952/361-4500, to learn ways you help with trail maintenance.
Career Exploration
3. Arrange to interview a visitor services staff to learn about what is takes to be an educator who is
devoted to environmental issues. Contact the
Bloomington Visitor Center, 952/854-5900, or
Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center, 952/361-4500, to set up an interview.
