- Main Page
- What's New
- Special Events
- North Tract
- National Wildlife Visitor Center
- Location
- Exhibits
- Movies
- Hollingsworth Art Gallery
- Kiosk
- Tram Tours
- Trails
- Fishing
- Public Programs
- School Programs
- Teacher Workshops
- Scout Programs
- Backyard Habitat
- Volunteer!
- Internships
- Conservation Plan
- Galleries
- Links
- Information and Literature
- Junior Duck Stamps
- Refuge Staff Directory
- Site Table of Contents
Last Update
National Wildlife Visitor Center
Scout Program Links
Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts
Requirements filled according to the 1997 Interest Projects for Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts.
LIFE SKILLS
Travel
Skill Builders
2. Plan a day trip to Patuxent Research 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, educational programs, attractions, seasonal events, special events, exhibits, and volunteering. Keep a trip journal of your visit.
NATURE, SCIENCE, AND HEALTHAll 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. Walk the trails of the National Wildlife Visitor Center and identify five birds by their calls.
4. The Wildlife Telltales exhibit in the National Wildlife Visitor Center shows the migratory habits of 4 species of birds. Study this exhibit to learn more in-depth information about these birds.
6. Visit the National Wildlife Visitor Center and choose a bird mount, painting, 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 display of your choice.
Technology
1. The viewing pod in the National Wildlife Visitor Center has binoculars and scopes that you can use to look for birds around the lake.
2. Contact the National Wildlife Visitor Center and find a date for a goose round-up or a bird banding outing. Discuss with a staff or volunteer the benefits of banding, methods of banding and recording, and ways the Patuxent Research Refuge uses bird banding as a form of wildlife management.
4. The Patuxent Research Refuge has been conducting research on these environmental problems for many years. For example, groundbreaking research has been done here on the pesticide DDT and its effect on birds. Today, Patuxent has been a center for whooping crane research and captive breeding. Stop by the National Wildlife Visitor Center to learn more about the projects we are currently conducting.
5. Visit the National Wildlife Visitor Center and explore the viewing pod and Bayscape 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 Patuxent Research Refuge is a great place to see birds. Take a hike on one of our trails or take a tram tour to see many different species.
3. Bird surveys are conducted throughout the year at the Patuxent Research Refuge. Ask for more information about surveys you can participate in.
5. Volunteers are always welcome at the Patuxent Research Refuge. Stop by the front desk to get more information about what you can do to help.
Career Explorations
4. There are many positions at Patuxent that involve birding and ornithology (the study of birds). Arrange to shadow the biological technician, refuge biologist, wildlife biology intern, or go on a bird walk. Call ahead for details. 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 Global Concerns exhibit at the National Wildlife Visitor Center to learn about environmental problems. Then try and discover what Patuxent Research 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 has ties to the Patuxent Research Refuge. She is most well know for her book Silent Spring about the effects of pesticides on the environment. Learn more about her at the National Wildlife Visitor Center.
Service Projects
2. Volunteers are always welcome at the Patuxent Research Refuge for a variety of different projects. Stop by the front desk to get more information about what you can do to help.
Career Exploration
3. Interview three people with different jobs at Patuxent Research Refuge and/or the National Wildlife Visitor Center. Learn about careers related to the environment and/or the law. Find out educational requirements and nature of working in each area. Come with prepared questions, and call ahead for contacts.
4. A well-known pioneer in environmental concerns was Rachel Carson. The information she wrote in her books came from research done at Patuxent Research Refuge. Look in the bookstore at the National Wildlife Visitor Center or check out a book from your library about Rachel Carson to learn more about her work in helping the environment. The visitor center also offers a movie on the life of Rachel Carson. Call ahead for movie schedules.
5. Identify three or more degree programs in fields concerned with the environment. Visit the National Wildlife Visitor Center and speak with someone that was once enrolled in a similar program. How are the programs alike, and how are they different?
From Shore to Sea
Skill Builders
5. The Global Concerns exhibit in the National Wildlife Visitor Center details seven major environmental problems worldwide. Use this exhibit to learn about ocean pollution and global warming.
Wildlife
Skill Builders
1. Visit the National Wildlife Visitor Center an find and 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 Bayscape patio area, and the various trails at the National Wildlife Visitor Center. 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 Patuxent Research 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 the various animals and animal tracks. You may want to take pictures of some of the animals and tracks also.
4. Visit a field ecology site at the National Wildlife Visitor Center. 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 animals 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 Patuxent Research Refuge and explore the exhibits at the National Wildlife Visitor Center. Pay close attention to the explanations of how each animal or topic was/is researched. Note the equipment that is being used, and how it is different for researching animals of the air, land, and water. Watch the videos in the Lifecycle exhibits, and explore the research methods used in the Habitat Exhibits.
Service Projects
2. Contact the National Wildlife Visitor Center to find out how you can volunteer your services. This could involve gardening, putting up bird boxes, trail monitoring, cleaning a stream, or assisting at the visitor center. 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 a time where you could meet with an employee to discuss and interview how they got involved in the field, what their training/schooling was like, and what a typical day is like.
2. Interview an environmental education intern at the National Wildlife Visitor Center. This internship combines wildlife and people. Explore ways in which the public and private groups can learn about what Patuxent Research Refuge is doing to conserve wildlife.
3. Arrange to shadow a Patuxent Research Refuge biologist, wildlife biology intern, or biological technician for part of the day to learn about their jobs.
THE ARTS AND HISTORYMuseum Discovery
Skill Builders
1. Visit the National Wildlife Visitor Center. Ask if someone is available for a behind the scenes tour. Determine the missions, objectives, strengths, and weaknesses of the National Wildlife 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 the National Wildlife Visitor Center 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 the National Wildlife Visitor Center 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 in environmental concerns was Rachel Carson. The information she wrote in her books came from research done at Patuxent Research Refuge. Look in the bookstore at the National Wildlife Visitor Center or check out a book from your library about Rachel Carson to learn more about her work in helping the environment. The visitor center also offers a movie on the life of Rachel Carson. Call ahead for movie schedules.
SPORTS AND RECREATION
Backpacking
Service Projects
4. The Patuxent Research Refuge has many environmental projects ongoing throughout the year. Stop by the National Wildlife Visitor Center to learn about ways in which you can participate.
Career Exploration
2. Arrange to shadow a Patuxent Research Refuge biologist, wildlife biology or environmental education intern, or biological technician 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, biking, or nature trail on the refuge. Learn the proper ways to cut unwanted growth, control erosion, and divert water off the trail.