by Janet Gremli

On Sunday, November 2, 2014, the Young Naturalists Club of the Great South Bay Audubon Society met at Brookside County Park in Sayville to enjoy the splendor of Autumn. The children gathered around a large wooden table which was liberally strewn with leaves of oak, maple, sassafras and dogwood, pine needles, acorns, pinecones, bark, and moss. The children were introduced to the variety of shapes, colors and scents that Nature offers. Hard, oval pitch pinecones were compared with the slender, arcing cones of the white pine. Clusters of pine needles were counted to identify whether they were pitch pine or white pine. The gnarly bark of the pine trees was compared to the smoother bark of birch and sycamore. The bright yellow maple leaves, palmate in shape, were held in contrast to the orange and red of the mitten-shaped sassafras and the scarlet of the round-lobed oak leaves. The children then set out on a scavenger hunt to find the various objects of our lesson. Darting across the grass and scurrying along the edge of the woods, the children collected leaves, pine needles, pinecones and acorns. Not certain if they had a sassafras leaf, they remembered to crush the leaf to release the citrus-like aroma for validation. The children filled their paper bags with all of the items on the scavenger list. Returning to our great table, they let the spoils of their search tumble out for closer inspection. Through their newly acquired knowledge and direct observations, the children were able to connect the information they had learned with Nature’s Bounty.

Click to enlarge photos – Photos Courtesy of Janet Gremli