By Dylan McDonough
It was brisk and breezy as our car drove to Camp Roger. The day’s theme was “Botanists” which is a person who studies plants. It was a great subject to study at camp because of all the plants on the property.
The devotional led by Reuben was about the corpse flower that gives off a stench that smells like rotting meat or a corpse. This is to attract bugs to it in order to pollinate. We should have a “fragrance” attracting others to us. Jesus says we should be a light to the world, which is a similar example.
For the first adventure we went with Sarah to talk about trees. Lumberjacks in Michigan cut down trees that were about 300 feet tall! We took a measuring tape and some string to one stump. We wrapped the string around the stump to find its diameter. We also measured how tall the stump was. Our group did this to other trees guessing its diameter. But how do you measure how tall a tree is? Everyone partnered up. One camper stood by a chosen tree and the other camper held out a pencil vertically at arm’s length in front of his face. The pencil holding person backs away from the tree until it seems like the pencil is as tall as the tree. Then you turn the pencil horizontally as your partner moves sideways until it looks like he is at the end of the pencil. Someone measures the distance from the tree to where the camper walked sideways. That distance will tell you how tall the tree is.
Mary Jo was the second leader for the Blazing Bobcats. We used microscopes to look at plants, especially new spring plants by the lake. I noted that lichen looks sparkly under a microscope. We walked around the lake observing all different kinds of plants. At one point Mary Jo pointed out a dip in the ground near the lake. We tried to guess how it was made but no one could. It was actually because when the camp was having an ultimate game of hide-and-seek, one of the counselors dug this hole and covered himself with leaves as his hiding place. But he accidentally feel asleep in the hole. By the time the game ended no one found him. When he woke up, well, that was probably a funny story to be told.
The walk ended and everyone scurried to lunch. Asher, Dylan L. and I ate again at the famous lopsided table sturdied by a stump. We almost had to pin everything
down to prevent it from rolling down towards Dylan. After we ate, Reuben read everyone The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.
For the third adventure, Hannah was our leader. We learned about the xylem in a plant. The xylem transports minerals and water from the roots. But our question was how can the xylem suck water all the way up a tree or plant. One boy from our group said he could suck water from a straw 40 feet up in the air. Hannah accepted his dare. We walked up to the treehouse to find a long straw dangling from the edge attached to a bucket of blue water on the ground. Everyone tried sucking the water up the straw one at a time and altogether. We could not get it over eight feet. So how do plants do it? Well, Hannah explained. The straw had lots of pressure in it and around it so that makes it very hard. The xylem does not have any air in it but just water being sent up. If only she could have told us that before. I almost blew out my lungs!
Everyone met back for roasted marshmallows over a campfire. I chose a great marshmallow and stick to toast the perfect, crunchy, melty masterpiece. But that so called masterpiece in a few seconds turned out to be a half-smoldering puck of inedible charcoal. Looks like I may have an excuse to keep going to camp to master the art of perfect marshmallow roasting. After that we told jokes and riddles.
Before this “Botanists” camp, plants were not an interesting topic to me. But, after experiencing this Camp Roger, I found plants exciting and fun to learn about. I liked seeing plants under the microscope. The xylem is a very fascinating part of the plant or tree. I am also excited for the last Camp Roger called “The Journey”, and am also very sad for this year’s homeschool program to come to an end.
