Camp Bayou Spring Open House

 

Visitors ready for a tour during a past event

Enjoy some great family-friendly outdoor activities and have some fun learning about the outdoor wonders of Florida at the

Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center
Spring Open House
Saturday, March 24, 2012
9am- 2pm

FREE

In addition to the everyday options for nature walks, geocaching, letterboxing, photo display, nature center, native plant nursery, browsing our historical exhibits in the Native People's Camp and Fishing Cabins, there will be special event activities:

The Crocheted Coral Reef Project has begun at Camp Bayou. Participants will use the unique qualities of crochet to learn how to create a simulated coral reef. Finished pieces will be added to the exhibit at the Florida Craftsman Gallery in St. Pete this summer. The exhibit is a satellite of the original crocheted reef that was the brainchild of mathematician Margaret Wertheim and her sister.

For the younger set, there will be several nature craft, game and activity tables set out on the lawn.

Eagle Audubon Society members, who are long time supporters, will be available in the Butterfly Habitat to talk about the plants and butterflies at Camp Bayou.

Learn about the state-wide private environmental education organization known as LEEF, League of Environmental Educators in Florida and hear about their upcoming conference.

During the lunch hour, the new non-profit that has formed to manage Camp Bayou programs will be introduced- Bayou Outdoor Learning and Discovery, Inc. It consists of the same volunteer staff that existed under the original non-profit, the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc., but is moving in a more self- sufficient direction. Founding supporters who sign up during the Open House will receive a small, but special, token of appreciation.

Other scheduled activities include:

Themed guided walks: 9AM, 11AM, 1PM
River netting: 10AM
Cart tours: on the half hour starting at 9:30AM

These activities are part of a Get Outdoors Florida!, "Let's GO"- C and N, No Child Left Inside, Be Out There!-NWF, and Let's Move Outside inspired initiative.

Camp Bayou is neither a campground nor a summer camp. It was an RV park before the County's ELAP program purchased the land but it is now open for day use only, open to the general public. Through volunteers, donations, membership and grants, the Center offers pre-scheduled programs to schools, youth groups, adult groups and families plus it's open from Thursday- Saturday from 9am-2pm for passive recreational pursuits such as wildlife watching, nature photography and trail walks.

The Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center is managed by the newly created, non-profit Bayou Outdoor Learning and Discovery, Inc. (BOLD), in a public- private partnership with the non-profit Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc. (RCDF) and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation. Camp Bayou is located 3 miles south of SR674 at the end of 24th St SE in Ruskin. More information is on the web at http://www.campbayou.org/ or call 813-641-8545.

Homeschool Series Day #4

This is the final week of Camp Bayou's Native People's series- the topic is food! Along the way we will review what we have learned all month, with a trail walk in search of plants and evidence of animals that the native people may have used over 500 years ago.
Vocabulary this week:
- ethnobotany
- toxicity
- pathogens
- coquina
- quahog
- tanning
- mano and metate
- totem
- muscadine
- smilax

Resource links:
50 native plants used by native people
Native Foods
An Ancient Hunting Weapon
Exploring Florida
Tocobaga Indians of Tampa Bay
Trail of Florida's Indian Heritage

References:
Bioarchaeology of the Florida Gulf Coast: Adaptation, Conflict, and Change by Dale L. Hutchinson
Florida Ethnobotany by Daniel Austin

Homeschool Series Day #3

Third week is full of skill building games similar to those that young native people from this area may have participated in to ready them for the future. We'll also look at communication and the challenges of interacting with people from other tribes for trade and information.
Vocabulary:
stealth
accuracy
dexterity
endurance
coordination
camouflage
strategy
chant
translate
smoke signal

References:
Native American Games
Native Tech
Indian Sign Language

Homeschool Series 2012- Day2

This week the focus is on Stone, Shell, and Bone tools. There will be a simulated archaeological dig to give an idea of how archaeologist do their job.


Vocabulary for this week:
midden
chert
Busycon
dug out canoe
gilded
atlatl
projectile point
pottery sherd
excavation
stratigraphy


References:


Willey, Gordon R., Archeology of the Florida Gulf Coast, University Press of Florida, 1998 (first published by Smithsonian Institution, 1949).
Bullen, Ripley P., From Eleven Sites in Hillsborough County, Florida, Florida Park Service, 1952.
Milanich, Jerald T., Hernando DeSoto and the Indians of Florida, University Press of Florida,
Purdy, Barbara A., Florida's People during the last Ice Age, Univeristy Press of Florida

Florida Anthropology Society

Registration is now closed. Check out last week's activities at
http://campbayou.blogspot.com/2012/01/homeschool-series-2012-day1.html

Look for an online exploration of this series at the Camp Bayou Wiki in the coming weeks.

Work Day at Camp Bayou

Thank you to the staff from Walden Lake Car Wash and Service Center of Plant City, who volunteered to paint the Camp Bayou Fishing Cabin. This brings the restoration on the second cabin a bit closer to completion. This was accomplished, after learning that someone had stolen the 3 ladders that had been at the cabins, thanks to Joe Cook from Ruskin who loaned his own ladders for the day's work.

Pictured (L- R): Frank Cummings, Will Rainbolt, Maurice Lamar, Joe Stillitano and Josh Rainbolt.