The Nature of Camera Trapping with Kids
WOAH! What is that?!”
It was one of those winter mornings where your breath freezes to your scarf and the wind cuts through all your layers. Barre City Elementary and Middle School (BCEMS) was slated to have ECO that day, two hours of outdoor science programming led by NBNC staff. Despite our desire to be outside in any conditions, the arctic temperatures had us holed up snugly inside a fourth-grade classroom. I sat in front of the computer, clicking through videos from their class wildlife camera while the students watched in rapt wonder. A fox trotted onto the screen, recognizable despite the pixelated gray-scale video. It looked at the camera, eyes glowing an eerie white, and the classroom erupted with curiosity:
“Why are its eyes GLOWING??”
“Can it see the camera?”
“Is that the same fox we saw earlier?”
Three weeks before, all four of the fourth-grade classes at BCEMS had run an experiment behind the school. Each class selected a spot that looked like it might have animal activity nearby and left out some treats for the animals: seeds, fruit, some canned cat food, a scoop of peanut butter. Then we set up cameras and made some predictions about what animals we expected to come check out our treats. We wrapped up the class with a discussion about feeding wild animals and considered the pros and cons of attracting wildlife with food. The class decided that we were being responsible by making sure to keep the food away from the school to avoid creating repeated bait stations, and we closed with a moment of silent gratitude for the forest.
Camera trapping is one of my favorite ways to incorporate technology into ECO. For some, the idea of using technology in our ECO classrooms at all might seem antithetical to the mission. I disagree — to me, intentional use of technology is just another way to deepen our connection with the natural world. Using camera traps to watch wildlife allows students and teachers to build a more intimate relationship with outdoor spaces at school. All of the students could probably tell you that Barre City is home to foxes and deer and squirrels, but without being able to see the animals’ faces this remains somewhat of an abstract concept. While they know that there are often foxes in the playground field at night, getting to see them in action with cameras turns that knowledge into a relationship.
As we studied our videos in the classroom, these relationships bloomed. We discovered that there were two different Gray Foxes — one with a bent tail and the other with a fluffy tail. We watched as a fat golden retriever joyfully consumed a can of catfood before its owner caught up and hustled it away. We watched in amazement as a shrew scuttled under the snow and popped up just in front of the camera for a split second. With each observation the students made, they built another little bridge between themselves and the world outside the window. It was, in every way, a perfect ECO day.