What do Alfalfa Leafcutter bees, Sulphur Butterflies, fish flies, ants, mosquitos and American Goldfinch birds all have in common?
In addition to being endemic to Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park, these insects – along with many others – also play an important role in acting as pollinators for their natural environment.
The Celebrating Pollinators and Art in the Park event, which took place from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Sunday, June 22, at the park campground ampitheatre, gave kids and their parents the opportunity to learn about the process of insect pollination and also get creative by doing colouring and crafts. Youngsters received stickers for participating in the various activities that were on offer for Sunday’s event.
Using models of bees and flowers, park interpreters held demonstrations an interactive display set up inside the ampitheatre. Learning was also done through participating in games, including one where the objective was to match the names of flower parts to a drawing of a flower on a table.
Kids interested in being scientists for a few hours to explore and capture specimens of the various species of bugs living in the park were provided with small plastic containers. Once caught, these insects were brought back and put on display on their temporary homes.
For those keen on delving into the stages of bug research, there was another exhibit in the ampitheatre that featured detailed displays about examination methods, including studying, field research, analyzing data, and lab work.