This Kid’s Citizen Science Adventure is about a special group of plants that live in Alberta and are part of one of the largest plant groups in the world – the orchids. We do not have a lot of orchids in Alberta, and all of ours live in the ground, or are terrestrial. You will learn about four of Alberta’s 26 different orchids. These four are ones that we hope you and your family will be able to find in wild places this spring and summer.
You will also learn the basic parts of orchids and how they are bilateral or two-parted. You will learn how orchid flowers are designed to be pollinated by insects like bees and the tricks some use to lure insects into their flowers.
Your adventure kit will include live orchid material from the Orchid Society of Alberta in Edmonton. You will learn how to plant and grow an orchid. Also in your kit will be several orchid-gami sheets for you to assemble into interesting models. These are quite challenging to put together using your hands, your brains and glue.
Finally, in your kit will be a book of a First Nation’s legend about the lovely lady’s slipper orchid.
Deadline to register to receive your Adventure Kit on time:
April 20, 2022 (within Calgary)
April 18, 2022 (outside of Calgary)
All donations to AWA are eligible for a charitable tax receipt.
Participation
Availability:
0 remaining / 10 total spaces
Per-participant Donation Levels
Participants are expected to fundraise the following amount with
sponsorships from friends and family. You may also sponsor yourself.
All donations to AWA are eligible for a charitable tax receipt.
Minimum donation per participant: $30
Why Join This Adventure?
The April Adventure will prepare you for spring! It will encourage you to take your family to the forest to find illusive and beautiful orchids that will suddenly pop out of the ground and forest leaves.
Join this Adventure Saturday April 23 at 10:00 am for an hour of learning about four different special beauties waiting in the woods to meet you. You will also get your hands a bit dirty learning how to plant and care for your own live tropical orchid. You will test your skills and brains with orchid-gami. And, if all goes well, you will get to dissect and learn about the parts of an orchid flower.
Your teacher will be Vivian Pharis who has supported the AWA for more than 50 years! She’s a former biology teacher and has a long history of working with plants from the Rocky Mountains to vineyards in New Zealand.
Your kit will include live orchid materials for planting an orchid, several orchid-gami sheets, a glue stick, a book with an orchid legend and some note material. It will also have instructions on how to maintain your orchid material until it is planted.
Minimum sponsorship for each Orchid Adventure registration is $30. More than one person can join in from home via zoom, but if you want to have a second Citizen Science Kit you will need to register and pay the minimum Adventure Sponsorship for each participant ( all sponsorships are tax deductible donations and we hope you will be generous and sponsor your child for more than $30.)
In the coming months we have more Kids Citizen Science Adventures that will be posted and include fun topics like Innii (Bison), Grizzly Bears, Squiggly Snakes, Water bugs and Trout and their Streams, Little Brown Bats and Woodland Caribou.
By joining these adventures you will learn about Wild Alberta, have fun learning about wildlife and landscapes and how to be a citizen scientist. Each Adventure includes videos, stories, facts and a "kit" with craft materials, a book and more. You can register for all 10 - most often the Adventure will be on the last Saturday of the month. There is no Kids' Citizen Science Adventure in July or December of 2022.
When you register your kit will be delivered to your home if you live in the Calgary area, if not we can arrange to send by mail for a fee or you can pick up your kit at the AWA office in Calgary.
AWA volunteers, staff and content experts will be included as the lead teacher for each Adventure.
Adventure Metrics
This Adventure will take place by Zoom and you can join from anywhere in the world! The required link and passcode will be provided to all registrants in advance of the Adventure. Participants will be able to email Vivian with residual questions after the Adventure.
Required Equipment
Your Adventure Kit will be delivered to you in you live in Calgary, otherwise it can be mailed for a fee or you can arrange to pick up in Calgary.
Other Kids' Citizen Science Adventures
The following adventures will also be offered over the course of 2022 as part of the Kids’ Citizen Science series. Stay tuned for more details!
Bonus Prize for the family that registers for the most Kids’ Citizen Science Adventures! Your prize will be a photo shoot for a family portrait session that includes one 8×10 photo with Janet Horbacio Photography. We hope to see you for all 10 sessions. All those who qualify will be included in a draw for one of two photo shoot prizes.
Contact this Coordinator
Contact this coordinator:
by email at a4w@abwild.ca,
by phone at (403) 283-2025,
or by using the form below:
