''Wearing'' an albino boa, Macy Zander explores her inner snakehandler at the 2006 Science in Nature event. Courtesy photos

I grew up with my family spending summers camping on the shores of Lake Michigan. My sister and I liked to hunt and catch crawfish and persuaded my Mother to loan us the kitchen tongs, which in our family is still known as “the crawdad catcher.”

We turned over rocks in the shallow water and used either our fingers or the wonderful “crawdad catcher” to grab fleeing crayfish. They went into a bait pail and we watched them use their tails to zoom around backwards until they settled down to rest on the bottom. Then, the crawdads would begin to explore the bucket by walking slowly forward on their many legs.

We did all of this for fun. My sister and I took for granted the time and place to pursue our natural interest in these aquatic creatures. We wanted to catch them without getting pinched and improved our capture efficiency. While hunting and catching, we observed them and their behavior carefully and in different situations. This was one of many examples of how our science education began.

It seems to me that all children start out as scientists. 

They have an undeniable fascination with the small bits and pieces of nature. Exploring our natural world is the perfect and easy way for children to learn. Here they gain knowledge by following what is right there at arm’s length grabbing their curiosity.

A child examines the intricacies of a skull.

Parents and grandparents, bring your young scientists to the Nature Center from 10 to noon on Saturday for our annual fall family event: Science in Nature. We have gathered 12 science experts to lead activities and present demonstrations especially for families with young children.

Are the young scientists in your family interested in stars or planets? Snakes or lizards? Beetles, birds or butterflies? Come for a lively daytime star presentation by Dave Dobrotka. We also will have a special live display of Texas’ poisonous snakes. This one is hands-off, but you can learn how to identify our poisonous snakes and how to safely avoid them.

Our herpetologist friend Dave Barker will also have his usual gathering of gentle, non-poisonous snakes that can be safely seen and touched. For young birders, there will be activities on finding and seeing wild birds. Entomologist Wayne Seifert will bring hundreds of different insects that have been collected over a lifetime. And Mary Kennedy, better known as “Monarch Mary” will be here with live monarch butterflies and nets and tags for collecting and marking butterflies in the great fall migration. You can help.

Our fall Outdoor Classroom program begins in September too. 

School groups from Boerne and area school districts come to the Nature Center for a morning of fun and outdoor learning. All programs include activities that engage the children and focus their attention on different aspects of the environment such as habitats, soil, adaptations, plants and bugs.  Please tell your teachers that the Outdoor Classroom has a few days still open in September.