True or false: Mushrooms aren't plants or animals
True! They are Fungi which are plant-like but not plants at all since they don't make chlorophyll.
This is what happens to something that is no longer living and is breaking down. Hint: The category title is "Decomposers".
Decompose
True or false: Making compost is good because it recycles food waste and makes good soil!
True!
Ranger Lokey always says to leave a place the same or _____ than you found it.
Better!
Ranger Luna and Lokey's MOST favorite game of all time!
The quiet game!
This is just about every mushrooms favorite food. This can be found just about anywhere. If you're in search of a mushroom, you're likely to find mushrooms growing on these...
Dead trees or plants!
True or false: Decomposers eat living plants and animals to get their energy.
False, they eat dead plants and animals and then their waste is turned into nutrients for soil.
What are the best things to put into a compost bin?
old scraps and food waste. (basically anything organic and no longer living)
This is one of the most important leave no trace principles. Ranger Lokey and Luna help you do it every day after we eat or do anything that makes us have trash.
Trash your trash!
Whats the name of the Great Horned Owl that lives at the raptor center?
Guffey!
True or False: Mushrooms get all their energy from the sun, just like plants do.
False, they get their energy by growing on top of their food and absorbing nutrients as dead things break down.
Decomposer are nature's _______ ___
Hint:
Garbage men!
Once food scraps and waste is broken down into compost, what could it be used for?
Soil rich in nutrients for growing really nice and healthy plants and in turn, fruits and veggies!
Smokey Bear and Leave no trace say to always be careful with fire and watch our campfires in case there is a _______
Wildfire
Precipitaion is a step in the water cycle where water does what?
Falls to the ground
True or False: Unlike humans, fungus breaks down Its food on the outside of their bodies.
True
I'm a fungus beetle! Am I a decomposer?
Yes! Both directly by eating fungus and then indirectly by spreading their spores.
Air, waste(brown/green), water, and decomposers are the ingredients you need in order to make a good compost bin and complete the compost _____
Recipe
Playing the quiet game while out on hikes or just in nature helps us to respect _____
Wildlife and other people
This behavioral adaptation is something the birds do as the seasons change, moving from one place to another. "Flying south for the winter"
Migration
In a book we read with Ranger Luna, we learned that there is a whole underground world growing right under our feet where fungus threads, called mycellium, are connected to trees and other fungi. What makes these connections so special?
They connect to other living things by their roots. They communicate with other plants and transport food to each other.
Earth worms make good decomposer by eating ______. In turn their waste makes good ______.
Earth worms eat dead plants and animals. They leave behind nutrients for good soil.
Without decomposers plants wouldn't be able to get the _____ they need to grow.
Nutrients
This is the very first principle in leave no trace. It means you must check the weather, make sure you have proper gear like layers and water with you. It states KNOW before you _____
GO!
We play in this river all the time when we have class at the Nature Center. What is the name of the river that flows through the Nature Center and Pueblo?
The Arkansas River