<\/p>\n
As Christine Leandri and her students from Wyoming Area\u2019s gifted program stood admiring a very tall, very old, white pine, Christopher Miller asked a question:<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old is our country?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c250 years!\u201d a boy called out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis tree has been here for at least that long. It\u2019s older than the United States of America,\u201d said Miller, founder of the non-profit, 18-acre Lehman Sanctuary in Lehman Township, where teachers and other interested individuals are welcome to arrange a visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m wondering how many third, fourth and fifth graders it would take to reach around the tree,\u201d Sanctuary volunteer John Ferrante said.<\/p>\n
Soon Alexis Mikielski, Maverick Fabbri and another friend were stretching, finger to finger, trying to form a circle around the thick trunk on a recent Thursday morning. It looked like completing the circle would take more than three people \u2026 but already most of the other students were further along the path in the old-growth forest.<\/p>\n
Some of the water on the ground was ephemeral, Miller told them, explaining that means it\u2019s not always there. \u201cIt\u2019s also known as spring seeps or vernal pools,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat do you think it\u2019s good for?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWater for plants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor salamanders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re all right,\u201d Miller told the youngsters who had supplied the answers. The ephemeral water was especially good for salamanders, he said, because there would be no predators, such as fish, in it. And the young visitors were welcome to search for salamanders.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne rule I have for you all is, if you move a rock or a log, you must put it back where you found it,\u201d Miller said. \u201cGently put it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, they also were to gently release any salamanders they found.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis place is wonderful,\u201d teacher Christine Leandri said. \u201cIt\u2019s a hidden gem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helping the children experience nature first hand on their recent field trip were King\u2019s College associate professor of biology Garrett Barr, who found several salamanders and a wood frog for them to examine, and John Ferrante, a retired forester, who was eager to talk about trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my favorite tree,\u201d Ferrante said at one point, pointing to a slender young birch that was growing out of a fallen hemlock. A seed likely fell into a crack in the fallen tree, he said, and it started to grow, under the bark. Now, as the new tree continues to grow, the old tree will eventually decay underneath it, leaving an empty space. The new tree will then appear to be walking on stilts, Ferrante said.<\/p>\n
The young students already knew a lot about the natural world, even before their visit, as they proved by answering questions Miller posed. They knew the sheltering roof of tall trees in the forest is called a canopy. They knew that pollinators help food to grow. They knew some trees are conifers (cone bearing) and some are deciduous (annually lose their leaves).<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s nothing like being out in nature to learn, Ferrante said. \u201cYour eyes are better than any camera. Your brain is better than a computer. You can sense things through your fingers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before they entered the old growth forest with its towering pines and hemlocks, the students passed through a meadow that Miller expects will be colorful with wildflowers in a month or so. They admired a fenced-in rain garden which is designed to keep stormwater from the road \u2014 with its remnants of oil, gas, road salt and other pollutants \u2014 away from the pristine water of the wetlands.<\/p>\n
The children also stopped to admire some dry prairie grass, a species that Miller said will grow to be about 7 feet tall this summer. Under the ground, meanwhile, its roots will grow 13 to 15 feet in an intricate system that encourages aquifers, or natural reservoirs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour generation is going to be very concerned about clean water,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
To arrange a visit to the Lehman Sanctuary, contact lehmansanctuary@gmail.com or call 570- 406-2639.<\/p>\n
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