Educational Geocaching in the Rio Bosque Wetlands
Welcome back to Geocaching and educational adventures in El Paso Texas! I usually try to find a new app to assist in geocaching and tie it into educating my young child in the world around him (or his archenemy... the number line!) but I do not feel like I gave iNaturalist enough attention or credit last time. So we took it out to a new spot we found! And this location is a real treasure all in itself! The Rio Bosque Wetlands is a marsh in the middle of the Chihuahan Desert! It is formed from the Rio Grande River and is a nature reserve. It was a great change from the usual mountainous desert terrain we get to explore. If you remeber the app allows people to pin a location of an animal, insect, or plant that they find. As well as name it and add a photo of it. So off we went to find new animals and learn what we could about waht we found. These are but a few photos of what we saw and found. In the first photo we found and followed the Desert Stink Beetle. The second is a marshy tributary, that is so out of place here in El Paso. Third, is a giant North Amercain Bullfrog. This bad boy was bigger then my hand! The fourth picture is a lesson on "Cat Tails", seeing, feeling, aaand smelling what you are learning about makes great connections to the subject. The final picture is what happens when you miss a simple question, you learn it through physical exercise! Got to love pull ups on tree limbs! I would have taken a screen shot of the app screen to show you all how many pins were at the wetlands, but it was filled to the gills with critter locations! All in all I believe this is my favorite app that I have found in this Blog adventure. It leads us to so many natural treasures, which is what I think this is all about. I highly recomend the iNaturalist app and for everyone to get up, go outside and go find it. (it makes you feel young!)
Andy
Andy,
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy coming to your blog to learn new things about Geocaching. Being from that “older” generation really shows me how far behind technology that I actually am. There are so many things out there I have no idea existed and this iNaturalist app is no different. This seems even more problematic this week as I am a huge outdoorsman. I love how the INaturalist allows people to learn about nature all while keeping track of the organisms you are in contact with. The ability and versatility to view on almost any device really makes it appealing. I usually focus on hunting and fishing, but this technology opens the doors to so much more. Everything you need to know is at your fingertips. I appreciate the pictures and videos you always post that helps to drive your points home. I will check out this cool app in the future. Thanks for the information!
-Kevin
Andy,
ReplyDeleteGood stuff! What an awesome app for getting out and “doing”. I hear folks talk all the time about how they dislike their current, or former, duty stations, think Irwin, Drum, Polk, etc.. However, I always like to ask them about the things they went out and did while they were there. A question to which the answer is often, “not much”. I was at Drum for a couple of years before coming to Bliss and I must say that my family and I thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We found so many things to do. I feel like apps, like this one, provide us with the motivation and direction needed to make the most out of our surroundings. Thanks Andy.
-Donny
Andy,
ReplyDeleteThis is the other Andy...to piggy back on Donny's comment, many Soldiers spoke of they did not like Korea other than going out and drinking. I too would ask them what did they and would receive similar comments. I enjoyed Korea, such a vast and fascinating culture. Apps like this would be a game changer for those Soldiers...and leadership kicking them out of the barracks to expand their horizons.
Great blog, I always look forward learning what technology you discovered to create adventures for you and your family.
v/r
Andy E.
Andy, I love the pics this week! The bullfrog was my favorite. It is hard to imagine all of that being around El Paso. I finally downloaded the app. I am a huge fan of National Geographic and was not aware that they help support the app. I cannot wait to use this!
ReplyDelete-Mandy
Andy,
ReplyDeleteUsing the iNaturalist app for a fun adventure with my daughter was amazing. We tested it here in El Paso and are planning a trip up to White Sands to go find some lizards. I think my daughters favorite part was taking the pictures. I am definitely going to check out the Rio Bosque Wetlands when my wife and son visit in December. Thanks again for another amazing adventure.
Mike W.
Andy,
ReplyDeleteAs Mandy stated we will be trying out this app soon. I looked at the amount of observations just around our house are 82,523 with over 5K species. We are always trying to find things and end up googling it, now this can actually help contribute as well as give us a better answer to what things may be. There are definitely so many different educational applications for this. Kids can use this during recess to identify different species of things around their schools or homes and bring the information back to the classroom. The benefit is they get physical fitness in addition to education, as you demonstrated with the pull-ups. Start them out early.
Airborne!
Walt
Andy,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you liked the area. You should take the app on the river itself. This time of year you can park and walk right down the middle of the Rio. Its mostly sand with a few wet spots. The wildlife however stick around waiting for the water to come back. The walk will fit right in with your workout/exploring. Walking on the sand will work the calf muscles for sure. Happy hunting!