Scavenger Hunt: Spring Fling

Spring Fling

Have you been getting outdoors a little more than normal lately? If so, I’ll bet you’ve noticed that spring is in the air… and sprouting on the trees and popping up out of the ground! Join us as we use our databases to explore the fresh face of the spring season.  (Hint: if you are asked to sign into a database, use your library card number and your last name!)

1. Spring brings the return of birds who nest and raise their broods. In honor of National Poetry month, go to Poetry & Short Story Reference Center, search for poet “Emily Dickinson,” who wrote about nature. The first result is a collection of her Poetry for Kids. Open the PDF Full Text. On the left, you’ll see links to the different sections of the book. Open each season (spring, summer, winter and fall) and find the poem with the word “Bird” in its title. Under what season is it listed? (hint: it’s not under spring)
    
   1. Open and read the poem. How many different actions does the bird take in the poem? 
       
   2. What is one thing it does? 
      
       
2. During spring in Oklahoma, we often experience wind and wild weather.  While still in Poetry & Short Story Reference Center, this time go ahead and open the section on spring. Find the poem titled “the wind begun to rock the grass’’ and click to open it.  Dickinson uses a metaphor in the third stanza (a paragraph in poems). To what does she compare lightning?
   
    
3. The first poem mentions “dew.” Go to Science Reference Center and enter the word “dew” in the top search bar. Scroll down until you see an article called “Ooh, Dew!” In what periodical (magazine) is it found? 
   
   Click on either the title or HTML full text.  Choose an American, British, or Australian accent from the dropdown menu (or try all 3) and have fun listening to the article. Based on what you learned, why do you think it’s common to see dew on the grass in Oklahoma in the spring? 
   
    
4. A favorite food of birds, insects also become more prevalent in the spring.  Which ones have you seen recently?
   
   Search for an insect name in Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia.  Be sure it belongs to the Insecta class!  Open the information on that insect and scroll down to Habitat. What’s one place where might you find it living?
   
    
5. Besides insects, what else is popping up out of the ground? Go to World Almanac Kids. Search for the article called “Brighten Your Day with Flower Facts.”  Scroll down and read about tulips.  How much were their bulbs worth in Holland in the 1600s? 
   
    
6. Many colorful flowers attract pollinators like butterflies and bees. Head to Signing Savvy. Enter the word “butterfly” in the search bar to learn how to say it in American Sign Language (ASL).  Now try “bird” and “bee.” There are two different signs for “bee.” Try each one.  Which seems more like a bee to you? 
   
    
7. There’s an often very confusing thing that happens in the spring when we turn our clocks forward an hour, just as we turned them back an hour in the fall. How did that get started? Using Sirs Discoverer, search for “Daylight Savings Time.” Read the article, “One Bright Idea: Ben Franklin’s Legacy of Daylight Savings Time.” What is one reason we change the time on our clocks twice a year in (most of) the United States?
   
   What three states do NOT switch the time?
    
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8. For the final step of your adventure, head to TumbleMath. Click on Math Search in the top right corner and type “Sorting Through Spring” (or just “spring”) in the Search by Title bar. Click on the cover.  Open the activity and follow along through at least the first five pages.
   
   Can you make up a clapping rhythm for the rain?
   
   Do you see a pattern to the worms on the ground? 

Download a PDF of this Scavenger Hunt