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wamegomom
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Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Kansas
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Posts: 326
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| Posted: Sept 30 2006 at 8:48pm | IP Logged
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I wish all my 4Real friends were with us today at the Konza Prairie open house. The Konza is an approx 8,000 acre research and preservation area managed by Kansas State University and only about a 25 minute drive from my home. You can see some of the research going on, the incredible scenery, and the amazing plant and animal life at the website
www.k-state.edu/konza/keep
The weather was perfect and it was a very family-friendly event. There were animal skins to feel (coyotes feel so soft and furry), stuffed birds to observe, fish, grasses and wildflowers, live snakes to hold (for all my kids except the one dd who suddenly wished she was in the next county!), and the best--live bison right up close and personal. Walking tours and van tours were available, but two of my family members use wheelchairs, so we weren't sure what we could see of the outer research areas (the vans they had weren't accessible.). I asked if we could take our own van with the wheelchair lift, and they graciously offered to lend us a lovely graduate student named Harmony to ride with us for over an hour and teach us about the research station. Harmony does research on underground plant reproduction, but is knowledgeable about all the wildlife on the Konza. Everyone agreed that the bison were the hit of the day! I asked Harmony how long bison nursed their calves and she said at least a year. She told of one scientist who observed a mother bison nursing her newborn calf, and her one and two year olds were trying valiantly to push the baby off and nurse themselves. Now that I'd like to see!! We got to see how very different adjacent watersheds were because of whether or not they experienced controlled burns, and if so, how often. The colors of the grasses and wildflowers and red sumac were so lovely. My children ran through tall grass with butterfly nets, catching grasshoppers and running with their finds to the entomology professor who identified them. My youngest caught 5 different kinds of grasshoppers! And of course, getting to suit up like the Konza Prairie firefighters and to use the cool hoses off the pumper trucks was a thrill. All in all, a pretty wonderful day. Check out the url and see this lovely place for yourself. You'll see why nobody wanted to leave!
Mary Alice, glad she's in Kansas
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TracyQ
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Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: New York
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| Posted: Oct 01 2006 at 8:21am | IP Logged
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Well Mary Alice, we wish we were there with you! We're just beginning *Little House on the Prairie* in The Prairie Primer, so it would fit in perfectly!!!!
So glad you had a great day, and I'll check out the website!  Thanks!
I just checked out the website, and it'll be SUCH a help to our study! We can use it for some notebooking, etc. 
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
 homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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lapazfarm
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Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
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| Posted: Oct 01 2006 at 12:19pm | IP Logged
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Great site!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Rachel May
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Joined: June 24 2005
Location: Kansas
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| Posted: Oct 01 2006 at 1:19pm | IP Logged
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Mary Alice,
I wish I were in Kansas too.
Bill was going to propose to me in the Konza Prairie, but then there was a blizzard, and he cornered me while I was curling my hair in the bathroom. 
I'm going to show the boys the bison on the website; they keep asking to go see some since reading about them in Magic Treehouse. Thanks for the link!
__________________
Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Check out the Konza Prairie
