Calvin Preserve to Offer First Winter Programming

February 1, 2005 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Prior to the opening of Calvin's Vincent and Helen Bunker Interpretive Center
last fall, the college's popular Ecosystem Preserve was unable to accommodate
winter visitors.

Now the Bunker Center is expanding the preserve's reach to area school
children by offering winter programming for the first time ever.

From February 14 through March 11, the Ecosystem Preserve will host "Winter
Wonders," a class geared to second and third-grade students. The 90-minute
program will be offered Mondays through Fridays at various times (see below for
complete list).

"It's going to be exciting to offer something inside this year," says Cheryl
Hoogewind, manager of the Ecosystem Preserve.

"Winter Wonders" will direct the kids' attention to the variety of wintry
weather: blizzards, freezing rain, sleet, and that Michigan stalwart -
lake-effect snow. However, the class won't simply study the many ways winter
keeps people indoors, but it also will examine the marvels of the wintry
outdoors.

"I want to get the kids outside to see that snow has insulating properties. If
you get snow deep enough, you can cut down and see each layer that has fallen,"
Hoogewind says.

Students also will study how animals survive the winter - specifically, how
they find food to live.

"We'll be looking for evidence of these animals along the trails," says
Hoogewind, "and for caches of food. When the snow starts melting you can see
all the different trails where the animals were tunneling."

While they research on the trail, the children will be learning the many Inuit
names for snow and applying them to the kinds of snow they see.

Back indoors, the class will study Native American winter legends and craft
their own paper snowflakes.

"We can go out and explore a little bit and then come in and get warm by the
fire," Hoogewind says.

Since the Bunker Center opened, on September 10, 2004, the preserve has seen
double the visitors it typically had, and Hoogewind is excited about the new
winter programming.

"If people have come in the spring and summer and fall, it will be nice for
them to see it in the winter," she says.

The Bunker Interpretive Center is named for Helen Bunker, who gave the
original lead gift to build the interpretive center, and her late husband
Vincent. Also contributing to the building of the Bunker Center were Thelma
Venema, the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, the Frey Foundation and the DTE
Energy Foundation.

The Center is a largely self-sustaining entity, independent of the city's
sewer system and taking more than 60 percent of its operating power from a
photovoltaic array on its roof. Much of the center - including paneling,
insulation and interior trim - is built of recycled materials. On days the
weather permits, the windows open automatically to heat and cool the building.
Gray water (from sinks) is recycled through a biomass, a large window box
filled with plants that filter the water and return it to preserve ponds. Waste
is processed through chemical composting toilets. The soil from those toilets,
processed by worms, will eventually enrich the center's landscaping - all
indigenous plants grown in the preserve.

For more on the Center see http://www.calvin.edu/academic/bunker/
Also contact Cheryl Hoogewind at 616-526-7601 for more info on Winter
Wonders.

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Winter Wonders will be offered:
Mondays from 12:45 to 2:15
Tuesdays from 9:00 to 10:30 and 10:45 to 12:15
Wednesdays from 9:00-10:30 and 12:45 to 2:15
Thursdays from 9:00 to 10:30 and 10:45 to 12:15
Fridays from 9:00 to 10:30 and 12:45 to 2:15
Call 526-6200 to schedule a visit.
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Received on Tue, 01 Feb 2005 13:59:24 -0500