Hey Docents, This is a busy time of the year with new programs beginning, so we’re sending out another Whale Spout this week. Here’s the news:
We have some new additions to our Ohlone cabinet!
Docent Greg Kolar has made some hand drills with chert arrow tips. These were spun between the palms, like the fire-making drills. The pump-drills we have (with the suspended handle, flywheel and metal bit that kids LOVE to master) were introduced by the Spanish in the late 1700’s. The new, more efficient pump-drills then replaced the older hand-drills.
We now have an atlatl and spear! The atlatl, or spear thrower, was used by native people before the bow and arrow and was effective against large animals (such as mammoths and mastodons). As these animals died out with the last ice age, hunters had to seek smaller game (elk, deer and antelope) and the spears were replaced by the bow and arrow. The long spear shaft is located in Docent Cabinet #1, and the foreshaft and atlatl are on the over-sized item shelf in Docent Cabinet #2.
Honeybee Hive Update
As some of you may have noticed, our bees have once again left for the winter. In the winter the queen stops laying brood so the population normally gets smaller, but the rest have either died or moved on from our hive. We hope to get a new colony and a new hive (so it’s easier to see the queen!) later in the winter/early spring. So be sure to encourage kids to come back and check on our progress a little later in the year.
Hosting
Our hosting artifact cart has arrived! Here’s what it looks like. And we have modernized our “log” so it is electronic (saving paper, daily!) Hosts, at the end of your shift, log your shift information on the laptop at the front desk. Click the Hosting log icon on the desktop and fill out the e-form. Ask Mary at the front desk on Saturdays if you have any questions.
Nat Time
Storytime logs are now electronic too! Liz will point you to the Nat Time icon on the laptop to fill in what books and songs you did that week. Information will automatically be entered into a spreadsheet where we can see week to week programs!
Docent event @ the Seymour Center
March 1, 5:30-9pm. Here’s our invitation from the Seymour Center “An opportunity has opened up to have a screening of Otter 501, a new movie by Sea Studios. The Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab and Save Our Shores would like to take this opportunity to invite the staff and volunteers of other environmental and science education entities in the Santa Cruz area to come spend the evening at the Seymour Center to watch the screening of Otter 501. Additionally, we hope to provide a forum for each institution to share their work and the basics of what we all do, with our collective staff and volunteers. We all work hard for similar goals and often do not have the time and resources to connect with each other, collaborate, or even learn the specifics of each others’ programs. In the interest of working together as a community, it may help to take this opportunity to share the highlights of what we all do, and what resources we offer our community.
Please let Deb know by February 17 if you plan to attend so we can give them an estimate of how many people to expect. Thanks!
I also meant to add that both of our Museum bathrooms are now unisex. So no more long line of kids outside one bathroom and not the other!