Dotted fireflies, spoon chickens of national second-class protected birds, tianmu stink frogs, ramie, maple incense, drunken fish grass... These plants, birds and insects, which are not seen in the city, appear in the diaries of first-year students of the Foreign Language Annex of The Guru University, and some plants and insects are made into specimens.
At the beginning of the summer vacation of 2018, 12 life science students from Darwin Museum Public School walked out of the classroom and returned to nature in the first year of the First Year of Foreign Languages Affiliated High School of The University of Shanghai Normal University. Led by two biology teachers at the school, Jin Ziming and Liu Yupi, they went to the World Biosphere Reserve and National Nature Reserve - Zhejiang Tianmushan Nature Reserve for a four-day biological field investigation.
<h2>Before departure, the teacher explains safety knowledge education to the students</h2>
Before departure, Mr. Jin and Mr. Liu gathered with the members of the school to conduct pre-departure safety and knowledge education. The two teachers designed a suitable inspection course in the early stage, planned the itinerary, and prepared the inspection equipment. On the day of the pre-departure education, the team members were taught the collection and production of plant and insect specimens, bird observation methods, etc., and assigned research learning content to the students.
■ Before departure, members of the expedition team gather in the school conference room
In the pre-departure education class, the students learned the use of inspection tools, and directly learned about the basic situation of Tianmu Mountain through the reading of professional literature, and discussed the research methods of the upcoming project of "Population Ecology Research on Liushan In Tianmu Mountain".
In order to extend the research learning time and space, enrich students' summer life, build a platform for students to have in-depth contact with nature, and develop students' core literacy, Darwin Museum, one of the top ten public schools of Goyu College of Foreign Chinese Middle School affiliated to Shanghai Normal University, organized a bioecological research and study tour with in-depth exchanges with nature, further increasing students' awareness of global ecological civilization construction and community of human destiny from the perspective of biodiversity conservation.
Teacher Jin believes that this inspection is one of the SAE research projects of The School's Geyu College, providing a platform for students to study and develop core literacy. It is hoped that through this expedition, they will stimulate their interest in the discipline of biology, generate more profound thinking about biodiversity and its protection, realize the great significance of the construction of global ecological civilization and the community of human destiny, and have a positive impact on their lifelong development.
<h2>Expedition team members overcome their fears and complete insect specimen making</h2>
On the morning of July 2, the members of the expedition team gathered at the school, and after more than 3 hours of driving, arrived at the Tianmu Resort and ate local farmhouse dishes at noon.
After a delicious farmhouse dish, the expedition officially began, and the first theme of the teacher and the members of the expedition team on the day was "Familiar with Tianmu Mountain".
Ramie, maple, drunken fish grass, houttuynia cordata, cold water flowers through the stem... Golden-loined swallow, collared bird-billed grebe, black short-legged bird, mountain sparrow, smoke-bellied hairy-footed swallow... While familiarizing themselves with the environment of Tianmu Mountain, the students are actively identifying the plants and birds they see, while using insect trap nets to try to catch insects.
Near the residence, the members of the expedition had the privilege of seeing the warty gecko and the Tianmu Stink Frog unique to Tianmu Mountain, and the students washed their hands, put the warty gecko and the Tianmu stink frog in their hands, touched and observed the two animals up close, and finally put them back into nature.
■ Students observe the stink frog in their hands
At 6:30 a.m. on July 3, the expedition team got up and began bird observation, observing a total of 28 species of birds, including China's national second-level protected birds------ spoon chicken. In the afternoon, the expedition team traveled to the vicinity of Zengenji Temple to collect plants and insects, and conducted specimen making in the evening. In the collection of insects, the members of the expedition team also accidentally "picked up" three protected species - Chinese spade armor.
■Insect specimens are under production
■Plant specimen making
In the production of insect specimens, Chen Enna, who was originally afraid of insects, overcame his fear of insects and completed the production of insect specimens with other members of the expedition team. Chen Enna said: "Insects are a bit of a challenge for me, originally they were only visible to me from a distance. However, in this expedition, making insect specimens is an indispensable content. Courage is a very important part, only dare to grasp, dare to touch, dare to pinch, can be made into specimens. After catching a butterfly, first pinch its chest so that it cannot fly, then put it on a board, insert the needle into its chest, use forceps or the other end of the needle to push its wings up and unfold to make it look a little more energetic, and protect its scales with oil paper. The two leading teachers also gave the students a number of guidance and demonstrations on the production of plant and insect specimens.
<h2>The mountain should be climbed step by step, and the tree should be planted one by one</h2>
In just four days, the members of the expedition team saw the tianmu stink frog unique to Tianmu Mountain, the Chinese national second-level protected bird - spoon chicken, the three protected species - Chinese spade armor, the national three protected animals - the original spearhead viper (commonly known as soldering iron head), and the national first-class protected plant - Tianmu ironwood. These birds and plants, which were originally only in textbooks, appeared in front of the team members at this moment, and could not only be carefully appreciated but also touched at close range, which made a group of first-year students excited.
■ Get up early for bird watching
That night, the expedition team enjoyed the beautiful and magical posture of fireflies in the dark during the night tour, and they were deeply attracted by this scene and stopped.
I often heard my mother say that when she was a child in her hometown in the countryside, every summer night, she could see fireflies and catch them, so I was full of hopes for fireflies. Finally, on the night of the night tour, I saw it with my own eyes: under the deep outline of the distant mountains, on the other side of the dark shore, there were so many stars and dots of light, which were now and then extinguished, and I tried to keep my eyes open, trying to imprint this scene deeply in my mind. When I came back, there was a little bit of sadness, I didn't want this to be the last time I saw this beauty, and I didn't want to talk to my child about it in the future, and she also had the same expectant but lost look as I used to. So I don't think we can let the fireflies just "live" in the memories and photo albums, we must do something and leave no regrets. Wang Jiayi recorded the feeling of seeing fireflies in her diary.
July 4 was the hardest day for the expedition. Climbing mountains for a day, sudden showers, stepping into dense forests to study... The students all overcame it under the guidance of the teacher and left good memories at the same time.
In one day, the expedition measured the chest diameter of nearly 100 willow trees, walking about 25,000 steps per capita, and the elevation was nearly 500 meters.
In xu Yiming's diary, the process of climbing the mountain was recorded in detail that day, July 4th: It is a great mountain climbing plan! Only when we got on the mountain bus did we know what was called "eighteen bends in the mountain road here", and on this day we really entered the scenic spot. The sound of birdsong in the mountains, gentle movements, babbling streams, clear and pleasant. We are full of morale, walking on the bluestone slab, walking to the old hall of the mountain, not very tired, there is a net pool next to the temple, the water in the pool is cold and clear, this water can purify the soul, eliminate distractions, and be the water used for karma.
After a short rest, we continued on the road, but due to the thick clouds and fog in the mountains, there was a tendency to rain, and considering the collective, we did not go to the top of the immortals. We walked this road to the Four Faces Peak, and before we reached the spot of the upside-down lotus, we climbed a line of sky, which was a really difficult process! Climbing steep steps for about five to ten minutes in a row is not pleasant! When you arrive, look back from the finish line and just say "Not tired!" Not tired at all! Then proudly breathe a sigh of relief. The most cheerful thing is that it is nearly dusk, overlooking the "ambiguous distant village" under the mountain on all sides of the peak, looking at the sunlight in the clouds and soaking up the sweat, enjoying the wind. We shot in a row, raised our arms, and froze this moving moment.
Teacher Jin said: "The mountain should be climbed step by step, and the tree should be planted one by one. "This is the biggest gain of the students.
On July 5, the last day of the expedition, the expedition team went to visit the world's only five endangered rare plants, the national first-class protected plant - Tianmu Ironwood, and went to the mouth of Huayan Cave to observe bats.
This wonderful and unforgettable trip to Tianmu Mountain touched the 12 students of the first grade of high school, and they recorded the beautiful and pleasant memories of these four days in their diaries.