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Lessons In Nature | Snapshot Wisconsin Brings Wildlife Learning To The Classroom
Jonna Mayberry
Jonna Mayberry is a public information officer in the DNR’s Office of Communications.
Kindergarten teacher Peter Dargatz’s students at Woodside Elementary School in Sussex want to know a thing or two about wildlife. What’s that animal? Why are some animals only busy at night? What’s migration? What do animals do when winter comes?
Snapshot Wisconsin, a volunteer-based project for year-round wildlife monitoring, helps the classroom answer all those questions and more.
Launched in 2016, Snapshot employs a statewide network of trail cameras and a crowdsourcing website to provide information the DNR uses to support wildlife management. People can host trail cameras or analyze data from cameras hosted by others.
For educators, Snapshot offers a unique opportunity to integrate science and technology into the classroom. The project also allows educators and their students to help monitor the state’s valuable natural resources and learn about local wildlife.
Even if a classroom doesn’t host its own camera, students can visit the Zooniverse crowdsourcing website to help identify and count species in Snapshot photos captured across the state.
Additionally, Snapshot Wisconsin has a Data Dashboard, which allows anyone to visualize, explore and download data collected from the project’s statewide network of trail cameras.
Seasonal Snapshot
In Dargatz’s classroom, Snapshot’s use evolves throughout the school year.
“For the first month or two, we just discuss if the kids can identify the animals pictured,” Dargatz said, and maybe start talking about when certain animals seem most active based on what students see in the photographs.
“And then, once we get a little more familiar with identifying the animals, we will ponder questions like, ‘What were some of the animals we saw in late summer and fall?’ ‘What will happen as winter comes?’
“We learn about hibernation and migration, the animals that will stay during the winter. And when spring comes back, some of the animals that were gone or not as visible are a little bit more visible.”
That leads to a whole new set of fun questions, Dargatz said.
“We ask, ‘What are the reasons for that? And what are the connections?’ We start making predictions about what we will see next month.”
Glimpse At The Unseen
Images captured on Snapshot cameras are often surprising, said Skylar Primm, lead teacher at Koshkonong Trails School in Cambridge, a project-based public school serving students in 7th-12th grades. The school hosts a Snapshot trail camera on its grounds.
“We don’t usually get to see how these animals behave when people aren’t around,” Primm said.
Students see what happens on school property during daylight hours on school days, but “they have no idea what’s going on when there are no people around and at night, on the weekends, in the summer.”
“I was excited to (give my students) an opportunity to get to see some of that through the Snapshot camera,” Primm said.
Young students also learn about the circle of life through the Snapshot project, Dargatz added.
“A couple of years ago, we saw a coyote with a bunny in its mouth,” Dargatz said. “So, we talked a little bit about lifecycles, in that case.
ABCs, Naturally
Classrooms throughout the state use Snapshot Wisconsin in some form, including just over 200 that maintain their own trail cameras, said DNR research scientist and program coordinator Christine Anhalt-Depies.
“Snapshot Wisconsin provides a hands-on learning experience and is a unique opportunity for educators and students to contribute to wildlife research and science,” Anhalt-Depies said.
For Dargatz, the hands-on nature of the program is most appealing.
“I was excited because (Snapshot) allows students to contribute to community science in a concrete way,” Dargatz said. “Other community science projects, like online crowdsource-type things, are abstract. This is something our students can really see right in their backyard.”
Snapshot provides free exercises for educators to use in their classrooms, regardless of whether they host a camera. Dargatz, for example, has found great success with the Animal Alphabet resource.
“It’s like an alphabet, and every picture represents the letters A-Z. Each picture has a snapshot of an animal with something connected to the letter,” Dargatz explained. “We’ll use that when introducing new letters and sounds to make those little connections.”
Nature Where They Live
Monitoring trail cameras doesn’t take much time, which can be another plus of the project.
“We, as educators, have a lot on our plates. Time is often our most precious resource,” Dargatz said. “But when I do camera checks, they take 10 minutes.”
“This brings nature into the classroom, and not every school is blessed to have green space they can take their kids to,” Primm said. “Snapshot can bring a place-based nature-infused feel into any classroom.
“That is really cool because some kids don’t get to see much nature where they live, or they don’t have a lot of green space.”
Using Snapshot Wisconsin’s many tools, resources and images can “bring nature to you,” Primm said.
“And kids can learn about their own community in their own state in a way that’s a little bit more engaging than just reading a book about it or looking up random Google photos. This is Wisconsin; these are the animals we share our home with.”
Learn More
For details on Snapshot Wisconsin, visit the DNR's Snapshot webpage.
Sign up for the Snapshot Wisconsin Educator’s Bulletin to get emails about using Snapshot in the classroom and in outreach settings.
