On May 24, 2022, partnering with National Park Service Ranger Douglas Breton, the Friends of Dyke Marsh welcomed 60 curious, second-grade students and their teachers from Alexandria’s St. Stephens and St. Agnes School to Dyke Marsh.

Ranger Douglas Breton		Ranger Breton explained animal families to the youngsters

Ranger Breton discussed animal families and shared a beaver’s skull and animal pelts which the students loved to touch. Explaining that some animals are vertebrates, he showed them a toad’s skeleton. He explained that some animals come from eggs and shared a display showing a frog’s development from an egg to a tadpole to an adult frog. Another highlight:  Ed Eder showed the youngsters a great horned owl and a great horned owl young, here captured in Ed’s camera.

Ranger Breton showed the children a beaver's skull and teeth.		Kids loved feeling the pelts.

They learned about vertebrates by studying the toad skeleton.		Ranger Breton explained the development of a frog from an egg to an adult.

Each student had a scavenger hunt sheet on a clipboard.		Ed Eder pointed out a great horned owl and owlet. This is the owlet in Ed's camera.