November 8, 2005

Mackinaw City, Mich.— When Jeff Dykehouse visits one of the many Northern Michigan classrooms he will stop at in the next few weeks, he will have several students stand up and join him at the front of the classroom. Then he will hang pictures – of the sun, or a coyote, or an apple tree, or a deer - around the necks of the students. With help from the rest of the class, these students will form a food chain.

“We’ll start with the sun, as it rises from the eastern side of the classroom, and talk about how plants need the sun’s energy to grow.  After the apple tree ‘walks’ over to be closer to the sun, we’ll talk about what might be dependent on apples,” said Dykehouse. “Pretty soon the kids will have made a ‘food chain’ that shows how interdependent plants, animals and humans are.”

Dykehouse, a park naturalist for Mackinac State Historic Parks, will make many stops this winter as he travels to schools in the Mackinac Straits area to present “Water, Woods and Wildlife.”

“I try to get the kids to understand how fortunate we are to have such a variety of habitats in the Great Lakes region,” Dykehouse explained. “It makes an impression when students can actually hold a skull or pelt from some of the fascinating animals that live in northern Michigan.”

Dykehouse has an array – two big boxes – of maps, posters, taxidermy mounts, furs, bird call recordings and yes, animal skulls that he brings to classrooms. As he explains the Great Lakes watershed, the forests and plant and animal colonies that make up the students’ habitat, he passes the items around the room. Students hear the difference between a loon feather’s “swoosh” and an owl feather’s silence, and feel and smell the pelts of otters, beavers and skunks.

“Water, Woods and Wildlife” is one of two education outreach programs offered by Mackinac State Historic Parks this year. “Historic Mackinac on Tour” focuses on early Michigan fur-trade history in the Straits of Mackinac and features presenters dressed as French voyageurs and British Redcoats. It is the only museum-based education program in Michigan that travels the entire state to present history and nature to students in their classrooms. Over 140,000 Michigan students across the state have participated in MSHP education outreach programs since 1988. The programs are partially funded by Mackinac Associates, a non-profit membership group that supports the mission of Mackinac State Historic Parks.

Mackinac State Historic Parks, a family of living history museums and parks in Northern Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac region, is an agency within the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Sites include Fort Mackinac, Historic Downtown and Mackinac Island State Park on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse and Michilimackinac State Park in Mackinaw City. The sites are accredited by the American Association of Museums. Visitor information is available on the Web at www.mackinacparks.com and by phone at (231) 436-4100.

"WATER, WOODS AND WILDLIFE" SCHEDULE

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