Find something you’ve never seen before
Backyard Adventure series
Our Backyard Adventures are fun and easy mini-expeditions that you can do — you guessed it! — right in your own backyard. These activities are designed to help students and parents explore the world with eyes of wonder. Along the way, you might discover a new interest, a new dream, or even a future career.
Introduction: First in our series of Backyard Adventures is the Photo Safari. “Safari” is one of my favorite words. It means “adventure” or “journey” in Swahili. And while I was riding my bicycle through East Africa, people would often wish me, “Habari Safari,” meaning, “Have a good adventure.”
Assignment: Your adventure, should you choose to accept it, is to find something you’ve never seen before. You may need to think like you’ve never thought before. Search where you’ve never searched before. Take a photo of your unidentified object. But remember: you can’t leave your own yard. That’s what makes this fun because it will prove there is a whole world waiting for you not very far away.
Example: What do you think is pictured above? I’ll give you a hint. While riding my bicycle down the Pacific Coast, I found it slithering across the road in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Northern California. I was camping at the time, so the snail was in my backyard. I didn’t know what kind of snail it was, but I used the internet to discover more. I typed in “Califonia, redwoods, snail, stripes.” Then I looked at all the pictures until I saw one that matched.
After you find your mystery object, use the internet, type in some keywords, and see if you can find a matching image and its name. Start by typing in your location, what you think the object is and the colors.
