Bug Huggers Adventure Camp 2026 – Day 4 Pollinator Surveys

Bug Huggers Adventure Camp - hands-on, science-rich experience for students entering Grades 5–8. Concept by Vermont Entomology Academy. The camp is run by Saint Michael's College. 

"To provide opportunities for children, or anyone, to witness the magic and glory of the natural world at its best is a small act that may be carried down the road. If it instills a desire to save a caterpillar, a snake, or a turtle, or to care for our environment, then it has made a difference." 

-Meghan McCarthy McPhaul, Night Flyers: North American Silk Moths Face Invasive Challenge: Northern Woodlands magazine, Spring 2014

Day 4

Students arrived between 8:30 and 9:00 AM, during which they continued exploring their aquatic tank invertebrates with pipettes, screens, and petri dishes to isolate microscopic specimens for analysis. Other students continued making entomology-themed pins and buttons.

From 9:00 to 11:00 AM, students grabbed their field notebooks and went into the campus green for pollinator surveys. Student groups were assigned different plants and tasked with counting the different species and individuals found throughout the pollinator gardens across campus, using guides provided by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies. Students then presented their findings and hypothesized why certain plants attract different pollinator groups.

At 11:00 AM, campers visited the lab spaces of Saint Michael's College student Maya Clough to learn about her research on isopod sociality and mortality responses to exposure to different chemical compounds. Afterwards, students examined the pinned insect collections of the Biology Department down the hall.

Students had lunch from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM.

At 12:30 PM, students headed back to the lab and organized tools for collecting natural materials necessary for Bug Hotel construction on the final day of camp. Students were taken to the Saint Michael's College Natural Area, collecting their pitfall traps from the old-growth forest from Day 2 on the way. Students collected materials like pinecones, grasses, reeds, sticks, and much more. 

At 2:00 PM, students returned to the lab and continued with individual and group-led microscopy and scientific illustration in their field notebooks. 

Everything in the world of Things and animals

is still filled with happening, which you can take part in. 

-Rainer Maria Rilke, 1903, 

from Letters to a Young Poet, 1927

Some students decided to learn insect pinning with me instead.

Recommended reading:

The Butterfly That Leafed Out by Bernie Paquette

All students were picked up between 3:00 and 3:30 PM.

- Cole Logan, instructor at Bug Huggers Adventure Camp (Lightly edited)

-Photo credit: Cole Logan, Sandra Fary

Note: Northern Woodlands, Vermont Center for EcoStudies, and Vermont Entomological Society donated their magazines and newsletters to the Bug Camp campers.

Vermont Entomology Academy and Bug Huggers Adventure Camp Objectives

The Learning Cycle includes five phases: invitation, exploration, concept invention, application, and reflection.

Understand the vital roles insects play in ecosystems and in human life.

Explore ecosystem connections — the physical and functional relationships that support biodiversity and resilience.  

Learn the fundamentals of entomology: anatomy, diversity, life cycles, and lifestyles.

Experience the joy of observing insects in their natural habitats. 

Use iNaturalist to document, identify, and share observations (and become familiar with other entomological resources, including museum collections).

Practice using essential field tools — nets, magnifiers, and guidebooks — to investigate insects up close.

Develop keen observation and identification skills, deepening appreciation for nature’s details.

Cultivate a sense of awe for the small, complex, interconnected beauty of the insect world.

Recognize insects as living beings with needs: finding food, seeking shelter, avoiding danger, and striving to thrive as individuals and species.