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Beginning of Project Wildlife Bowl
Today marks the beginning of my participation on my 4-H club's senior team for Project Wildlife Bowl (PWLB). What is PWLB, you ask? It is a program in 4-H, where teams of 4-Hers learn a large amount about wildlife and shooting sports over the period of three months. Then the teams compete against one another at a regional 'bowl' - which is set up similar to a gameshow. The three best teams at the regional bowl go to the state bowl, and the best senior (vs. junior) teams at state go to nationals. -
First Week of PWLB
This was the 1st week of PWLB. My mom and Sere (little sister who is on the Jr. Team) are pretty anxious, but I'm excited. We recieved all of our resources from Ann (4-H club leader) on the 1st. There are SO MANY! Sere and I made flashcards to learn about animal facts, & practiced some of the questions that Ann had written up (guessing at what questions they might ask at the actual bowls).
We also had our first meeting. Ann - who's also coaching - read through the rules, & we practiced. -
Week Two of PWLB
I didn't get any practice done this week, I was so busy! But at the meeting we learned about flyways - the four migratory paths that birds take; Pacific, Central, Mississippi and Atlantic - horned vs. antlered ungulates (ungulates are herbivores with hooves), the food web and it's main categories - consumers, decomposers, and producers - made suet feeders, and practiced questions. Wild ride! -
Week Three of PWLB
Week 3 was SO STRESSSFUL. I haven't been reading any of the resources, and I was super busy prepping for an art show. I only managed to start with a couple of the books - 2 containing info I already knew, the 3rd totally boring - and did a little bit of practicing.
At the practice, we figured out what positive landscaping attributes our yards had for wildlife, and I scored 15 of 16. Then we competed with and against members of the Jr. team in a mock bowl. My team won 2 out of 3 times! -
Week Four of PWLB
This week has been pretty overwhelming. I have just started to attempt to catch up on the resources, and it's not going well. Serena, Mom and I have all done a 180 - they're loving it, and I dread it!
At practice, we learned about feathers (contour [flight] feathers vs. down feathers and their uses), teeth/skulls, & the mechanics of different kinds of bird bills - long & skinny for bugs and sucking nectar, hooked for tearing meat, short & blunt for cracking seeds, etc. Also practiced questions. -
Week Five of PWLB
Another unenjoyable week in the PWLB department. I continued to attempt studying - putting together a calendar, making more attempts to read - and continued to struggle.
The negativity carried into the practice. I pressed through a game where we learned about carrying capacity (the amount of animals a certain ecostsyem can support), but enjoyed when we brought different natural specimens and displayed them for the club. The taxidermied duckling that we inherited from my grandma was a favorite! -
Week Six of PWLB
Another barren week for practices - I've all but given up on the resouces, and am going to focus on just questions. However, I watched a documentary about animals with my cousins and uncle, which was interesting.
At practice, we learned about the movement of carbon molecules through air, earth, water, and organic materialby playing a game where we pretended to be them. And we did a couple mock round of the bowl. -
Week Seven of PWLB
I practiced questions with Serena during the week. At the meeting we turned our focus to shooting sports, and learned about guns and hunting - how to shoot safely, the technocology of shooting, and the best stategies for hunting to optimize sucess and safety. I had to leave early - but the picture is of the rest of my team! Oliva, the girl with dark hair, is by far the best player. -
Week Eight of PWLB
Interesting past few weeks. I got sick with mono, and was unable to attend two of the practices, and wasn't healthy enough to practice. I was upset, since Ann decided that I would participate minimally at the regional bowl because of my lack of practice - even though I was the 2nd best player on the team. So to prove myself I read through many of the questions (a turtle's top shell is called a carapace) and did my very best in our mock bowl at our last meeting. -
Regional Project Wildlife Bowl!!
The big day - Regional Bowl!! What a day. We got there really early (7am) and practiced. Then the competitions! In the first two rounds senior team got eliminated - dissapointing, especially for the kids who had practiced really hard - but I ended up being the best player, thanks to the studying I did, my background, and my ability to perform under pressure. I got promoted to team captain by the second round. The questions were SO hard... And, very exciting for Sere - Jr. team is going to state!
