free family fun - Aldo Leopold Nature Center

Plant Power Month

Unleash the power of plants! This month, learn about global energy crops, cuting-edge biofuel research here in Wisconsin, and how these renewable living energy sources are part of the climate solution. Special programs and activities include: Exciting films throughout the exhibits including Cellulosic Ethanol, an animated film from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center; Innovation […]

Wisconsin Science Festival Mad Science Saturday

Are you mad about science? Put on your thinking caps and delve into the exciting world of science with hands-on experiments and activities at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center just for the Wisconsin Science Festival! […]

Aldo Leopold Nature Center is at Aldo Leopold Nature Center.

10 hours ago

Eastern comma or question mark?Don’t worry, this post isn’t about punctuation but about butterfly identification! Last week, outside, we spotted our first butterfly of the year! It was an exciting encounter to find this beautiful orange and black butterfly sipping on maple sap. Even more exciting, and quite surprising, was the fact the butterfly became nearly invisible when it closed its wings, whose mottled underside created a perfect camouflage effect on the tree. After quick research for identification, we fell into the grammar conundrum. Turns out, both the Eastern comma butterfly and the question mark butterfly look similar with marks on the underside of their hindwings that look like punctuation. The question mark butterfly has what appears to be a question mark turned on its side, while the Eastern comma has what appears to be a sideways comma. It’s a little hard to see but, according to our second picture, it looks like we found an Eastern comma butterfly!Eastern comma butterflies (Polygonia comma) are fascinating! They are among the earliest butterflies to appear in the spring because they overwinter as adults. As adults, they rarely visit flowers and feed primarily on fermenting fruits, tree sap, animal droppings, and carrion. These butterflies are also seasonally dimorphic as summer adults may have dorsal hindwings that are completely dark, while the fall generation is richly colored. What signs of spring do you see? Visit us for a hike or take a walk around your neighborhood looking for cyclical events influenced by seasonal changes. Photos: Stephanie Briand, Aldo Leopold Nature Center#PhenologyFriday #EasternCommaButterfly #WIEnviroEd #NatureIsEverywhere #NatureIsForEveryone #EveryBodyOutside ...

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Our facility is open Monday through Friday, 9am to 4pm, and from 10am to 2pm on weekends.

Our facility will be closed on Friday, Mar 21st for an all-staff meeting.

Tag: free family fun