WINNECONNE, Wis. (NBC 26) -- Education looks a little different these days because of the pandemic. One area teacher is utilizing a DNR program to keep things interesting.
Snapshot Wisconsin is a volunteer-based project that helps the Department of Natural Resources monitor wildlife across the state.
It involves hosting trail cameras and submitting the photos it captures to a DNR database.
You can volunteer to host a camera on your land or help to categorize the pictures.
James Melby does both.
He teaches agriculture and natural resources to 7th through 12th graders at Winneconne High School.
"This has been a really nice fit for those virtual days," said Melby.
Part of his lesson plans include linking the kids to the snapshot account so they can classify the animals in the photos.
"To get those experiences of identifying the bucks from the does and the different species of fur bears," said Melby. "Some of the things that we are seeing might be a little more difficult to identify."
The camera is set up on 43.5 acres of school forest just outside of town.
"We encourage people to set up their cameras in areas where they'll capture natural animal movement," said Christine Anhalt-Depies, Ph.D., the Snapshot Wisconsin Project Coordinator with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
"When they see a fox, opossum or a coyote, or a really nice big deer they get really excited," said Melby.
Their camera alone takes hundreds of photos a week.
The students get to see lots of whitetail deer, turkeys and squirrels.
Every now and then they'll witness something interesting through the lense of their trail camera.
"You'll see some turkeys and two minutes later there's a coyote right on its trail so you know there's something going on there," said Melby.
"Information about what is in the photos, combined with where and when they were taken helps us to estimate population totals," said Anhalt-Depies.
This helps the kids develop important skills they will need if they plan on owning and managing land someday.
"We have a number of lesson plans available on our website for educators who might be interested in integrating it into their classroom," said Anhalt-Depies.
The Snapshot Wisconsin project recently reached an impressive milestone of collecting 50 million photos since it launched in 2016.
If you would like to volunteer to place a trail camera on your property, it will be your responsibility to check the camera several times a year and upload the photos to the DNR.
The DNR will provide all training and equipment.
All trail cameras are encrypted to avoid security breaches and ensure photos are authentic.
For more information, click here.
