 Leech Lake Tribal College invited a few teens to their campus recently to explore the world around them. Cheryl Moore has that story. There's a lot of resources we can get from the environment around us. And the Leech Lake Tribal College Earth Systems Camp is meant to teach the youth all about it. The camp is in its second year and it focuses on the four Earth System Sciences. And we brought students in from the community, from the local area, high schools and middle schools to talk about those systems. And so what I talk about when I'm mean by the Earth System Sciences is that the lithosphere, so the soil beneath our feet, the atmosphere or the air that we all breathe, the hydrosphere, which is water, which connects us all, and then the biosphere, which is all the critters and plants and animals out there. All attendees are between the ages of 12 and 19 years old and they're learning from adults who have a passion about natural resources. The kids do everything from exploring the local lakes to learning how to make willow trays and even arrowheads. A lot of them haven't done activities like this where they're using natural fibers to make something useful that traditionally people in this area have done for thousands of years. So I think it's been really rewarding. On the first day on Monday we had students out at Wolf Lake looking at macro invertebrates, which are the little critters in the water that are good indicator if the water is healthy. While the kids will tell you they're having fun, they're also learning valuable lessons they can take throughout their life. I could show others and like show them what these things mean, or like if we're walking out in the woods and they try to eat a flower and I was like oh no you'll die from it or something. And the camp isn't over yet. The rest of the week is still filled with big plans ahead. Mara will be meeting up with some of the naturalists on the Chippewa National Forest and will be going out and doing various activities and looking at some of the phenology of the area or the response to seasonality. So when the buds emerge, when the leaves bud out. Reporting in Cass Lake, Shremor Lakeland News. Students at the camp also learn about native culture. You can learn more about the camp on the Leech Lake Tribal College website. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.