Your Monthly News & Updates |
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Our Mission
To ignite the natural curiosity of all learners to explore and shape their world
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Afternoon Explorations
Starting Tuesday, Sept. 14, join us Tuesdays through Fridays any time between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. for Afternoon Explorations! Continue your learning adventures throughout the school year in some of your favorite spaces at Roper Mountain:
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Explore our new Environmental Science Building, including the highly popular Nature Exchange, Our Water Story, and Sustainable Future exhibits.
- Search for life-size models of both young and adult dinosaurs at our outdoor Dinosaur Adventure Trail.
- Enjoy a stroll through our beautiful Butterfly Garden.
- Engage in creative outdoor play in Wildwood.
*Because of our ongoing school programming, Harrison Hall of Natural Science and
the Living History Farm will remain closed. Last admission is 4 p.m.*
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Friday Starry Nights
Sept. 3, 10, 17, and 24
6 p.m.
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Friday Starry Nights
Sept. 3, 10, 17, and 24
7:30 p.m.
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MOUNTAIN HIGHLIGHT:
HARRISON HALL OF NATURAL SCIENCE
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Meet Rex, our American Alligator. American Alligators are usually found in freshwater swamps, ponds, and lakes in the Southeast of the U.S., including along the coast of South Carolina. American Alligators are apex predators, meaning they are at the top of the food chain. However, when alligators are young, they have yellowish stripes on their bodies that provide camouflage from hungry predators. As they get older (and larger), they will lose their stripes. Alligators are built for the water with their webbed toes, powerful motor-like tail, and a special eyelid called a nictitating membrane that acts as built in goggles for when they swim underwater. |
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- U-Shaped snout
- Dark black/gray in color
- Teeth fit together when jaw is shut
- Prefers freshwater
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- V-Shaped snout
- Tan/olive in color
- Lower teeth stick out when jaw is shut
- Prefers salt water
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Say hello to the newest addition in our Rainforest Classroom—a Honduran Milk Snake. They are native to Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, and mimic venomous coral snakes. Milk snakes are harmless and will eat small mammals and reptiles, including venomous snakes. |
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Cool Facts:
- One of its favorite snacks...other snakes! As well as small mammals, eggs, and other reptiles
- Found under leaf litter in the rainforests of Central America
- Uses quick movements to flash their colors and scare away predators
- Can grow 4-5 feet long and can has a life span of 20 years
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The virtual field trip department has won the CILC Pinnacle award again for the 2020-2021 school year. Roper Mountain also had two programs in the top 10 most popular programs for 2020-2021 school year through the Center for Collaboration and Innovation. Reach out if you are interested in booking a program for this school year.
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…that around 50 species of butterflies have been spotted in the Butterfly Garden at Roper Mountain? September and early fall are the best times to spot butterflies in our Butterfly Garden – which will be open during our Afternoon Explorations, beginning Sept. 14!
The Butterfly Garden was dedicated in 1994 and is a joint project of Roper Mountain and the Greater Greenville Master Gardeners. Every Tuesday morning, volunteer Master Gardeners work to keep the garden beautiful. It attracts a wide variety of butterflies by providing a sunny location, a water source with a recirculating garden stream, shelter, basking spots, and a variety of host and nectar plants.
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Each species of butterfly lays its eggs on a particular plant, called its host plant. The caterpillars that develop from these eggs then eat the plant. Look for the signs in the garden featuring host plants with the butterflies they attract. Some of our common host plants and butterflies featured are: Cassia (Cloudless Sulphur), Fennell (Black Swallowtail), Passion Vine (Gulf Fritillary), and Milkweed (Monarch).
Adult butterflies need nectar plants for food and some of the common nectar plants in the garden include lantana, butterfly bush, zinnia, coneflowers, verbena, phlox and sedum. The nectar plants in the garden also feed and attract other pollinators, especially bees.
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Give Back To Roper Mountain:
We've loved welcoming visitors back and are doing all we can to keep everyone at Roper Mountain safe and connected. We are continuing to provide unique opportunities for our community to connect in person and virtually. A donation from you will help move our mission forward and lay the foundation for future success. Please consider making a gift to Roper Mountain today.
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AmazonSmile
You can support Roper Mountain in the Amazon Shopping app on iOS and Android mobile phones. Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile and start generating donations. 1. Open the Amazon Shopping app on your device 2. Go into the main menu of the Amazon Shopping app and tap into 'Settings' 3. Tap 'AmazonSmile' and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process. We appreciate your continued support of Roper Mountain, now more than ever.
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Spread The Word About Roper Mountain
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THANK YOU COMMUNITY PARTNERS! |
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Visionary:
ABB
Bosch Community Fund
The Daniel-Mickel Foundation
Duke Energy Foundation
Fluor Golf For Greenville
Greater Greenville Sanitation
Greenville County Litter Prevention
Greenville Evening Rotary Charities, Inc.
Greenville Water
John I. Smith Charities
The Late Ernest and Betty Lathem
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Michelin Charity Golf Tournament
Piedmont Arthritis Clinic, PA
ReWa
SCETV
Symmes Foundation
Explorer:
BMW Manufacturing
Fluor Foundation
GE
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Voyager:
Tom and Linda Hamilton
MetroConnects
Ron and Tommie Reece
Brad Wyche and Diane Smock
Adventurer:
Fielding and Gally Gallivan
Neil and Joy Grayson
Greenville County Soil and Water
Hal and Minor Shaw
Spinx Corporation
State Farm Insurance
Innovator:
AFL Global
John R. and M. Margrite Davis Foundation
Rob and Katie Howell
Piedmont Natural Gas
Robert and Madison Wilson
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We welcome your feedback. Email Roper Mountain to share your thoughts.
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