“Chemistry in the Park” is an educational collaboration between the Lambert Research Group at Old Dominion University and First Landing State Park established with the goal to help promote different aspects of the sciences and provide additional educational resources to park visitors. First Landing State Park is located 19 miles from ODU and is Virginia’s most-visited state park, with approximately one million visitors traveling from around the world to visit the park each year. Our first dive into this collaboration was to develop several signs that can be viewed scattered throughout the park to draw attention to different plants, animals, and environments that visitors may encounter during their hikes and stays at the park. We hope you enjoy the signs as they are beginning to appear in the park, and our hope is that we were able to provide you with some interesting facts and research about how the chemistry and biology of the park can affect different aspects of our everyday lives. Lastly, we would like to thank everyone at First Landing State Park who has made this possible, especially assistant park manager Jennifer Huggins and the park education specialists!
Horseshoe Crabs: The Blue Blooded Miracles
To learn more about the Horseshoe crab and its blood in general:
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/horseshoe-crab-blood-miracle-vaccine-ingredient.html
https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/fullmoon-bluebloodsbattlebacteria/welcome.html
To learn more about the chemical responsible for making Horseshoe crab blood blue: