Sunday, September 9, 2012

River Exploration and Observation

I'm back!  I have missed being able to share our adventures in learning and exploring with you.  



Like I've said this school year our theme is Rivers and this quarter our projects are based on river systems and body systems.  



A few weeks ago we walked down to the river that is on the same property as our school.  Clipboards in hand the students were making observations and sketching and labeling what they saw.



We first had to make our way through the alfalfa field.  
*Did you know alfalfa is a nitrogen fixing plant and can be used in guilds?


The school can be seen in the background up on the hill, the hoop house is located on the playground.  We will be installing a drip system soon,
 as we just received a grant to fund the project!


Tyson, the horse, just had to get in on all of the excitement!  The other adult is Miss Erin.  She is my amazing partner teacher!



Students observed scat.  Helping us identify some of the local fauna.  The students guessed this belonged to the coyotes we heard one morning.


More evidence of local fauna... it appears to be the markings of some beavers hard at work!


We stopped to observe the pond and mini-wetland ecosystem. 
 It's quite abundant with biodiversity.  Nature at it's best!







Manure and some fungi, one of my favorite animal kingdoms!    


We made it to the river but stayed behind the fence for safety purposes.  


We headed back to the school house to talk about what we had observed.  On the way we passed the corn field and garden.    We added another observation the next day as we were all scratching the mosquito bites we endured in the name of science.  We can add them to the list of species inhabiting the river system!

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