Urban safari

The children spent every morning this week caged in their desks for Stanford testing, and we needed to get outside. 

Time for an Urban Safari!  


Inspired by my Fund for Teachers fellowship in southern Africa last summer, we took our field packs outside for a nature challenge. 

This week’s challenges: Each group must find a nest and identify a bird. 

From testing to nesting . . .

Some groups met both challenges with one find!

sparrow

Mourning dove

Grackle

Bonus challenge: Find an edible plant (be sure of your identification!) and then taste it.



Cooperative Investigation Teams then worked together to create field guide pages for the birds they found and identified.

Thank you to the birthday girl who brought trail mix--a perfect snack for field work!

There's a book for that!

Birds, Nests and Eggs (Take-Along Guide) by Mel Boring

Houston Birds (Pocket Naturalist)

Texas Wildlife (Pocket Naturalist)
Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Birds by Jim Arnosky
Field Trips:  Bug Hunting, Animal Tracking, Bird Watching, Shore Walking by Jim Arnosky

Resources:
Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature by Jon Young, Ellen Haas, and Evan McGown
Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
National Wildlife Federation Bird Behavior Hike
Houston Arboretum & Nature Center
Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens birding field checklist
Jesse Jones Park & Nature Center

Happy Mother's Day!

It may take a village to raise a child, but mothers are on the front lines with patience and nurturing. 

Thank you to all of the beautiful women in our lives who are working so hard to raise peaceful, loving, conscientious people.

Thank you for your generous self-sacrifice, your sleepless nights, your worries, and your joy.

Happy Mother's Day!

Lions, impalas, and zebras, oh my!

The real name for this Animal Form game is Cougar Stalks Deer, but in honor of Fluffy's and my travels, we switched things up a little.

Instead, we had lions stalking impalas and zebras (along with one student who asked to be an African Buffalo). 

The game is an animal variation of Red Light-Green Light. While prey are grazing, lions quietly stalk toward them. If a prey animal hears an approaching predator and turns to see the predator moving, that predator's hunt is over. If the predator successfully freezes before the prey sees his/her movement, the hunt continues.

 

Regardless of the animals, this game is great for teaching body control and stalking.  It also helps the children get inside the minds of predators and prey. 

After the game, children who acted as prey reported they felt nervous all the time that a predator might try to get them while they were eating.  They had to use those sensitive "deer ears" to remain alert to approaching predators at all times. 

Predators commented that they were excited that their hunt might succeed, but they also worried that if they were spotted moving, they'd never get their prey and they'd go hungry.

This game taps into children's natural love of sneaking and imitating animals.  It trains the senses, and it's a perfect way to convert distracting end-of-day energy into learning-focused movement.

For more games and connecting-with-nature activities:

Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature

Mysteries of the trunk

--Revealed!

What's in the box?

It's filled with clues to the mystery place(s) Fluffy and I traveled.

To investigate this trunk, we assembled a team of experts: botanists, zoologists, economists, anthropologists, historians, geographers, and a meteorologist.  Each expert would be searching for evidence related to his/her field of expertise.

  

 Then, we opened the trunk to reveal its contents.
 Aren't you itching to dig in and find out what's in there?

Each child was invited to remove an item from the trunk. 

  

As we examined each object, we asked ourselves, "Of what material is it made?"  "How is it used?"  "Which experts would be interested in this object?"  "What information does it give us about the mystery place?"  Experts were then invited to identify the item and determine in which category the item should be placed.  

Very often, more than one expert was interested in the same object.  The economists, the anthropologists, and the zoologists were all interested in a giraffe sculpture constructed from strips of reused soda cans.  A "Lucky Bean" necklace was interesting to the botanists, the anthropologists, and the economists.  The zoologists, the economists, and the anthropologists were all interested in the Mopane Worms ("Ewww!").  The economist was interested in the Coke can, but the historian noticed that the can featured an important event: The World Cup.  Where did this event recently take place?

The children began to see connections.  A catfish bone tells us something about the zoology of the area. It also gives us an idea of the geography of the area.  Similarly, fibers from a Baobab tree tell us about botany and also give us an idea of the climate.  The children began to realize that one aspect of a place influences another.  The people's art reflects the zoology of the area.  The botany in the place influences the materials used to make baskets,

As students investigated the trunk by sorting objects and asking questions, we developed a “web” on the board. 

We finished up with tea time, sampling sips of herbal "bush tea," also known as "red tea" or rooibos.

Special thanks to Jackie Bohdan, children's librarian and fellow traveler, for sending three children's books after Fluffy and I returned!

Lions and elephants

and giraffes! Oh, my!

Happy Halloween!

And happy birthday to the lovely Mrs. D!

(Yes, we dutifully celebrated Pencil Amnesty Day today in her honor.)

A parent reported that when she asked her son if he enjoyed the Fall Festival Friday, he replied dejectedly, "Yeah, I guess so, but Ms. Frizzle didn't come."  It's become a bit of a tradition for me to send Ms. Frizzle in my stead (oddly, right around Halloween).

Luckily, she was available today!  Some funny stuff happens when Ms. Frizzle substitutes for my class.  One of my colleagues was in hysterics after school, telling me, "I saw Ms. Frizzle getting out of her car and I thought, 'Look at that strange substitute.  Oh, my gosh!  What is she WEARING?  Look at THAT dress!  And THAT HAIR--is that a WIG?'"

Ms. Frizzle does make some interesting fashion choices . . . and she delights in the details. 

One student quietly admired, "Oh, I LOVE those earrings."

Another commented under her breath to a friend, "Where did she GET those shoes?"

Some of the children were skeptical about their strange substitute. 

"You laugh like Ms. S." 

"I think I see some blond hair peeking out." 

"Hmmm...You sound just like Ms. S." 

"How come you know our names?"

"Ms. Frizzle doesn't wear glasses."

Most of the children indulged her, though, with "Ms. S___ . . . I mean, Ms. Frizzle" and "I think I see the Magic School Bus!"

Ms. Frizzle is not just fun and games.  She's all about learning.  She brought along a Mystery Trunk, filled with artifacts that provide clues to the mystery of where Fluffy and I traveled over the summer.  Stay tuned to find out what was inside!

Books to love:

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus On the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus & the Science Fair Expedition by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Imperial China by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

Clue #6: Go climb a tree

Our guide appeared in the branches of this two-thousand-year-old Baobab tree . . . and then challenged us to climb it, too. 

"It's easy!" he said.  "There's a little ladder in the back."  Sure there is . . . 

I volunteered to try anyway.  Anything for The Children, right?

Sometimes called "upside down tree" because its canopy looks like roots, this giant succulent stores water in its trunk to help it survive long periods without rain.  During the dry season, many trees endure damage as certain very large mammals scrape off bark to eat.  Fortunately for the Baobab, it has the remarkable ability to heal itself with a new layer of bark and continue growing.

 

People weave the Baobab's fibers into baskets like the tan and black one behind Fluffy in this photo. 

Previous Clues:

Clue #1: Brrrr
Clue #2: Tea Time
Clue #3: Let's make tracks!
Clue #4: No Bones About It
Clue #5: Edible entomology?

Thank you to Fund for Teachers for the generous grant funding that made this journey possible!