Wednesday 25 May 2016

Food Forest

Gardening not only connects people to their food, it also brings a sense of wonder and joy about Nature. As we planted in the garden today, we learned all about the magic of a bee's kiss. 

We worked in small groups to plant onions, potatoes, pumpkins, ground cherries, carrots, radishes, and sunflowers. They join our peas and strawberries already growing. 

Writing can happen outside!


Watering in the new seeds.

The water barrels are empty, so are only good for shade. We had to get water from the classroom. 

Tucking in some onions. 

Spreading mulch to save water and keep down the weeds. 


Chirp chirp



Thanks to Karen at Critter Visits, we have some special guests this week!


The children are learning all about empathy, kindness, and being gentle. They are forming connections to their food that will lay foundations for a healthy lifestyle. 





Look for a Baby Chick trading card coming home tomorrow!

Wednesday 18 May 2016

Worms below our feet

Over the last two weeks we've been inquiring into worms. Where did these holes come from?

The clue was there in tiny piles of worm poop!

A-worm hunting we go!


We tried the technique of worm fiddling, which to our delight worked great! The worms came squiggly get out of the soil within a few minutes. 


Boys being boys, they tried pounding on the ground to replicate the fiddling results. To everyone's surprise, it worked!


What a wonderful world right below our feet. 

Friday 13 May 2016

Farewell frogs!

Well it was bittersweet today as we bid adieu to three friends. 

Hoppy, Lightening and Thunderous have been with us since November, when they were mere pollywogs. We spent the winter feeding them, cleaning their water, changing the filters, and watching them carefully. 

As they grew legs and turned into froglets, we sacrificed our water table. It became a frog habitat, since the ponds outside were still frozen. 

Today, the weather was just right to say goodbye. Not too hot or cold, and nice and wet. We scooped them into bug boxes for the journey. 





The spot we chose, with lots of help from Isabelle and her mom, is a froggie oasis behind the fire station. 


After saying a goodbye, off they went. They were so quick I couldn't get a picture!

Already camouflaged, they settled right into their new pond.

Farewell froggies!

A lot to do with Water

You know spring has sprung when the water river system comes out of storage.  The children investigated every inch of it, discovering how the water moved through it, how deep it was and what they could put with it.





We then moved ourselves outside in the nicer weather to explore things that sink and things that floats.
We then moved things outside with the arrival of nicer weather to take a look at things that sink and float.  Andrew became very excited to discover that his empty yogurt container floated.




We recorded our findings.



Once we had tested our predictions of things that sink and float and developed further our understandings, we again moved inside to use this knowledge to help us build boats that floated.
The children made their construction plans and then set to work.







Boats were created, tested and then re-adjusted and then once completed, enjoyed.


One boat even made it home to try in the bathtub.

Our inquiry into the mechanics of water and then boat building was of interest to many and enjoyed by most.  The children were themselves scientist, inventors and engineers in their work of play.