Another wonderful day spent outside with Forest Classroom. This week our morning project was to use some track outlines and lay them out in the pattern that they would be left in as that animal moved, so for example is the tracks looked like rabbit tracks we displayed them in a hopping pattern. Once the tracks were spaced our correctly, the students were then challenged to then move like that animal, so each student tried to hop, bound, waddle, and walk on all 4 legs. We found that waddling and walking was fairly easy for us, but hopping and bounding were really challenging. Part of this is due to the shape of our bodies and our legs and feet. We are built differently than a rabbit and a weasel, so we will have a harder time moving like them.
In the morning, we journeyed to Beaver Pond and brought some shovels to help us clear off the snow, as long as it was safe for us to be on the ice, which it was. As we hiked down we pointed out all of the tracks in the snow and made guess about who made them and what pattern their trail left behind. We saw deer and dog tracks in a walking pattern, squirrel and rabbit tracks in a hopping patterns, and possibly an otter bounding pattern heading down to the pond! At the pond we worked really hard at clearing off the snow again to make our ice rink, but also we made a network of trails that all connected in different ways. Once the snow started to become good packing snow, some of us also build “homes” along the trail network too. The team work and communication that this group has is inspiring.
During snack and lunch, we sat on the porch and talked about the birds that were at the feeders. We did this as practice for the Great Backyard Bird Count that held national wide starting Feb 14th and running through Monday Feb 17th. Next week I will be handing out bird count sheets that your student can use at home with family and friends during this period of time. It is super easy to participate and you don’t need to go far, you can do it from your couch looking out your window or going on a short walk in your neighborhood. To report sightings, you can download the merlin or ebird apps, or do it from your computer. You will generate a list to submit and record all the birds you saw during your period of observation, and that’s it! You don’t need to be an expert to do it, any and all data is helpful! You can also join us on Feb 14th right at the visitors center for a kick-off event to bird with our community and learn more about the Great Backyard Bird Count!
As always around 1pm we needed to check our snow board and snow gauge in order to record and report out the snow accumulation. We had 2 students work together to measure the amount of snow on the board and the amount of snow total on the ground, and then another friend clears off the snow board for future accumulations. That was about 4 inches on new snow on the board from over the weekend, and we had a total of 14 inches of snow on the ground.
Later in the day we enjoyed time sledding together, rolling huge snow balls in the great packing snow, and playing in the snow exploring together too! We ended out time journaling and relfecting on our day spent together.
