Inspired by "Audubon Adventures", we create a "Nature Discovery Center"

Ecosystem Posters

“What is the most important thing one learns in school? Self-esteem, support, and friendship.” ― Terry Tempest Williams, Pieces of White Shell

Streams poster, labeled by M & M

Grade Level: Elementary

Objective: Students will continue to build on the work they've done this semester on ecosystems, displaying their knowledge on a poster (to be hung in the school hallway.)

Materials: Ecosystems and Food Chains by Francene Sabin, stream ecosystem or other nature poster, labels with species names and ecosystem parts (example: living, non-living, primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, herbivore, omnivore, carnivore), Bill Nye Video

Today we:
-finished reading Ecosystems and Food Chains by Francene Sabin
-labeled "streams" Washington Fish and Wildlife poster with species names and ecosytem parts
-watched Bill Nye video on "food web" and worked on "thank-you" cards

PE: Qigong

Grade Level:  High School

Objective: Students will learn about qigong while continuing to record their heart rates and reflect on their fitness.

Today we:
-learned about qigong and participated in a number of exercises designed to increase body awareness
-took our resting and active heart rates and recorded the activity we'd done over the weekend
-did some light running up chalet hill
-stretched and did some foot and ankle strengthening exercises
-shot some hoops and practiced our basketball skills

Cycling Water--gauging rain, painting with salt

“Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container.” ― Wallace Stevens

Grade Level: Elementary

Objective: Students will increase their knowledge of the water cycle, exploring its properties through a variety of experiments.

Today we:

-watched water condense in a glass jar
-read Ecosystems and Food Chains by Francene Sabin
-labeled the "living" and "nonliving" parts of our own "jar garden" ecosystems
-built a rain gauge
-began tracking our water usage
-painted with salt water
-watched Bill Nye

M and M track their school day water usage

Materials:  glass jar, ice cubes, water, Ecosystems and Food Chains by Francene Sabin, salt, paintbrushes, jar, ruler, permanent marker, black paper, poster board, Bill Nye the Science Guy: Episode 47: Water

Individual Fitness: goal making and heart rate moniteering

Chalet Hill, taken from about a quarter of the way up

Grade Level:  High School

Objective: Students will gain a greater understanding of their bodies and current fitness levels through monitoring their heart rate.  Students will set goals for the semester and begin logging their physical activity.

Mold Gardens, Jar Gardens, Precipitation, Evaporation, and Condensation

“Places matter. Their rules, their scale, their design include or exclude civil society, pedestrianism, equality, diversity (economic and otherwise), understanding of where water comes from and garbage goes, consumption or conservation. They map our lives.” ― Rebecca Solnit, Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics

M uses her finger to draw on the condensation she created

Grade Level:  Elementary

Materials: Mason Jar, plants, water, trowels, Bill Nye clip

Objective:  Students will explore the water cycle.

Introduction/Hook:  Water vapor/condensation activity

Building a terrarium to learn about the water cycle

Grade Level:  Elementary

Materials: Jar (with lid), small plants, pebbles, activated charcoal, soil, water, trowels

Objective: Students will learn about the water cycle through watching it in a controlled environment (a terrarium) that will eventually allow them to observe the condensation, precipitation, and evaporation of moisture.