This Year's Harvest

My favorite season is fast approaching.  Every fall is different, but there always seems to be a morning when I can feel the change.  The air has just a bit more bite, summer's colorful birds no longer visit the feeder, and blankets seem just a bit more cozy before starting the day.

This week I made an exciting discovery - there are bats roosting under the eaves over my patio deck!  There have certainly been enough pesky insects this summer to feed a whole colony of bats.  My favorite night fliers may need to move on to hibernation roosts once winter hits, but for now they are most welcome to stick around. 

  

Zoo Adventures

Last week was spent soaking up the rare Seattle sun. Most of my time revolved around classes at Woodland Park Zoo, which fortunately included plenty of time spent roaming and getting an up close look at their conservation projects.  Here are just a few of my favorite pictures.



Matschie's Tree Kangaroo

Fruit Bats, also know as Indian Flying Foxes - one of my favorite animals!








His head seemed so much smaller from the ground...



New Beginnings

Is it June already?  The past few months seem to have flown by in a blur.  My first year of grad school is coming to an end, while a new chapter in my career is just beginning.  There are many adventures ahead, and I hope you will check back here from time to time as I share them on this blog.  As promised, I'll be sharing the videos starring my first grade science dynamos plus any exciting resources related to my summer coursework at Woodland Park Zoo.  Enjoy!

Little Miracles

Chrysalides, with our odd colored #25 at right.

The past few weeks in our classroom have been pretty eventful.  Our first butterfly hatched from its chrysalis on May 14th.  While we were observing it on the projector that morning, one of my boys noticed that a second chrysalis had begun to shake.  As the students sat with held breath another butterfly emerged right before their eyes.  Although a few caterpillars were still lagging behind, our first life cycles experiment was definitely a success.

Just hatched!

May 15th marked Day 1 in our chirp-down books, the day we hoped to see even just a crack in our chicken eggs.  Shortly after arriving in the classroom before school the tiniest sound alerted me to check the incubator.  Sure enough, a tiny chick lay half in its egg and exhausted from hatching.  A few hours later the students were able to peer in quietly and watch the first yellow chick wobble around the remaining eggs.  After school a second egg began to rock and peep.  By Wednesday morning there were two more tiny chicks, one black and another yellow.

The first chick, with feathers finally drying out.

Our chicks sleeping in their new digs.

These three have their own tub to explore while we wait for the rest to hatch.  Two brown eggs had significant cracks by the end of the day on May 16th.  If we are lucky, most of the dozen will survive to join their fluffy siblings.

May 16th was also tree planting day.  Thanks to a grant from Home Depot, Mrs. Steele was able to arrange for each class to plant two trees in the south corner of the field.  Our class helped with a quaking aspen, which they dubbed "Steve," and a blue spruce.  (The blue spruce will be named as soon as my first graders can decide what name suits it.)

To celebrate the beautiful weather we also released our first wave of Painted Lady butterflies.  Some of them were reluctant to leave us, much to the delight of the students!

One of our butterflies blending in.

All photos this post by Desert Belle.        

Starting Small

My students received an exciting surprise shortly after sharing the video with other classes.  Pollinators and other critters wrote us back!  There was a postcard from the likes of Sammy the Squirrel, Hummy the Hummingbird, and Bob the Bee.  Several butterflies and even a mockingjay also sent us mail.  There were many reminders to be sure and provide trees for hiding in, and requests for favorite flowers.  A second grade class also wrote letters thanking us for sharing the video and telling us about their favorite parts.  (Most remembered the "No Chocolate?" scene and agreed that a world without chocolate would be a terrible thing.)

As we wait for Idaho's overnight temperatures to stay above freezing, the class has a few indoor projects going on.  We have twenty-nine Painted Lady caterpillars that are growing every day before our eyes.  There are also three types of wildflowers in containers, some of which have started sprouting tiny seedlings.  Before the end of school we have another Top Secret Pollinator Project in the works, but parents will have to wait to find out what it is.       

The caterpillars range in size from about 1/4 to 1 in.

Our Bachelor's Buttons are the first seeds to sprout.

All photos this post by Desert Belle