Wonderful worms are the reason our garden is making headway with loads of cheerful flowers. It was pretty cool to learn they don’t have eyes, or ears but sense through vibration. We did some of our own ‘worm charming’ by jumping nearby an area of soft soil….and GUESS WHAT, a worm popped out. Too loud underfoot, but soon this little guy found out it’s loud above ground too with so many excited explorers!
We spent time digging for worms then observing their features. We even tried to find the longest and shortest worms, confirming our thinking using measurement with rulers in centimeters. Wiggly worms are tricky to measure with their 100 body segments moving in and out as they travel. Worms may be icky, but we now know they are COOL, important and fascinating!
Ask your child about….
*What happens if worms get cut in half?
*What do worms eat and how do they eliminate waste (poop - called castings)
*Can you show me some worm castings? What are they good for?
*Do some animals eat worms? Who?
*Who found the longest and shortest worms today?
Time for a thorough wash up before sneaking in to the forest to find any new signs. We did….what was it? (ask us). We found a sheltered spot from the light rain to read a story about all the creatures living in, around and under the garden throughout the seasons. Gardens are very crowded and busy places! It's such a joy to spread out and just look around this space with curiosity, trying to test our balance, creating land art, working together to identify new plants, or just hanging with friends.
All of us just couldn’t stop noticing all the ‘green’ everywhere. Everything is wearing a new summer coat. There were long soft cylinders on the ground, some with fluffy seeds, others with flowers that looked like worms. We now know they are ‘catkins’, part of the cycle from tree to seed. but today we have worms on our mind, the down low creature of the soil that makes plant growth possible.
Back at the Mill we circled up for our first sharing time. It was so wonderful to listen to stories, see interesting artifacts and ask questions. "Show and Tell" will be back by popular demand next week!
The sun started waking up just as our appetite did. Lunch on Butterfly Hill with friends or sometimes alone always gives us time to absorb all the BIG NEW ideas from our morning together.
Discovery in the afternoon was certainly hopping! We know that worms are food for someone, so why not hungry amphibians? Our reading led us off on the hunt for evidence. Could we find frogs eggs, tadpoles, froglets, or even adult frogs. Learning about life cycles challenges us to ask more questions. It seems that ALL THINGS ARE CONNECTED!
We even made Toad Houses! Giving toads a place to rest, find shade, and stay safe made us feel like pretty good caretakers.
All this learning of course needs to be put down in our nature journals. After today we can probably tell you what makes frogs and toads different and some of their neat physical features. We would love to share our mini-poster with some of the more common Ontario frogs and toads. Happy hunting to find out more!
Thanks so much to our helper Cottontail today. She was so much fun and we hope she will come back to visit us again! Even though we didn't see Mrs Eastman, she carefully prepared a fun frog craft and some books for us today. We are so grateful to the team of people who care about our learning at nature school.
Happy Trails until next week forest friends:)
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