Butterfly Release, Tree Climbing, and Planting
/On Monday we discovered that our painted lady butterflies had emerged from their chrysalises over the weekend. We closely observed the butterflies and noticed interesting markings that will help them camouflage in the wild. We learned about the butterfly life cycle and students created butterfly beautiful life cycle posters. On Tuesday students had an opportunity to gently hold the butterflies before releasing them into the pollinator garden. I was greatly impressed with the care and concentration students demonstrated as they gently allowed the butterflies to climb from one child’s hand to the next child’s finger. Several students had never held a butterfly before- what an amazing experience! A huge thank you to Ava B's family for sending in caterpillars for us to raise. On Wednesday Mr. Mark visited the outdoor classroom to do a tree climbing demonstration. We learned how to carefully and safely climb our western redcedar without harming ourselves or the tree. Students then had an opportunity to climb the tree under teacher supervision. We worked with Mr. Mark to carefully plant more native plants in our meadow and pollinator gardens. Our mason bees were buzzing around the meadow as we planted and some children were able to carefully hold these bees. Mason bees are gentle creatures and don’t sting. They are also excellent pollinators. On Thursday we learned more about the praying mantis life cycle and began our praying mantis life cycle sketches. We have dozens of praying mantis nymphs in our enclosure and they are getting bigger each week. This week we spent time adding to our nature journals. During writer’s workshop several students started their native plant research projects. Other highlights this week included a library trip, reading buddies, a dance performance in the gazebo, Friday sharing, board game day, counting change at the Otter popcorn stand, and various constructions in the engineering sandbox.
