Pond Study–week 2

This morning we closed early again to go visit our pond.
    
Our first job was to check the level of the water in the pond
          to see if it had receded in the past week.
         
I brought various measuring tapes for the children to use.
 
Happily most of our sticks were where we left them but we
  were so surprised to see the change in the water level.
  
My first thought was “our measuring tapes aren’t long enough”
         so quickly decided to use our feet to measure.
  
Each child walked heel-to-toe from stick to water counting their steps.
 
Then drew a picture of the pond and wrote the number of steps in
                       their nature books.
 
We finished off by moving our sticks to the new water line and
        predicted where the water might be next week.

 
Our second job was focused on how trees change in the spring.  The children
were given a popsicle stick with their name on it.  They had to find a tree that
        they liked and place their name stick at the base.
   
We took a picture of each child showing the leaf bud on their tree. 
The photo will be added to their Nature Book and we’ll be able to
use the photo to compare the growth when we visit next week.

Feeding our Worms

“Environmental chefs

here’s a recipe for you’'

to fix from scratch

to mix a batch

of Compost Stew”.

That is the main stanza in the book “Compost Stew” by Mary McKenna Siddals.  We read it at story time this morning then we made our own compost stew.
                              
We started with our compost bucket that sat over the weekend.  It had banana peels, egg shells, coffee grounds and a few tomatoes from this morning.
                 
              The children took turns stirring it and crushing the egg shells.
                 
                    Then we added it to our worm composter.
              
Covered it with paper again and sprayed it with water till it was good and moist.   We’ll check tomorrow to see if the worms have been working through their meal.

Pond Study

Last Tuesday we started our Pond Study.  Part way through the morning we closed the centre and any families that wanted joined me at Little River Nature Park.
         
We will be going to the pond every Tuesday to observe the changes of the water,
                  trees, plants, animals, bugs and so on.
 
Our first job was to create ‘sit upons’ to help keep us dry when sitting on the ground.  They are made from pieces of cardboard and newspapers wrapped in
                 vinyl tablecloth and sealed with duct tape.

While we sat and ate a snack we listened.  We could hear birds and frogs.
This is a great pond for exploring because the water is fairly shallow with no great drop off, there is a beaver lodge, eagle's nest and so much more.

       
The next job was to look at the water level and talk about how it will recede as the weather becomes warmer.  The question arose; “How will we know if the water level is different next week when we visit?”
              
We decided to mark the edge with sticks and stones. The park is used a lot by dogs and their owners.  I hope at least some of our sticks will remain till next week.
     
         Collecting the sticks and stones was a great activity.
        
Using the sticks to poke at the water was fun too and we talked about what the orange fuzzy stuff in the water might be.  A goal for a future visit is to make pond skimmers and take a closer look at the fuzzy orange stuff.

    
One last job was to make our own nature books and draw something that we saw.
    
   
                     We saw trees, moss, bugs and rocks. 
Their interests are the ideas we will begin to focus on in the coming weeks.
         
We were very fortunate that our first day at the pond was beautifully sunny and warm.  It is suppose to be raining this week but it won't stop us.

Another Sensory Tub Adaptation

         
       My husband created this board to fit across our sensory table. 
                      He drilled large and small holes.
        
                         The pom poms are various sizes. 
  The challenge was to see which pom poms would fit through which holes.
          
I included clothespins thinking they could use them to pick up the pom poms
 but instead they used them to help push the pom poms through the holes.
         
                                    So I added chop sticks. 

Worms, Worms, Worms

The day after we added fake worms to the sandbox I received an email saying that worms were waiting in the fridge at school.
          
I had reserved a worm composter kit from our district resource centre and thought it was coming at the end of April not now.  I’ve never done used one before and started reading the instructions. 
 
When I read that the composter need to be ready before your worms arrived made me panic a bit.  But with a willing helper we followed the steps and got it ready.

Compost, pumice, coir (soaked so it expands), shredded newspaper and food waste makes the bedding for our worms.  We dumped it into the tray and spread it around.
       

Now the fun part, opening the tub of worms.  They are red wigglers which are great for composting.  The question arose why not use the worms we find outside?  I found this answer on Red Worm Composting site; 
“I learned that most of my yard worms were of the “anecic” type – that is to say they were soil dwelling worms that create burrows and tend to lead a somewhat solitary existence (they need their space). The worms ideally suited for composting on the other hand are referred to as “epigeic”. This group tends to live in rich organic material (not soil), and are adapted to crowding and warmer temperatures.”
I commented to a parent that I learn so much at StrongStart.

            
       Opening the tub of worms drew a lot more children to the table.
Can we touch?  Definitely.
 
          Magnifying glasses helped us get a closer look.
       
Using one of the books provided in our kit we were able to learn which end
                                has the mouth.

       
The next job was to pick all the worms out of the material that they arrived in.  It was difficult, there were so many worms.  Even little white ones that we thought were young worms but I have since found out are a different type of worm.
       
Because it was taking too long for us to pick them out we transferred it all.
  
  The worms immediately wiggled under the bedding to where it was dark.

One last thing was to place newspaper on top and moisten it.
       
We’ll check our worms everyday to see that it stays moist and feed them when we notice that the food we have already added is being processed. 

                  What an adventure!  I hope they survive.

If you have had a worm composter before and have any suggestions please share them.