A couple of weeks ago, we met with our Roots & Shoots club for our monthly nature walk. In the past, some of our most successful walks are those in which I allow the kids the freedom to explore the area on their own. What of interest can you find? To get them started, though, I lead them on a scavenger hunt to direct their attention to their natural surroundings. A few of the items on the list included:
☐ Find a tree with a buck-rub.
☐ Find a pine cone. Can you identify what kind of tree it came from?
☐ Find tracks in the snow and identify them. What kind are they?
☐ Find brown leaves still hanging from an oak tree.
☐ Find a frozen waterfall.
We didn’t actually find a frozen waterfall but the river was frozen along the edges and on the submerged logs. What struck us the most was the beauty of the ice. There was even ice on the rocks under the water.
Buddy was drawn to the ice atop the river as well. The photo doesn’t show the patterns on the ice yet he was intrigued and began to make an hypothesis about what caused it. The wheels in my brain began to turn as I recalled a number of activities that I had wanted to integrate into our science / nature study curriculum. I just need the snow to start falling again …
2 comments
Traci's Teaching Times
January 22, 2011 at 9:01 pm
I’ve been wondering where you were. I suppose we all have to take a break from time to time. I was so busy during the holidays it was unreal I didn’t blog much either. Good to hear you back on the blog.
Great idea for nature. If I try that one I’ll have to revamp it for us beings we don’t get the snow but about once every 10 or 15 years.
Sparklee
February 1, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Sounds like a great nature walk! I like the scavenger hunt idea. We’re hoping to get back outside soon, if the snow ever STOPS falling here!
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