Digital Nature Photography - Part II

Ice is Nice - Well, ok, not anymore.  We want spring!

Mission:  Find the most interesting ice you can.  Is it thick or thin? crystals? part solid and part liquid? smooth or rough? sparkly or dull?  Use your adjectives to think through properties of ice.  Use science terms, too.  

Capture what grabs your attention.

Using technology skills to upload and share the photos.

What makes ice so different even though it's in the same area?

                                                                   Compare and contrast.

Outdoor Education Day

I wish I had taken more photos of our Outdoor Education Day.  Our School Forest Committee did a stellar job lining up experts to come in and instruct our students for the day.  The committee members put in a ton of work to make a schedule that accommodated a variety needs and organize active, meaningful lessons.  They even planned a delicious lunch for volunteers and staff.  Bravo!

A big thank-you to the people who helped and volunteered to make our Outdoor Education Day a smashing success.  We had lessons on ornithology and data collection, beaver dams, rivers and estuaries, orienteering, and even a hayride with Smokey the Bear.  Happy 70th Birthday, Smokey!

Science - Balance and Motion

Two weeks of lessons on the physics of balance and motion.  Loads of fun and learning with rotating tops, gravity and air resistance acting on twirly-birds, finding the balance points with wheels and axles and ramps.  Who wouldn't love science that makes you giggle?

Enraptured with Raptors

We were fortunate to have a generous parent donate a day with the raptors (University of Minnesota Raptor Program).  Students learned amazing amounts of information in the sessions.  They were as up close and personal as they could be.  For many, this was an experience of a lifetime.  We gained a new appreciation for these amazing birds!

Great Horned Owl

Peregrine Falcon 

Bald Eagle

Kestrel

Photo Phun

While attending the Minnesota State School Forest Conference we tapped into a resource which would lend us cameras.  We unpacked and charged up 24 Nikons.  After a brief tutorial, the kids were shutterbug-happy.  Our mission was to snap photos of "faces" we see around the building and in the school forest.  It was a perfect outing with temperatures cool enough to keep the mud solid and yet warm enough to have mittens off.   

When reflecting on the effectiveness of the lesson, we learned to use technology (understand the basic functions of the camera, take photos with a purpose, upload the photos, and share them with others); to look for the unexpected; to try something new; and to express ourselves in creative ways.  Hmmmm.....how would that be measured on a standardized test?

Spaghetti Structures

This is our first attempt at building spaghetti structures.  The lesson enriches the "building and engineering" core lessons.  We learned as much about working together and cooperation as we did about science.

We are looking forward to expanding the project and entering it at the Science and Art Fair for our school.

Young Ornithologists

First exploration with binoculars.... a bird safari.

We spotted a chickadee eating nature's suet.  Someone had probably come upon a dead deer and put its hindquarter up in the tree either as a way to keep his/her dog out of it or to give the birds a mid-winter treat.  Obviously this chickadee is delighted.