Remarkable Reptiles!

On Monday, December 8th, we had a visit from Jim with Remarkable Reptiles.  He brought with him a few of his friends!

A box turtle...

A leopard gecko...

A blue-tongued skink...

And of course, snakes!

Thanks for a fun visit!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On this Thanksgiving holiday, I find myself thankful for my family, my friends, and my health.  I am also incredibly thankful for my job, coworkers and the wonderful children I get to experience Nature with each and every day.

Last week, we learned all about turkeys!  Here are some amazing turkey facts for your Thanksgiving dinner.

- Turkeys can fly as high as 80 feet in the air, and as fast as 50 miles per hour.

- Turkeys have no feathers on their heads.

- The color of a turkey's head changes as it's mood changes.  A calm turkey will have a white head, while an excited or agitated turkey's head will be shades of blue and red.

- A male turkey is called a Tom, and a female turkey is a Hen.  Their babies are called poults.

Together, we made a turkey for the Nature classroom.  Each child created a feather to place on the turkey with something they were thankful for.  

 Here are a few things that the children were thankful for:

• falcons
• flowers
• sunshine
• Mom
• nuts and watermelon
• snow
• dogs
• turkeys

•  cats
• feathers
• bald eagles
• coyotes
• the sun
• birds
• the world
• Dad
• trees

• bears
• bunnies and birds
• EVERYTHING
• snakes
• God
• Christmas
• bugs
  
• What are you thankful for?

Bears and Dens

Last week, our kids learned all about bears!  We had a great time exploring a Black Bear learning kit from our friends at the Minnesota DNR.  The kids had a chance to feel real black bear fur, explore a bear skull, measure their hands against a black bear paw and read some great bear books.

We also made black bear dens!  Check out the pictures of our hard working kids below!

Thanks for visiting! 

Pumpkin Fun!

Thank you to everyone who brought their pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns into the school!  They will be put to good use turning into healthy compost for the gardens next Spring.

On the way to the compost pile, we had a little fun with our pumpkins.  Check out the pictures below for some of our pumpkin fun!

Beautiful Bats

Thanks to a Learning Kit from the Minnesota DNR, we were able to learn about our flying, furry, night time friends, 

BATS! 

First, we did some research...

Then, we played an echolocation game, where the "bat" had to use only their ears and voices to find food.

Some of us even became bat biologists!

 We recorded our findings in our Bat Biologist Field Notebooks.

 We measured the outside temperature using a thermometer. 

 We looked for bats in the trees around the school.

We helped to keep our bat friends safe by checking for parasites.

And, we learned how bats hang upside down from their toes!

Thanks for a fun week!