Prairie Exploration

Last week, we had the pleasure of exploring our prairie with a discovery box from the Minnesota Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington.  

The buffalo costume was, by far, our favorite part of the discovery box.

 

 When I asked the children what a prairie was, I knew I was in for a fun week.

A prairie is...

"another word for a maze."

"kind of like ears."

"a type of animal - maybe with a tail."

"a kind of zoo."

"a type of monster, but not a scary one."

"a thing in books that we look at, I think horses live there."

"where the water goes when it rains."

"grass - BIG grass."

"My mom is allergic to prairies."

We went out to our small, onsite prairie to measure how tall our prairie grasses and flowers were.

We also discussed the length of the roots of prairie plants below the surface of the soil.  Some prairie plants can have roots that are 15-20 feet long!

We then painted a beautiful mural to show the length of prairie plant roots.  Check it out!