This is our new friend Mr. Cook he is a Red Eared Slider turtle. He is on loan from Alex and will Cook for the school year. The students really enjoy getting opportunities to observe Mr. Cook in his new home.
Another new friend is our toad. He doesn't have a name yet but we are working on it. He is on loan from Artie Oravec.
This has been an exciting first week in the science room. On Tuesday Mrs. Gardner's class found a large spider in their classroom. We caught the spider and built him a little habitat to live in. The students in Mrs. Gardner's class voted and named our spider, Spikey. For their first science observation of the year, the third graders were able to observe Spikey catching and eating prey. Spikey is a wolf spider so he feeds on smaller spiders and other insects. This was an unexpected opportunity for students from all three grades to observe the animal world up close.
Welcome back to a new and exciting school year! I hope all of you enjoyed your summer and I can't wait for you to share with me all the fun things you did these last couple months. I want to share one of the thrilling activities my daughters and I got to experience. We visited a small circus in out neighborhood and went on an elephant ride!!
Who's ready for spring? Well, this mother robin is. She has been working all day on her nest, which just happens to be right outside my kitchen window in a small weeping cherry tree. She is putting so much time and effort into making the most perfect nest to welcome her new baby birds. I can't wait to see those hatchlings! Do you have any signs of spring in your yard? I love this time of year when baby animals will be everywhere!
This is a robin's nest with eggs that Daniel Skrocki, a first grader in Mrs. Gardner's room, brought in to share with the class. This nest is in his yard! How exciting to observe. Thanks for sharing Daniel!
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
Second graders just recently participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count where they identified and counted the birds they saw in their backyard. We had many participants and students did a great job recognizing some of our winter birds. The bird that was seen most in our backyards was the Black Capped Chickadee. Students then created a graph in their science journals to record everyone's sightings!! Mrs. Panichi and Mrs. Reed were wonderful and sent me some great photos of birds seen during the count. The picture to the left is a Red Shouldered Hawk. Students had fun looking closely at some common Ohio hawks to make an identification. Check out more of the photos below. Have you ever seen a bird in your backyard that you could correctly identify? What was it? What was it doing?
Have you ever fed a chickadee by hand?? Well, I didn't either, and I just had to give it a try. A couple weekends ago, my family and I went to Brecksville Nature Center one Saturday morning. We each got a handful of sunflower seeds from inside and listened to instructions. We then went outside and held our hands out straight and stood as still as a statue. And then before I knew it, a chickadee landed on my hand, looked around and then took a seed and flew away to eat it. It was very cool and a couple more flew by and stole a seed or two from my hand! My daughters were there as well, it was hard for them to stand like statues, but they gave it their best shot. And both Ashlyn and Ava had chickadees come to them and take seeds. Arrison still needs a couple more years to practice statue-like behavior. But we had a blast. If you have ever gone to the nature center and fed the chickadees, write back and tell me about your experience. If you haven't ever done this, then you must try!! Here is the info:
From their website: An opportunity to hand-feed a chickadee is offered from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays and Sundays, through Feb. 28, at the Brecksville Nature Center. Staff and volunteers will provide sunflower seed and instructions, while visitors hold out their hands for birds to land and eat.
I took my children to the Brecksville Nature Center one day in October to take a walk through the woods. I love seeing the Fall trees and all their colorful leaves. We also saw many chipmunks scurrying around stuffing their cheeks with as many seeds and nuts as they could find so they could have plenty to eat over the long winter. Have you seen any animals preparing themselves for winter?
Jason brought in his pet Toad. The toad sure looks plump and well taken care of. What sort of pet do you have? Tell us all about it? If you don't have a pet, what type of pet do you want?
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
Last week we had a couple anxious snakes trying to enter our school building! They were young garter snakes and found their way near the door to our school. A few terrified teachers, who shall remain nameless, frantically called Mr. Steve for help. Naturally, they wound up in my science class for all to see. We observed them for the rest of the day and then I set them free once again. Why do you think the snakes were trying to enter the building?
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
This summer we found an over 3 foot long Milk Snake hanging out in our garden. We were fascinated by this creature! It had beautiful scales and we watched it all day long. We saw this gal one other time, but as the summer went on we also saw a younger milk snake in our neighbor's yard curled up behind a cooler on their deck! And just the other day we saw a teeny tiny baby Milk Snake in our backyard! What was the coolest animal in your backyard this summer?