Weekly Summary: Harvest – Neutrons – Nature Study

This week the theme was harvest. Since this course is the last course of the day, I have the benefit of them already having discussed a lot of the things prior to my class. We discussed what we thought harvesting meant. Then played a matching game with 8 animals who harvest more like humans would define harvesting (Leaf-cutter ants, termites, damselfish, ambrosia beetle, ants, marsh periwinkles, spotted jellies, yeti crabs). These kiddos never cease to amaze me with their collective knowledge on even some outlandish topics. They worked together to match and were accurate in their guesses. Since we cannot find any of these species (besides ants possibly) in Thatcher Woods, we decided we would go on a hike and see if we saw any animals foraging. We were on the hunt for squirrels because we felt that might be the most likely animals we would find. We had the luck of seeing at least 4 deer, chipmunks,  and squirrels. All of which we decided were preparing for winter and “harvesting” what was left in the woods. Many chose to record their findings in their nature journals.