We dove into the dirt this week with underground bugs! With things warming up a bit, we have noticed a lot of new creatures, but many of them are still remaining under stumps where temperatures remain just a little bit warmer. So we thought we’d pull them up to the surface to take a closer look.
We started with worms on Monday. The kids had a great time digging through the soil to see what they could find. Not only did we find worms, but Z noticed a pupae and E found a grub. We put our discoveries on a piece of paper so we could observe them more closely. We also learned that worms breathe through their skin, which is why they need the right balance of moisture and dirt. Throughout the day, they also made new discoveries of an assassin bug larvae and a moth cocoon.
Tuesday we woke up to a wet spring snow day. We started with pill bugs (and learned the many different names used to label them) and also discovered they are actually isopods, not bugs, and are more closely related to shrimp and other crustaceans which also breathe through gills. We didn’t find any with the cold weather, but I found other bugs that roll up: the millipede. We had a few other interesting discoveries as well, including the feathers to a Northern Flicker that had most surely been eaten by something. Student I wondered if it was a giant insect, but Z and E said it was most likely a bird of prey. Nature always provides.
Wednesday, we celebrated Z’s 4th birthday and the forest celebrated with us as the sun peeked through the clouds, once again. We couldn’t wait to get outside to see what ants we could find. We added some sand to our ant farm so we could try and collect some ants. We talked about how ants gathered food and then the kids offered to make the ants a restaurant with some crumbs of cupcake and some watermelon. But we had to strategically place our restaurant where the squirrels wouldn’t rob it. Then out in the forest, the children quickly engaged in ant play. They decided their dirt hill, which has been through many transformations over the week, was now their ant hill. H declared she was the queen, W the king, and L took on soldier ant status while the others moved from worker to soldier ant. The use of imagination to make connections with their learning is really becoming a rich experience for all of us. If a child hasn’t been given time to themselves without direction or instruction, it can take some time to get in touch with this innate characteristic again.
This sense of wonder was most evident Thursday when, out of the blue, the kids decided to build Roxaboxen (which is also the title of a book we had read a week or two ago by Alice McLerran). Roxaboxen is a town built of nature and it was absolutely amazing to see it come together. They discovered their own writing tools using loose pieces of concrete left over from the yurt build, they created their own currency out of pinecones called clinkers, they opened a toy store, a jail, and a bed and breakfast by E, where V was a chef. T and S even joined in to help move heavy logs and enriched the experience with their knowledge of how economies work. S volunteered to be the town peddler and sold goods and T invested in V’s restaurant. I was also overheard saying to himself “I’m the sheriff. Awesome.”
After lunch we returned to Roxaboxen where they put on a dinner theater with some beautiful singing and dancing. Later, I discovered a climbing tree. Miss Tamara watched as he talked about his process of getting up the tree and then walked across a branch like a squirrel to get to another smaller tree. The risk/reward concept was not lost on him as he concentrated and carefully made his way. Everyone was disappointed when the day was over, but I assured them Roxaboxen was here to stay.
Friday was filled with more bugs. We were able to get some ants for our farm (which will be on display for a while), but we really had fun with ladybugs. Miss Tamara purchased some to release in our greenhouse so they could control the aphids who are protected by the ants. We learned ants milk aphids (much like a cow) and drink the sweet juices, so they protect them in return, known as a symbiotic relationship. We’ll be learning more about these relationships over the next few weeks.
