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Super Sky June Day 5

Super Sky June Day 5

We began the morning with Sneaky Animals and a hike to the schoolhouse. Then we did gratitude circle and recorded our air pollution results. We drew our observations and made a bar graph to illustrate our data. We concluded that the parking lot had the most particulate matter. We even saw some soot! Then we played "Keeping our Air Clean" (a capture the flag style game). Once divided into two teams, they tried to get a Problem card (with a common way air is polluted) into the

Super Sky June Day 4

Super Sky June Day 4

This morning it started raining and we had severe thunderstorm warnings for all of camp! So we didn't get to go to the creek :( or hiking. However, we made sundials (to test out tomorrow when the sun returns!). We also did some more Bird Study. We learned about the Pine Warbler, Carolina Wren and Mockingbird. We also learned about NASA's LCROSS mission (NASA launched a robotic spacecraft at the moon to send up a cloud of dust which they could study for ice crystals and find e

Super Sky June Day 3

Super Sky June Day 3

We began with some more archery and a game of "Sneaky Animals". After hiking to the schoolhouse, we did a gratitude circle and continued our Bird Study. Today we learned about Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds and Blue jays. Then we decorated our bird feeders, put bird seed in them and hung them up. Next we performed the play "The First Bats". Then we went to the creek early in case rain came after noon. We found a vine to swing on. I tested it with my weight first and then let

Super Sky June Day 2

Super Sky June Day 2

We did some archery first thing this morning. Then we played a version of the Indian game "7 stones". After our hike to the schoolhouse, we started our Bird Study/Identification with the American Goldfinch, Northern Cardinal, Eastern Bulebird and Brown Thrasher. We also made our own bird feeders from recycled materials. They were painted white and we will decorate them, add bird seeds and hang them tomorrow. We also talked about the Earth's rotation on it's axis and around th

Super Sky June Day 1

Super Sky June Day 1

We started off the morning with the games Eagle Eye and the Name Game. Then we hiked to the schoolhouse. Today we learned about how/why clouds form. We made a cloud in a jar and learned the prefixes and suffixes for the types of clouds (cirrus- high and wispy, strato- layer, cumulo- pile, nimbus- rain, alto- middle). So a cumulonimbus cloud is one that looks like a pile and is raining. We also made a nephoscope (reflective surface with the cardinal directions for cloud observ

Wonderful Water June Day 5

Wonderful Water June Day 5

We began the morning with a game called "Sneaky Animals" where one kid has a nest of "eggs" and the others try to sneak up and get an egg back across the start line without getting caught. After hiking to the schoolhouse, we checked our Solar Still (a hole in ground with moss around a cup, covered with plastic wrap so the water from the moss evaporates, collects on the plastic and falls down into the cup).It had enough fresh water for a few of us to try. Then we talked about

Wonderful Water June Day 4

Wonderful Water June Day 4

First, we took turns with Archery and then we played a team building game called "Crossing the River". After our first hike, we recorded the results from our water pollution experiment. We concluded that polluted water decreases the capillary uptake of plants. Then we performed "Hummingbirds and the Selfish Fox". Then we discussed colored lakes. We talked about why Lake Natron and others have strange colors (mostly due to minerals and bacteria). After that, we made a Solar

Wonderful Water June Day 3

Wonderful Water June Day 3

This morning we did more Archery, Laser Maze and played a game called "Sound Partners" (the kids partner up and choose an animal call to communicate with, then they close their eyes and have to find their partner just by listening for their call). Then we talked about water pollution and what causes it. We discussed point source and non-point source pollution as well as ways to prevent water pollution. I set up the water pollution model to first show examples of how water po

Wonderful Water June Day 2

Wonderful Water June Day 2

We had an exciting start to the day as we took turns aiming bows and arrows at balloons. For several kids, it was their first time learning how to hold and shoot a bow and arrow. They wanted to keep practicing so I told them we will do it again tomorrow morning. We played another round of Eagle Eye and tried a new game called "Give and Take" (practicing focus and awareness). After gratitude circle, we discussed the Water Cycle and made mini water cycle models which they will

Wonderful Water June Day 1

Wonderful Water June Day 1

We started the week off with a game of Eagle Eye, Group Shapes and The Name Game. We had a gratitude circle that included wonderful answers like "family", "trees" and "being together at camp". We discussed how much of the Earth is water vs land, drinkable vs salt water and how our bodies like the Earth are made of mostly water (60-65%). Our eyes are 95% water! We looked at the different Ocean Zones (Sunlight, Twilight, Midnight, Abyssal and Hadal Zones). We also learned abo

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