Lovely Land June Day 4 and 5

Day 4: We began the morning with a game of "Fire Protector" (one kid is protecting his pile of sticks for a fire through the winter and is sitting by his "fire" blindfolded while all other kids try to sneak up and take a stick without being heard). Then on the hike to the Art Studio/Science room we made a sensory map. A sensory map records not only what you see but also hear, smell and feel. Next we had a lesson on how and why earthquakes occur and what scientists use to measure the strength of them. In teams of 3, we built seismometers, a village out of our mud bricks from yesterday and then created an earthquake (shaking the table) to record on our seismometers. After snack, we did a Native Plant study and made leaf rubbings of Muscadine (wild grapes) and White Oak tree. After lunch we voted to work some more on our nest and then explore/play at the creek. While taking pictures, I dropped my phone in the creek and it is still sitting in rice. Unfortunately, I am not able to post our pictures from that day since my phone is still not working. :(

Day 5: First we played "Flower and the Bees" and "How Many Ways to Cross the River". Then we did some Gardening 101 while it was still cool in the morning. We were going to harvest potatoes but all the rain we had the past weeks flooded and rotted them out. But we still had fun digging up the soil to prepare it for new seeds. We checked out the final results of our BIodegradable Experiment. Then we finished our Native Plant Study with Ebony Spleenwort and Hickory Tree leaf rubbings. After snack, we discussed seed dispersal and all the ways seeds travel. In teams, we designed and made seed dispersal prototypes. We held them in front of the fan on the highest setting and recorded how far they traveled and calculated the average distance. The farthest was an average of 111 inches and was a parachute inspired design. We also performed Meadow Dandelion (a Chippewa folktale) and had Free Maker Time (time to create/draw whatever you want). Lastly, we played some more games like "Magic" and "If you ever...." After camp, parents joined us for a tour of the greenhouse, mini greenhouse/seed house, garden and school house.