Our outdoor classroom at Centennial Park continues to be a place for discoveries big and small! A worm was hiding between two very miniscule pebbles. When I was at my section of the creek and we had finished our data and measurements, we started looking for fossils and I dug a giant hole. When I looked inside of it, the most amazing thing happened! A worm was hiding between two very miniscule pebbles. I pulled out the adorable and slimy, little pink worm and put in into my long test tube. Next, I filled it with some pebbles, dirt, and water so the worm would have a habitat of its own. The worm attached himself the side of the tube. I thought he was doing alright, so I put him in my bag so I could walk back, and it was a tiring walk back. Because of all the data we collected I was ready to take a nap. I was thinking about what to name it, so I came up with Mrow. I named him Mrow because that is worm spelled backwards. I was so excited to bring him back to class so I can examine him closer. I can’t wait to learn more about him! Those are the kind of things that make me wonder. My trip to centennial park this time was very fun,interesting, and I have to say, a lot more peaceful than the last time. I mostly payed a lot of attention to the creek this time. When it was free writing time, it was very relaxing because the water was making soft gurgling sounds when it flowed over rocks. This made a mini water fall. When this happend lots of bubbles were formed,which flowed down the creek. But what I thought was interesting that sometimes bigger bubbles flowed down the creek,these were made from the other smaller bubbles connecting into one. The thing was,that when these bubbles came upon a big rock or even a whirl of water,or any other object that was in its way they would break apart but did not pop. So I thought,how could this bubble hit a rock, break apart--but not pop? Those are the kind of things that make me wonder. Something that also made me wonder was, how could flowers still be growing in this chilly weather?There were some beautiful daffodils that were in full bloom. It was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the flowers did not show any kind of sign that they were dying or in poor condition. I think that if the flowers started growing in warm conditions, and got into full bloom,then now they are probably not going to die. But, a very simple explanation,that I think also fits this case is that it was not too cold for the flowers to die. I also think it was very fun looking for fossils. At first I started looking in the creek for fossils but did not find that much. Then I moved on the sand/soil that was close to the creek. There was a big rock in this spot but on one side of it there were tons of interesting fossils! The secret was, you just had to look more closely. First, I thought that there was just stones and rocks, and nothing to find. But as I looked closely I found tiny and very small fossils. You would think this is unattractive. Actually, my small fossils were very detailed and interesting. One had grayish "limbs and bumps" sticking out of it a little bit. I did not know what were the names of these fossils yet. So I was somewhat mystified. I had a great learning experience in this trip to Centennial Park. Not the bad loud, a good soothing loud. I was about 30 feet from the stream and I could barely hear water, but when I got to my spot it was very loud. Not the bad loud, a good soothing loud. It was helpful with a subject write about. The stream was very cold and clear. In some places it was kind of foggy. The water was pretty cold, but not the coldest water we have had. It was like someone shook up the stream rapidly. Each step you took, the more foggy it got. Next, I went on a fossil hunt. It was kind of hard, but easy at the same time because every time I put my hand in water I found a rock with fossils. We washed our fossils and I got a paint brush and brushed away at the rock and I found more fossils. I started to dig it out of the ravine wall with a trowel. Once my team and I were done with finding and copying down all our data, we started to look for fossils. Becket and I found out that most of the ravine wall is made out of clay and fossils. I noticed a big rock embedded in the ravine wall. I started to dig it out of the ravine wall with a trowel. Once I finally got the rock out of the wall it was way too muddy to be able to look at any fossils in it. So since the current was so fast I just set the rock in the stream and that cleaned most of the mud off the rock. Then I got a stick and cleaned it off even more. I was able to look at the fossils more closely. The spider’s whole body was brown with little black lines on its head. On my trip to Centennial Park I discovered a wolf spider. It was the biggest spider I’ve ever seen in my life. The spider’s whole body was brown with little black lines on its head. The spider was hairy like a tarantula. It’s so fast when it crawls I couldn’t see it that much. While the spider was on the ground I thought to myself, ”Will I come back again and find it laying there on the ground?” I also thought, ”Will it be a fossil when I come back?” I took pictures and videos of it because it was awesome. After that experience, I wanted to go back again after school and look for more neat stuff that might be there. I was free writing at the time, so I decided to document what I had discovered. When I went to Centennial Park last Thursday, ( 4/7/16 ) I looked around to see all of the plants around me. Then it hit me. Last time we were here there were no alive plants! I was free writing at the time so I decided to document what I had discovered. It made me wonder if next time will the plants still be there? Will the plants be dead? Will there be different types of plants? Will there be more plants? I can’t wait to find out! The bubbles are like traffic. Unlike usual, my spot is wet. The plants are healthier. And there are a lot more animal noises such as birds and squirrels. The creek is more rapid. There was so much rain that is so fast that I feel like I’m in a stampede. The stones look moist. A lot of branches are broken. The bubbles are like traffic. Why are the trees moving when the wind is calm? And why is it darker?I feel glad that we are not canceling the Place Project, I can’t smell anything, and I hear the rain running. Most of the flowers were on the left side of the stream, and not so much on the right side of the stream. When I went to the Place Project today I noticed some different things.One thing that I noticed was that I saw a piece of wood shaped like a Woodpecker. I thought that was really interesting! I also noticed that there are more logs and bark on the ground. This made me wonder. Maybe a storm hit, or something else occurred. Another thing is that there are more green plants on the hill because it is spring time. I also realized that the roots have grown on the mud, and the dirt is less breakable. I also noticed that the stream is moving a little bit slower than the past few times. I noticed that there is more moss growing on the logs and rocks than last time. There are so many flowers at the Place Project. Most of them were daffodils. Most of the flowers were on the left side of the stream, and not so much on the right side of the stream. I wonder what will be there the next time my class goes to the Place Project. It was purple with a brown stripe starting on the top of its head down to the tip of its tail. When I went to the place project I experienced amazing things! One of the things was finding a salamander! It was AWESOME! I remember it so well. It was purple with a brown stripe starting on the top of its head down to the tip of its tail. It was buried under a rock in a small hole about the size of your hand. I wonder where it came from. Maybe it traveled there alone or with a group and got lost? Was it born here or was it taken here? The size was about the size of the top of your finger down to your wrist. It was about 7 inches long. I wonder what its food source is? Bugs maybe, or insects? I hope this inspired you. I can’t wait till the next Place Project!! When I look down I see the creek, and in the creek I see water striders reaching out with their tiny legs to every rock. Curious creature Reaching out to Each and Every Kind of rock When I look down I see the creek, and in the creek I see water striders reaching out with their tiny legs to every rock. Tilting Reaching out to Each and Every direction. When I look up I see a tree tilting in every direction waiting to fall down. This log I see will always make me think what it would be like if I were an ant. The part of nature that is a log makes me think of a forest. On this log it can make you feel like you are seeing a different world. It always has the same fungus on it that looks like it is still on a tree. This log that I see is the log that is powerful and makes me think that you do not have to be a person who likes to look at things. This log is such a special one. It always keeps its plants that hang on it. This log I see will always make me think what it would be like if I were an ant. Again it screamed from right above me almost mocking me as I ran off to my spot. At the Place Project on April 7, 2016 Mrs. Walther was talking when a bird screeched in the air. I looked up for split second, then looked back to the teacher. A second later it screeched again. I looked up. This time it came from the left. I couldn’t spot it. Then again it yelled from behind and when I searched again it had left. Again it screamed from right above me almost mocking me as I ran off to my spot. While I was free writing I heard it again from right behind me. I looked back and then it flew off in a big black streak and shouted again as if saying goodbye. It flew to a tree and screeched again repeating the pattern. I wonder if it actually repeats that for everyone.
Our trip was a snowy, chilly, wet adventure! It was wonderful to get back outside and visit our special places at Centennial Park. Signs of both winter and spring were present, leaving learners with much to think and wonder about. Enjoy this small glimpse! I found the most particular thing at the Place Project today. It was like sand and cement together. I put the sandish stuff in a tube. It’s like the color of the Florida beach sand. It is cold and feels like the stream. I found it in the water by some caged rocks. The rocks are caged because they could fall down on people or animals. It was by the stream so it must of been hit by water because it was watery.I still have it. After a while the stuff in it sinks to the bottom of the tube. I found the item with Kelly and Noah. They also thought it was cool. I am sure the other classmates will feel the same way as I do. When I was going to my spot I noticed something out of place. My stump (my spot) was gone. I thought that someone had moved it because I thought it was way too heavy to be rolled by the wind. So, I asked my mom and she said that maybe since it was next to the stream, that the stream could have risen and the stump got taken with the stream. But I don’t think the stream could rise 4 inches and take my stump. I still wonder how it got there. Maybe the wind or water did do it, or maybe not. When I was walking to my spot at Centennial Park, I noticed the most heteromorphic thing ever! There was a hole in the tree that I Named “Lazy Bobby." Inside of that hole was a white little thing, but first let me say it was unanimously the most minute thing. At first I thought it was a bit of tree sap or a nature tree thing, but then I thought that it might be a larvae. After that I wondered “what kind of larvae is it? Is it a wasp,or a beetle? Man there where so many questions to ask, I didn’t bother to write all of them down. Then after staring at the hole for a little more time, I turned and left it. When our section finished writing our data, we were looking for fossils. We found a lot of small little shell fossils and washed them up and explored them. Then Mrs. Stack said, “Hey guys! Come here and look at this!” It was a horn coral on a big rock! Our team washed it off and washed all of the clay off and when we saw the fossil clearly. It was really cool.! We put it on a log when we were done exploring. I was looking for more fossils on the clay wall and what do you think I found? I found another horn coral on it’s own, not on a rock or anything. I washed it off in the cold water and it looked cooler than the other one. I wonder how it got there? It had to be there for a long time. When we went to the fossil bed they said finding a horn coral was hard to find, and our section found 2! I was really happy I found a really cool fossil! At Centennial Park there was a slug in a log! Why would it want to be in a log where it is exposed to the cold? Why not underground? Maybe it does not sense the cold that much as humans. Or it maybe was still working getting deeper into the log. I wanted to see more about it. Tangled vines that form a tepee just for me. Up so high, nice in the sky, which gives this spot a name. The comfort, the space, is perfect for me. The view of the water, rocks,and trees are so delightful to see. It's like a secret tepee, and I’m glad to be the tepee key. At Centennial Park I saw everything was dark gray and some of the trees were cut down to tiny stumps. The water was freezing cold and very full of life with itsy bitsy little animals. There was moss, tiny critters like bees,ants, and even beetles. It was so amazing and full of life! I love the color and life crawling around me like wind pushing on into the breeze. It’s a beautiful place and a wonderful site. I love science. It’s my favorite subject. It’s interesting how a small place can be so full of color! While I was writing my fraction poem in my field journal, I heard a sound. It kind of sounded like someone hitting a rock with either their hand, or one of their tools. When I looked around though, no one was there. Then I looked up. I saw a grey woodpecker! It was pecking a tree. So for one of my fractions, I decided to use woodpeckers. On my walk to Centennial Park, I discovered that the water flow was a lot faster than last time from all that rain we had this year or month. I wonder when we come back if it will be will be different and cool. I think when the water went up higher than last time the leaves that were stuck in the water made the water slower. I know from all that rain we had, the water got heavier and heavier and then the wind came, and then the water turned into little waves and then the leaves could not withstand with the water and then gave up. I was trying to divide my spot which is under a bridge by a stream into different fractions for a poem. I was thinking of what to divide the last part of my spot into. I was stumped. I didn't know what to write. I picked up a rock and I was about to throw it. Then I thought of how the last part of my spot was rocks. When we went to the place project I found it weird that the log that has been decomposing for the whole entire year was still there. I was 100% sure that it would be gone, but there it was, sitting on the rocky banks of the stream. I found this interesting because it has been there decomposing all year, but it wasn't gone. Next time we go to Centennial Park, if the log is the same and still there I will be like, ¨WOW!¨ But if it decomposes, I won't be surprised. When I was with my group getting ready for Mrs. Walther to blow the third whistle, I noticed something kind of odd. Right next to where I was standing was a big rock and the rock was covered in moss! I know that seems pretty normal, but it was snowing and most of the other plants were dead. This really struck me to be kind of weird. And I also was freezing, so I did not know how it was surviving. I asked Kate,Steve,and Neave if they knew how it was alive. And they did not know either. I am very interested in finding out how it’s going to stay alive. Or it might die soon. Who knows. Today we went to Centennial Park. When I went in the stream, I saw that there were water bubbles trapped in between rocks. It looked liked someone had purposely trapped them. Next, I thought maybe the rocks stopped the water bubbles and erosion took place and the rest of the rocks rolled up there to trap them. Then I thought, I wonder what those bubbles have to tell. At the Place Project we made poems and I like sharing my poetry with others, especially my classmates. Here is my poem: ½ Rocks, creepy cracks ⅛ Water wailing on the ground ⅛ Trees tired of noise 1/12 Birds quietly chirp 1/12 Logs loving the earth 1/12 Grass asking for more snow When we walked to Centennial Park, I saw many things like trees, plants, and a spiky bush! When I got to my spot I saw that many things were different, rocks had fallen down stream, and the water had more moss than last time. I wonder how more moss got there? I wonder how hard the current was to wash the rocks down the steam? I could see some little sprouts of leaves on the trees. I wonder how little sprouts can grow while it is still a little snowy and cold? At our groups we measured the water depth, then the stream flow, how cold the air temperature was, and the water temperature. The weather must have been rough to make all the changes that we saw. At my spot in Centennial Park, I have a bee colony that lives in a decomposed log. All of the bees have flown away and I wondered what made the bees and birds leave. Because it's cold, but what about the temperature makes them leave? Maybe it’s that their wings will freeze in the cold if they stay? Or because their body temperature isn’t designed to be in a cold climate? Sticky, slimy, white, and plump-shy in its habitat. Staying warm, hiding, thinking hard, and eating. It’s a slug staying dry with the sky! In my stream section we found a slug in a log. It was cool finding an alive creature! When we got our slug we used my pencil to get it off the log. When the slug was in my testing tube I felt bad because he was not in his habitat! So we let our slug go into its real home. It’s good that we let it go because when we were taking it off the log, it kept sticking. That tells us it wanted to stay at his home! At Centennial Park I noticed that everybody’s place seemed to be wider and more spread out. I think that the rain, snow and wind might have caused them to move and change because the wind might have made the places move a lot. The snow could have made frost on everyone's places and when the frost thawed it could have made pieces come off of the place, and the rain could have knocked some branches/leaves off some trees so they landed in your spot. I also think that it might be erosion that caused the change, because some of the class had a spot with part of the creek and I noticed that their ponds didn’t look like ponds anymore, So maybe the water transported to a different place in the creek, or maybe the ground (beside the creek) slowly lost a lot of little pieces and that made the ponds spread out. When I went to Centennial Park, I noticed that it was freezing out, but there was not any snow on the ground or in the air, but it was bitterly cold. So when we got there, we went to the home spot where we all meet up. We were talking over the rules again and making sure everybody was there. Then we went off to go to our spots. I am lucky because my spot is right next to the home spot so we don’t have to go that far to go to our spot. When we are at our spot, we listen for the first whistle then we write our fraction pieces about our spot. I like my spot because sometimes I see a chipmunk that lives in an old tree stump. I wonder what does he eat? How does he stay warm? Is he still alive? Then when we hear the two whistles we go to our section spots around the creek and write our observations down about the temperature of the air and the water. We also circle a number 1, 2 or 3 to rate how hard the water is flowing. There is also a paper for us to record a bird’s eye view from our spot and both of those papers have a line that lists “other observations.” Finally, when we hear three whistles we go back to the home spot and make sure that everybody is there and safe so we can head back to Harman.
Enjoy this writing inspired by our latest hike to Centennial Park for The Place Project. We will feature a different group of student authors following each trip! On Thursday I learned a lot about Centennial Park and nature itself. When we got there, we first did our free writing. I wrote acrostic poems about deer, woods, birds, rocks, plants, and a pair of boots. Then Mrs.Walther blew 2 whistles, indicating it was time to get in our sections with our teams and begin working. I was the team leader, so I was in charge of everything. We discovered something I thought was very interesting and a little weird. When we stuck the thermometer in the water, it said it was 9 degrees Celsius! The reason I thought this was weird was because it was like 35 degrees Fahrenheit outside! We found that the bubbles next to a little waterfall had continued flowing. I found that the course of the stream had altered a little from when we last came! Now it is curving right and last time it was straight. We observed a lot of changes from when we last went, such as it was MUCH colder. There were no leaves in the trees this time. Also, there was no presence of animals this time, with the exception of a couple birds and fat squirrels. Then we did our bird’s eye sketch of the creek and took a picture of it. During the sketch is when I realized that the stream had altered its course. There was a lot that I learned on this past Thursday’s Place Project, and I will most definitely learn more at the next one! It was quiet. Very quiet. I was thinking about how I was going to write my acrostic poem, my favorite part of the day. All I heard was the trickling of the water. So calm and peaceful, there was almost nothing to hear. CHCHCHCH! I heard someone kicking a tree. I turned around to see the person, but nobody was there. Suddenly, I heard it again from a different spot up high in a tree! Then I noticed that it must be a woodpecker! So I started to make an acrostic poem about it. W O O D P E C K E R The first W word I thought of was wonderful. So that's what I started out with. Wonderful O O D P E C K E R Then I thought that I could not see it, but I heard it over me. That's it! I heard it over me! Wonderful sounds Over the O D P E C K E R Now what was around me that starts with O? I asked myself. Orange? Optimistic? Old?Orange to me was the best one. But what was orange? Leaves! But what could go with leaves that starts with D? Maybe another color, but what was a color that starts with D? Somehow dark red just came to me. Wonderful Sounds Over the Orange and Dark red leaves P E C K E R Then I thought I need to include a verb or at least what it is doing. How could it not be so simple? It was right in the word. It was pecking! What was it pecking? A tree! What would a synonym for many be that starts with E? Every! How would you describe the tree that starts with C? There was a word that I was looking for it meant round. Circulish? No. Circumference? No. Circular? N- YES! Finally I found the word! Wonderful sounds Over the Orange and Dark red leaves Pecking Every Circular tree K E R Then I remembered what I thought it was at first. I thought it was somebody kicking a tree. I thought that I heard it in different locations. Also the tree is round so I could put that as the last part of my poem! Wait I already used tree once so I think I might change that to branch. Wonderful sounds Over the Orange and Dark red leaves Pecking Every Circular tree like it's Kicking Every Round branch I was walking in the fast moving current of the shallow stream. Then, I noticed a bunch of brown and red leaves piled to the right of the steam. In the small pile of leaves, I happened to notice a stick about as tall as my legs. It was a perfect, straight, brown walking stick. I used it for climbing the steep pile of rocks that led to a small wooden bridge. I wondered how the stick got there. There wasn’t a tree above the leaf pile so the stick couldn’t have fallen from a tree. Maybe it was carried there by a small pack of wolves. Or maybe from a crane dropped it when it was flying. Today I saw something very interesting at Houk Stream. There were tiny footprints in the snow. I had some questions like, did the footprints in the snow come from a raccoon, squirrel ,cat, or any other creature? Where was the creature going? Where was the creature’s habitat? How far away was the creature from it’s habitat? Did the creature even have a habitat at all? Maybe the creature lived somewhere at Centennial Park. Or perhaps the creature was out hunting for animals, or maybe the creature had a predator and the creature was getting hunted. I’m curious to know more about what happened! I love the place project because it shows more than what we think we know about the outdoors. It’s the best during the summer when there are salamanders, frogs, crayfish, snakes, lizards, and fish. I want to go back to Centennial Park so I can find all those water animals. I also love skipping rocks. And looking for small things in the creek like coins. Or maybe someone lost a gem. Or just random things I might find there. But the main thing that I do there is research and collect data. We also learn about the outdoors. When I hear the whistle blow, I´m happy,sad,angry,relieved, annoyed, satisfied. The place project is a good thing and should never go down! On my trip to the place project I saw a water strider. When I was just sitting on my log, I was wondering what he was doing in the water when it was cold outside. I was wondering if he was getting food, or just on a stroll in the water. So I got up and followed him and when I was following him he went in a hole in the rock. I wanted him to jump out but then I think that rock was his home. I felt the most bizarre thing. It was the cold thin layer of snow on the ground. The freezing wind blew right in my face and the slight chill gave me a bright red nose.When the time came, I sat on a thin layer of snow and my bottom froze for a split second. How come it was so cold? What was the ground temperature? How could the clothes I had worn keep me warm? I wonder what information I need to get. I wonder about all the information the snow could tell me about itself. On Thursday, our class went to Centennial Park. We started out with some acrostic poems .Some of the words I used were: river, leaf, creek, cliff, mud, woodpecker, root, stone, pebble, and log. After Mrs. Walther blew the Whistle two times, I got up and walked down to my part of the stream which is Section 4. Once I reached my section, I noticed that three of our predictions actually came true -- and one of them was mine! The predictions that did came true are: a log coming down the stream, log rotting, and leaves clearing out. While my team and I were collecting our data I noticed that there was some algae on a rock in the water, so I told my team about it and we decided to take a sample of it to study. When I was writing in my field journal I had to write a poem so I looked for something to write about. I found a stream. The stream looked cool, so I decided to write a poem about the stream. My poem was AWESOME. I felt like the poem was so GREAT that it became my best friend. When I went to the Place Project, I saw the coolest thing hanging from a tall tree. I think it was a wasp’s nest, but it could be a bee hive. It kind of looked like it was floating in mid-air, but it was just hanging from a very thin branch. It was really cool so I wrote an acrostic poem about the wonderful hive. I wonder if there are still bees in the inspiring hive. I saw the weirdest thing. There were still bees living in their nest even though it’s winter! They were flying around collecting things such as honey, sap, pollen, and many more things. You don’t see a lot of bees flying around in the winter. How were they flying in cold weather? Were’nt they cold? Did they have a lot of fur? So many things could have made those bees warm. I wonder what though.
Students will be taking turns sharing their Place Project experiences throughout the year. New posts will follow each excursion. Check back soon!
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AuthorTeam 4K and Team 4W Learners Archives
April 2016
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