Kids laid down on the "belly board" (the pier) to scoop water and peer into the muck.
This week, second grade classes are visiting Kettle Pond Conservation Park. Kettle Pond is a hidden treasure within easy walking distance of Crestwood, like a miniature wildlife sanctuary bursting with frogs, ducks, redwing blackbirds, the occasional turkey, and a pair of sandhill cranes who nest near the pier every year. Volunteers from the surrounding neighborhoods are working to clear the area of invasive plants and restore the area to a native oak savannah. This afternoon, Mr. Kaker's class, along with several parent and community volunteers, made the inaugural trip to Kettle Pond to observe wildlife and collect water samples. We walked quietly down the trail to the pier... ...and explored. They looked under logs, scooped water and dumped it back, then scooped again, dumping it into buckets and shrieking with delight with the discovery of every tadpole, every wriggly creature, and every snail. Kids laid down on the "belly board" (the pier) to scoop water and peer into the muck. Today was a gift. We had the gift of perfect weather (not too hot, not too cold, not too windy) and - even more importantly - the gift of plenty of time and space to spread out and experience and discover. Many cups of water were collected and dumped again and again in the search for tadpoles (everyone loves tadpoles!). A few shoes got wet but no one fell in the water (whew). We saw and heard so many things: a family of ducks swimming through the water, territorial redwing blackbirds screeching at us on the pier, a green gelatinous blob of tadpole eggs (that Mr. Kaker aptly described as "ghostbuster slime"!), bugs galore, the cacophony of frogs. Arguments broke out over who had a turn with the blue net, and who got to go next on the rock closest to the water. No one spotted the cranes, but they may very well have been there, hiding among the grass, and watching us. Personally, my favorite part of the afternoon was watching how differently every kid experienced Kettle Pond. When one kid scooped a cup of water full of water fleas and bounded across the boulders, hollering with barely contained excitement, "MR. KAKER, LOOK, MY WATER HAS DANCING DIRT IN IT!!", another whispered quietly to me, "The frogs sound like a xylophone," as we sat still. Listening. Not to get too precious here, but experiences like these are exactly why we believe so deeply in outdoor education. It is hands-on learning at its finest. This program would not be possible without volunteer help, either. Thank you to the parents from Mr. Kaker's class who helped wrangle students and manage the equipment and supplies. Special thanks to Peter Plane for helping run the show, giving instructions, distributing charts of pond creatures so we could figure out just what we were looking it, and explaining how to use the equipment for collection and observation.
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AuthorCrestwood's OE committee is dedicated to outdoor learning for all students. Archives
August 2017
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