Thursday, April 26, 2012

Camouflage

April's Four Winds lesson was on camouflage. They provided us with fun activities such as finding "worms" (little pieces of yarn) spread across the lawn. The children had one minute to find as many as they could, using their little bird beaks to collect them. This was supposed to show which color worms were easiest to find, based on how many of each color were collected, but our little birdies were so industrious they caught them all! Still, we discussed which worms they noticed first ;)

The second favorite activity was a matching game. The students had insects cut out of wallpaper patterns, and they had to find the "habitat" (out of wallpaper patterns spread across the room) which provided the best camouflage for their creature.

Our special flair for this month was the hats my co-teacher brought in. Hers was classic green camo, mine was hunter orange. This allowed us to discuss the difference between blending in to hide, or standing out to warn other creatures about a defense mechanism, such as poison or stinky skunk smell. I asked the kids when they had seen hats such as this, I expected at least a few had parents who hunt. However, the answers I received were even more precious. The first was "When my dad goes to Dunkin' Doughnuts!" Others included "When dad goes to work" and "At the dinner table!" This is Vermont after all.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Red Maple

This time of year it's very easy to see where red maple got its name. You can spot the red maple blooming incredibly easily, even from far away. This is a view from the bottom of my parents' driveway:

See the difference where the deciduous trees are RED maples?

 Here's a red maple in the backyard.


Close-up on the flower.