Rain Got You Down?

Think of painting with sidewalk chalk and rain.  Not only for Kindergarten Green Recess.

Monarchs Thrive in the Oddest of Places

I bet you thought chrysalises would attach themselves to a plant...A milkweed or a butterfly bush. Something green or floral.  I did. However, Johanna and her student crews have uncovered them in the oddest of places.  

On a plastic compost bin.

A shovel in the compost area...

Underneath a piece of the chicken coop  to name a few.

More predictably, when fifth grade teachers released about 40 tagged monarch butterflies, they flocked to the nectar rich butterfly bush and mum plants in Pollinator Garden.  (Too rainy for kids to release.)

After a Too Hot Too Dry Summer...Harvest is Still Abundant

And it is abundantly clear that first grade farmers are deeply engrossed in their work.

Renewing soil.

Harvesting fruits.

Tasting fruits and other plant parts.

Hunting for plant parts.

This entry: Just another excuse to post pictures of our visiting hens?

What do you think of:  Vanilla or Blondie for the Chilean hen?

First grade farmers observe hens.  Perhaps they are deciding on names?  Election to be held next week.  

Hen in forefront:  Red? Cinnamon?

Name choices:  Pepper, Oreo, or Speckles?

Assertive isn't she...How about Hillary?

An Environmentalist's Dilemma

We plant tropical milkweed to feed the monarchs we raise in our 5th Grade classrooms.  Wild monarchs have been eating away at our milkweed much to everyone's amazement.  But we have a dilemma...Should we uproot our plants to feed our classroom larva or leave the milkweed for the wild larva?  

 

And monarchs aren't the only ones benefiting from the milkweed.

Students transplanting milkweed to bring to classrooms.

Students discussed the problem:  They feel we need to plant even more milkweed for next year. If we have any larva left in classrooms, we should put them outdoors.  Trying to help nature is filled with moral dilemmas. 

Chickens Have Come to BNS to Roost

 

Hens came in a big carton.

Matt Sheehan brought the hens from Edgemere Farm.

Better watch those wormy looking toes.

Feeling at Home?

Looks like it.

How did all of this come about?

Anna and Manny said yes.
Thomas Gordon built the coop and the chicken run.
Matt Sheehan and Heidi Woolover let us keep their 3 hens until Thanksgiving.
Johanna curated the whole thing.  

That's how!