Week of December 7th

This week the owls (k-1) learned more about bones. We talked about the structure of bones - spongy and compact, blood vessels. The kids also learned that blood cells are made inside big bones, and they learned about the different components of blood - red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. The kids had fun making models of bones and exploring the different components of blood.

While the eagles wait to hear back from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they are learning about weather. We started our weather study by learning about the atmosphere. They learned about the different layers of the atmosphere, how pressure changes from layer to layer and also about the greenhouse effect.  After learning about the atmosphere, the kids made barometers and small posters summarizing what they learned.

Crows and owls had their last buddy time, before Winter break, yesterday. They made ornaments out of pipe cleaners and put them in a borax/hot water solution. The ornaments will sit in this solution overnight and crystals will form around their ornaments.

Progress and update

Yesterday, Saturday December 5ht, Lorie and I got a lot of help from families. We had an amazing group of parents and kids. Everyone worked hard - we added a lot of mulch to the native area, pulled weeds and striped mulched a few areas. In addition to families, Jared Borba, UCD undergraduate student interested in restoring habitats spent a few hours of his  Saturday morning helping us.

Here are some pictures illustrating the progress that we made yesterday:

In the after school class we finished projects (bird houses and bee houses), put a new solar pump in the pond and made posters to show people what we have been doing in this class.

Owls (k-1) and crows (5-6) are working on making models of their hands. They learned about bones, joints, tendons and muscles and are creating a model that illustrates how the bones and tendons work to move our fingers. I will post pictures of the models as soon as they are ready.
                                           

 The crows are studying cells and were asked to make models of their cells. The kids did an amazing job. They were very creative and definitely learned the main parts of the cell (nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membrane and some organelles). They also learned about DNA --> RNA --> protein.

Here are some pictures of the cell models:

 eukaryotic cell

plant cell

eukaryotic cell

neuron and glial cells

cardiac muscle cell

After submitting the first draft of the proposal to U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the eagles (2-4) had a "mulch party". I brought some snacks for the kids and we stripped mulched a section of the native area.

October and beginning of November

 The eagles (2-4) started working on mapping the area that they will use for the Schoolyard habitat project. The kids used squared feet "shoes" to measure the area. Fish and Wildlife Service requires a minimum of 1000 square feet to apply for financial help. The kids were happy to learn that the area we selected is more than double (2300 sq feet).

Crows and owls cleaned the school's vegetable/fruit garden:

The owls visited Center for Land-Based Learning (farm by the creek). The kids learned about tree grafting, the importance of pollinators in farms, and how farmers harvest walnuts.

Animals and plants observational drawings.

While visiting the walnut orchard owls were able to see and feel different types of walnut trees. Some kids were also able to open the walnuts and try them.

Owls learning about native bees from an UC Davis graduate student. He talked to the kids about the importance of bees for food production and showed them the diversity of bees.

Pollination game. The owls were bees carrying pollen from flower to flower. The kids learned about the 3 different ways in which bees can carry pollen and tried to mimic them.

The owls learned different eye structures and made models showing the pupil and iris. If you are an owl parent, ask your child if s/he remembers the function of the pupil.

The owls are exploring the 5 senses. We started with sight - here you can see students trying to identify mysterious materials without looking at them.

Teacher Juliette helping owls explore optical illusions. We talked about how our brain can trick our eyes and students were exposed to different games that illustrate some of the tricks.

The eagles (2-4) are learning about different native plants in order to choose the species that they want to include in the native area. Students are creating summary cards for each plant and organizing species by season in which they provide food for wildlife (insects, birds etc).

The crows (5-6) are learning about cells. Here you can see the kids drawing the general structure of plant and animal cells.

During math the crows created an accurate, scaled map of the native areas that we are developing. The kids had to create the grid on paper and land.

More cell study. The crows learned how to properly use microscopes - they looked at pine stem, blood cells and plant epidermal cells.

In my after school class students have been working on the butterfly/insect garden project. They have cleaned the area (weeding, picking up trash), mapped and chosen plants to add. One student had the idea of putting a trashcan by the butterfly garden since we always find a lot of trash there.

Students drawing animals that they would like to see at the school. Lorie and I are sending these drawings as part of the proposal that we are submitting to U.S Fish and Wildlife Service.

The kids made paper straws and dipped them in wax to make them water proof. These straws will be used to make bee houses (solitary bee species).

Students in the after school class built a worm farm and bird houses. Here you can see the kids working on the worm farm.

Crows and owls planting peas around the teepee.

Crows and owls planting nitrogen fixing plants in the garden.

The owls built a music wall at the school. They learned about how the ear works and used their engineering skills to create a music wall. 

Crows (5-6) learning about the central dogma of molecular biology. I put a code in one corner of the room representing DNA in the nucleus. The kids had to copy the code (making an mRNA molecule), leave the nucleus  and then translate it into a protein.

Eagles (2-4) are working really hard on the native area project. In this picture you can see a group working on the maps (they created a map of how the area looks now and are currently working on the map of how they want the area to look like)

The eagles doing strip mulching in the native area to kill the grass and prepare the soil for planting.

Eagles adding the vernal pool to the native area. We are very lucky to have some vernal pool soil. The kids love to see the creatures emerging in the pool as the rainy season starts.