Urban Rangers are back after a long weekend with a whole new group of Rangers, and after just our first day, we already know this week is going to be a blast! Loads of enthusiasm, ideas, and energy in the group, and also, a very different courtyard from last week! We got A LOT of rain over the holiday weekend, and our very dry, snail-barren courtyard was a whole new place today. The rain brought back the snails--in full force! Last week was all about roly poly bugs and anything we could find, but today we were greeted by tons and tons of our slimy, shell covered friends as the group set out to explore.
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| roly poly |
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| roly poly |
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| sprouts from our marigold planting last week |
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| Loads of snails!!! |
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| Reflecting on last year's excavation project |
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| Vincenzo even found a tennis ball and had some ideas as to where it came from.
nature journaling
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We took a quick break for snack and to share things we all observed in the courtyard using our senses. The wonderful thing about learning outside is that all of our senses are engaged and activated--we see, hear, smell, and feel everything around us. From a brain development perspective, this is an optimal learning environment because many parts of our brains are taking in and processing information. If we think about muscle development, when we use a 5 lb. weight on one arm, that arm will over-develop while other muscular areas will be left weak and under-developed. Our brains develop in a similar way--the more parts we exercise, the more parts get strengthened, and even better when this happens with different areas working together at once!
Mr G gave a demonstration on nature journaling and the Rangers set off to quiet spots, either independently or with a partner to sketch something. After that, we had a little more time for "painting en plein air", (French for painting in the open air--a technique popularized by the Impressionists), and still more exploring!
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| snail escape! |
Next we headed down to the refreshing cool of the art room and discussed challenge # 1 and our take home tree projects. We also brainstormed some ideas for "things we want to do" this week, and played a game called "Save the Monarch". Ask your Ranger what this was about!
Our last activity was creating tin creatures that inhabit the courtyard using aluminum pans, sharpie markers, and wood skewers. So much creativity and fun! One Ranger suggested we make a puppet show using these creatures. It's on the agenda for tomorrow!
And oops for me because I forgot to take pictures of our finished creatures but will try to remember for tomorrow! We made a brief visit back to the courtyard to release our collections of live specimen back into the wild, washed up, ate lunch, and it was time to go!
We have some big plans for tomorrow and are so excited to get back out there--preferably with slightly cooler temps!!
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