Session One, Day Three

Another fabulous, yet brutally hot day for the Urban Rangers!  We unfurled our t-shirts to reveal tye-dye spirals, worked on the birdbath, did some weeding and planting, LOTS of searching for creatures and referencing books, and the biggest hit of the morning by far, was painting en plein air!

"Plein air is a term derived from the French phrase en plein air, which literally means 'in the open air'. It's a familiar concept today, but in the late 1800s when the Impressionists ventured out of their studios into nature to investigate and capture the effects of sunlight and different times of days on a subject, it was quite revolutionary."

We began this activity with two easels and by the end of the morning we had added 3 additional easels due to the popularity and focused concentration of the artists.  They each began with an idea, then a pencil sketch, followed by watercolors and some chose to outline shapes in black Sharpie marker.  Beautiful work by everyone!

work in progress

Data collection continued today.  We reviewed yesterday's results first, which revealed an overwhelming number of roly poly sightings.  Who will be the big winner tomorrow?

organizing our leaf print stones

Today a group of Rangers decided to dig deep in search of worms and whatever they could find.  At the end of our time outside, Rangers filled in the hole to restore the area for it's inhabitants.

birdbath work

planting more marigold seeds

Rangers were once again so deeply engaged and focused in their work outside that we extended our planned time, and decided to skip nature journaling for the day.  To our amazement, several Rangers expressed disappointment in this choice, but we had to make a cut somewhere in order to allow enough art room time.  We are so excited that the routine--even though it is only 3 days old!!!- was appreciated by the Rangers, and the fact that the activity of nature journaling itself was clearly meaningful.  We hope Rangers will continue this practice as it is a wonderful way to calm your mind and connect with nature.  Here are some great resources to keep nature journaling going at home:

Sierra Club

Ideas from Pinterest

Nature Journaling Guide and Resource

Just a note: I use the practice of nature journaling with my college education students and it has proven to be one of the most powerful learning experiences for the majority of my students every semester!  It's not just for kids!  Parents, give it a try for yourself!  

You do know a Ranger who can guide you in the process!

So far this week we have considered spirals in nature and in art.  Today's Art Room activities included considering spirals from a mathematical perspective and introducing the Fibonacci sequence.  After introducing the pattern in flower petals, Rangers were challenged to look at the numbers and try to figure out the pattern.  There were many guesses and it was Nathan who figured it out first!  And he did it pretty quickly too!  Mr. G himself forgot the pattern and was too stumped to offer a guess!

Here is what the Rangers got as a clue:

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ?

Any guesses????  Here's a link to a cool you tube video on Fibonacci and spirals that we watched, and that also may explain why your Ranger may pause next time s/he encounters a pinecone or pineapple!

Fibonacci Spirals

Rangers used air dry clay to make one of the most popular creatures of the courtyard: the roly poly, also known as the pill bug, or potato bug.  Mr. G demonstrated basic sculpting techniques and the Rangers showed great creativity in adding a variety of antennae and body features.

 

 

 

Rangers also created tin insects to decorate the courtyard for parent visitors using aluminum cake pans, ballpoint pens, Sharpies, and wood skewers.

 

Work also continued on the "Pokemon"-inspired insect identification cards, 

and now even include birds!

 

We are sad that tomorrow is our last day, but are very excited to share our week experience with family members!  It's been a great week!

painting en plein air by Shane

Session One, Day Two

Ever have a day where four hours go by in what feels like 10 minutes?  That was our day today at Urban Rangers.  Time just flew by, and boy, did we have fun!

We started today with a similar agenda to yesterday.  Establishing a steady, consistent rhythm really helps creates an environment where all kids feel comfortable to share in the leadership and responsibility of the group.  And one of the best results of a program like this is when the teacher can just focus on guiding and supporting learners (aka, teaching!), and spend little to no time managing behaviors and trying to engage students.  Especially wonderful on day two!

Courtyard explorations and projects went on for a full hour before anyone even noticed an hour had passed!  Here are some highlights of our morning:

birdbath project

bug collecting

exploring and discovering

 

Our exploring this morning quickly led us to another grisly discovery: a freshly deceased red-breasted robin.  Rangers immediately notified adults and knew not to touch the bird based on our previous dead squirrel experience.  Rangers identified the bird as a robin using specific details they noticed.  They hypothesized what happened to the bird and how long it had been there, since it was not there yesterday when we left.  They also noticed ants all over the carcass and this presented an opportunity to revisit yesterday's discussion about the interconnected relationships within nature.  The ants were doing their job in the decomposing process.  Science is just much more interesting and powerful when you experience it rather than read about it in a text book.  It was suggested that we bury the bird, and two Rangers dug a hole, were very careful about using tools to lift and carry the bird to it's final resting place, and covered the spot with dirt and and rocks.  Wonderful, spontaneous learning moment and a touching, meaningful way to be caretakers of the courtyard.

 

 

We attempted to make stepping stones today using giant rhubarb leaves and cement.  The Rangers loved mixing the cement and then spreading it all over the bumpy side of the leaves.  As scientists, we understand that every experiment produces an outcome--sometimes it's the one expected, and more often than not, it ends up working out a different way.  Regardless, each experiment offers a chance to learn something!  We learned today that a less rocky cement would have probably worked better.  After allowing them to dry in the sun for a couple of hours, we checked back and flipped them over to peel the leaves off and write our names before they completely dried out.  Unfortunately, they fell apart in this process, thus the lesson learned.  We managed to save a few big chunks and plan to use them in a different way.  They aren't big enough to use as stepping stones, however, they will still work beautifully as decorative pieces on the ground that will, in time, provide homes and safety for a variety of invertebrates in the courtyard!  Success!

 

 

The Rangers have already identified the "hot spots" for finding creatures in the courtyard and continued searching for inhabitants for their mini-habitats.  Today we also began tallying the creatures we spotted today and will continue this data collection all week, as scientists do, to gather information on who populates the courtyard and gain a general idea of which species make up the majorities and minorities.

Other Rangers worked on a birdbath project inspired by Marcella, and building off the bird bath we created last summer in the center planter.  Several Rangers joined her in this project which presents a variety of opportunities to design, problem solve, and consider the necessary ingredients for a habitat and ways to attract birds!

Nathan and Shane worked together to clear out some of the other planters so we can plant, and they also used all their might & muscle to try to save a rhododendron bush being choked to death by a killer weed.  They cleared dead flowers from the bush, discussed and noticed differences in the weeds in the planters--deciding which to keep and which to pull.  They also shared their own personal stories and experiences gardening, and investigated the insides of plants, the different smells and textures, and sizes of roots.

 

 

Rangers also planted some donated marigold seeds--thank you!  It wasn't ideal planting time--of day or season, but my gardening style has always been to trust in Mother Nature.  Things are meant to grow whether we humans follow best practices or not!  We'll see what happens and definitely update the blog next week when there should be some signs of sprouts!

So ALL of this happened before anyone asked for a drink, needed to go to the bathroom, got bored, etc.  It was crazy wonderful!  But also time for a break, so we chatted and snacked, and took 10 minutes to nature journal.  It was great timing too because as soon as we all got to a quiet spot, there were several dragonflies and birds flying over the courtyard, as if they knew we were there looking for things to observe.  Rangers also enjoyed sharing their entries from the previous day.

 

When we finally made it inside to the art room, the focus and enthusiastic engagement continued.  We transitioned with a story: Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman.  Beautiful illustrations and a lovely poem about the many places we find spirals in nature, such as snail shells, ocean waves, sunflowers, ferns, and sleeping animals.  It was a nice transition from outside to inside, and we used spirals to make our tye dye t-shirts.  Other choices in the art room were: watercolor painting, sketching, book look--which is more popular than you might think with all the other enticing choices!, and a new project inspired by Nathan and the general Pokemon fan club in the group.

Did you know that the creator of Pokemon was an avid insect lover and observer as a child,  and that is where he got his idea for Pokemon?

We used that knowledge in combination with Nathan's expressed interest in learning how to identify insects to present a project for interested Rangers.  They worked on Pokemon card-sized paper and a bug ID app on the ipad and books to create insect identification cards, which were then organized into plastic card sleeves.  Like the birdbath, this is a work still in progress.

t-shirt spirals

It's amazing to reflect on how much we are doing each day and all of the wonderful learning moments. We could go on and on, and on!  There is so much energy, enthusiasm, curiosity, teamwork, leadership, sharing, and just plain, old, positivity in this group!  Rock on, Rangers!  Looking forward to another fabulous--and steamy--day tomorrow! 

Be sure to check the 2014 Ranger Agenda for what's up next!