Day 9: Wakarusa Elementary School

Today Tuesday May 20, 2014 87 3rd graders from Wakarusa Elementary walked into the Merry Lea Learning Center ready to learn about nature. Paul reviewed the food chain with the students in the council center and then split the big group into 8 smaller groups. Each biology 340 student had their own group today. I gathered my group beside the Learning Center and the students got to chose their Merry Lea name. Before we commenced the hike I told the students to use their five tools they had brought along while hiking. The sense that the students used the most was sight and spotted different types of animal tracks like deer and raccoon. We also got to taste Garlic Mustard but for the first time my students got to try Sweet Sicily. After tasting some faaaantastic plants we went to the vernal pond. There the students caught a crayfish that were about 2 1/2 inches in length. The students also caught a tadpole that had tiny legs coming out of it's lower torso. Students were excited to get to the observation tower but were even more excited once they spotted the guarder snake along side the path. I was able to catch the snake and bring it back to the Learning Center for the snake show so all of the students had a chance to see it. Walking back to the Learning Center we ran into Eastern Blue Bird's group which had spotted a Black Rat Snake which was about 5 foot in length and a little while later another Black Rat Snake decided to tan in the thorns on top of the first snake. Paul caught the first snake and noticed that it had just shed. The snake got overwhelmed with the amount of students around it and started to snap so Paul let it go into its natural habitat. It was exciting to see one of my classmates, Aspen hold the guarder snake while doing the snake show. She wasn't afraid of the snake but more of the snake biting her. The day ended really well as we listened to Luke the director of Merry Lea give a presentation on spirituality and nature.