We all have choices to make in order to survive, however, when faced with a large predator bearing down on you, take flight. Today was all about seeing all the living things we have learned about as connected through their local food web. All have a place within the web, relying on each other to transfer energy from the sun in a complex cycle of life. Here is our story of the day.
We were off to a great start with a visit from Tamarack, who is still healing from her broken foot. She brought a unique wand for everyone. Larch, Beaver, Owl and Wolf used them to cast spells on each other turning folks in to ham, hay, ticks and mice.
We got energized this morning when Beaver (Cheryl) introduced a crazy clothes peg tag game. Ask about how this game is played. What makes it so fun is that everyone is 'it' and no one gets 'out'. Did you have fun during this game? Did you end up with more clothes pegs than you started with, or less? Thank you to Beaver for sharing this game with us today!
Just like we passed clothes pegs in the game of tag, clothes pegs can be thought as food energy transferred from one living thing to another. The energy transfer in ecosystems sustains all life. Each child found a picture of a local animal or plant to place around their neck. Who was your plant or animal and who could you pass energy to?
A food chain is the order of who eats who. In the process of eating, food energy is given to that animal. Where does energy come from that all food chains start with? (the sun) Can you describe a food chain that has one plant and two other animals or more?
Food webs are more complex. Together we made a food web made of yarn. We had to think creatively to get all of our plants and animals to be part of the same food web. What was one exception or change we made to help get everyone connected? What happens when there is a change (a tug on the yarn) in the ecosystem? The kids decided to make the web into a labyrinth where they had to find way across without touching any yarn. Connecting this activity to animal survival would be to think of the yarn as things that affect an animal's ability to survive. What kind of things can harm an animal? Were you able to make it through the labyrinth without touching the yarn? Cool twist!
In Mystery Forest, we joined in snack while Dragonfly shared a book called 'Pond Circle'. What ate the frog in the story? What animal was the top carnivore?
Wander time connected everyone together in fun, purposeful play. There was a group that worked very hard to put a swing up. When they got it together, they were able to enjoy the reward of swinging on it. There was another group working on the construction of the trading store. This store had a roof made of garlic mustard plants. Why was using garlic mustard a good choice for a building material? (invasive species)
Library was brief but it's always our happy place. Grey Squirrel read a hilarious book called 'A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk' that depicted chipmunks in pinstriped suits, spa day for Squirrel and Coyote carollers. You may be able to get a recount from your child. I'm sure they could add their own wacky animal rhyme for a home writing project.
Bringing together all the experiences we've had with living things in one EPIC game takes many hours of cross examining rules of engagement. We think the final version got the right combination of tension and hope. Being an apex predator is exhilarating and exhausting. Being prey is stressful! Ask your child what animal they played and how they felt being chased vs hiding vs being stalked. What would they like to be next time in this food web?
Strategies we saw included Hawk (plant) leading herbivores past carnivores so they would be eaten. Other predators stayed near the water stations lying in wait for thirsty visitors. Some expressed that they actually felt like the animal and understood what is must be like to be part of the wild food web. What was the element of surprise when we reflected at the end and how might this affect the animals further along the food chain? (poison). It feels like changing roles and adding any new twists (Larch?) might be in order for next weeks replay.
Our ending today was bitter sweet. We say so long to Heron, who has been with us this session, experiencing all our programs. She has been super fun and so willing to learn from our school as she begins a journey to create her own in London. I'll make sure to share any future offerings from Heron's neck of the woods! You'll see more of Beaver next year after she retires from her first career of teaching in Stratford and enters the realm of nature education. We are so lucky she plans to land with us! Raccoon was challenged today as we were a blur of activity and Raven had a role that suits her to a T - the sun:). We are grateful for all these responsive mentors for the kids.
Much more to discover in our final two weeks together this year Forest Friends.
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