Habitat is important for animals to survive. The first quest of the day was to find out if the praying mantis was still alive. Praying mantis has it’s own cage or habitat. Hummingbird reported she hadn’t seen it in awhile. So we took out the contents of the cage carefully and put them on a white pillow case. We all stared at the sheet, looking and looking for signs of the praying mantis. After what seemed like forever, we finally spotted it right in the middle of the pillow case. Looking more closely, we discovered why it wasn’t moving very much. Can you child remember what we noticed?
Does your child recall some hand symbols from the game which represent the key parts of habitat? If raccoons can find everything they need to survive then sometimes there are lots of them around. However, sometimes raccoons can’t find what they need to survive. What will happen if they don't find what they need?
Shelters are important for raccoons. What is a their home called? During one activity, Herons worked together in small groups to make a home for their ‘kit’. Some of these homes were so creative and well built. Ask your child about the home they built. Do they remember anything about other nearby raccoon homes?
Raccoons are omnivores. What does this mean? They eat a lot of different things including plants, animals and garbage. Look at our drawings of food. Do we eat the same things that raccoons eat? We looked more closely at one of raccoon’s favourite foods…mussels. Looking at the skull of a raccoon there are some similarities and differences between our teeth and their teeth. What does your child remember about the skull?
Mrs. Eastman read the book “Squirrels who Squabbled”. Everyone was sitting at the edge of their seat wondering how the story would finish. Does your child remember? Getting new books out and spending time at Harrington Library is always a highlight.
There is loads of talent in this group. Wow!!!
Raccoons use their sense of hearing and smelling to help them find food. Our Heron group took some time at Sunrise Hill to find out what smells good or stinky. Then it was potion making time. Everyone gave their potion a name. What was the name and some of the ingredients in your child’s potion? Raccoon facts became the words to our new songs. Using the musical instruments, we tested our hearing by following the sound.
Today and everyday at Coyote Nature School, learning takes place in many forms including playing games, working together on a task, crafting a raccoon made of triangles, and writing in a journal. What did your child like best about today?
Each week there is something new around the pond. Check these out and see if your child can tell you more.
It's always fun when Dragonfly comes to visit and brings her wonderful bags of nature tricks along! Thanks so much Dragonfly:)
Great day nature friends! I will take good care of the praying mantis till next week. More discovery awaits in our final two weeks of 2022/23 at nature school.
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