Today was an extra fun day at Garden Camp. We started by journaling about habitats, then went outside to paint the benches some more. Mr. Gettig was there to capture the action on video. In fact, it seems like every time we turn around he is standing there with a camera!
After painting, we cleaned up and got ready to go to the movies. Yes, the movie theater! We went to Wall-E, which has a theme similar to our school theme. We came back and had our silent reading time and also took time to do some creative writing. We wrapped up the day listening to Miss Smith read more of our book out loud to us.
Check back tomorrow to see the final post for Garden Camp 2008. Even though the summer program is over, this blog will continue to be updated as things happen in the garden at Edison!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Leaving Our Mark
Since we worked on our designs yesterday, today was the day to paint the benches on the playground! We started by journaling about habitats, plants, and why community service is important. Painting pretty designs on the benches is our community service today.
Before we could start painting, we needed to get our gardening done. Once that was complete, we made our way to the back of the school to the two benches we planned to paint. Here is a video that shows what we did.
It took awhile to get cleaned up from the painting, after which we ate lunch, played, and read silently. We always take time after reading to write in our reading journals so we can look back and see what we learned from our reading time. Sometimes it is fun to go back and read what we wrote too. We sure have learned a lot this summer!
We had a lesson in the afternoon about habitat destruction. All living creatures need habitat and when we disturb that for wild animals it can have unintended consequences. This lesson made us think about the book we have been reading out loud since that is what is happening in that story. (The book is Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.)
Check back tomorrow to see what adventure we have in Garden Camp!
Before we could start painting, we needed to get our gardening done. Once that was complete, we made our way to the back of the school to the two benches we planned to paint. Here is a video that shows what we did.
It took awhile to get cleaned up from the painting, after which we ate lunch, played, and read silently. We always take time after reading to write in our reading journals so we can look back and see what we learned from our reading time. Sometimes it is fun to go back and read what we wrote too. We sure have learned a lot this summer!
We had a lesson in the afternoon about habitat destruction. All living creatures need habitat and when we disturb that for wild animals it can have unintended consequences. This lesson made us think about the book we have been reading out loud since that is what is happening in that story. (The book is Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.)
Check back tomorrow to see what adventure we have in Garden Camp!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Building, Designing, and Habitat
After a nutritious breakfast and journaling time, we made our way outside to work on the garden. Some of our peppers were vandalized, which is very sad. We found some of them smashed on the pavement nearby, but we were able to make something good out of it. We took the seeds from the smashed peppers and will replant them. All plants come from seeds so these will be very useful the next time we plant!
After gardening, we made our way to the back area of the playground where Mr. Johnson has been building new boxes for us to plant in. Here is a video of us at work.
As you can see from the video, we also worked on the designs for the park benches on our playground. They had graffiti on them, which we painted over with primer. It rained today, so we decided to wait until tomorrow to paint our designs on the benches. We all made two designs and presented them to the class. Even Mr. Johnson had a design and presented it!
Miss Smith talked with us about habitats. A habitat is where living organisms live. We took time to draw our habitat...our rooms at home! Mr. Gettig especially liked the pictures we drew so we gave them to him for safe keeping. Speaking of pictures, we took a little time to work on our photo book with Mr. Gettig too. It will be neat to get our own printed copies at the end of Garden Camp.
We wrapped up the day by listening to Mr. Johnson read out loud to us from our book. It is getting near the end and is very exciting! Check back tomorrow for pictures of our benches being painted with our beautiful designs!
After gardening, we made our way to the back area of the playground where Mr. Johnson has been building new boxes for us to plant in. Here is a video of us at work.
As you can see from the video, we also worked on the designs for the park benches on our playground. They had graffiti on them, which we painted over with primer. It rained today, so we decided to wait until tomorrow to paint our designs on the benches. We all made two designs and presented them to the class. Even Mr. Johnson had a design and presented it!
Miss Smith talked with us about habitats. A habitat is where living organisms live. We took time to draw our habitat...our rooms at home! Mr. Gettig especially liked the pictures we drew so we gave them to him for safe keeping. Speaking of pictures, we took a little time to work on our photo book with Mr. Gettig too. It will be neat to get our own printed copies at the end of Garden Camp.
We wrapped up the day by listening to Mr. Johnson read out loud to us from our book. It is getting near the end and is very exciting! Check back tomorrow for pictures of our benches being painted with our beautiful designs!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Busy Week!
Indeed, it was a busy week at Garden Camp. There were so many things to learn and do. Meanwhile, some of our grown-up leaders had meetings too. Everyone had something to do, that's for sure!
One of our field trips this week was to Portage Creek to test the water quality. We were volunteer scientists for a day! Here is a video that shows what we did.
After testing the water quality, we walked over to Kik Pool for some fun in the water there. We also visited a local park and lake for swimming this week. Clean water is very important for drinking, cooking, watering gardens, and for our enjoyment (like swimming) as well. One thing we really learned this week was how important the water cycle is and that we can have a positive impact on it.
Next week is the last week of Garden Camp. Keep checking this blog to see how we wrap things up!
One of our field trips this week was to Portage Creek to test the water quality. We were volunteer scientists for a day! Here is a video that shows what we did.
After testing the water quality, we walked over to Kik Pool for some fun in the water there. We also visited a local park and lake for swimming this week. Clean water is very important for drinking, cooking, watering gardens, and for our enjoyment (like swimming) as well. One thing we really learned this week was how important the water cycle is and that we can have a positive impact on it.
Next week is the last week of Garden Camp. Keep checking this blog to see how we wrap things up!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Water and Peppers
Today was unlike any other day at Garden Camp. Miss Smith was stranded and could not make it to school, Mr. Johnson had a meeting and he had to leave early, so Mr. Gettig took over for Mr. Johnson with the help of one of his daughters! (She took all of the pictures for today.)
We started with breakfast and journaling time. Today we learned about water and the water cycle. Mr. Johnson explained how water goes from earth to the sky as clouds. We also watched a little bit of a video about the water cycle from Mr. Gettig's computer. We learned about evaporation, condensation, and water quality. Mr. Johnson demonstrated this by making a cloud in a jar. Here is a video of it.
Part of our lesson was learning about water quality. Mr. Johnson showed us that the quality of water can be measured by looking at what kind of things live in the water. Some bugs can live in dirty water while some are much more sensitive. Tomorrow, we will be measuring the quality of water in a nearby creek and report our findings to the scientists that track that stuff. We get to be volunteer scientists for a day! To practice, we were each given a sheet with a list of bugs found in a pretend river. We looked at the bugs, identified them, and wrote our findings on a water quality data form. Then we calculated the water quality for our pretend rivers. We are ready for the creek tomorrow!
After the lesson on water, it was time for Mr. Johnson to go to his meeting. Mr. Gettig took us outside and we pulled weeds for awhile. The rain over the weekend made them grow fast! Our vegetables are growing good too, especially the peppers. We were able to pick some of them! Here are pictures of our first pepper harvest.
We didn't know it, but Mr. Johnson and Mr. Gettig were busy last Friday building. We went and looked at the new gardening boxes near the playground. They are made from really strong materials and look cool! We lined them with landscape lining and put a layer of dead leaves on top of that. We will be adding soil and planting more very soon.
After lunch and free time, we read, wrote in our journals, worked on our picture book, and listened as Mr. Gettig read out loud to us. Tomorrow, we are going to be volunteer scientists and take a special field trip. Check back for pictures!
We started with breakfast and journaling time. Today we learned about water and the water cycle. Mr. Johnson explained how water goes from earth to the sky as clouds. We also watched a little bit of a video about the water cycle from Mr. Gettig's computer. We learned about evaporation, condensation, and water quality. Mr. Johnson demonstrated this by making a cloud in a jar. Here is a video of it.
Part of our lesson was learning about water quality. Mr. Johnson showed us that the quality of water can be measured by looking at what kind of things live in the water. Some bugs can live in dirty water while some are much more sensitive. Tomorrow, we will be measuring the quality of water in a nearby creek and report our findings to the scientists that track that stuff. We get to be volunteer scientists for a day! To practice, we were each given a sheet with a list of bugs found in a pretend river. We looked at the bugs, identified them, and wrote our findings on a water quality data form. Then we calculated the water quality for our pretend rivers. We are ready for the creek tomorrow!
After the lesson on water, it was time for Mr. Johnson to go to his meeting. Mr. Gettig took us outside and we pulled weeds for awhile. The rain over the weekend made them grow fast! Our vegetables are growing good too, especially the peppers. We were able to pick some of them! Here are pictures of our first pepper harvest.
We didn't know it, but Mr. Johnson and Mr. Gettig were busy last Friday building. We went and looked at the new gardening boxes near the playground. They are made from really strong materials and look cool! We lined them with landscape lining and put a layer of dead leaves on top of that. We will be adding soil and planting more very soon.
After lunch and free time, we read, wrote in our journals, worked on our picture book, and listened as Mr. Gettig read out loud to us. Tomorrow, we are going to be volunteer scientists and take a special field trip. Check back for pictures!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
A Special Visitor
In addition to gardening, we are getting really good at journaling. That's because we do it every morning before going outside to garden! Mr. Johnson and Miss Smith write questions on the board to help us get started, but then it is up to us to write in our journals. When Garden Camp is over, we will be able to go back and read them to see what we learned this summer.
We worked out in the garden and in the flower beds in the front of the school. So many of the vegetables look like they are almost ready to be picked. We are excited to taste some of them when they are ready! We have learned that growing food locally is good for the environment because it doesn't take all the trucks to transport it to the store. Also, the things growing in our garden have no fertilizer or pesticides so they will be healthier and taste much better. Who knows, maybe someday some of us will have big gardens and sell fresh vegetables to local restaurants like Food Dance that we visited last week!
After gardening, we had a very special guest come to our class. Ms. Tammy Barnard of the Edison Neighborhood Association spoke to us about our neighborhood and the good things that are going on around us. We told her how we were doing our part to help make things better by working on the flower beds in front of our school, picking up trash, planting pretty flowers and bushes at a nearby house, and growing our own fresh food. Ms. Barnard brought each of us our very own copy of the Edison Voice, the newspaper published by the neighborhood association. You can see the Edison Neighborhood Association website at http://www.edisonneighborhood.com Thanks you, Ms. Barnard, for visiting us!
After a quick snack, we watched "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss. Wow! It was a neat story, but we all understood it had a bigger idea. If all the trees get cut down, there will be no habitat for animals. If factories keep polluting, the fish will die. And if there are no more trees, we will not have clean air. All the people that bought thneeds didn't really need them. We decided we can all make a difference with the decisions we make.
After lunch and recess, we had silent reading time and reading journal time. Then we all wrote a story about what we would do if someone was ruining the Edison neighborhood, like Mr. Onceler in The Lorax. We finished the day listening to Miss Smith read out loud to us. All in all, it was a great day at Garden Camp!
We worked out in the garden and in the flower beds in the front of the school. So many of the vegetables look like they are almost ready to be picked. We are excited to taste some of them when they are ready! We have learned that growing food locally is good for the environment because it doesn't take all the trucks to transport it to the store. Also, the things growing in our garden have no fertilizer or pesticides so they will be healthier and taste much better. Who knows, maybe someday some of us will have big gardens and sell fresh vegetables to local restaurants like Food Dance that we visited last week!
After gardening, we had a very special guest come to our class. Ms. Tammy Barnard of the Edison Neighborhood Association spoke to us about our neighborhood and the good things that are going on around us. We told her how we were doing our part to help make things better by working on the flower beds in front of our school, picking up trash, planting pretty flowers and bushes at a nearby house, and growing our own fresh food. Ms. Barnard brought each of us our very own copy of the Edison Voice, the newspaper published by the neighborhood association. You can see the Edison Neighborhood Association website at http://www.edisonneighborhood.com Thanks you, Ms. Barnard, for visiting us!
After a quick snack, we watched "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss. Wow! It was a neat story, but we all understood it had a bigger idea. If all the trees get cut down, there will be no habitat for animals. If factories keep polluting, the fish will die. And if there are no more trees, we will not have clean air. All the people that bought thneeds didn't really need them. We decided we can all make a difference with the decisions we make.
After lunch and recess, we had silent reading time and reading journal time. Then we all wrote a story about what we would do if someone was ruining the Edison neighborhood, like Mr. Onceler in The Lorax. We finished the day listening to Miss Smith read out loud to us. All in all, it was a great day at Garden Camp!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Field trip to the Nature Center
Today we took a field trip to the Nature Center! Before leaving though, we took time to eat a healthy breakfast, journal, and think up questions to ask the people that work at the Nature Center. Some of our questions included:
What kind of bugs do you have on the bug tour?
How many different kind of plants do you have?
Do you have gardens? If so, what do you grow?
We packed our lunches in a big cooler that we loaded into Mr. Johnson's Jeep. Mr. Gettig also drove his car. The Nature Center is about 15 minutes away from our school. Here is a video with pictures!
When we arrived, we met Ms. Sarah. She was our tour guide for the morning. There was a lot to see and do! Here's what some of our students have to say about visiting the Nature Center:
Brian: "It was very nice and I liked the birds, the cages, and the Nature Center is awesome. By the way, how did you get all those bees?"
Stephanie: "I liked when we got to see the butterflies in the butterfly garden. I also liked when we got to go around and look at the birds."
What kind of bugs do you have on the bug tour?
How many different kind of plants do you have?
Do you have gardens? If so, what do you grow?
We packed our lunches in a big cooler that we loaded into Mr. Johnson's Jeep. Mr. Gettig also drove his car. The Nature Center is about 15 minutes away from our school. Here is a video with pictures!
When we arrived, we met Ms. Sarah. She was our tour guide for the morning. There was a lot to see and do! Here's what some of our students have to say about visiting the Nature Center:
Brian: "It was very nice and I liked the birds, the cages, and the Nature Center is awesome. By the way, how did you get all those bees?"
Stephanie: "I liked when we got to see the butterflies in the butterfly garden. I also liked when we got to go around and look at the birds."
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
A typical morning at Garden Camp
It was raining when we arrived, so it took a little longer to get outside today. We had breakfast, journaled, learned about recycling, and worked on our picture book before heading outside to garden. Here is a video that shows what we do on a typical morning.
After gardening, we ate lunch and played on the playground. Because the weather got nicer, we were able to have our silent reading time outside again. When we came back in, we journaled about what we read and went to the computer lab to play some Internet games about changing our environment for the better. Who knew learning could be so much fun?
We wrapped up the day by listening to Mr. Johnson read to us. We are getting to end of the book and it is very exciting to hear!
Tomorrow we are taking a field trip. Check back to see pictures and maybe a video!
After gardening, we ate lunch and played on the playground. Because the weather got nicer, we were able to have our silent reading time outside again. When we came back in, we journaled about what we read and went to the computer lab to play some Internet games about changing our environment for the better. Who knew learning could be so much fun?
We wrapped up the day by listening to Mr. Johnson read to us. We are getting to end of the book and it is very exciting to hear!
Tomorrow we are taking a field trip. Check back to see pictures and maybe a video!
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Environment: Carbon Footprint
We took care of our morning gardening chores after a good breakfast and journaling time. There was plenty to do because weeds grow fast! We planted more cucumbers too. We also worked in front of the school more to help it look even better. A gardener's work is never done!
While we took a break for snack, Miss Smith shared with us what a carbon footprint is and helped us think of examples in our own lives. A carbon footprint is how much carbon we as humans create. Some of us create more and some of us create less. Our decisions about how we travel, the kind of light bulbs we use, the kind of food we eat, and many more things can have an impact on our carbon footprint.
After lunch in the courtyard, we stayed outside for our silent reading time. We came inside to journal more and to prepare to go into the computer lab. Miss Smith found a cool website that helped each of us calculate our carbon footprint. You can calculate yours by clicking on this link. We wrote down our results and came back to class to talk about what we discovered. Some of us had a bigger carbon footprint than others, and we all agreed that there are things we can do to reduce our carbon footprint.
We finished the day feeding the frogs and gecko's in the library and getting ready for tomorrow. We are excited that sometime this week Miss Tocco might stop in to tell us about her gardening experience this summer!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Field trip to Food Dance
It was an exciting start to Garden Camp today. There was a lot of rain last night and branches down outside. The roof was also being repaired, but our part of the building was fine. We started with breakfast, journaling, and writing a list of questions to ask when we get to Food Dance. Yes, today we went to Food Dance Restaurant in downtown!
Before leaving for the field trip, we worked on the flower beds in front of the school and planted many daisies. We also pulled weeds. Our school is looking better every day and we are doing our part! After cleaning up, it was time to leave for our field trip!
Here is a video that shows what we did at Food Dance.
Food Dance buys as much of their food and products from local and Michigan farmers as they possibly can. They are doing what we learned about yesterday: buying from local places helps to keep money and jobs in our local area! This was especially interesting to us as gardeners because we are growing fresh vegetables and fruits. These are the kinds of things a business like Food Dance would buy for their restaurant.
The nice people at Food Dance gave us all a brownie to take back to school to enjoy for our afternoon snack. It was extra neat to eat them because we knew they were made from locally grown ingredients. While we enjoyed the brownies, we listened to Miss Smith read out loud to us. We also picked pictures and wrote captions for our story book with Mr. Gettig.
Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, which means Happy Birthday America! See you next week!
Before leaving for the field trip, we worked on the flower beds in front of the school and planted many daisies. We also pulled weeds. Our school is looking better every day and we are doing our part! After cleaning up, it was time to leave for our field trip!
Here is a video that shows what we did at Food Dance.
Food Dance buys as much of their food and products from local and Michigan farmers as they possibly can. They are doing what we learned about yesterday: buying from local places helps to keep money and jobs in our local area! This was especially interesting to us as gardeners because we are growing fresh vegetables and fruits. These are the kinds of things a business like Food Dance would buy for their restaurant.
The nice people at Food Dance gave us all a brownie to take back to school to enjoy for our afternoon snack. It was extra neat to eat them because we knew they were made from locally grown ingredients. While we enjoyed the brownies, we listened to Miss Smith read out loud to us. We also picked pictures and wrote captions for our story book with Mr. Gettig.
Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, which means Happy Birthday America! See you next week!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The importance of local
After breakfast and journaling, we went outside to work in the garden. There is always something to do out there! Our hard work is starting to show as we see the tomatoes, carrots, peppers, strawberries, and other plants starting to get bigger...even bigger than they were just last week!
When our gardening was done, we went to the front of the school to work in the flower beds near the main entrance of the school. We pulled weeds, trimmed bushes, and planted many pretty flowers like hostas. It is a good feeling to know that we are making our school look better all the time.
After cleaning up and enjoying a snack, we played a game. Mr. Johnson gave half of us tiny marshmallows and half of us pieces of spaghetti. We also got post-it notes that represented money. We could buy more marshmallows and spaghetti from each other or from Mr. Johnson. In fact, Mr. Johnson sold them to us at a lower cost. He said that we represented the local people and he represented the big store. That's why he could sell them to us cheaper. Here is a video that shows what we did.
Our goal was to build the tallest building we could using those materials. But since no one had
all the materials to start with, we had to buy from each other and Mr. Johnson. At the end, some of us had buildings that stood and others did not. But the real lesson came when Mr. Johnson showed us that he, the big store, had all of the money! He showed us how when we buy locally, the money and the jobs stay in our local area. But the big store is owned by someone who doesn't even live here and so all of the money left our local area, or "economy". We all agreed that buying locally whenever we can is better than buying from a big name store.
After lunch and silent reading, we all wrote thank you notes to Mrs. Gardner for the dirt pudding and juice she brought us last week. It was very tasty!
Tomorrow, we are taking a field trip to a local restaurant. Check our blog tomorrow to see pictures and read all about it!
When our gardening was done, we went to the front of the school to work in the flower beds near the main entrance of the school. We pulled weeds, trimmed bushes, and planted many pretty flowers like hostas. It is a good feeling to know that we are making our school look better all the time.
After cleaning up and enjoying a snack, we played a game. Mr. Johnson gave half of us tiny marshmallows and half of us pieces of spaghetti. We also got post-it notes that represented money. We could buy more marshmallows and spaghetti from each other or from Mr. Johnson. In fact, Mr. Johnson sold them to us at a lower cost. He said that we represented the local people and he represented the big store. That's why he could sell them to us cheaper. Here is a video that shows what we did.
Our goal was to build the tallest building we could using those materials. But since no one had
all the materials to start with, we had to buy from each other and Mr. Johnson. At the end, some of us had buildings that stood and others did not. But the real lesson came when Mr. Johnson showed us that he, the big store, had all of the money! He showed us how when we buy locally, the money and the jobs stay in our local area. But the big store is owned by someone who doesn't even live here and so all of the money left our local area, or "economy". We all agreed that buying locally whenever we can is better than buying from a big name store.After lunch and silent reading, we all wrote thank you notes to Mrs. Gardner for the dirt pudding and juice she brought us last week. It was very tasty!
Tomorrow, we are taking a field trip to a local restaurant. Check our blog tomorrow to see pictures and read all about it!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Service and Learning
We started the day with a great discussion of plants again. There are so many things to learn about plants! Later this week, we are going on a field trip to a place that uses plants that are grown locally. That will be fun!
Today we finished up at the house of the Grandpa of one of our students. We got a lot planted yesterday, but today we did the edging and added some wood chips.
We came back, cleaned up, and starting working on our memory book. Mr. Gettig showed us a website where you can build a picture book and add your own stories. We thought about the adventures we have already had in Garden Camp and started to put them together as story pages in our book. When the book is done, we will all get a copy of it to remember this summer by.
Speaking of books, the nice people from Kazoo Books came by and brought us three big stacks of books that are related to our summer program and our Magnet school theme. Because they looked for all of these books just for us, now the nice people at Kazoo Books understand better what we are learning at Edison and will let us know if they see more books that would be good for us!After lunch and reading, we had another great lesson from Mr. Johnson and Miss Smith. They are great teachers and keep our attention. They really make learning about plants fun!
We finished the day with a snack and listening to our book being read to us. Tomorrow, we will learn more about plants we eat and why it is good to eat locally grown food.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)