Fall 2023 Knee High Naturalists | Week 2

We had an incredible second week full of fun, curiosity, and loads of detective work!

As we walked into class today, Ms. Miranda was reading "Animal Homes" by Debbie Martin. The book helped us learn about habitats and how different animals, just like us, need air, food, water, and shelter. After our reading session, we all gathered to sing our good morning song, discussed our plan for the day, and then headed out to the pavilion for handwashing and snack time.

Once we finished our snacks and tidied up, Ms. Aspen surprised us with our very own magnifying glasses, transforming us into Nature Detectives. Our mission was to search for tracks, scat, food, or shelter that could lead us to someone's habitat.

Our adventure began near the small observation deck by the pavilion. We discovered numerous holes in the ground that could be homes to snakes, worms, mice, chipmunks, or bugs. Investigating them up close was so much fun! As we hiked through the pine forest, we discovered a bee habitat near goldenrod flowers and marveled at mushrooms with various shapes and colors. Feathers from a blue jay were scattered along our trail, too, adding to the excitement.

Towards the end of our hike, we identified coyote, rabbit, and deer tracks and scat around the playscape—cool finds that connected with what we learned about Michigan mammals last week!

Our day ended in the playscape, where we tested our balance on logs and played together on tree stumps. Then, we moved over to the spider web for some silly spider fun. To top it off, Ms. Miranda and Ms. Aspen had a bag full of tiny mammals and insects. We got to pick and create our very own habitats for them—an imaginative and hands-on way to wrap up our day!

Thank you all so much for an amazing second week, we are looking forward to seeing you next week to learn about terrific trees while getting muddy and having fun!

Fall 2023 Knee High Naturalists | Week 1

Welcome everyone!

We had a great first day at Knee High Naturalists. We started with a story titled: Moose on the Loose by Kathy Jo Wargin! From there we sang our good morning song, a repeat after me song that goes like this:

The Good Morning Song

Good morning, dear Earth.

Good morning, dear Sun.

Good morning, dear soil;

And beasts on the run.

Good morning, dear flowers;

And birds in the trees.

Good morning to you,

Good morning to me.

We headed outside to wash hands and eat our snack. At the end of snack time we gathered in a circle under the pavilion to introduce ourselves. Each of us said our name and our favorite food. If we also liked that food, we gave a thumbs up! If we didn’t really like that food, we gave a thumbs down. After we all talked about our favorite foods, most of us like pasta and pizza, we talked about how to stay safe during our program and while hiking on our trails.

Many of us agreed that it’s important to stay safe by:

  • Staying on the trail

  • Using our walking feet

  • Keeping our voices down so that others can enjoy nature too

  • And staying within our “teacher sandwich” so that everyone can have fun safely

We headed down our Fox Den trail to see all the cool things that the Natural Education Reserve has to offer! We stopped at the overlook to view the river from a safe distance and talked about what we saw and heard while there. We then continued on the trail to Jack’s Creek where we took a peek at where we will get to play in the near future- we cannot wait! Our hike stopped at another overlook where we got to see a praying mantis and a large grasshopper- this was so neat!

We headed back to the pavilion to complete our activity about mammals. Ms. Aspen and Ms. Miranda shared with us what a mammal was and what kind of mammals lived in Michigan. We worked hard together to guess which animals our teachers had with them today and also which ones we have seen in the wild! We learned that mammals have:

  • Fur

  • Are warm Blooded

  • Have live birth (rather than laying eggs)

Last but not least we learned that WE are also mammals!

We cannot wait to see you all next week to learn about more animals and more specifically their habitats!

Thank you all for a great week 1!

Winter/Spring Homeschool - Week 8

Winter/Spring Homeschool - Week 8

Ms. Paige asked us where the living things in these ecosystems get their energy. We replied, “their food!” So what do these critters eat? If they are carnivores, they eat other organisms. If they are herbivores, they only eat plants. If they eat both, they are omnivores. (Humans fall into this category, though some people might choose to be herbivores!) Then, we got to wondering… where do plants get their food?