More Zoo School

We had two more classes at Zoo School at Prospect Park. One was mostly free play at the Zoo's terrific Discovery Center, where Mikro pretended to go camping, played veterinarian practicing on a stuffed animal "patient", and played a very cool frog life cycle board game made up by the zoo staff. We also got to meet a Flemish Giant Rabbit.



Yesterday's class was about texture. The kids felt various objects like sponges, sandpaper, seashells, feathers and fur, and described their texture. Then they tried to guess what the objects hidden in a pillow case were using only their sense of touch.



They met a bearded dragon and got to touch him and describe his texture.



Then they made a craft-- a turtle made from a paper bowl with head, tail and legs stapled on, which they decorated with all sorts of textured materials.

Homeschool Nature Class -- Tree Bud Study

Today we gathered samples of tree buds, talked about tree identification methods, and looked at the buds under the microscope.





I take notes for Mikro, since he really isn't ready to do that just yet... but I hope my sketchbooks will be a good memory refresher for him (and help me put together quarterly reports next year when he's of compulsory age and I have to do the New York paperwork.)





After class, we watched birds at the feeders, played in the snow (not me!), and drove over to the canoe launch to look for eagles. This time we saw four, but at a distance. Still no jaw-droppingly amazing sightings like we had last year...

But I did get one cool photo of a tufted titmouse in flight.



And on our way out of the park, we saw kite surfers on the frozen Hudson River...

Making Clay

Our nearby county park has a wonderful Nature Center which runs free educational programs on the weekends. They also host the Homeschool Nature Class that Mikro attends. Today, we went to this:

THE CLAY OF CROTON

Details: Native American residents of Croton Point made pots from the abundant clay beds of Croton Point. Follow in their footsteps by learning about Native American pottery traditions.

We started off by harvesting fragments of oyster shells near the river.



Then we ground them into powder with a rock.



Next, we ground lumps of clay into powder. (It was too cold today to go dig it out, unfortunately... so we used some that Scott had on hand.)



Then we mixed the powdered clay and shells with some Hudson River sand, added water, and made clay. Messy, but so much fun!

We got to make something with our clay-- Kev did a pinch pot, and I did a little bird, which park naturalist Scott tells me looks like a whippoorwill. Mikro Mr. Sensory chose to watch rather than get his hands all goopy.





Next Thursday is our last Homeschool Nature Class until mid-January, and the kids are going to get to do this clay project. Hopefully Mikro will be more willing to participate then, since he seems bound and determined to keep up with the other kids...

Another Bird Project-- Owl Pellets

Some of our recent homeschool fun-- dissecting owl pellets. Owls can't pass the bones of the small critters they eat, so they spit them up in balls of fur, bone and goo. Which you can then tear apart with probe and forceps to figure out what was on the menu... Dissecting them dry takes much longer, but dunking them in water to soften them up and speed the process has one very definite downside-- it vastly magnifies the smell...



We bought a kit, which included a bone identification booklet. Mikro doesn't really have the fine motor skills for this one, but like any kid, he finds the somewhat gross somewhat appealing. He gleefully watched mama do the poking and prodding, while daddy did the identifying of the bits and pieces. We did three pellets, and came up with skulls from a small bird, a rat and a mole, as well as a bunch of smaller bones including vertebrae, tibias, femurs, ribs, etc.

A Little Unintended Nature Study

Our nocturnal visitor has inspired us to read a bunch of raccoon books, including Raccoon Moon, Raccoons and Ripe Corn, and Raccoon Alone.