*We met in the main building and learned about how to be safe and get the most out of our time in the forest.
*We smelled autumn smells and listened for autumn sounds (crunching leaves and noisy blue jays).
*We got into groups and learned how to read a map by following a compass and looking at the symbols on the map.
*We pretended to be monarch butterflies migrating to Mexico. We followed our maps to various checkpoints where we had to make difficult butterfly decisions before finding and moving to the next checkpoint.
*We learned that butterflies don't fly at night or when it is below 10 degrees celsius.
*We learned that butterflies encounter things that can help their journey - extra food/nectar, warm, thermal winds.
*We learned that butterflies encounter things that make their journey to Mexico difficult - praying mantis, hurricane force winds, cold, lack of food.
We sure hope our class butterflies have made it to Mexico by now so they can survive. We were tired from running around the forest...we can't imagine how tired a little butterfly must feel after flying all the way to Mexico.
Before leaving, we enjoyed a story (about a monarch caterpillar/butterfly of course) and then a tag game where we pretended to be monarchs and had to stay safe from the praying mantis by hiding in the hoops!
Special thanks to Dominic's Grandma - Pam, Spencer's Mom- Leanne, Lu's Mom - Connie and Ryan's Nanny - Maricel. We were so glad to have you with us! Your help made our afternoon even more meaningful and successful because we could have smaller groups! Thank you!
