Today, we went to Aullwood Audubon. We went on a tour, led by our tour guide Ms. Pat, who volunteers at Aullwood in her free time. During the trip we learned a lot of interesting facts about the different wildlife that we saw. There were quite a few different animals to look at, and in some cases, touch. We saw many different types of birds, and we practiced using binoculars to look at these birds from afar. We also saw many different farm animals, like chickens, pigs, goats, and so on. My favorite animals to see were the goats, because we were able to interact with them. On our walks, we learned about the different types of trees and plants that we encountered, because there were quite a few unique plants that I had never heard of or seen before. We got to experience the woods in a new light, using our tour guides knowledge to guide us. We also got to participate in a water study, where we used strainers to find different things in the water. There were things like snails, eggs, fish, and more. We put some of the creatures into a small container, and we got to look at them up close. We also talked about communities, like what defines a community, and what the difference between the different communities are. We learned that everyone in a community plays a big part, and in a community, plants, animals, or people all rely on each other, and when one thing goes wrong, everything collapses. We played a game to truly illustrate this idea. 

At the Farm

Meditation Script:

I walk into the woods. I am alone. I walk slowly, the damp earth squishing beneath my feet. A cold breeze blows, making me shiver. The leaves from the trees shake loose from their branches, falling gracefully to the ground, covering the pathway in a blanket of reds and oranges. The sun’s rays show through the branches and remaining leaves on the trees. The sun in low in the sky. I hear an owl hooting, letting me know that nighttime is approaching. The owl hops off of its branch, and soars out into the night. I sit down on the cold soil.I walk into the woods. I am alone. I walk slowly, the damp earth squishing beneath my feet. A cold breeze blows, making me shiver. The leaves from the trees shake loose from their branches, falling gracefully to the ground, covering the pathway in a blanket of reds and oranges. The sun’s rays show through the branches and remaining leaves on the trees. The sun in low in the sky. I hear an owl hooting, letting me know that nighttime is approaching. The owl hops off of its branch, and soars out into the night.

Today, the first thing we did was finish up our Hershey Kiss Booklet. Then, we headed to Cox Arboretum. We got to explore the park until noon, which is when yoga took place. While we were exploring, we took pictures of five different trees, including the whole tree, the leaves, and the bark. We also had to take a picture of an animal of some sort. After we were finished with this task, we were allowed to go wherever we would like. We went in the maze, the butterfly house, and climbed to the top of a large tower to see the wonderful view. Yoga was in the grass, taught by the same instructor as before. We had an invigorating course. After that, we headed back to the school, where we worked on our blogs. Today was fun, because we were able observe more than we would have normally observed, like the types of trees, and exactly what they look like.

European Beech Tree

Austrian Pine Tree

Blue Spruce

My friends and I enjoying the outdoors

Today, we took a 2 mile walk to Delco Park, and were visited by the author Rob E. Boley, who taught us about a few different types of writing. We learned how to make a "seed poem", which is where you take a random sentence of writing and use each word in the sentence to start a new line of text, to create a poem or story. This was a very creative and different way to write, and challenging as well. Sometimes, you have to stretch your brain hard to find sentences that start with the word that is given. This exercise is a great prompt to help you begin to write. In our journals, we practiced this, and some people shared their stories and poems that they created. His coming helped me to practice being creative, which is an important skill for anyone to have. When we got back from Delco Park, we worked on observations with Hershey Kisses. We had to write down descriptions using each of our five senses that pertained to the Hershey Kiss. We then used these descriptions to make a small booklet shaped like a kiss. We ended the day off with yoga, which was challenging, yet a lot of fun.

Rob Boley working with some of the students

Doing Yoga for the first time during this STEMmersion

Today was the first day in the To the Woods STEMmersion. We learned about the STEMmersion, including the rules and regulations, the schedule for the rest of the course, and generally what to expect. We participated in a team building exercise, where we had to use 4 blocks to get people across the hall, without touching the floor. This was a good way to improve our communication skills and helps us to work as a team. We also discussed what the goal of the class was. We talked about the quote that inspired the class, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,” and what the quote means to each person. Then, Scott Giesel came to our class to talk about nature writing, which we are going to be doing throughout the next few weeks. We also did an activity that helps us to get to know each other. We had planned to do yoga, but the instructor wasn’t able to make it, so we went over more rules for the STEMmersion. We ended the day off by completing our first blog, and viewing the pictures that were taken during the activities that day.

The team-building game we played