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| Mrs. Cronk began our lesson by asking the kids to 'brainstorm' a list of words or ideas that reminded them of spring. |
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| Mrs. Cronk brought in a plant she purchased over the weekend. She told the kids that when she brought it home, the buds were closed and green. The warmth of her home helped the Tulips begin to bloom! She also talked about other early spring bloomers such as the Crocus and a Snow Drop flower. |
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| Mrs. Cronk brought in a taxidermy animal today. This bird is a Red-Winged Blackbird. It is sitting on a Pussy Willow plant, which is also a spring bloomer. She then discussed how birds migrate south for winter and back north in the spring. |
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| Mrs. Cronk brought pictures of two types of frogs - an Upland Chorus Frog and a Spring Peeper. She showed us a quarter and and half dollar coin and told the kids that those types of frogs are about the size of them. She then showed the kids an 'Identifier Tool', which will allow us to hear different bird calls such as the Robin, Red-Winged Blackbird and the Cardinal. This tool also played the frog calls of the two types of frogs she showed us. |
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| Mrs. Cronk showed us an old bird's nest. She told us that Robins don't really care much about what they use to build them. She also gave us a few ideas of items we could place in bushes and trees in our yards to attract birds to nest there. These objects include cotton, string, yarn, twine, and even hair from your hairbrush! It is also important to have a water source (such as a bird bath) so that they can make mud to use as 'glue' to keep the nest together and attached to the tree or bush. |
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| Mrs. Cronk read us a story called "It's Spring" by Linda Glasser |
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| We went outside to collect garbage to help the Earth. We also checked some thermometers at different locations to see how the temperature was different from the last time Mrs. Cronk visited in the Winter. |
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| We saw a few types of plants that are early bloomers. We saw some buds on the trees and some weeds. We heard birds chirping and lots of decaying leaves. Sadly, we even saw a little bit of snow left as well! Go away already snow! |
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| We walked around a large area of decaying leaves. Mrs. Cronk told the kids that they should lift a few leaves in their own spot to see if they can find some small bugs or weeds. |
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| After we finished searching for bugs and small plants, we went inside and washed up. Then, Mrs. Cronk finished the lesson by having the children add to their list of Spring ideas to wrap up the lesson. |
