Day 2

Day 2 started off with my students creating a mind map of what they think a watershed is. To start the day off right, not a single one of them said that it was a shed or building that holds water! They're an IslandWood instructor's dream group!



We headed into the Marsh Loop trail, where I was excited to try out a new activity that I made up! I paid a visit to Ace Hardware on Sunday and picked up a huge stack of paint chips, and I gave one card to each student and gave them the task of finding something in the forest that matched each of those colors. Once they were urged to look closely, they were amazed at what shades of green they found!



This activity came to a screeching halt when a Code Marsh was called. One of my students fell into the marsh! Luckily, another instructor was doing a peer observation on me at that exact moment and was able to walk the soggy student back to the lodge to change. Crisis averted!



Not to be shaken, the rest of us continued on and paused by the edge of the marsh to -carefully- collect macroinvertebrates to take back to the lab.



We paused to listen to some birds and used the IW ipod to try to identify the species. The students thought it might be the yellow-crowned kinglet. Maybe, maybe not, who knows. I don't know my birds! We paid a visit to the bird blind and encountered bufflehead ducks. We used the ipod's speaker to call the ducks and they responded! Gotta love technology in nature.




Our hike back to campus would not be complete without a game of flashflood and camoflauge.



When we got back to the Learning Studios I gave them some bird identification books that they used to research the buffleheads.



We checked out our macros under the microscopes and painted watercolors of what they found. We released our critters into the tanks in the Living Machine once we were done. Long live the macros.




I couldn't believe it, all this was accomplished before lunch! We had our pb&j and turkey sandwiches on a picnic table outside the dining hall.



Lucky for me, my mentor Ray was nice enough to come out and facilitate the team building game Gutters for me. He even tied it into Watersheds!



By accomplishing their task, they earned the right to enter the teams course. They rocked Nitro and Whalewatch was a breeze! They did it so fast we had extra time to fit in another mind map, the ABC lesson (Abiotic, Biotic, and Cultural), and finished up with a rousing rendition of "Know, Know, Know Your Trees". Not only that, I got them back to their lodges 15 minutes early!





Learning that can be joyful and empowering and inspire a sense of wonder?
Mission Accomplished.