Lakeland Elementary Visits Mill Creek in May
On May 19, Lakeland third grade students from Laura Cobb's and Kip Knight's room, along with first graders from Carrie Saunders' room spent the day in the Mill Creek Native Plants Gardens and Pond areas. Students rotated through seven different stations related to their International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) unit of study, entitled, Sharing the Planet. All three Lakeland teachers formerly taught at Mill Creek, so it was special to have them back to share Mill Creek with their Lakeland students.
Area experts and volunteers led each station. Brian Keas of AuSable Institute led students on a study of macro-invertebrates at the pond. James Dake of Grass River led the students on a nature hike, bird watching, and shared the field guide he authored and published. Phil Wilson and Lauren Panian of Blackbird Arts helped the children craft clay nectar insects that will be installed on the fence of the Mill Creek garden after they are fired. Katie Grzesiak of the Invasive Species Network educated students about native and invasive plants through an active game and exploration. Don and Natalie Ranger helped students construct bug and bird houses, which were then installed in the pond area at Mill Creek. One of the rotations led by parent Andrea Otto involved simply weeding the pathway leading from the garden to the pond area. The kids actually enjoyed weeding and didn't want to stop. Snacks for the day included broccoli trees, hummus mud, pretzel twigs, and pond water.
As a result of this visit, the Mill Creek pathway, garden, and animal habitats are better than ever. It was truly a day of learning, stewardship of the environment, but also neighbor school helping neighbor school. Funding for this day was made possible through a grant from the Grand Traverse Stewardship Initiative (GTSI).
Below are Almanac entries written by Mrs. Saunders' first grade students:
I went to the Mill Creek Pond. We had binoculars to look for birds. I found a bunch of different kinds of birds. I spotted a black snake. The snake was sunning itself. Luke Otto.
I saw a blue egg. It had dots on its eggshell. The nest was brown and yellow. The egg was blue and hidden in the long weeds. I was so excited to see it. Eddie Morrison
I took action in the world by pulling out weeds on the pathway. The weeds should not have been there. There were so many weeds. I thought I could not pull them all out. But we did. This year I learned that little people can do big things. Roxy Fidelity
The nature man showed me cool snakes and a painted turtles. I liked looking at the birds with the binoculars. I liked the nature guide. He showed us how to use it to learn more about nature. The nature guide book was cool because it has bird photos in it. Landen Perez
I learned about how to build birdhouses at Mill Creek. I have a birdhouse in my yard. I see lots of different birds. I see big black birds. Clark MacNeil
I saw a water snake. It was swimming in the Mill Creek pond. There were eight of them and one egg. I saw another nest. It was in the tall grass. Henry Theis
I caught a lot of bugs in our field nets. My team worked together to the very end. I studied the bugs I caught. Emerson Theis
I learned how to get things in the water like bugs and things like that. I took an eyedropper to get the bugs and put the bugs in a white box. Then I looked at a paper that had drawings of the bugs on them to see what bug is which. Camille Perron
I learned that pollinaters like butterflies and bees go to flower to flower. Some flowers trap bees and put sticky sacks to their backs. The bees carry the sacks and drop them. More flowers will come!
Maizie Schiller
I took field nets and caught bugs. It was so much fun. We took the bugs and put them into boxes. I learned about pollinators and invasive and native plants. So much learning...I loved it! Lexi Seguin
I learned that the Mill Creek Pond had many snakes. WOW! Gatlin Zamora
I saw many different birds. I saw a blue bird and an orange bird and a black bird. I was using my binoculars to help me see the birds. The field guide helped me learn about the birds, insects, animals and plants. Caleb Hoeksema
Area experts and volunteers led each station. Brian Keas of AuSable Institute led students on a study of macro-invertebrates at the pond. James Dake of Grass River led the students on a nature hike, bird watching, and shared the field guide he authored and published. Phil Wilson and Lauren Panian of Blackbird Arts helped the children craft clay nectar insects that will be installed on the fence of the Mill Creek garden after they are fired. Katie Grzesiak of the Invasive Species Network educated students about native and invasive plants through an active game and exploration. Don and Natalie Ranger helped students construct bug and bird houses, which were then installed in the pond area at Mill Creek. One of the rotations led by parent Andrea Otto involved simply weeding the pathway leading from the garden to the pond area. The kids actually enjoyed weeding and didn't want to stop. Snacks for the day included broccoli trees, hummus mud, pretzel twigs, and pond water.
As a result of this visit, the Mill Creek pathway, garden, and animal habitats are better than ever. It was truly a day of learning, stewardship of the environment, but also neighbor school helping neighbor school. Funding for this day was made possible through a grant from the Grand Traverse Stewardship Initiative (GTSI).
Below are Almanac entries written by Mrs. Saunders' first grade students:
I went to the Mill Creek Pond. We had binoculars to look for birds. I found a bunch of different kinds of birds. I spotted a black snake. The snake was sunning itself. Luke Otto.
I saw a blue egg. It had dots on its eggshell. The nest was brown and yellow. The egg was blue and hidden in the long weeds. I was so excited to see it. Eddie Morrison
I took action in the world by pulling out weeds on the pathway. The weeds should not have been there. There were so many weeds. I thought I could not pull them all out. But we did. This year I learned that little people can do big things. Roxy Fidelity
The nature man showed me cool snakes and a painted turtles. I liked looking at the birds with the binoculars. I liked the nature guide. He showed us how to use it to learn more about nature. The nature guide book was cool because it has bird photos in it. Landen Perez
I learned about how to build birdhouses at Mill Creek. I have a birdhouse in my yard. I see lots of different birds. I see big black birds. Clark MacNeil
I saw a water snake. It was swimming in the Mill Creek pond. There were eight of them and one egg. I saw another nest. It was in the tall grass. Henry Theis
I caught a lot of bugs in our field nets. My team worked together to the very end. I studied the bugs I caught. Emerson Theis
I learned how to get things in the water like bugs and things like that. I took an eyedropper to get the bugs and put the bugs in a white box. Then I looked at a paper that had drawings of the bugs on them to see what bug is which. Camille Perron
I learned that pollinaters like butterflies and bees go to flower to flower. Some flowers trap bees and put sticky sacks to their backs. The bees carry the sacks and drop them. More flowers will come!
Maizie Schiller
I took field nets and caught bugs. It was so much fun. We took the bugs and put them into boxes. I learned about pollinators and invasive and native plants. So much learning...I loved it! Lexi Seguin
I learned that the Mill Creek Pond had many snakes. WOW! Gatlin Zamora
I saw many different birds. I saw a blue bird and an orange bird and a black bird. I was using my binoculars to help me see the birds. The field guide helped me learn about the birds, insects, animals and plants. Caleb Hoeksema
