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Welcome 5
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Lecture1.1
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Lecture1.2
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Lecture1.3
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Lecture1.4
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Lecture1.5
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Module 1: Math Gardens that Feed 7
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Lecture2.1
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Lecture2.2
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Lecture2.3
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Lecture2.4
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Lecture2.5
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Lecture2.6
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Lecture2.7
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Module 2: Math Gardens as Outdoor Learning Stations 8
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Lecture3.1
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Lecture3.2
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Lecture3.3
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Lecture3.4
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Lecture3.5
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Lecture3.6
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Lecture3.7
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Lecture3.8
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Module 3: Math Gardens that Attract Wildlife 6
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Lecture4.1
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Lecture4.2
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Lecture4.3
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Lecture4.4
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Lecture4.5
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Lecture4.6
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Module 4: Math Gardens for Art and Beauty 7
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Lecture5.1
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Lecture5.2
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Lecture5.3
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Lecture5.4
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Lecture5.5
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Lecture5.6
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Lecture5.7
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33 Comments
Oh all the great life we find under logs. The kids love it. Now I’ll be thinking of how to bring vocabulary into our explorations and use signage to encourage exploration too,
You got it!!!
Beyond my back yard fence is a wonderful place to explore. We have our composting piles some in compost containers and some just on the ground. There are recently fallen trees and old trees in various stages of decomposition. Rocks to look under. Further down the road is wet area that attracts many birds in a variety of colors. In my yard I will start growing a garden that will feed the wildlife that the children can tend to when they return.
Since we are located in the woods it would be a great idea to go for a walk and observe the logs. Each day we can document what we saw, using a graph for data.
We have made bird feeders and acorn piles to see how much is eaten each day. But butterflies I never thought of.
Terrific. Great ideas!
I have used logs in the past. The kids loved them. We have long wood pieces on our playground and the kids are alway interested in them. They constantly move them to see what “creepy crawlers” they can find”. I was able to get my hands on a few logs that I can bring back with me when we reopen. I can’t wait to let the kids explore.
So simple too!
I have some beautiful photos of butterflies which I have taken over the past few years. I love “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and I have some butterfly paraphernalia for a unit on butterflies. The butterf ly nets I found might also come in handy!
Great!
I’ve done the caterpillars many times and they are so fun! Often we have a teacher that brings the caterpillars from her home for us to watch. I really like the idea of a butterfly garden too. I would like to try to “observation point” at a log for signs of decomp. The children are always fascinated by the logs we have and rolling them for bug hunts seem to be a child driven daily activity. We do have an old stump that they use for jumping but taking a closer look would be a really nice idea.
Awesome!
These are all wonderful ideas! I loved the butterfly video! I volunteer at my kids’ school and take care of their butterfly garden! We have planted many of the plants on your butterfly friendly list! Our butterfly bush almost died twice (Too cold in the winter) but came back each time.
I also love the idea of decomposing logs. Such an interesting way to observe bugs and time. Definitely going on my list!
I love the butterfly video and have done monarch caterpillar learning experiences for years. I often have jars and containers of eggs and caterpillars at home and in my classroom because the process is fascinating to me! It is amazing to see the transformation.
I have not done the log experiment before and I am interested in trying this out. The children enjoy exploring logs, particularly to find critters that hide underneath but to make it more purposeful and focus their attention on how the log is decomposing is exciting.
Awesome!
We observe and grow butterflies every year! I am so sad we missed it this year.
So many losses.
The metamorphosis of a butterfly was something I had never experienced until I was teaching (city child). I get more excited than the children. I have a huge butterfly bush right outside my classroom window. Sill is a perfect height for observation. We have seen the monarch butterfly there as well as the hummingbird moth. In the gated garden we saw two monarch caterpillars crawling about the zinnias and lavender. We tracked them all day, but sadly they didn’t choose us for he chrysalis stage.
I just love this story!!
The time lapse video of the Monarch butterflies is awesome. I remember doing that in 4th grade in the classroom. I am thinking that there isn’t going to be enough room for us to create all these awesome gardens in this course in one place at one time for us so I am thinking of doing 1 garden each year. When we take walks with our toddlers, there is a national park down the street and it is a walking path with some grass and trees and a river. We always stop to check out the bugs crawling on the trees and sometimes there are stumps that are still in the ground and we will check those out. Maybe that could be part of our garden for wildlife since it has some elements in it already.
YES!!! Being intentional about your woods walks makes it a built-in experience. Awesome.
Every Spring the preschool classrooms do a Butterfly unit and we present the metamorphisis of the butterfly to the kids. We have a butterfly “house” and we order caterpillars and watch the entire process unfold. Once all the butterflies have been created (usually around 5), the classes release them together. The idea of planting something to keep them around is something to consider for next Spring!
Absolutely…the depth of the lesson will triple!
Time lapse videos are great learning tools. Children don’t often see the changes in the garden or classroom projects. Decomposing logs are one of my favorite hands-on exploration activities. I like to show them new ones and old ones so they can see how time will turn the log back into earth and what helps that process. I like the idea of the wildlife garden attracting in every season.
I LOVE decomposing logs. Magic in front of you.
This is my 3rd year teaching and I have to say our spring time butterfly unit is my favorite. We teach the students the life cycle of the painted lady butterflies. We are lucky enough to receive the eggs and watch them as they eat, form cocoons, hatch and eventually release them into our butterfly garden, aka our rhododendron bush. The kids just love this unit as well, its such an amazing opportunity to teach them such a simple yet beautiful life cycle, they take great pride in it.
🙂
Absolutely love the time lapse video of the monarch butterfly! Nature blows my mind all the time . Watching the video gave me the chills of how amazing nature is! The caterpillar looked like he was getting into a sleeping bag!!! Which really makes sense as that what he needs to do to transform to the beautiful butterfly!!!
When my oldest daughter was around 3 when we collected a caterpillar and watch it transform taking care of it all the way ( even took it on vacation with us as didn’t want it to come out while we were gone and not be able to get to food). I remember the moment when we noticed it coming out of the chrysalis and watching its every movement as it un folded and dried off its wings and took flight. It landed on my daughter many times before it took off into the big wide world!! Just priceless to see the joy in our faces!! She remembers it still today!
This is a beautiful reflection…as it speaks to making memories. That is what we are doing…creating spaces where children can make memories with Nature. Beautiful. Thrilled you loved the time-lapse video.
In the spring, we do a butterfly unit along with a plant unit. Next year, I would love to try creating a butterfly garden so that the butterflies stay around to be observed! Normally the kindergarten and first grade students release the butterflies, and they are seldom seen again in the courtyard as there is little to no vegetation. Though I will not be there this spring because of my maternity leave, I am thinking that this would be a great lesson for students next year. While the caterpillars are growing and changing, inside our classroom, we could be working on a butterfly garden. The students could help to plant things that would attract the butterflies and encourage them to stay around! I would love to also have part of the garden be an area of small pots that each student has planted a seed in. That way, the students can take their piece of the butterfly garden home at the end of the year and continue attracting wildlife at home.
When we plant the seeds and plants in the garden we would focus on the time of year that is best for planting, we would work to find a place that would get the most sunlight throughout the day, and we could count the days that it takes to grow from seed to sprout! I think the students would love to see which comes first- the butterflies or the sprouts!
Such wonderful seeds of inspiration sprouting! I love the idea of creating a container butterfly garden to enable children to take home a plant to spread the “love” and attract more butterflies at home. They are going to miss you when you are on maternity leave!
We also do tadpoles once in a while and we have watched timelaoses of tomatoes turning red, pumpkins growing and apples.
So cool!
We love to do monarch butterflies each year and watch this time lapse video. This fall we caught a circopia moth larva. He cacooned end of August and tajes til mid spring to emerge. They are born with no mouths and live only a few days, mate and lay eggs. It is fun comparing this long journey next to the monarch butterfly.