Super Sky July Day 4

After our last morning of archery practice, we played Old Winter and hiked to the schoolhouse. Once there, we did gratitude circle and talked about why the sky is blue (because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light which makes it to our eye). Then I did the Blue sky- Red sky demonstration to show how when we look towards the sun at sunset, we see red and orange colors because the blue light has been scattered out and away from the line of sight. Then we talked about natural and man-made air pollution and some solutions/ways to prevent it. We also played a capture the flag style Air Pollution Game. There were 2 teams. Each team had their own bucket of "polluted air" with 3 pollution problem cards in it and had to cross over to the other side and bring back a "solution" card to fix/prevent the pollution in their bucket. The team with the cleanest air at the end won. An example included: instead of burning yard trimmings, compost them or make mulch for your yard. Then during snack, we learned about some more local birds like the Pine Warbler, Northern Mockingbird, Carolina Wren and American Robin. Then we discussed what constellations are, made watercolor pages for our constellation book and I read the Greek myths for the constellations Cassiopeia, Orion, Draco and Ursa Major and Minor. Then we went to play and explore in the forest and creek. Several kids built an elaborate trench for water beetles...which they released before we left. After exploring, we played Leader of the Pack, more Old Winter and Hitchhiker. Then it was time to hike up to the top of the drive.