Session 1 June 24

After Gratitude Circle, we finished adding the mammal information to their animal classification books. Then they figured out the next riddle that led to the Reptile Challenge. Acting as prey, explorers had to cross the field and collect three food tokens without getting "eaten" by the Predator (the endangered Eastern Indigo Snake). If they got tagged they had to answer a question about reptiles to re-enter the game.

Then they went to garden with Ms. Melissa. They loosened the soil in a bed and then harvested seeds from Black-eyed Susans and Indian blanket (both native flowers) and planted them for the pollinators. They also protected their seeds with hay to keep the birds from eating them or weeds choking them out.

After washing hands and snack, they found the next clue for the last section of their book : Other Invertebrates. Then they filled in the missing information and we headed to the Endangered Animal Maze Challenge. After splitting into teams and choosing their team animal they had 5 minutes to go in the maze, retrieve the bag with their team animal on it, exit and pass the bag to their other partner. Inside was a map of the maze with an X marking the animal bag they needed to find. The older teamate had 1 minute to memorize the map and then 5 minutes to run through the maze and retrieve their animal bag. Inside the bag was information about their endangered animal and puzzle pieces to a map showing the location of endangered species across the globe. Once the puzzle was together, it gave a clue that led to a page in the codebook with questions about their animals. They needed to use the information they learned about their endangered animal to answer the questions correctly and unlock the DaVinci Lock. Inside the lock was a map to the next challenge but it was lunch time so we will continue there tomorrow.

After lunch, they explored the creek. Some made the water beetle sanctuary into a maze for the beetles. Others continued playing Cat Clan based on the Warrior Cat books. We also found a snake skin and dragonfly nymph.

Lastly, some chose costumes for their characters and finished the ending for their play to be performed tomorrow at 2pm for family and friends.