The fall semester got off to a running start.
Shortly after the last post, I was surprised by Jazz and her mother before the first school bell.
The day before Jazz's dad rescued three baby gray squirrels from a construction site.
Normally you should leave the babies where or near to where you find them. The mom will return eventually. If this case the bulldozer preempted this possibility. The family contacted Animal Rescue and made an appointment to drop off the babies the next afternoon.
This gave the squirrels the opportunity to visit my classes.
All morning we tried to get them to take some Pedi Lite, but the tiny bottle the family provided wasn't tiny enough. At lunch I acquired an eyedropper from the Science supply closet. They each drank about 10 droppers full.
When Jazz and her mother dropped the off squirrelettes, they learned the litter was about a month old. Their eyes had not yet opened. Jazz also found out that it would take another few months before they would be ready for release. They have to be able to crack open an acorn first.
Jared had a gentle touch. The squirrel he is holding nestled immediately
against him.
One of the first orders of business each semester is to learn the names, proper use, and safety issues of the gardening tools. Students complete a chart as I explain each tool. Over the following days, we go out and practice the tools in sets. This also provided us a chance to do some much needed maintenance.
One day we worked with tree trimming tools.
Gala (above) and Jonathan (below) lopping off low hanging goldenball leadtree branches.
Another day we used weeding tools.
The 6th grade Environmental Science class has been getting the greenhouse back in shape in anticipation of cooler weather.
Tara and her crew attack weeds daring to invade our greenhouse.
Jazz, the rescuer of squirrels, removing a weed pile with a pitchfork.
No weed is safe from gardening veteran Nick. He grew up in New York helping his grandmother in her garden.
Despite daytime temperatures over 120 degrees inside and no supplemental water,
we had a lot of unwanted plants invade Margaret's House over the summer.
Students have filled out job applications indicating what jobs interest them and whether they they would like to serve as crew leaders. This led to discussions of the qualities of good leadership. Each class is now organized into 6 work crews with 3-5 members each.
They have also scouted out and claimed the beds/areas that they will maintain this semester.
If only I get could her to use her new skills to needed jobs around OUR house!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these pics. It looks like they're fully involved. And, from what I hear at home, she's learning lots too. Thank you!
That's great with Jared and the squirrel! In California there was the big group of ground squirrels that were so used to the people that I could just reach down and touch.
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