Students learning to read TreeEnglish.

Trees will reveal their names. You just need to understand their vocabulary.

Taste of Science students are learning to distinguish simple from compound leaves and to determine how the leaves are arranged on the branch. By further examining the edges of the leaves along with their shapes, students prepare to use a dichotomous key.

In addition to learning to read and analyze characteristics of trees, students are honing observation skills that can be applied to a variety of situations and subjects.

Growin' Green: An Intro to Horticulture

GreenTech Elective Profile

Intro to Horticulture will utilize our on campus greenhouse (Margaret's House) as a laboratory for students to learn how to propagate plants. Additionally students will operate our compost production and learn basic soil morphology. We will also assist other classes in our organic vegetable gardens. This one semester class is offered to 7th and 8th graders as a stand alone elective or as part of the green student certification program.

Margaret's House

Thanksgiving Trees: An Act of Environmental Kindness

Our school has been participating in a food and coat drive in an effort coordinated by Legacy of Giving. During our advisory periods we have been discussing acts of kindness. We talked about how their efforts are a way to "pay it forward" and translate our thankfulness into action.

Why not include the environment in our endeavors? On Saturday, November 20th, a group of students, family members, teachers, and Westcave Preserve staff members added a dozen native trees to the Ahrns Tree Grove.

Just as it is common for many folks purchase cut trees at Christmas, we can plant trees at Thanksgiving.

What we planted:

Western Soapberry

Mexican Buckeye

Yellow buckeye

2 Mountain laurels

2 Madrones

Possumhaw

Texas redbud

Texas Ash

Evergreen Sumac

Roughleaf dogwood

American Beautyberry (shrub)

Special thanks to the participants:

Emily and her Mom

Jyoti and her Dad

Faye, Allie, David, Patty, Ian, Thomas, and Mandy

Amber, Dad, and Sister

Mr. Rosenberg

David, Stephen, and John from the Westcave staff.

Westcave Tree Planting and Assorted Butterflies

Students past and present, along with family members, are invited to join me in a tree planting at Westcave Preserve on Saturday, November 20th.

We will meet at 9:00 in front of the school. My truck will be full so carpooling is encouraged. Local media has been invited. I will provide the tools. Bring water, a snack and gloves.

The trees will join a few others in a grove planted in honor of recently retired John Ahrns, the preserve's original director.

Free tours will be available for volunteers.

For more info about the preserve clink here.

And now for your butterfly update:

So far we have tagged 22 monarchs.

We saw a couple yesterday in advance of today's cold front, but had no success netting them.

Take a close look at the hind wings of this beautiful specimen.

This is a Monarch mimic, Limenitis archippus (aka Viceroy), that is uncommon in this area.

The diagonal line crossing the black veins distinguish it from the Monarch.

Kaylee captured this specimen visitng the white mistflower in the beds in front of our school.

One of our more common catches, the cloudless sulphur

(Phoebis sennae).

Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacina)

Dennis Hobbs Individual Achievement Award

Keep Austin Beautiful held its annual awards banquet today.

This is their organizational Silver Anniversary, and the Sheraton ballroom was packed.

At our table were Mayor Pro Tem , Mike Martinez, PODER director and Best Overall winner Susana Almanza, along with my wife, Rita, and principal, Amy Taylor.

Check out the other winners and find out more about the awards here.

This display highlights a lot of our environmental efforts at Small.

Small Middle School principal Amy Taylor and yours truly.

Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez and unidentified guest.

Me and my students on the big screen.

The award's namesake introducing the awardee.

KXAN weatherman Jim Spencer emceed the ceremony.

I first met Dennis Hobbs on a field trip my classes took to Texas Disposal Systems in the early 90's. As we pulled up to the gate, he boarded our bus. The next hour was like and episode of The Magic School Bus. He proudly showed off the many efforts the landfill was taking to reduce the amount of waste going into the land fill and to reduce the environmental impact of such a large operation.

Glad I took those Speech classes.

It is humbling to receive an award from such a great organization. KAB has worked with my students for the last six years. Their impact on Austin's beauty and environmental ethic is impressive.

Fall Plant Sale Info

Already a Banner Year

School just started last Monday, and by Thursday CSMS had already received two significant recognitions. Through a concerted effort by teachers and students, and with crucial community support last year, our school achieved "Recognized" status from TEA. Perhaps you have noticed the banner on the front fence. Our area superintendent, Bergeron Harris, presented it to us in a faculty meeting.

Hanging proudly next to it is a banner declaring Small Middle School as a founding member of

the Green Ribbon Schools program. To earn this recognition we had to meet four criteria:

1.) have an environmentally friendly campus, 2) offer students nature adventure, 3) provide for our students' health, fitness, and wholesome nutrition (we participate in the CATCH Program), and 4) integrate outdoor education into our curriculum. To learn more about the program follow the link in the section on the right.

Seventh period Native Plants and Animals class.

I had the best intentions. Really. My classes took two walking tours of the campus during the first week of school. What a great opportunity to take photos of this semester's students checking out our gardens! I was so excited about showing off some of the special secrets hidden on our school grounds. I even had the camera at school. I just never remembered to ask a student to be the photographer.

Pretend you are seeing pictures of the following: We were conducting an informal habitat survey as we walked. The mockingbirds were out and feeding on the American beautyberry. We found several small white eggshell remains under two nesting sites. The Texas ebony, Turk's cap, and esperanza were blooming in the front beds. Honeybees were nectaring.

Students rubbed a leaf of the anacua tree between their fingers. They correctly guessed its common name, sandpaper tree. Two classes saw a tiger swallowtail. Queens and fritillaries were abundant. Students sniffed the leaves from a bay tree and compared it to the smell of Juicy Fruit gum. Our last stop was the toothache tree where students tasted the sweet lemon- minty leaves. Many reported numbness of their lips and tongue (Hence the name- it was a commonly used remedy for Native Americans and early settlers).

I remembered the camera the next day, of course, and had an aide from my first period class go out and take bunch of pictures.

Greeneyes (Berlandiera betonicifolia) and Woolybucket Bumelia

(Bumelia lanuginosa).

Bumble bee (Bombus auricomus, I think) on silver nightshade

(Solanum elaeagnifolium).

Turk's cap (Malaviscus arboreus var. drummondii) and Inland

seaoats (Chasmanthium latifolium).

Fall (dis)obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) and Inland seaoats

Flame acanthus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii)

Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), a non-native.

Yes, I remembered to order the Monarch butterfly tags.

The migration usually comes near the end of October.

Morning glory (Ipomoea lindheimeri)

These guys always run from me. Suha got three pictures of this cute little field mouse (Peromyscus attwateri) before he scampered away.