 |
RAS Kids: Swansboro Elementary Arbor Day
Arbor Day and Education Garden Story
|
|
Photos by Bob Schamerhorn • www.iPhotoBirds.com
|
A Great Time to be a Tree Hugger
By Donna Cottingham
Not all of my friends share my passion for the outdoors. For some reason, they consider me a tree hugger, simply because I am not petrified of snakes, make a big deal about wildflowers, and worry about the plight of blue crabs and box turtles. Well, between Earth Day and Arbor Day, April is a great time to be both a Master Naturalist and a tree hugger.
I got to spend several afternoons at South Hampton Elementary School with Mary Arginteanu, Holly Walker and other Richmond Audubon Society Kids volunteers. We planted red maple seedlings with third graders, who took them home in containers to plant in their yards. Mary began the tree planting sessions with a lesson about the benefits of trees, and the children offered many ideas about the importance of trees in our lives…shade, oxygen, clothes, syrup, firewood, pencils and climbing.
To break the classes up into smaller groups of five or six, the rest of the volunteers and I led scavenger hunts, where we explored campus looking for signs of spring, insects, soil comparisons, and consumer/producer relationships. Mary carefully researched third grade Standards Of Learning (SOLs) before creating the scavenger hunt list, which served only as a starting point, because the students far exceeded the one-page requirements.
Students were so excited to be outdoors looking for buds, rooting through leaf litter and poking under rotted logs. As “scientific observers,” the children discovered wildflowers, seeds, worms, a beetle with pinchers on his butt, a broken robin’s egg shell, moss, red clay, acorns briars, birds and so much more. One young man said to me, “I never did this before, you know, went outside looking at all this stuff, but this was so much fun. I hope I get to do this again sometime.” Another student said,” I’m going to take this list home to my friends to see if we can find any of this stuff in my neighborhood.”
From the students, I learned that a dandelion is also called a “wishing flower.” You pick the seed head, make a wish and then blow the seeds into the wind.
A few days later, our merry band of volunteers moved on to Swansboro Elementary. There the children planted spruce tree seedlings, provided by Dominion Power. Afterward, they visited various new learning centers around campus. At the newly painted compass rose on the sidewalk at the school entrance, a volunteer showed them a map and asked them which direction to take to reach the mountains or beaches of Virginia, as well as how to reach California, New York and other destinations.
Another volunteer led walks through the new native garden/learning center, a labor of love led by Master Naturalist Ginger Glen-Calvert. The garden area has been designated a “Backyard Wildlife Habitat” by DGIF. There was also a weather station, where the children learned about temperature and precipitation. I got to lead the tree walk and talk, where we examined a loblolly, magnolia and dogwood tree. Lessons included:
-Pine trees do not produce pineapples.
-The words “pinecone” and “acorn” are not interchangeable.
-Acorn trees are called oaks.
I won’t even go into details about sweet gum balls, but I will tell you, the highlight of my tree lessons was when someone found a small dead snake beneath the dogwood tree.
It was a fun, busy week with elementary school students. Being a Master Naturalist and a tree hugger in April sure has been a lot of work and a lot of fun!
Special Thanks to:
Ginger Glen-Calvert - Master Naturalist who really took charge of this project!
W.M. Jordan Co. who built the garden’s pergola and new flower beds
Dominion Power for the donation of the trees that the students planted
|
 |
