Once we start investigating our project, you can click here to see the most updated adventures.

This week we began brainstorming ideas for our first project. We have an inquisitive group and the list of project topics were quite varied; however, our interest in birds was sparked when we saw a Northern harrier fly overhead of us at Woods Creek Fen on Friday. Thus, we have agreed to study the birds of Teton Valley. Although our driving question still has to be developed, we had many ideas about what we wanted to get out of the project and great ideas for final products - model nests for American bald eagles, a raptor field guide for the residents of Teton Valley, a nest box decorating competition - just to name a few. The project has the potential to be a great context to meet many of the Common Core Standards for Kindergarten. I think it is safe to say we are all very excited for our project topic!

We have much momentum as we move further into the depths of understanding what it is that we want to learn as we embark on this project. We have had discussions that have resulted in us realizing that we want to know more about bird habitats and nests, diet, offspring, and migration information. A circle on Monday let the students voice what they wonder...

"I want to know why the birds get doctored." - Sorayah

"I want to learn about baby birds." Davis

"How do they get adopted at the Raptor Center?" - Neenah

"Our swans are already in our marsh." - Lincoln

"I want to feed the birds." - Abby

"I am excited to learn about Robins." - Riley

"I am excited about Hawks." - Kaycee

"Are bats birds? I want to learn about Golden Eagles." - Sam

"I want to learn about crystals." - Toggie

We are very excited for our field trip on Monday to the marsh. We have discussed the basic facts about swans and cygnets and passed photographs around our circle. On Friday, we also watched the hatching of 4 cygnets from thier eggs!  

On Monday, the Black Bats ventured out to the Klausmann Marsh. We learned so much about the Cygnets and Sand Hill Cranes who live there. We learned about their diet, what is considered a direct predator,and the fact that the cranes are feasting on barley grain now to fatten up before they started the long migration to Mexico. The cygnets (baby swans that we saw) are already quite big. When they saw our group on the bank of the marsh they curiously swam towards us. We were quite fortunate to have such a close sighting. We made the observation that not all birds eat meat (such as raptors). The classroom has been decorated with bird pictures, and our library has been filled with both non-fiction and fiction books about birds. On Thursday, the Black Bats compared their wing span to that of a sandhill crane.

Friday was a big turning point for the project. After voting on what we want to get out of the project, we decided on a Driving Question. We were interested in making a habitat on campus so birds who are native to Teton Valley can have a safe place to live.

Our Driving Question: "How can we, as scientists, create a habitat at TVCS for the birds in Teton Valley to live?"

As we uncover more information on the different types of birds that live here, such as raptors and songbirds, we might change our question a bit, but for right now, this provides us with a great structure to learn.