Budding Natulists

Last week our morning meeting on Monday took an unexpected turn when I shared a bird's nest that Mr. Kaulius brought in shortly before the children arrived. I relayed to the class that the nest had fallen from a nearby tree and no eggs or birds could be seen.  And from there the wondering began- did it fall from a maple tree (there were maple leaves sticking out), were the birds having a baby shower? (there was a pink ribbon woven around), why was it so small?  how do birds carry mud?  Someone suggested that we should make science drawings of the nest in our forest journals and we did!

Later in the week we continued our discussion of how an apple tree changes with the seasons. We are lucky to have some on the Orchard grounds that we can visit throughout the year.  Below you can see us working on a piece of art work that tells the story of an apple tree in four seasons. You can also see the children picking apart the heads of giant (actually called "Mammoth") sunflowers that I brought from my home. We're going to try saving some seeds to plant in the spring and even toasting some for snack.

Our week concluded with making some homemade, okay, schoolmade applesauce.  The children chopped and with a little help on the boiling from Mrs. G they became sweet and mushy in no time.  
During Explore the children took turns cranking the food mill that separated all the skins and seeds.  A touch of cinnamon and a healthy, fall snack was had by all!