Everett Environmental Club 2016: Signs of spring
6/17/16, Field Trip to Savin Hill Beach
Thanks to all the parents who accompanied us down to the beach for a couple of hours of popsicles, play and creation. The tide was out, the beach got muddy after the sand ended, feet were dirty. What more could you ask for - have a great summer!!
Thanks to all the parents who accompanied us down to the beach for a couple of hours of popsicles, play and creation. The tide was out, the beach got muddy after the sand ended, feet were dirty. What more could you ask for - have a great summer!!
6/10/16, Last Looks
We learned how to prune dead branches on the black lace elderberry bush, climb a cherry tree, and identify and pull out oriental bittersweet which has orange roots. We removed a few more trees and some burdock with the weed wrench. Above the playground, we found lots of little unripened pears on our Clapp and Bartlett trees.
Many thanks to 2016 BLS graduate Desmond O'Halloran for his assistance.
We learned how to prune dead branches on the black lace elderberry bush, climb a cherry tree, and identify and pull out oriental bittersweet which has orange roots. We removed a few more trees and some burdock with the weed wrench. Above the playground, we found lots of little unripened pears on our Clapp and Bartlett trees.
Many thanks to 2016 BLS graduate Desmond O'Halloran for his assistance.
6/3/16, Ephemeral Art
Artist Susan Denniston visited our class to share her insights about ephemeral art as expressed by artist Andy Goldsworthy. The group proceeded to create beautiful works of ephemeral art in the schoolyard. Their unique works of art and commentary appear below. You can hover over some of the photos to read their comments.
He makes art that is not there forever - Faith; Ephemeral means that it was made and didn’t come back forever - Gizely; Andy the artist made notes after his installations - Albert
Observing the Schoolyard, 5.27.16
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Dogwood – at the end of the flowers, there are little balls, and even the ones that have buds, have buds. - Amia-Ann
We found clover and you take the stem in, then you suck on the white part and it tastes sweet - Gizely
The lilac smelled not that good - Jahvon
Red clover – you can make honey on it, thanks to the bees - Miqueias
dogwood is a type of flower and bees take pollen from them and they go back to back. - Syrianna
We found clover and you take the stem in, then you suck on the white part and it tastes sweet - Gizely
The lilac smelled not that good - Jahvon
Red clover – you can make honey on it, thanks to the bees - Miqueias
dogwood is a type of flower and bees take pollen from them and they go back to back. - Syrianna
To prepare for the upcoming field day, students removed the rocks from the path, and found some worms on the way. They then proudly displayed the maple trees they had removed with the weed wrench.
Field trip to the Blake house, 5.20.16
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Pictures on the wall, old time toaster, old person cane - Gia; there was a fireplace to cook your food. There was no third or second grade, there would be kindergarten through 7th or 8th grade all in one room. - Selene;
need a wood lot for wood … didn’t wash their stuff … (children) wear stuff like their mother and father … no paper but black board … men have lots of jobs .. they had blacksmiths - Faith;
Our nature teacher said it was the oldest house in Boston. - Miqueias; there is a fireplace and bread cooks in the old fashioned oven. There are only two rooms, one is the living room and one is the bedroom. - Zeliana
the Blake house is a very old house and they made their own fire. They wear the same clothes and they don’t take baths. - Syrianna
in colonial times, ... the men had different jobs out of the house like do the crops … some people had a mill.we also saw windows that we don’t have today - Rihanna
Blake house, small, made of wood, was the first house in Boston, has a fire place, has windows with glass shaped like diamonds, not that much room, has a blue couch with little square diamonds on a red rug, you could not always eat when you want to eat because it was much harder to get food, when it gets dark, everyone goes to sleep, or you would be reading a book or knitting - Silas
need a wood lot for wood … didn’t wash their stuff … (children) wear stuff like their mother and father … no paper but black board … men have lots of jobs .. they had blacksmiths - Faith;
Our nature teacher said it was the oldest house in Boston. - Miqueias; there is a fireplace and bread cooks in the old fashioned oven. There are only two rooms, one is the living room and one is the bedroom. - Zeliana
the Blake house is a very old house and they made their own fire. They wear the same clothes and they don’t take baths. - Syrianna
in colonial times, ... the men had different jobs out of the house like do the crops … some people had a mill.we also saw windows that we don’t have today - Rihanna
Blake house, small, made of wood, was the first house in Boston, has a fire place, has windows with glass shaped like diamonds, not that much room, has a blue couch with little square diamonds on a red rug, you could not always eat when you want to eat because it was much harder to get food, when it gets dark, everyone goes to sleep, or you would be reading a book or knitting - Silas
Making a Garden, 5.13.16
Students observed a piece of cut concord grapevine. After randomly dividing the kids into 4 groups, we talked about various types of plants in preparation for planting - creepers and climbers, flowers, herbs, greens, roots and brassicas. Seeds from each type were given to a member of the group where they then planted in the fifth grade bed. Many thanks to Mr. O'Halloran for his help.
Concord grape vine – at the end of the vine, it curls/twists. There are also little buds - Amia-Ann;
Ms. Zipp told us that the way grapevines grow is they grab onto things. - Zeliana
the grape trees looked like a stick, yes a stick - Albert
We started planting flowers and vegetables, and we were finding bugs, but it was fun after that. -Gizely;
I planted sweet peas and they looked like dried peas.- Albert
the seed that I was planting was very small and was a brassica - Selene;
a brassica is like a broccoli - Rihanna;
Ms. Zipp told us that the way grapevines grow is they grab onto things. - Zeliana
the grape trees looked like a stick, yes a stick - Albert
We started planting flowers and vegetables, and we were finding bugs, but it was fun after that. -Gizely;
I planted sweet peas and they looked like dried peas.- Albert
the seed that I was planting was very small and was a brassica - Selene;
a brassica is like a broccoli - Rihanna;
Seeds and weeds, 5.6.16
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Lilac – it smells beautiful - Gia; parsley, I liked it a little bit - Selene; lilac – it smells like leaves and flowers - Taniya; Parsley – I recognize the taste from spaghetti. Kinda looks like a clover - Amia- Ann; I love the lilac, I have a piece of it. Parsley is a wonderful taste, I have tasted this before, I love love love it - Faith; it’s a light purple and dark purple, and some of the lilac is sprouting - Gizely; When I tasted the parsley, it was like leaves and mustard - Miqueias; Lilac, it smells like perfume and is purple. - Zeliana; parsley – tastes good but the aftertaste is really nasty - Syrianna; I notice that parsley is really good and you can cook with it - Rihanna;
lilac smells like bleach - Albert; I thought the lilac was a violet and it smelled bad - Jahvon; Lilac - it smells like a garden of flowers, also candy - Solomon; parsley –I think it smells like lettuce - Joseph
lilac smells like bleach - Albert; I thought the lilac was a violet and it smelled bad - Jahvon; Lilac - it smells like a garden of flowers, also candy - Solomon; parsley –I think it smells like lettuce - Joseph
Club members observe the growth in one of the raised beds, show off their horse chestnut sprouts and gather for a photo after pulling grass above the play equipment in an effort to reveal the other plants also trying to grow there.
Planting Potatoes, 4.29.16
Outside we stopped to pull celandine – some students used the yellow or orange interior as dye to write in their notebooks. We pulled some wild mustard and lemon balm, and stopped at a beautifully blooming white viburnum behind the hackberry, We learned how to pull maple sprouts and to be sure to get the roots. We divided into groups by birthday month to plant the potatoes in the 4th grade bed.
4/15/16, Field trip to the Top of Savin Hill: check out the student comments below .
I saw houses, I saw little boats, I saw big buildings, I saw birds/Jaylynn; We learned that like 100 years ago Wampoanogs made a tent on a couple of rocks and we found them/Zeliana; I learned there was a glacier/Gia; You can see a lot of airplanes and rivers/Selene; It was very rocky/Taniya; We had to run up the rock/Amia-Ann;
There were little streams on the big rock, our teacher told us a lot about Savin Hill and read us a poem about it/Miqueias; we did rock climbing with Erik/Syrianna; we had lunch (snacks) on a rock/Rihanna; you might think this hill is big, but it’s small, but from up here, it looks amazing/Joshua; the field trip was a long way there, but when we got there, up the mountain, I could see everything/Albert; we went rock climbing and used binoculars/Jahvon; with the binoculars, it gave me a great view, and it was very close/Diana; there is a rock shaped like a slide/Silas; climbing rocks is harder than you expect/Solomon; nature is interesting/Joseph
There were little streams on the big rock, our teacher told us a lot about Savin Hill and read us a poem about it/Miqueias; we did rock climbing with Erik/Syrianna; we had lunch (snacks) on a rock/Rihanna; you might think this hill is big, but it’s small, but from up here, it looks amazing/Joshua; the field trip was a long way there, but when we got there, up the mountain, I could see everything/Albert; we went rock climbing and used binoculars/Jahvon; with the binoculars, it gave me a great view, and it was very close/Diana; there is a rock shaped like a slide/Silas; climbing rocks is harder than you expect/Solomon; nature is interesting/Joseph
4/8/16, Sprouts, 50's with showers: We ate bean sprouts, the students had different opinions about the TASTE. We continued our schoolyard tour, and looked at the mosaics including the new Obama Hope mosaic. We broke into groups and planted pansies.
- mung bean tastes terrible/ Silas; mung beans taste bad without soup/Albert; the mung bean tastes really good, like grass which has a good taste/Rihanna; Mung beans taste really good/Syrianna; the mung bean tastes like salad and even a little like string bean, because it is a bean that has sprouted/Gizely
- about the mosaics: there is a bird that looks like a woodpecker and it gives me peace/ Diana; there is a piano and it looks like an old piano/Zeliana
When I smelled a hyacinth it was a little good, also it was very dark purple/Miqueias; There’s a colorful flower that is blue and pink/Selene
we had to plant flowers, we get to see how does a flower root look like, so then we rip a little of the root and put it in the dirt/Gizely
- about the mosaics: there is a bird that looks like a woodpecker and it gives me peace/ Diana; there is a piano and it looks like an old piano/Zeliana
When I smelled a hyacinth it was a little good, also it was very dark purple/Miqueias; There’s a colorful flower that is blue and pink/Selene
we had to plant flowers, we get to see how does a flower root look like, so then we rip a little of the root and put it in the dirt/Gizely
4.1.16 Buds, Bulbs, Scents and Colors: sunny and windy 60's: a sprouted potato has a stalk over two feet tall,and will live in Mr.O'Halloran's window. We smelled a bag of evergreen needles and then we toured the schoolyard to see what was happening there
Step one: set up our enviro club notebooks and take our first group photo
Some thoughts about evergreen needles and a sprouted potato: It smells horrible/Gia; Those leaves are called needles, they’re not like real needles. They are leaves, but they do look like needles/Gizely; I think the evergreens smell like Christmas trees/Zeliana; it smells toxic when I smelled the needles/Albert; I smell nothing/Jahvon
the potato smells terrible/Silas; ... horrible/Solomon; ... bad/Joseph
Quaking aspen – this tree is soft and looks like a spider from far away/Syrianna; it had catkins, nice and soft/Gizely
The evergreen plant (yew) is pointy and sharp and under it there are plants growing/Diana
There is lots of trash – pick it up!/Joshua
the potato smells terrible/Silas; ... horrible/Solomon; ... bad/Joseph
Quaking aspen – this tree is soft and looks like a spider from far away/Syrianna; it had catkins, nice and soft/Gizely
The evergreen plant (yew) is pointy and sharp and under it there are plants growing/Diana
There is lots of trash – pick it up!/Joshua