Eco Academy - Canoe Safety

Today was fabulous!  We got to capsize canoes and learn how to flip them back over while in the water.

First we capsized the canoe

 

  ...then another team would come to rescue us.

This is Scout - coming to the rescue!

 

 Once the canoe was tipped over to drain the water, it could be lifted up onto the rescuing canoe and flipped back over. 

 

 

 

Eco Academy - Intertidal Coasts

Today we went to Blackpoint to see the tidepools.  It was high tide... so you can imagine... there was lots of water.  The class learned about using a Quadrant to find and count things. They learned how to move the quadrant and record their findings just like the marine biologists.

Eco Academy - Scientific Inquiry

Today was a get wet day! The kids took large nets and swept the seafloor with them. They found all sorts of fish, shrimp, crab, and muck down there.

We placed all the items that people found in buckets of water so we could count and categorize them.

 

Here is a Pipefish someone scooped up.

Eco Academy - Orienteering

Today we learned how to use a compass.  We trekked from point A to B, in a geocache manner.  It was great fun and the kids enjoyed themselves.   We also made pacing beads before class and were able to use them to mark off how far we walked.  This will come in very handy if we have to walk great distances without a GPS.

Eco Academy - Mangroves

Today we learned all about the different types of Mangroves and how to identify them. We went tromping through the marshy mud and saw lots of wildlife as well.

These are the roots of the Black Mangrove. They poke up through the ground like little feelers.





Scout loved looking all over for crabs and spiders and other living things among the muck.

You had to keep a watchful eye overhead so you didn't walk right into the webs of the giant banana spiders that were abundant.

Scout had to give it a try too!

We also saw a big blue crab.


And a ladybug that didn't have any spots.



The red mangrove has long pods and long green leaves.  It also has roots like fingers.

 

 

The Black Mangrove's leaves are white on the underside.  They filter the salt out through their leaves,  You can wrap your fish in black mangrove leaves to flavor it when you are camping.

 

The white mangrove has little nodes above it's leaves where it excretes salt.

 

It's leaves have a heart shape at the top and it's seeds are small and white.

 

 

 

 

Eco Academy - Photo Journaling

Eco Academy - PhotoJournalism

Today was Scout's first day of school. She is attending the Eco Academy at Deering Estate and loving every moment of it. They even have their own CLASS BLOG which contains photos and lesson plans of the amazing activities she has participated in.



 


They've got some amazing teachers, Panama and J.T.












Here, Panama is showing us the scarring left behind from the hurricanes of 1920, 1930, and Andrew: 1992. The waves punded the trees leaving scar marks 15 feet up.















They taught us how to recognize poisonwood and other indigenous plants and trees.

 

This is a gumbo limbo tree trunk. It looks wrinkly like an elephant's foot.

 

 

We learned about Banyan trees, mushrooms, and the endangered banded snail.



The kids took all sorts of pictures and had a great time discovering and exploring





Then someone spotted a snake in the grass. All the kids ran to see it and we learned all about rat snakes. This one was a baby rat snake. They are pretty harmless. It's wonderful when the teachers go with the teaching moment - not just the agenda!







There is a red-tailed boa in the classroom that all the students are able to hold.  Scout LOVES to hold it and asks me almost every day.


















Shelby was even brave enough to hold the tarantula.