Of course we can't have a plant unit without visiting Mercer Arboretum! Mercer is such an amazing place and we were very excited to take our students for a visit!
And yes, this is the most important part of every fieldtrip. The bathrooms. :)
Heading off to explore. The first thing we saw was the butterfly meadow with lots of wildflowers growing.
We got to listen to a talk about the park and some of the flora and fauna from one of the volunteer docents.
She talked about the park's history, some of the venomous snakes to keep an eye out for, and also some plants to watch for--like poison ivy! She also showed photos taken in the park of some of the animals and insects that live there.
The fish pond was being cleaned so the children enjoyed watching for a few minutes.
We did some "sniffing" in the herb garden.
We had been keeping an eye out for plants we've studied--look, it's prickly pear! This was an exciting moment for the kids to recognize a plant!
We had talked about seeds and seed dispersal, so these milkweed seeds were a great illustration. The kids enjoyed blowing on the pod and watching the seeds drift off into the air.
Diego found another one of our plants we'd studied--purple heart!
It was HOT day and we were tired after our walk through the gardens.
Here is the "teacher-azzi." Kinda like the paparazzi. :)
We definitely did not see everything there was to see at the gardens. Moms, I want to really encourage you to take your children for a visit in July! I'd recommend getting their early before it gets too hot. There is a scavenger hunt you can follow that your kids would love. It's available on the park's website.
Here is the website:
http://www.hcp4.net/mercer/
This would be a great extension of your children's summer learning--I can guarantee they will have lots of things to share with you that they've learned!
I definitely have a visit with my own children down on our July to-do list!!
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