Ms. Pat's Nature Club

Ms. Pat's Nature Club is a blog for anyone who is a nature nut and loves nature, no matter what age you are. I hope you will let me know what you think and give me feedback. I love to hear from my friends!



"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
-Albert Einstein

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."
-Frank Lloyd Wright


"Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, It was loaned to you by your children"

-Native American proverb


"Teaching children about the natural world should be treated as one of the most important events in their lives."

-Thomas Berry, Dream of the Earth


"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement and mystery of the world we live in."
-Rachel Carson, A Sense of Wonder

Friday, April 29, 2011

Nature Club





This week in Nature Club, we talked about eggs and how they are a symbol of spring, as well as Easter. I read "Egg to Robin" by Melvin and Gilda Berger and "Chickens aren't the Only Ones" by Ruth Heller. I gave everyone a man-made plastic egg with some natural items inside, seashells and little pearly rocks, for their nature collections.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Nature Nuts






Nature Nuts met on Friday, April 15, to learn more about trees. After we ate lunch, we put on jackets and walked across the street to Wakefield Park. We walked through the woods looking at trees and animals that live in them. Because it was a chilly and windy day, we didn't see as many things as hoped. However, we did see some birds, 3 bird's nests, and a squirrel's nest. We found a path and followed it through the woods. We looked at tree stumps and saw rings in it. We found a tree that had fallen down and wondered why it fell. We saw a pair of ducks on Wakefield Lake and picked up a lot of sticks for souvenirs. We came back and I read The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry, pointing out that the animals that live in a kapok tree in the rainforest are very different than the ones that live in Minnesota trees!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Nature Club







This week in Nature Club, we went outside to search for spring. The classes early in the week had it easy because the sun was shining and a gentle breeze was blowing. We found water in puddles, green grass, buds on trees (leaves AND flowers). We saw a robin. We found some burlap beside a sidewalk where someone is getting new grass to grow. We also found some pansies Ms. Lyn got to beautify our center and, although it's early for them to pop out of the ground, many kids knew that their parents were getting gardens and planting beds ready for flowers. By Thursday, the cold wind was blowing and the puddle was all dried up. But we could tell spring was here anyway! Now we hope the snow that's coming will melt very fast!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Nature Nuts




The second class of Nature Nuts met on Friday, April 8. We had 3 new members, so we went outside and they picked their special tree. While we were taking pictures and measuring girth, the other kids were examining trees for signs of spring. Were there birds? Were there buds on the branches? Happily, we saw both. Then we headed inside and drew pictures of our trees. I read "Have You Seen Trees?" by Joanne Oppenheim, we sang a song about trees, and we examined the tree souvenirs that we picked up off the ground. Our next Nature Nuts will be April 15.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Nature Club






Nature Club met on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Unfortunately, I was sick and missed having the RRR group. We were just not able to reschedule. Because the weather is still so iffy, we played an inside game. I held an animal picture and gave the class clues, beginning with how many legs the animal had. They had to think about animals that had 2,4,6,8, more than 8, or even 0 legs and then guess. I gave them other clues until they guessed the correct animal. Some were hard and some were easy. One of the points I wanted to make was that people are animals and are a part of nature, too. I don't ever want kids to think that we, as people, are separate and apart from nature and the natural world.
We had lots of fun with our game. I reminded the kids to watch for signs of spring!