Our joint idea finally happened! Science teacher Pam Meier from the Blanco Middle School had been wanting to bring her Ecology students to our Wildcape, which we'd decided would be a great way to get kids outside and learn about native flora and fauna. After all, it's just a short walk over from the school to our house. So this morning, she and her 15 students came over, and we all spent the class period in our Wildscape. James did, too. He'd actually made other plans but agreed to stay long enough to shoot a few photos for me. Which he did. But then he ended up staying for the entire class because he enjoyed spending time with the teens, too.
Abe, one of our cat kids (which I don't very often include on this blog because the Texas Wildscape program frowns on outdoor cats), was very hospitable. One student even wanted to take him home with her. (Please do, but you have to take his brother, Gabe, too!)
We primarily talked about monarchs and their milkweed host plants, such as antelope horns and zizotes milkweed. We had all hoped to see more monarchs migrating through, but the cool morning temperatures kept the numbers down to only about two. At least everyone got to see one!
The students will return next Tuesday, weather permitting. Before they left, I gave them some omework: Find a native plant (something that hasn't been planted by someone) in your yard or near your home and take a photo of it. Then let's identify them next week and learn a little about each plant's biology.
1 comment:
What a wonderful project. Thus are native plant lovers created!
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