Our First Field Trip: Chattahoochee Nature Center

Today we went to the Chattahoochee Nature Center for the "Web of Life" tour. We had an excellent time with our tour guide Carla. She began by reviewing some vocabulary such as producer, consumer, decomposer, abiotic, and biotic. I was so impressed that the students remembered all of the words and gave excellent definitions for the words. Sonny's explanation was exceptional when he said that a "decomposer breaks down dead consumers and producers."

After the vocabulary session, we began our nature walk. Good thing I wore comfortable shoes! On the trail, we saw the components of an ecosystem working together as we saw trees that had been eaten by termites, spider webs that glistened in the sun but were invisible once the sun moved, and even strange red "dots" that made Allie and Lucy very curious.

Carla was very knowledgeable, but Charlie was still able to stump her!) She talked about the talons of hawks (thanks Lucy and Alex for reminding me) that were used to capture their prey such as mice. I would not want to be caught by the talon. The claws looked extremely sharp! I wonder what would happen if the hawk or eagle lost its claws? How would it adapt, or change to fit its surrounding?

My favorite part was when I found out that I had ophidiophobia (a fear of snakes for those of you that didn't join us.) I couldn't believe I was afraid of a tiny snake. Carla showed us an albino corn snake. This snake was special because it was born a different color than most corn snakes. The snake was red and white when it typically is born black and red. Carla told us about the snake's adaptive features (or the things about the snake that help it survive in the environment.) For example, the snake can not have arms and legs because it wouldn't be able to slither (that's a thick word) around the ground. I wonder if some of the students remembered some of the other adaptive features of the snake. Maybe they can add to this blog!

I had such a great time at the Nature Center. Thank you to the students for asking GREAT, THICK questions and being such great listeners. You all really were on your best behavior and showed your IB attitudes and profiles. Thank you also to our parent volunteers Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Powers. We loved it when you handed out water out of the school bus (the little things make us laugh!) Thanks again to everyone :)