Saturday, May 07, 2011

Our field trip to a local farm

Friday, we took a field trip to a local farm.  We had been preparing for it for awhile.  
 Erin came to our classroom twice to talk to us about the process of getting produce from the farm to our table.
 Along with learning the process, Erin  brought foods from the farm for us to try.  The one that surprised me the most, was leeks!  The students tried both raw and roasted leeks...and most of them loved it!

 We have been looking forward to finally visiting the farm!  Janet, the owner, came to our classroom with Erin once. 
 Once at the farm, our class was divided into four groups to go through four different stations.
One of the activities was drawing the plant being described...swiss chard, spinach, strawberries, and.... what was the 4th one?

 As you can see, I was with the group of Alex F., Mackenzie, Grace, Meigan, Jennifer, and Jacob.
Mrs. T was the leader of another group.

Erin was the mastermind behind all of this.  She came to our classroom twice before our field trip to the farm.


Feeding the chickens swiss chard!

 The farm is absolutely beautiful!  When I was telling this to Janet, she reminded me that the bulk of the farm is not in bloom yet...
Before the station where we created a scene using crackers, hummus, and herbs, we first had to wash our hands!


One station was looking at compost...looking at worms and decomposition...













Another station was looking for insects.  Each student had a small magnifying box to put the insect in and be able to look at it under magnification.

Here is my group trying to identify their insect...




Naomi has been our observation student from our local university.  She joined us for our trip to the farm...and she led a group!

Alex's creation...
I love this photo of Jacob and Alex F.!

Each student was also asked to fill out an evaluation...

Ariel's creation!
After an absolutely wonderful time at the farm, it was time to head back to our bus...
  
and back to school...

Thank you Erin and thank you Janet!