Celebrating Earth Week

In honor of Earth Day/Week, the Middle School decided to get our kids out and enjoying the world around them for 1 hour everyday.  While this meant shorter class periods and trying to get 11-14 year olds to class on time with no bells. it also meant (hopefully) getting the students to see and understand some things that they might miss on a normal day.  There were several activities planned for the week, such as: a water walk to represent how far some people have to walk for fresh water, garbage and recycled art, yoga and meditation, Frisbee golf and a nature scavenger hunt.  I decided to sign up to help make and chaperon the nature scavenger hunt, and a good decision it was; as it turns out, our students really like to complain about walking and touching garbage, so some activities didn't go over as well as intended.  It took some time to get groups engaged in deciphering the clues and wandering ALL over campus to find the nature objects, but in the end we had two teams get all 21 of the clues and several others come pretty close.  On the second day we had students complete the hunt, I was wandering myself to make sure students weren't slacking off, and I decided to capture the images for the clues too.  Here's what I found:

1. Never say you can't, just find a tree with a hanging plant.

2. Near the place you learn the ABCs, you'll find fern-covered palm trees.

3. Don't give excuses starting with but, do your best to find a giant hut.

4. Look for flowers that appear just like the sun, but don't be fooled it must be a real one.

5. A place you can go to sit and eat too, here you will find trees waiting to greet you.

6. Follow the path to walls made of stone, the green coverings offer a cool natural tone.

7. Finding a palm tree will fulfill this stop, but in order to succeed you must leap, jump or hop.

8. I normally hang high in the trees, but it is possible that I have fallen to the ground.  No matter which way, I am a tasty treat for animals all around.

 9. A natural looking door is what you should look for

10. We’re easy to find, we crawl, we fly, and we can even sting.  Of one of us a small image you should bring .

Do you see what I see?

11. Look for me near the base of a tree.  I am often poisonous, so make sure you don't eat me! 

12. I am the color of t-shirts, shoes, backpacks and sometimes even ink. Combine the red and white and you get the color______. Go find something this color and take a great shot. Just make sure it´s grown and not bought!

13. Look for me, I’m everywhere among the other colors in the ground; Over there in deep violet pigments I am around.

14. You can find me in all those places where the Gods bled;
And stained Mother Nature with this beautiful color instead.
The blood painted pieces in the puzzle of creation;
You will find on the Bolivar Campus and across the nation.

15. Parts and pieces painted with drops of sunlight are found in flowers and TREES where they shine so bright!

16. Near the soccer field, the water tumbles clean and free.  Snap a photo of this and be sure to capture the palm tree.

17. Near a great waterfall you will have a good vantage, take a picture of your team in the middle of this bridge.

18. A scary plant that grows out of the dirt, it is best to not touch it, for you just might get hurt.

19.  Near a place where Bolivar is feared, you will find some trees that wear a long beard.

20. A typical palm tree this is NOT, it is shaped in the form of something we use when we´re hot.

21. Although it has no organs and has no feathers, find this bright bird all grouped together.

OK so I may have had an unfair advantage considering I made the scavenger hunt with Jeff and our principal, but you will notice that technically I didn't fulfill some of them since I couldn't be in the pictures, like the jump shot in front of a palm tree (because I was the photographer).  I also snapped this of a baby chucha, which is kind of like an oppossom, that the had to catch from the boys bathroom.  Super cute as a baby, not so cute as an adult, especially when it runs across the science building balcony (or in some cases into classrooms) while you are trying to teach.

Bonus points?

I think our students got at least something out of the activity and I might dare say that some even enjoyed it.  Hopefully they can appreciate the amazing campus we have with such diverse natural beauty that we can see almost on a daily basis.