Living Close to the Land

Susan Snyder led the students in a day of "Living Close to the Land". She talked about the native people of Utah; Shoshone, Goshute, Ute, Paiute, and Navajo.

Students ground the corn for Journey Cakes.

The students learned about how people's names were given to represent the type of person they were. Each student was given a Nature Name.

Ally- Happy Squirrel
Elise- Jumping Horse
Samantha- Frolicking Deer
Riley- Dancing Willow
Theo- Weaver Bird
Maddi- Rosie Water
Camryn- Dancing Dragonfly
Christina- Dancing Tree
Bjorn- Protective Preying Mantis
Noah- Rumbling Cloud
Donda- Healing Deer
Joshi- Moon Dancer

While hanging out in the Shoshone or Ute style Tipi, Susan talked about the materials that are used by native Americans and told a story about how the star constellations were created.

The Ogden Nature Center provided a Native American experience that touched our hearts and kindled our relationship with nature exquisitely!

Neff's Canyon - October 24, 2008

The Upper Elementary students hiked up Neff's Canyon. This is a picture looking south to Mount Olympus.

The vibrant colors of fall were all around.

Elise, Theo, Samantha, Riley and Ally found a good perch to listen to the sounds of nature around us.

The project of the day was to show the connections in the surrounding environment.
This string shows the relationship between animals and the wood.

The girls then found evidence of that relationship.

Volunteering with Tree Utah

As stewards of the environment, we joined Tree Utah at their South Jordan Audubon Restoration Site to volunteer our services.

Tree Utah's Vaughn Lovejoy carefully demonstrated how to plant Oak Leaf Sumac seedlings.
Kelly and Britt helped us make sure we planted each seedling properly as they educated us on the Jordan River Restoration site.
We proceeded to plant around 50 or 60 seedlings, that will create refuge for migratory birds.

Donut Falls - October 10, 2008

As an extension of our alpine habitat study at Ruth's Lake, we ventured up Big Cottonwood Canyon.

The U.E. (Upper Elementary) students got to experience the chilliness of the mountains prior to the full blown winter season, frost and all.

The chilly temperature was the main topic of conversation. So we talked about how we can better prepare for the environments we travel into.

The day did warm up, so we were able to discuss the habitat in more depth. I asked the students to write down questions they had about the area. Here are a few:

"Why is there a hole in the rock?"
"What kind of animals are here?"
"How cold can this place get?"
"How fast does the temperature change?"

Later that day we headed to the city library in search of answers.

Hello

Ready, set, go!!

Ogden Nature Center- October 3, 2008

Upon our arrival to the Ogden Nature Center William, also known as Itsy Yaya, greeted us with tunes he played on his guitar. Here we start our walk down the Birdhouse Trail.

The students counted how many bird houses there were along the trail.
Isty Yaya, who's name means Little Bird, talked to the group about Field Ecology. He talked about the evolution of the Ogden Nature Center from farmlands to what it is today, a 152 acre nature preserve.

Christina shows off a Teasel plant seed pod which can produce over 2000 seeds.
Noah investigated bugs and plants in depth.

The students had the opportunity to catch bugs living in the area.

Maddi inspected the praying mantis

After learning about field ecology we shifted gears into stewardship. The students helped the Ogden Nature Center by removing the invasive plant, Dyer's Woad, that has been spreading across the center's meadow.