Life Cycles

As part of our study of monarch butterflies, we have been learning about their life cycle. Butterflies undergo complete metamorphosis, which means they have a resting period or pupa stage. Other insects undergo incomplete metamorphosis, like dragonflies whose nymphs break out of their cases with wings intact and ready to fly.

This week the kids made cut paper representations of the monarch butterfly's life cycle. All kids included the four main stages: egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa) and adult butterfly.  Some kids tried to include some of the transitions betweens stages. For example, how caterpillars hang in "J shape" just before the chrysalis stage. Others wanted to show how the chrysalis goes from its bright green with gold to looking black as it becomes transparent. Many kids showed the milkweed plant that plays host to the larva and some even showed a hatchling caterpillar with a dark head and whitish body - very different from the vibrant stripes it grows into!

Enjoy the pictures below of their work. We were very pleased with the knowledge they demonstrated!

Our Monarch Sanctuary

This week, we celebrated the release of the first of our monarchs to emerge from its chrysalis!
We have been keeping a watchful eye on the classroom caterpillars and after seeing many go into
"J-shape" and then to chrysalis, we knew this day would come soon. It has been exciting to witness the wondrous life cycle of this beautiful insect first hand in our classroom.

Before his release, the class shared their well-wishes for his migration to Mexico and watched him fly to a nearby tree (ask your child how we knew it was a male butterfly!). In the course of gathering milkweed for our remaining caterpillars to eat from the side garden (by the cafeteria) we made an amazing discovery - monarch caterpillars in our very own Lilja garden!

The milkweed plants near the cafeteria are host plants for returning monarchs to lay eggs which hatch and grow into more monarch butterflies. Once we spotted one, we kept seeing more and more and more! If you drop off or pick up your child, ask them to show you where we found the caterpillars. We plan to make a sign to let people know that these milkweed plants play an important role in the life cycle of our monarch butterflies and as such, we need to preserve and protect them. Many gardeners consider these plants undesirable weeds and pull them out, but this garden is now under our protection!

Check out the pictures below of the caterpillars we found and where to find them in the side garden:

Lilja School Trail

This week we took our first walk down the Lilja School trail. Along the way, we looked at examples of erosion, which we will be studying more deeply this year, and also noticed jewelweed in bloom. This fun flower has a spring loaded seed pod that pops open when the seeds are ready to be released. The kids had fun finding the green seed pods and feeling them pop open in their hands. Seeds would go flying and they could see the little green "spring" that propelled the seeds out - a nice introduction to our study of seeds, shortly to commence.  Interestingly, jewelweed often grows near poison ivy and is a natural remedy for that stinging itch.

Our walk then took us to the edge of Morse Pond. We took a knee and looked out over the water for some quiet moments of reflection to appreciate the view and spark some wonderment in the scene surrounding us. In our share later on, many kids shared that they liked looking at the lily pads and flowers on the water while others were trying to discern the "reef" of water plants below the surface. Still others noticed the ripples moving across the water but could only wonder at what had set them off.  Some students did a little bird watching and still others looked at the small number of leaves that have already started to change color.

It was a great introduction to many of our upcoming studies and also a moment of peace at a time of transition between vacation and school, as well as summer and fall.  Research has shown that even being outside for ten minutes looking at green space can reduce anxiety and the activity of the walk can refocus students for the challenging work of the classroom.  

Welcome and Welcome Back!

To our new families, welcome! And to our returning families, welcome back! 

Despite the extreme heat that has brought in the beginning of the school year, we are off to a good start. Kids are getting to know one another and have just been sorted into their House Table groups which have a dragon theme this year. The names of the houses are taken from our read aloud, Dragon Rider: Firedrake, Maia, Shimmertail and Slatebeard.  

These House Tables serve as a base camp and the children at each table will work together as a team throughout the year. Each House Table spent some time considering the qualities they think should be exemplified by the members of their team and created a banner with these values listed.  

Check out the pictures below of our Dragon House banners for both classes and ask your child if he/she can name all the members of their house. One of the key goals for the kids right now is to learn each other's names. In the pictures following of the students doing some introductory math work with cubes, ask your child which students' names they know and which they are still trying to learn. This will help in our community building as we continue to launch the year.