Eager Nature Lovers at SCCS

Last week Judy and I got a special invite from Evan (or a 

"command performance") to share all about nature with his

2nd grade class at Sandhills Classical Christian School.

What a great afternoon we had!

Here are Judy, Ken, Evan, unnamed rubber snake,

and Chipper.

The students were all ears from the outset.

I started by talking about cycles in nature.  You know:

bicycles, tricycles, unicycles, and popsicles (sic).

I shared from Genesis 1: 11 that LIFE is one circle

that does have a beginning:

"Then God said, Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.  And it was so. . . .

And God saw that it was good."

I demonstrated with a tiny pond creature called a daphnia

how God designed his plant and animal creations to fill

the earth He had created.

 Generation 1: a single daphnia

Generation 2

Generation 3

With generation 4 you get ---

Wallpaper!

We discussed the basics of photosynthesis.

We talked about producers and consumers in plant and 

animal communities.

I told them about the Farm Life Nature Trail

 just a couple of miles from their school.

I used examples from it to tell about the interactions

 of the living things at all levels of a typical forest.

We expanded on that by passing out a dozen ecology charts 

showing the diversity and relationships among living things

of the desert, tide pools, mountainsides, grasslands, ponds,

forest, and many more ecosystems.

We passed the charts around and everyone looked for

their favorite or most unusual animals.  I left these

with the class for the next couple of weeks to give 

them more opportunity to inspect them.

I passed out laminated leaves from ferns, trees, vines,

and shrubs from my nature trail.  We discussed how

you must be a nature "detective" if you really want to

see the differences between plans and get to know them.

 Of course, I saved the Snake Show for last.

Some students were disappointed that I didn't

bring a live snake.  Others were relieved.

Here I'm holding a Chicken Snake.  I also showed them

the Black Eraser, the Chain Snake, the Wiper Viper,

and many more.

This has to be a hands-on activity.

Otherwise, I would have gotten "booed" out of the place.

Amid the silliness of "fake snakes," I shared some

true facts about real snakes and how to catch and

hold them properly.  I gave them all the proper

safety disclaimers (Never... blah blah blah!!).

Evan demonstrates what his Grandpa (me) has

taught him about snake handling.  Oops!

Even rubber snakes can give you the creeps.

Since I put Evan's "serious" picture with us at the

beginning, I'll let him ham it up a little here.

And here.

Evan, thank you for inviting me and Grandma to 

your class.  It was the most special school day I've

had in a long, long time!