elfin forest unit
acorn naturalist
plant identification cards from the kit
crossing Escondido Creek
yesterday kicked off hiking season for us (we are wimps in the summer heat).
even though we are currently experiencing the warm dry October Santa Ana wind weather, our weather starts to cool off soon after.
we've been here about 6 years & this was our 1st time hiking the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve & the brownsugars & i had such a great time doing it with our homeschool co-op group.
i purchased a unit study specifically for the Elfin Forest from one of my fave resources, Acorn Naturalist & brought it with. along with the parents guides, it was a very handy resource. i'm loving that the kit is reusable because aside from hiking the Elfin Forest again, our area is filled with similar local chaparral & we can easily reuse the kit to expand on the hike & finish some of the activities we didn't get to.
the hike was fun & very informative, the kids were super excited about spotting a coyote down by the creek BUT the preserves amazing Interpretive Center was by far the highlight! we could have spent hours!
it was beautifully done inside & out. the displays caught & kept everyone's attention. there were so so many FANTASTIC hands on activities but i will just mention a few (A MUST SEE).
the microscope with camera & TV screen set up was def a fave. we were able to collect & view samples of the Escondido Creek water we crossed on our hike & discover some of specimens that were present in it such as fresh water flatworm planaria, algae, mayfly larvae & more. there were also other samples prepared for viewing.
the center provided owl pellets to dissect, tons of real-life or realistic habitat specimen samples were on displayed which helped identify what we saw & what we missed, beautiful art work, fantastic docents...a very rich real life educational environment for all ages.
way too much to see & do...we cannot wait to go back!
it was beautifully done inside & out. the displays caught & kept everyone's attention. there were so so many FANTASTIC hands on activities but i will just mention a few (A MUST SEE).
the microscope with camera & TV screen set up was def a fave. we were able to collect & view samples of the Escondido Creek water we crossed on our hike & discover some of specimens that were present in it such as fresh water flatworm planaria, algae, mayfly larvae & more. there were also other samples prepared for viewing.
the center provided owl pellets to dissect, tons of real-life or realistic habitat specimen samples were on displayed which helped identify what we saw & what we missed, beautiful art work, fantastic docents...a very rich real life educational environment for all ages.
way too much to see & do...we cannot wait to go back!
No comments:
Post a Comment