Earth Day - Kong Style

Haven't blogged in awhile.  Let's see if I remember how!

This year, Earth Day fell on the perfect day.  We had testing happening before and after, so it gave me a day to let the students think and do something completely different.

I went online to find some ideas of what I could do with them and came up with a scavenger hunt (thank you Pinterest!)  The scavenger hunt was a bit off for bush Alaska, but we made it work.  For example, #1 was hug a tree....yeah....we don't have those at all.  So I made it high five a friend or hug a bush, same idea.

The scavenger hunt went like this:

1.   High five 1 classmate: include picture

2.  Use 2 words to describe what the weather is like (thesaurus is handy)

3.  Make 3 wood rubbings (paper/crayons provided)

4.  Collect 4 rocks

5.  Find 5 different plants on the tundra (pictures please!)

6.  What are 6 ways you can help take care of the Earth?

7.  What are 7 reasons why you should take care of the Earth?

8.  Name 8 kinds of animals that live on or around the Tundra. (can you act any of them out?)

9.  Tell me 9 ways you can use the plants/animals from the tundra for medicine.

10.  Pick up 10 pieces of trash to throw away or recycle.

The weather that day was superb!  We had sunshine and a light breeze, perfect for exploring the tundra and finding treasures to share.

 #1 High Five a Classmate (or hug a tree)  Who knew sitting in a bush was an option?

 Here are a few more awesome high fives that happened on the scavenger hunt

  #3 was make wood rubbings

I should have known better BUT I thought my students knew what wood rubbings were....I was wrong

I got this instead.....

SO, I described wood rubbings and they actually found some sticks, bushes, etc, and a few got some really cool rubbings to show for it.

#5 was find different plants on the tundra.  We got so lucky because a ton of the plants were coming back to life or showing up again.  We found berries, tundra tea, and lots of other plants that I didn't know but they did.

Of course #10 was pick up 10 pieces of trash and BOY did we pick up trash!  We filled over 5 giant garbage bags full of trash.  All of the students were great sports and really did their best to pick up as much as they could.

Overall it was an amazing day.  Being outside, on the tundra, in the sunshine was a great break from everything else that needed to be accomplished at the end of the year.  Love my job, but sometimes I feel like all I do is test, not teach.  I'll leave this blog with a couple of my favorite pics from the day; students playing in nature and just enjoying being kids for a bit.

She found the LAST bit of snow!

I believe she's a snow goose (#8)

One of my favorites

He was finding his zen

Each class made a collage of everything they found

He's hard to explain but took up the challenge of finding a tree to hug :)

The school year has ended.  Not going to lie, I'm a tad sad.  Until next year and my new adventures in Kongiganak.  We're also going to be fundraising like crazy for the next Student Trip to the Lower 48!  If you have any ideas for fundraising PLEASE send them my way.  We're going to be taking 3 trips in 3 years, due to the large class sizes coming up.  More money now, means less stress for me in the future.

That's it for me!  Write me if you enjoyed, have questions, etc.