Forest, Wetland, and Prairie

We had our eye on the forecast for a week before this class!  It seemed to change two times per day.  But, we lucked out!  It was a beautiful day to learn about the forest, wetland, and prairie at the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden.

We started out with a tour of the garden.  Some of the girls heard a turkey (but didn't see it!), saw honey suckles, ferns, yarrow, etc.  The yellow lady slippers were in bloom, too.  Beautiful!

After class, we all walked down to the Theodore Wirth beach for lunch and playtime.  After burning off some energy, we started in on the big project of the day, making a self contained eco-system to take home.

They filled their quart jars with water and pebbles, and then we walked over to a pond to scavenge for snails, pond sludge, and duck weed.  The girls had a lot of fun with this part!  Then, we walked back to the park, put a shrimp and horn wort plant into the jar.

Voila!  The eco system can be closed up, never to be opened up again.  Apparently, some have been known to last for months and months!