Drip Sand Castles and Crystal Jellyfish

I love words, but in this case, pictures communicate more. 

 

Last week, our school went on a field trip to the Delaware beach where we found turtles, crabs, crystal jellyfish, and horseshoe crabs.  That was our science class.  I taught my students how to make drip sand castles for our art class.  We played and dug in the sand, watched the tide come in, jumped in the waves, and collected shells and pebbles.  The older gentlemen dug a fire pit with a built-in circle bench.  In the late afternoon, we roasted hot dogs and s'mores there for our evening meal.  Traveling to and from in our very own new (to us) bus, we sang all our choir songs and reviewed all the Scripture memory songs.  It was a most memorable and beautiful day.  

 

Mosaics at the ART of RECYCLE

 

     Our students created these beautiful mosaics at the Art of Recyle in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.  They offer art field trips, which is a great thing to do in March when many of the usual field trip locations are closed.  We discussed and sketched design options at school before we arrived.  Once we were there, we arranged our designs in one pan and then transferred them to another pan with cement in it.  The wonderful staff at The Art of Recycle provided everything, mixed the cement, and gave us clear directions.  While we were waiting for the cement to be mixed, our students sang their "Books of the Bible" song as part of a puppet show, and then we spent some time looking around this amazingly creative place.  They even have a supply room with free stuff for teachers!  

To see a video of these, click HERE.  

Longwood Gardens Field Trip

Brisk winter field trip morning,

Mittens, coats and hats adorning,

At Longwood Gardens we arrived,

Our January well revived,

The fountains were delightful, 

The history insightful, 

The meadows were inviting,

The treehouses exciting, 

The deer across the meadow bounding,

Beautiful herbage all surrounding,

Flowers, cacti, trees, and vines,

Tile mosaics lovely designs,

Vast expanses we did roam,

Venturing in the muddy loam.

Nature's bounty, God's array,

In the clasp of winter's sway.

Related Posts:

My Favorite Field Trip:  Colonial Williamsburg

Eight Field Trip Edicts 

A Beach Treasure Hunt 

 

A Beach Treasure Hunt

     Pictures can say so much more than words.

     We had a superb field trip at a Delaware beach yesterday.  Beforehand, we had studied and examined several different kinds of shells and beach combing treasures that could be found.  Each student brought some type of bag for their specimens, and I gave each one of them a "beach treasure hunt" list to encourage them to find as many different science things as they could.  They didn't disappoint me.  

     Besides finding lots of great science stuff, they ran in the surf and sand, skipped stones, exclaimed in wonder, and enjoyed each other's company in one of the most wondrous places of God's amazing creation.  That is priceless.  

 

     Each student was given a tiny bottle with a cork stopper in which to collect some sand--one of the items on the treasure hunt list.  Below:  sand in a bottle, a jingle shell, a miniature sea slipper, and two tiny crab shells.  

Above:  beach pebbles, a razor clam shell, blood ark shells

Below:  crab pinchers and barnacles 

Below:  a knobbed whelk

Below: (top to bottom; left to right) feathers, crab shell, horseshoe crab shell, 

a spiral of whelk eggs, and driftwood

Related Posts:

Crabs Look Like Aliens

Shells, Students, and the Sea 

Honeymoon:  31 Years of OCDing Beach Finds