Stemersion Day 5
Daily Activities
Our trip to the Narrows was today. Before leaving, we starting writing nature documentaries in groups. My group decided that our documentary would be about the differences between sloths and koalas. Before we could plan anymore, it was time to leave.
When we got to the park, a naturalist and two volunteers met us. We were split into two groups. My group went with the two volunteers and they talked to us about river health. Something I found interesting was that different organisms have different sensitivities to pollution, and the organisms found in rivers can be an indicator of how healthy it is. We also tested the water's temperature and pH, and found organisms in the water. Unfortunately, due to the rain last night the water was too high for us to be able to swim. We then switched groups and walked through the woods with the naturalist. She gave us binoculars and pointed out interesting plants and animals along the path. At one point, we stopped by a bird's nest and she played its call on her phone. The bird flew over and we got to observe it flying in the trees near her nest. Along the way, she showed us some plants that we should avoid, such as stinging nettle and poison ivy. Here is a tree with spikes that are strong to break through a tractor tire.
After lunch, we walked up to the nature center. We looked around for a few minutes, and then Hugh, on of the volunteers, showed us how rivers are formed using a sand table.
We then came back to school and finished our nature documentaries. Here is mine.
Alex: Hey everyone! Today we're gonna be talking about koalas and sloths.
Lauren: *makes koala noise while hopping onto kalie*
Kalie: Do you guys know anything about koalas or sloths already?
Blaine: I know that Koalas are from Australia!
Kalie: Yeah! Koalas are endemic to the continent of Australia whereas sloths are found in South America.
Alex: How about you Jessica, do you know anything about sloths?
Emma: *makes sloth noise*
Jessica: Uhhhh... Yeah! I know that they are slow and have families.
Kalie: That’s right! Sloths are placental mammals, and are divided into several families, none of which is Phascolarctidae. Koalas are marsupials, and the only member of the family Phascolarctidae.
Alex: Anyone know what koalas eat?
Blaine: No.
Lauren: *koala noise*
Kalie: How about sloths?
Emma: *makes sloth noise*
Jessica: No.
Alex: Well, koalas live almost exclusively on eucalyptus leaves, whereas sloths eat a variety of plant parts.
Kalie: That's right! And sloths mainly consume leaves. Sloths are generalized as folivores or herbivores; they will eat leaves, buds, twigs, fruits and, occasionally, insects and rodents.
Lauren: *make koala noise*
Jessica: Okay so now that we learned all of this cool stuff, can we go get some lunch?
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