A Special Visitor At My House: A Hummingbird!

This morning as I watered and weeded my vegetable and herb garden, I enjoyed the chorus of birds and the lovely morning after a night rain. Suddenly I thought I heard a humming sound from a flowerpot on my nearby deck. With fingers crossed, I quietly crept up the steps and guess what I discovered? A very lively Ruby Throated Hummingbird!  

As satisfying as witnessing a rainbow, I sat down and watched him browse my flowers for a good 10 minutes.  Suddenly, just as quickly as he was discovered, he whizzed off into the trees. I am hopeful that the tiny but mighty bird will be back now that he knows a flower buffet can be found at my house!

Follow this link to Archimedes Notebook to think a bit more about hummingbirds.  Then visit Cornell University's Bird site to learn more about hummingbirds, listen to audio clips, and to watch a few short videos. You can also head over to Journey North and enjoy the Hummingbird information that we used during the school year too. Happy Reading!

IMA Projects-Our New Classroom Wiki

IMA students recently completed science projects to summarize what they learned about ecosystems and Ohio habitats.  They used an application called Keynote to create digital books to showcase their learning. We will use this wiki to showcase projects throughout the year.  You can explore our wiki by following this link; find out how technology is supporting student learning in IMA.

http://imaprojects.wikispaces.com/

No Habitat Helpers This Week

Due to conferences, we will not be hosting Habitat Helpers this week.  We will meet again on October 14th and 21st.  Winter meetings with indoor building activities are being planned too. Stay tuned for more information.

Memorial Benches for Mrs. Peltier and the Boy Scouts

The IMA students and other Chapman classes are assisting Dr. Languis with the construction of 2 unique benches to be placed in The Habitat this spring.  The benches are in honor of our secretary, Mrs. Robyn Peltier and the local Boy Scout Troop that assisted with the construction of the Habitat.  A special ceremony will take place in the spring when we install the benches. 

The benches are unique because the back rests flip, turning two benches into a picnic table.  Recycled plastic timbers were used to create the table top.  Please contact Dr. Languis if you would like to see the plans for this useful creation.