Yesterday I had the privilege of bringing a group of homeschoolers to the 20th annual Earth Wellness Festival. This is an event that is for Lincoln area fifth graders, and one I was involved with as a teacher. I was excited to get to take my oldest son and some friends.
For each festival, the student groups get to attend three separate workshops, and then all of the groups assemble together to watch a raptor show. This event runs for two days, so several sections come to visit the events. Each “workshop” is presented many times by volunteers from the community.
Here are the workshops we attended …
SCAT …
Yes, you read that correctly. We learned all about poop can help in detecting which animals are in the area. (Bet I may not use that word on this blog again for a long time!) This definitely appealed to the boys as they all got to create edible scat out of tootsie rolls and other added ingredients. (Hence the picture of the shredded wheat from yesterday!)
Our second workshop had to with learning about saline wetlands. I definitely learned a lot about the habitat that exists nearby our metro area. This culminated in a fun game of jeopardy.
Our third workshop had to do with CROPS (community gardens) and composting. Including the worm variety. The kids enjoyed getting to hold the worms. I had never pondered all of the items that should not be composted (especially processed ones!) Maybe someday I would even be willing to give this ecological habit a try someday!
The highlight every year is the raptor show. Just something special about having a large bird of prey fly right over your head. They are beautiful animals to see in flight.
Although he did not actually fly, the favorite bird of both me and my son was probably the bald eagle. What a beautiful animal!
This one was much smaller than we expected. Evidently the baby birds have only brown tail feathers, so maybe we have seen a baby bald eagle without realizing it!
I enjoyed attending the Earth Wellness Festival as a mom. I definitely want to take my other children/students when they are in fifth grade. What a great event for those in ecology and conservation to put on for the Lincoln area kids!
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