Temperature – 51 degrees

A rainbow of colors - now gray and brown

Weather – chilly, cloudy, gray

Today we made our last visit to Horn Pond for this project.  The day was chilly and gray, feeling a bit gloomy.  The rainbow of colors that we had enjoyed several times over the semester, greens, blues, oranges, reds, yellows have all disappeared, with browns and grays left behind. 

Overall it was a quiet day at the pond.  Much fewer visitors were there, nor were our swans that we regularly saw at our spot.  There were 2 sea gulls, 3 geese, 2 ducks and a group of crows squawking quitely loudly from across the pond. 

As the kids wrote their final thoughts, I heard a “plop” from the water.  I walked over to the edge and much to our suprise, a few seconds later alarge fished jumped out of the water.  It was quite amazing to watch because of its size and the height in which it jumped.  It appeared to be about 10 inches in length with an orange stomoche and dark grayish-brown back.  It jumped straight up out of the water, with only its tail still touching the water.  A few seconds again – one final jump.  We watched to see if the sea gulls took notice, but they gave no reaction.  None of us had ever seen such a jump by a fish before!

Over the course of the semester, we very much enjoyed our visits to the pond.  Although we had been there several times before over the years, we had a wonderful time visiting with a “mission” each time.  We were able to look at the pond in a different way with each visit.  Often, our visits planned for 30 minutes ended up lasting from 1 to 2 hours.  We enjoyed watching the wildlife, noticing the changes and of course seeing our swan friends. 

I saw my son’s drawings progress throughout the visits.  Both of the kids shared lengthy stories of our visits when we returned home as well as make connections to their own school work as they studied plants and animals in science.  They looked forward to our visits and leisurely made observations, enjoyed the views, took pictures, sketched and asked questions. 

It seems so obvious that learning about plants and animals should occur outside, yet schools are often bound by time, budgets and MCAS.  Books are a wonderful starting point to learn about a specific subject, but the experience brings greater meaning and personal connection to the subject.  The longevity of the project also allows for more information to be built from visit to visit.  It could go on indefinitely, with many cues being taken from the chidlren.  Although my son did not enjoy the writing aspect of this project, he still gained as much knowledge and appreciation for the pond as any other student who would have participated.  That is one of the wonderful aspects about science journaling.  It is not bound by books, tests and a right or wrong structure.  It is an open ended experience that all children can succeed. in.

Final Thoughts by the children:

C1 – I learned that swans, seagulls, gees, loons, blue herons and ducks live here.  Birch trees, maple trees, and oak trees grow here.  Lilly pads grow in the water.  The pond is split into 2 parts.

C2 – I think Horn Pond is a very pretty place.  One of my favorite things about it is all the cute and pretty animals.  Another thing that I like is teh water.  I also like to look at teh rocks.  I saw a fish come out of the water.  It was really cool.  I really like to go to Horn Pond.

Our adventures will not be over.  We will continue to take walks, ride our bikes and explore the back paths of Horn Pond.  I think we have build a foundation that will continue the learning possibilities for future visits. 

A Chilly Day - Winter is soon to come.

Temperature:  55 degrees

It was another beautiful day at the pond.  As we walked towards our special bench to continue our observations and investigations, we could feel fall all around us.  It was a bright, sunny day, yet a cool breeze reminded us that summer was over.  The reds and greens that were seen two weeks ago, now are overcome by golds and browns – that is where there are any leaves left hanging.  The path was covered in brown, crunchy leaves and you could smell the decaying leaves as a sweet sign of fall.

When we arrived at our bench, the swan family, a mother, father and 2 babies, were at the edge of the water feeding.  We went right to our investigation of the soil:

* The soil was a medium brown color

* It had a very sandy texture but was also full of larger rocks* It had been raining the previous days, so water did not absorb to quickly into the soil today.  It was already quite wet.

* When squeezed, the soil did clump together, then it would crumble apart.  

* Using a wooden skewer, it was quite difficult to push into the soil.  It took a great deal of force.  At times, the pointer would change directions as it was redirected when pushed against a rock.  Generally, the pointer was able to be pushed in about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch.  In one spot, a depth of about 1 inch was able to be made. 

* Behind us, was a great deal of rocky ledge

* Under magnifiation at home, we were able to see colors of white and yellow-ish browns.  The plain dirt now appeared to be more crystal-like in form with some sparkle.

As we continued our research, the swan family moved about 6 feet over in the water and

King Kong watching us while his family ate

began to come on shore.  The father swan, also know as King Kong – a name given to him by a regular pond visitor, stayed in front of the family, as if protecting.  He moved closer and closer towards us, standing very tall.  We finally decided it was time to go – as the swan continued to move towards us, making eye contact.  

No turtles were out sunning themselves today.  We could still here a variety of bird calls and caught sight of a few:  loons, sea gulls, ducks, sparrows, blue jay and of course, the swans.

We we returned home we used two books to supplement our research and understanding of soil:

Dirt by Steve Tomecek

A Handful of Dirt by Raymond Bial

Large rocks found in the soil

Terrarium made from moss collected at the pond.

Temperature:  55 degreesWeather:  Sunny and breezy.  Beautiful clouds floating by.

Today, the most prominent change at the pond was the trees.  Many new shades of yellows, browns, organges and reds vibrantly outlined the paths.  We also noticed several trees across the way from our spot whose leaves have already fallen off.

As the breeze rustled through the trees, faint sounds of crickets, squirresl and a few birds were heard.  However, not as many as many types of birds seemed to be able to be spotted.   The one exception was the large group of swans sunbathing across the way.  The two male swans were apparently in a very vicious fight just before we had arrived.  Three passer buyers told us of this within our first five mintues of arriving.  I did tink it strange just a few days before when I saw these two families so close together.  Swans are generally quite territorial.  I wondered what had occured to spur such an attack.

Overall, it is amazing how much the cooler weather make an impact on the animals.  As mentioned before, the birds were scarce today and so too were the turtles and insects.  One surprise came as we got up from our bench to move along the path.  About twenty five feet away from where we were sitting along the shore was a blue heron.  It suddently took flight and soared over the lagoon.  It was a beautiful sight.  As we strolled down the path, we saw another one sitting high in a tree.  We were able to capture this moment!

Blue Heron

During our time, we were able to make the following discoverie:

Animals:

• Squirrels and a number of squirrel nests
• Ducks
• Canadian geese
• Swans
• Blue herons
• Loon
  

  Common Milkweed

• Turtle
• Signs of beaver – a pointed trunk that remained from their work
• Bee
  

  Collecting a water sample

Trees and Flowers:

• White pine trees
• White Oak
• Birch trees
• Red maple
• Sticky burr
• Wild blueberries
• Wild berries of an unknown
• Wild flowers unknown – purple, yellow, white
• Willow

C2 observation (grade 3) – I am drawing trees, bushes adn grass.  It is sort of cold at the pond today.  It is really pretty because all of the leaves are changing color.  There was a lot of colors at the pond.  Today got pretty cold at one point.

We collected a sample of water today and brought it home to explore further under a microscope at 200x magnification.  To our amazement, four small specks of black were quite active little water bugs of some sort.  Also – what appeared to be pretty clear water, had circle orange specks in it. 

We also used the magnifier on some of our leaf speciments and discovered the following:

• The white pine appears a simple green needle.  However when magnified, 2 bluish-white lines appear along the entire needle.
  

  White pine

• What makes a sticky burr so sticky?  It is hard to see with the naked eye.  With magnification you see small hooks at the end of each extension.  It is like nature’s own velcro!
• What may look like red, yellow and green also has shades of blue in it when looking deeper at a changing autumn leaf.

Fact:  To identify a white pine, simply count the needles in a bunch.  If you can spell w-h-i-t-e while counting the needles – you have found a white pine!

A Tree with signs of fall

A list of items we found along the way

A view from our bench

Temperature:  78 degrees

Weather: Beautiful sunny day with a light breeze.

Horn Pond is a favorite spot to many in the town of Woburn.  The pond offers a 2.5 mile path around the main pond where you will find people enjoying a bike ride, run or walk.  Even more wonderful are the many trails that may be enjoyed that veer off the main path around three smaller lagoons.  My family has enjoyed walking our dogs and riding our bikes for years now.  We enjoy watching the new families of ducks, geese and swans each spring as well as sighting the lone loon and blue heron that inhabit the back lagoons. The pond also offers us opportunities to fish and climb hills to find grand views.  This popular spot offers a bit of peace to so many in such a busy town.

The location we chose, is a bench that we often stop to rest on a bike ride.  From here, you have a view of one of the lagoons as well as the main pond off in teh distance.  The lagoon and main pond are divided by a walkway for folks. 

This particular spot offers not only a beautiful view of the reflection of the walkway but is regularly visited by the ducks, geese and a particular family of swans.  Behind you as you sit on the bench are woods that are inhabited with a wide range of birds, plants and trees.  This lonesome bench provides you with insight into all aspects of nature.

Floating on by

In one brief hour, we were able to see swans, geese, ducks, a loon, a pair of cardinals, a sunning turtle and very busy bee. We enjoyed listening to array of birds talking all around us have quite extensive conversations.

A very busy bee

Journal Entry:

Grade 3 student:   I see ripples in the water. 

I see ducks swimming in the water.  I see reflections in the water.  When you sit near a pond at the end of the day, it is relaxing.