Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Barrier Island Field Trip

Today we went on a field trip with the Beachside Kids Explorers Club, to the Barrier Island Sanctuary.  We had a guide who led the kids on a 1 mile walk, to the beach and the hammock, and she told them all about the plants and animals in the area.    


The beach looked beautiful, but it was super windy!  



 She had the kids find stuff on the beach, and compare what belonged on the beach, vs. didn't belong there (trash!)




Heads bent against the wind! 


There was an interesting moment where the kids had to cross a road, and the guide asked them to line up.  These are homeschoolers, they had no clue how to form a single file line!  The guide was trying to tell them "get in a spot where you can see a person's head in front of you, one behind the other".  This was the best they managed:   (note the gaps, and clumps of kids holding hands!)

Then off we went into the hammock.

This is a "Gumbo Limbo" tree.  It has redish, peeling bark.  Its also called "the tourist tree".   Tourists often don't wear enough sunscreen on our Florida beaches, leaving them with sunburned, red and peeling skin, just like this tree! 

They checked out the water as well

We avoided this giant mound of fire ants: 

This tree was scratched up by a bobcat at some point, probably when the tree was smaller. 

After we had a windy picnic lunch.

And went inside, they have all kinds of things for the kids to look at, touch and explore.     This tree is decorated with sea glass.

Levi and Taylor did a little craft project. 

Taylor listened to facts about how sea turtles hatch, she likes to 'talk on the phone' 

It was a fun field trip!  Levi's favorite fact of the day is that "sand is made from shells".  


Then we finished the day with making some homemade pizza, with red sauce, pineapple and vegan rice cheeze.  

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