Week 2: Elephant Migration, Enviroscapes, local topography in Rock Creek Park, and The National Arbo

City Kids started their science classes at the National Zoo! This week we learned about why and how Elephants migrate. The kids had a great time at their first class, and while on their walk to find the elephants, they practiced herd behavior.

For geography day, we learned about how our landacapes work, particularly, how rainfall affects our landcapes and how it can cause pollution. One of our parents brought in a large enviroscape, and the kids took turns spraying water on the dirt (cocao powder) and observed how it drizzled down into other parts of the land. We had marshmallows to demonstrate litter; of course, some kids ate the marshmallows! Best litter ever!

The next day, we worked on topographical maps; we made mountains out of Play-doh, seaprated them into topographical sections, and traced them to illustrate where the highest and lowest points of the mountain would be on a map. After, we went for a hike in Rock Creek, armed with a topographical map of the area.

At the end of the week, we went to The National Arboretum for a tour of the youth garden. Our kids learned how some plants grow; they got to pull some weeds; and they learned how bees make honey, using their own highway system to come and go. We even got to taste lots of stuff from the garden: cantaloupe, watermelon, herbs, and even some yummy honey! Thank you bees!