As the year began, we went outside to explore the Bryn Mawr ecosystem. We started by observing trees. As scientists, we drew the trees, wrote detailed descriptions of them, and did leaf and bark rubbings. All this information was put into our nature journals.
We learned how to identify trees. Looking at their leaves and how they are arranged on the branch helped us to determine the type of tree.
When trees die, they are turned into soil by decomposers so that their nutrients are then available to nourish other plants. We took apart rotting logs to find the decomposers living in them and eating them.
Trying to identify the decomposers was fun and sometimes challenging.
We had a special opportunity to view nature and learn many new things when we went on a nature walk with Upper School science teacher and naturalist, Dr. McMillan. He pointed out a spice bush to us and told us of its relationship with the spicebush swallowtail butterfly. He showed us how the juice from a walnut can stain things, including his hands. He explained that squirrels are responsible for planting many trees when they bury their nuts for the winter and then forget where they buried them.
We have already discovered many interesting things about Bryn Mawr's ecosystem, and there is still much to learn!
