All Middle Years – Groups

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

St. Joe’s schoolyard is visited every morning by some grazing cows as the fall mist lifts and the sun shines over the surrounding fields. Right in the corner of the yard is a young forest that the students love to explore. Mrs. Julian’s grade one class and Mrs. Kuchinak’s grade 2 class learned how different mammals are able to survive and thrive. How are their bodies different in comparison to human mammals. All the students converted their hands into paws in order to create a rodent nest. It was a high-energy activity as the rodents had to prepare for winter.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – October 18, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Mr Ritchie’s class at Highland Heights PS are in the midst of learning about habitats. What a great opportunity to explore the back woods for evidence of habitat and the creatures that are sharing this space. The discovery of a goldenrod gall and trying to imagine what it would be like to live in such a small space all winter was contrasted with the many birds that are on their way south or here to stay for winter. The students also had a chance to choose an animal and try to mimic the nest that they may make as part of their habitat.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – October 21, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

Ms. Chapman’s and Ms. Ramsey’s classes are regulars when it comes to exploring outside. On our hike, we took in the fall changes through a story and watched for creatures and what they are doing this fall. We looked at nests and bones and made our own bird’s nest to see how difficult it would be. Though it was supposed to rain all day, that wasn’t going to stop this group from taking time to explore outside.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – October 21, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Heather Morton’s class from Millbrook South Cavan totally embraced their roles as birds. They played a food gathering game as a blue jay or junco, learned the calls of many local birds, went bird watching along the station trail, and finally got to make their nests. Some were hawks and crows while others were chickadees and hummingbirds. These birds worked hard to get their nests ready for their eggs.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – October 15, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Active School Travel Peterborough hosted Let’s Bike East City! A community event to share school travel planning information, get a B!KE ABC quick check, and learn/practice bike riding skills. Helping the community prepare for biking to school.

Active School Travel Peterborough – October 2, 2021

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X Month) Barefoot in our climbing tree, feeling so free and joyful! We noticed that the leaves have begun to cover the ground in a beautiful golden layer. The sunbeams are stronger than before as the leaves make way for the rays of light. Change is in the air!

Babbling Brook Daycare – October 12, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Today we went for a walk and found some beautiful coloured leaves that had fallen from the trees. We enjoyed jumping in them, and throwing them in the air and watching them fall down around us. We collected some to bring back with us so we can create some artwork with them!

Northern Lights Children’s Daycare – October 8, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Our class has been following the Monarch Ultra relay race currently taking place through Ontario. As a result, we were inspired to hold our own ‘Mini Monarch Ultra’ at the school. We invited 3 other classes to join us as we dressed up like monarch butterflies, walked laps of the schoolyard and participated in a variety of active games outside. It was such a fun event!

The One Two Crew – October 5, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Our class has been learning about the lifecycle of a monarch butterfly as a connection to our science units. We created this bulletin board in our classroom to label each of the lifecycle stages.

The One Two Crew – Sept 23, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

This week we have been learning about how monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico for the winter. We studied a map of North America to track their route and made our own butterfly art to hang in the hallway outside our classroom.

The One Two Crew – Sept 21, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Played wetland-related games and explored the flora and fauna in the wetland.

Camp Kawartha – August 18, 2021

Landmark 10 (Grow and Eat Food)

Helped maintain a garden and planted radish seeds.

Camp Kawartha – August 9, 2021

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc)

Today while visiting the pond again we found thousands of tadpoles in the water.

Crazyfornature – June 2, 2021

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

Today while visiting the pond we found some frogs. We were even lucky enough to catch one and were able to get a real close look at it. After examining it we placed it back in the pond.When we returned home we did a little research and discovered that it was a bull frog.

Crazyfornature – May 29, 2021

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

Today Mrs. O’Neill’s class from St. Joe’s made creations out of sticks and any other nature items they had hanging around their homes. They made amusement parks, playgrounds, climbers, and sculptures all for the bugs. The wind really put them to the test! It is a beautiful day in Douro to learn outside.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – June 1, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Ms. Martin’s grade 3 class in Millbrook had so many great questions and answers all about Pollination and Pollinators! Did you know that there are over 400 different species of bees in Ontario. Bees are really the rock stars of pollination! Together, we read a book about butterflies and played a game show all about Pollinators. This class is really a knowledgeable group about the many different creatures that are responsible for much of the pollination. We also took apart a tulip to look at how it all works and then the students were to go into nature to make their very own pollination scavenger hunt to bring back for their classmates.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – May 17, 2021

Landmark 10 (Grow and Eat Food)

The hands were dirty and seeds were growing this May in Mrs. O’Neill’s grade 3 class at St. Joes in Douro! We made a huge batch of soil soup together, figuring out what ingredients are needed to make soil. With that soil, the students were asked to find a seed and plant it in a pot and see what happened. There were so many great results. There were beans and sunflowers and tomato plants and some students were able to take us on a tour of their gardens as they talked about what they were growing and what they wanted to eat from their garden. Lyla even has a pumpkin patch. There are a lot of green thumbs in this group.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – May 14, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

During an online presentation with the Otonabee Conservation Authority called “Wonderful Watersheds,” we discussed what changes we see in the spring in nature and some of the dangers of water in the spring.

Ray’s Explorers – May 19, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

The classes at Highland Heights Public School got to enjoy a virtual presentation with Jackie Nicholls to learn about the upcoming Monarch Ultra Relay Run! This run will happen in the fall and is raising awareness for the importance of Monarch butterflies and other pollinators. During the presentation, we got to ask Jackie lots of questions and learn all about the monarch butterfly lifecycle, habitat, and migration route.

The One Two Crew – May 19, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

We learned about many animals in our neighbourhood through a daily presentation over 10 weeks with our Teacher Candidate Miss Lancashire called “Mystery Animal”. She presented clues and asked the students to guess which animal. At first, the students made guesses that didn’t always match the clues, but the more we did this activity the more they listened to the clues and were closer with their guesses. After the student’s guessed the animal she would give them many interesting facts about the animal. It started in the classroom and then moved online. In the classroom with created a bulletin board of the animals as we learned them and online we created a slide of student drawings/colourings of the animals we learned about. We learned about 35 different animals!!! (1 pt for each?). The students are really great at naming all the animals that live in our neighbourhood now! One of the pictures is the slide show where the students added a favourite animal they learned about the other pictures on a list of all the animals the students learned about. When we learned about some of the animals we also learned about the calls they make!

Ray’s Explorers – May 21, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Students gathered natural materials to make art to celebrate Earth day.

Armstrong Grade One – April 22, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

The Otonabee Region Conservation Authority prepared an online scavenger hunt. Students were introduced to watersheds in the Millbrook area and learned about the unique features of the pond and Baxter creek. These freshwater sources need to be protected because drinking water is a very small portion of water available on earth. Students learned about animals, fish, and insects that can be found in these watersheds.

Armstrong Grade One – April 29, 2021

Landmark 10 (Grow and Eat Food)

The students planted some vegetables and herbs 4 weeks ago and have been helping to water them. Today we harvested the plants and enjoyed them as mini pizza toppings. The students also got plants to take home and continue to tend too.

Ray’s Explorers – Feb 12, 2021

Landmark 10 (Grow and Eat Food)

Students planted seeds and watched them sprout in the window at school. The daily changes were discussed and students made predictions about which seeds would sprout first.

Armstrong Grade One – April 5, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Today we had the exciting opportunity to join naturalist Drew Monkman in Jackson Park. We spent a fun-filled morning observing birds such as the song sparrow, chickadee, and cardinal. We also found a red squirrel midden and learned how to drum on a tree like a pileated woodpecker and yellow-bellied sapsucker.

The One Two Crew – March 29, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

After watching Drew Monkman’s Pathway Project video a few weeks ago, our class decided to take on his challenge for Landmark #12 and find 5 birds, 5 mammals and 5 trees. We set up a bulletin board in our classroom and have been adding to it every time we observe a new species, either outside in the schoolyard or when out on a nature walk. Many students have brought in nature items to match our findings which we have added to our board, including a spruce cone chewed by a squirrel, a pine cone, a cedar branch, willow leaves and branch, and a blue jay feather. While this board is a work in progress, so far we have learned about 7 birds (chickadee, blue jay, Canada Goose, cardinal, robin, crow and mallard), 3 trees (pine, willow and cedar) and 2 mammals (chipmunk, eastern grey squirrel). We can’t wait to keep adding to our board over the coming weeks!

The One Two Crew – March 25, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Over the past few weeks we have been observing signs of spring. To display these findings, we set up a bulletin board in our classroom with pictures and descriptions of each sign that we have found so far. We are looking forward to adding to this board as spring continues to unfold!

The One Two Crew – March 25, 2021

Landmark 13 (Travel a Familiar Route)

We love walking The Great Trail near our school. We were celebrating the change of temperature and activities we can do in the spring!

Immaculate Conception – March 23, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

We listened to bird calls in class (Thanks to Nature Nancy!) before heading out on a walk. On our walk, we stopped multiple times and sat quietly to listen and look for birds around us. Boy did the students love this!

Immaculate Conception – March 25, 2021

Landmark 14 (Celebrate each Season)

After a rainy night, our class went on a water walk. On our walk, we took some time to notice where we saw water and take a closer look at each. We took some time to take a closer look at the trees that were illuminated by droplets of water, or the reflections in puddles. We even noticed the number of worms we saw! This was a great lead us to the Water Cycle as part of our science unit.

Immaculate Conception – March 24, 2020

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

When learning online we needed to get creative! Our class participated in the live streaming of World Zebra Day from the Toronto Zoo!

Immaculate Conception – Jan. 29, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Our class has been very interested in birds, especially those that are migrating back to the area. Today we talked about why Canada Geese fly in a ‘V’ formation and then trying it ourselves across the schoolyard (with lots of honking)! We discovered it is harder than it looks to stay together!

The One Two Crew – March 19, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Our class has been eagerly looking for signs of spring over the past few weeks. After talking with naturalist, Kim Dobson, she suggested our class hold a ‘battle of the season’ game to decide which season was currently winning. As a class, we brainstormed a list of signs of winter and signs of spring. Armed with our lists, clipboards and pencils, we headed out on our weekly nature walk and students checked off each sign that they observed. When we tallied up the checkmarks we decided that spring was winning!

The One Two Crew – March 19, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Picked up garbage in our school yard.

Ms. Shelley Lawson’s Grade 2/3 – march 23, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

The after school program had our first beautiful spring day on March 22nd. We were able to stay outdoors the entire length of our program. The children had many opportunities to run and enjoy the nice weather. They all played happily between playing catch with the new baseballs, a game of soccer, or using the logs to play “the floor is Lava”. The younger children were picking up new skills for some of the older after school kids. We had a group teaching the smaller children how to throw a baseball properly and our one educator was showing some of the children new skills in soccer as well as perfecting their kicks to score a goal. Each child was happily engaged and loved being outside in the fresh spring air.

Northern Lights Children’s Daycare – March 22, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Off on an adventure to explore our whole wide world! First stop-this grassy hill we love to visit. I love watching as the friends move up and down in such different ways-always in search of the perfect way to get back up to the top. Keeping our balance while running down this steep incline can be just as challenging as climbing up. Thank goodness for friends to pull us up! “Look!! This creature’s footprint does have claws. That means it might be a fox.” said Brookey. “I think it went this way, should we follow it?” asked Everett. These friends love footprints and notice details like claws and size…thankfully we haven’t seen any prints “without claws” lately. That would mean a cougar with fancy retractable claws was prowling for chickens!

Babbling Brook Daycare – March 22, 2021

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

Our class is taking part in the Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon Restoration Program-Classroom Hatchery Program. This program is delivered to us virtually through the OFAH this year. We are learning about the life cycle of the salmon and watching the whole process through video conferences. We will hopefully have our own aquarium with eggs next year, to have a chance to take care of the fry, watch them grow, and help release them into Lake Ontario. We have learned about many careers that serve the community and the environment through our educator, Ben. We are also studying the 17 Global Goals set out by the UN and within that-one of the goals is Life Below Water. We are learning about the importance of clean water to take care of all living things that depend on clean water. Ben has taught us a lot about fish and Lake Ontario, so it’s great to learn about our own community and then link it with what others are doing to take care of water, globally. What an excellent program!f

Gr. 2M – March 22, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

We have been monitoring the Seasons as we visit Jackson’s Park with our class. Signs of Fall, Winter, and Spring were recorded and discussed.

Ms. Shelley Lawson’s Grade 2/3 – March 23, 2021

Landmark 12 ( Nearby Plants and Animals)

While in our favourite wooded area, we took a close look at the different holes found in the trees and tried to figure out who might live there. For reference, each student had a copy of the ‘hole patrol’ cards from Camp Kawartha (found in the ‘Activity Resource’ section on their website).

The One Two Crew – March 5, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

We celebrated the start of Spring. Our teacher candidate Ms. Lancashire led the lesson. We started with a discussion of changes in nature such as more rain and the return of animals from hibernation and migration. We then learned more about local animals they might see and hear in the spring through seeing the animals and listening to an audio recording of their call and another animal to see if we could hear it correctly (we did a robin, cardinal, and spring peeper frog). After the lesson about spring, the students were introduced to a checklist of signs of spring. We then went on a community walk to see if we could find any signs of spring on the checklist.

Ray’s Explorers – March 19, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

We had the pleasure of having Mr. Neil from Camp Kawartha come to our school and lead some activities and games for our classroom. We learned about animals that live near us and the different adaptations they have made over time in order to survive. Mr. Neil showed us all of the special body parts that beavers have and the uses for them. We also pretended we were squirrels trying to find food and escape predators. We had SO much fun with him!

HH LLS A – March 3, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

During a recent forest hike, our class talked about ‘coniferous’ trees. Each student got a printed picture guide of many common coniferous trees. We then used this guide to help identify a variety of trees around our nature area. The most common one we found was cedar but also a few pine and spruce.

The One Two Crew – March 5, 2021

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place)

Today our class had a visit from Neil, who works at Camp Kawartha. Through the program ‘Tracking and Trailing’ he taught us all about the different animals in our community and showed us the tracks that they make in the snow. We also learned how to move like each animal and even tried our hand at camouflaging like them in the forest!

The One Two Crew – March 10, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Today was our first warm day, which means our first puddle day of the season!! We were so excited to explore puddles again. We excitedly are welcoming spring!

Compass Early Learning and Care-Home Childcare Program – March 9, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

A small group of our afterschool program engaged in making a fort using materials throughout the play yard. The group had started with traditional snow to make their fort and started to make their structure. They quickly spotted the tree stumps and asked if they were allowed to use them to create a bigger structure which I was able to watch them create. Using teamwork with the smaller kiddos they were able to create their Winter Castle and played inside it for the rest of the afternoon.

Northern Lights Children’s Daycare – Feb 25, 2021

Landmark 4 (Favourite Place Weekly)

Back again at Jackson Park! This time we just went to get some fresh air and exercise our legs for a bit. A couple of months ago we found a really cool natural slide in Jackson Park that we always go back to. This week, we slid down it but it wasn’t as fun and slippery as normal so we made our own slide. Even the teachers enjoyed going down! 🙂

HH LLS A – Feb 25, 2021

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

Today we went to one of our favourite places, Jackson Park! We all tried something new for the very first time, too…snowshoeing! We had an absolute blast. All of the kids did amazingly well on their snowshoes, even the boy in our class who is legally blind. I haven’t heard the kids laugh and have fun like that in a long time. It was awesome!

HH LLS A – Feb 19, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

We went on a birdwatching hike with a naturalist (Dave Milstrom) with our class. He brought some different seeds to show us. He also brought his bird recording to play to attract the birds. We saw a mourning dove, many crows, a sparrow, and lots of chickadees at our feeders. We tried feeding the birds from our hands, but they were too shy. Before this hike, we had watched the live birdfeeders at “Cornell University” and were able to identify 5 types of birds (blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, siskin) and squirrels as they visited the feeder over 2 weeks (3 times per day). We tracked how many birds we saw in 2 min. each time we watched the feeders.

Ray’s Explorers – Feb 25, 2021