Super Junior Rangers

The Trailblazers have visited Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park twice in May to collect data on biodiversity in both the fields and forest there. They've used field guides and tally sheets to do their research, and then represented that data in two different art forms:  collage and sculpture.


Field

Forest



Next Generation Science Standards 2-LS4-1:  Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.


Inventing Flowers and Their Habitats

On Wednesday one Trailblazer brought us an interesting deep red flower she had found growing along the path in the woods behind our school. We took a whiff---eww! It smelled like rotten fish! Why would a flower smell that way?  What followed was a great discussion about how plants adapt to their habitats and about the interdependence of the plants and animals living there. What was the flower? Red Trillium. Why does it smell that way? Hmmm . . . what kind of pollinator might be attracted to something that smells like rotten meat?

 

Later, each Trailblazer "invented" a flower and its habitat. In their artwork or later interview, they answered the questions:  What are the other plants and animals that live in this habitat? How does the plant get sunlight and water? How does it protect itself? And how is the plant dependent on others in its habitat, and vice versa? Here is how they answered those questions:

Next Generation Science Standard 2-LS2-2: Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.