BCC CDC

"We found a mommy duck!"

A mother Mallard makes her nest

under our Milkweed stalk "house"

How many eggs do you see?

The children found a female Mallard nesting with her eggs inside the Milkweed stalk tent that they had built this past Autumn.
The children dictated the text in the slideshow below to tell you about their discovery.
When the children noticed how difficult it was to see the Mallard in the leaves, we read the book, How To Hide A Parakeet & other birds by Ruth Heller to help us begin to understand what the word camouflage means.

Our investigation continued..

After listening to a story about an injured wild duck.,The children were inspired to create an Animal Hospital (in dramatic play). On today's bird watching walk, the children spotted geese, robins, sparrows and a chickadee. They also checked on "Cara" the mother duck. On their walk, they discovered a robin's nest with a very long piece of knotted twine hanging from it!

They watched as a Chickadee picked fibers from a stick and carried them to the inside of a street lamp. Watching her struggle as she pulled the fibers with her beak, the children decided to help her.

They were also eager to place yarn out for the robins just as the children in the story “A Robins Home" did. The slideshow below documents these experiences..

The children at the BCC CDC read The Robot and the Bluebird written and illustrated by David Lucas. Inspired by both the book and many metal recyled materials in the classroom the children started using the materials to create a robot .

One morning before the children arrived, a sparrow found it's way into our classroom.

The photos in the slideshow tell the story....