Wascana Marsh Adventure

What an interesting, fact filled, fun and of course adventurous day we had last Friday! We loaded the bus right at 9 a.m/12:45 p.m. and began our trip to Wascana Marsh. 

Once we arrived we got off the bus and started using all our senses to explore the marsh. Along the way we saw some dandelion seeds, ducks, geese, red winged blackbirds, and robins. We were very excited to see some painted turtles out sunning themselves as well. We stopped every few minutes and Kent (our guide from the Outdoor Education Department and Ms. S's Dad) taught us some interesting facts about both wildlife and the environment.

Once we arrived at the pond, Kent showed us how to lie on our bellies to observe the wildlife in the water. We were even able to do some pond dipping. We saw snails, water striders, a variety of insects and even a frog. 

Once we were finished pond dipping, it was time for a "tick" check. Now, I am not sure if your Kiddoe told you about our "contest", but I will quickly explain. In the classroom, we discussed we would see some ticks on our trip. We learned this would be a little deal as ticks in our area do not carry lyme disease and they cannot hurt you. I taught the Kiddoes how to tell the difference between a female and male tick. A female has what looks like a white necklace around the head, and the male tick has what looks like two suspenders down its back. We decided to have a contest and see if we could collect more male or female ticks. Each time a Kiddoe found a tick, he/she would holler, "I have a tick!" I would then ask if it was a boy or girl and place it into the appropriately labeled jar we brought along for the trip. What could have been a scary thing was quickly replaced with lots of laughter and excitement if a tick was found. However, I had a bit of a laugh when the Kiddoes were disappointed that we didn't find any ticks.

As we continued our walk, we got see some cattails and found it interesting when Ms. S. told us a story about how the First Nations People used the fluff from the cattails to make diaper filling a long time ago.

To end the trip, we headed deeper into the marsh and encountered even more wildlife and flora.

Much too quickly our day had come to end, but we all agreed it was a fabulous learning opportunity.

Take a look at a few pictures from our trip!
a.m.


p.m.