Digging the old vege patch

We started digging the old vege patch today, as it might well become our temporary sandpit while the new classroom is being built. We hoped it might yield a few interesting bugs as we dug...

Hiding in the old vege patch...

Today's downpours have provided us with bugs appearing from the undergrowth, and also from the soil in the old vege patch: snails, worms, slaters, a caterpillar, ants, a click beetle... We were lucky to have most of the afternoon rain-free, as it really poured just after school!

Searching in the rain

We talked about the rainy afternoon as we ate lunch: lots of bugs like the damp conditions, especially the ones that move by slithering and sliding. So we were hopeful that some would come out for us. We only went out for about 10 minutes, to avoid getting soaked, but managed to find several snails and 2 skinks in that time.

Drawing bugs

As we couldn't stay it in the rain too long, we took the opportunity to draw and write about the bugs we had found, either today, or previously. We drew from observation, from memory, from our bug cards, or from library books, and added notes as we went along. We thought about habits, habitats, observations, and facts we could share.

Sharing ideas

Sharing ideas

Searching the sandpit

Our challenge today was two-fold: see what bugs we could find in the sandpit, and at the same time, start to empty it out onto the vegetable garden in preparation of the playground move.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!) we found NO bugs in the sandpit, but the children worked really hard at shifting the sand, in bendy buckets, mini wheelbarrows, ice cream containers, and moved enough to make a good layer on the vegetable garden, which will hopefully help to break up the clay soil there.

Great work, team!