Field Trip Frenzy

Last week, Avery went on two back-to-back field trips for school.

On Wednesday, she and her Daddy loaded up and headed to the Houston Zoo.  Not only did he serve the usual chaperone duties, but he also served as Chief Fact-Corrector and Informant.  I heard after the trip that "Daddy knew so much about the animals and everyone was impressed."

According to Jordan, there were several scenes like this:
Child, walking up to a Gila Monster: "Mom!  Look!  An alligator!"
Mother, distracted: "Wow!  It sure is!"
Jordan would lean over and tell his group of kids, "That's actually a Gila Monster.  And here are all the ways you can tell the difference..."

Avery was impressed with her Daddy's knowledge, and Jordan did his part to keep confusion of animal species at bay.

On Thursday, Mama took a turn with the Stanley GT kids at the Outdoor Learning Center.  All grade levels (1st-5th) went on the field trip together, and the theme of the trip was Katy Prairies.  The kids made mud balls with wildflower seeds, played migration games, and learned all about the tall grasses that used to grow on the Katy Prairie.  I was highly entertained the entire time with the very GT, very out-of-the-box thinking that the kids were using.

For example, we arrived at a new learning station and stood among mock cows, sheep, and horses, all with lassos attached to them.  The speaker held up some of the 8-foot prairie grass and posed the question, "If you came to Katy when it was covered with these tall grasses, and you knew you couldn't get anything else to grow because it is so wet here, what could you do to make money using the tall grasses?"
One hand shot up: "Clear the land and build a settlement!  Sell the houses and buildings!"
Another hand: "Pull the grasses and use the roots to weave something since they're so fibrous!"
The speaker tried to lead them a bit more: "Well, those are good ideas.  But I'm thinking we'd use this grass to give it to something and then sell that something..."
Another hand: "Sell the grass to a medicine man so he can make medicine!"
And another: "Sell it to Native Americans so they can weave baskets!"

Click here for pictures from the field trips