Enjoy a Fresh Water Habitat Exploration Day - A Pictorial Report and Free Printable Lesson Plan

Would you like to get outside to explore rivers, ponds, and streams with friends?  Then, you might appreciate the free printable Fresh Water Habitat lesson plan and pictorial report I am finally sharing today!

{Some links which follow are affiliate ones. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.}

I say "finally", because a blog reader recently brought to my attention the fact that I never finished sharing about the Habitat Explorers Co-op class I taught four years ago in May,  My apologies!  I thought I had done so and am happily doing so now at her request.  I hope doing so benefits you, too.

A Free Lesson Plan for You!

First things first: you can get a FREE pdf of the Freshwater Habitat Plan I made to print and adapt for your own family, co-op, or club's use.

Resources for Our Fresh Water Habitat Lesson

For our freshwater lesson in nature, we used:

Crinkleroot's Guide to Walking in Wild Places 

At home, we had plenty of other related books available for browsing and research.  Some of them included:

 

Near One Cattail

Crinkleroot's Nature Almanac

 

Rivers and Lakes (Nature Hide & Seek) 

Highlights from Our Fresh Water Habitat Meeting

 

Now, enjoy a peak at how the plan became reality:

We began the outing by gathering in a field, reintroducing ourselves, and reviewing prior learning.  Then, we got right into the day's focus: fresh water habitats by having a chat and playing a game.

I asked the children what they already know about fresh water habitats and what they hope to explore or come to know, and, then, explained that there are three main types of freshwater habitats:

1.  ponds and lakes
2. wetlands
3. streams and rivers 

I, then, asked three children to stand holding signs that said “pond and lakes, “wetlands”, and “streams and rivers” before grouping the rest of the children up so non-readers and readers could be together and giving each pair or group a strip of paper with a description on it.

The children then had to run to the child who held a sign for whatever water habitat they thought the descriptor matched with and hand their strip to that child. 

After that, children ran back to me for new strips.

Once all the strips had been matched by the children, I explained that some of the descriptors could match more than one type of freshwater habitat, but that, for the purpose of the game, each type of habitat should be described by ONLY four descriptors. I, then, had the children discuss ideas and make possible adjustments so that each type of fresh water habitat had four descriptors before, finally, revealing the “right” answers and discussing any observations and questions that came up.

After that, it was scavenger hunt time!  I gave small groups of children a checklist of items to spy - and photograph if they wished - as we explored the nature preserve.  Without delay, they were off and runnig!

We had barely made it onto the trail when children were calling out for photographs, "I found wet leaves!"

The hunt helped the children notice things around them as they joyfully trekked through the paths.

My heart never tires of seeing children walking together in the woods.

It also never tires of seeing them explore - as my youngest did as soon as we hit our first water crossing!

That crossing soon found many friends literally jumping into our day's focus - fresh water!

Everyone was having so much fun, we took a long break at this crossing.

Walking in water just drew the kids in!

Seriously, they were crossing over the water on the bridge, then through it down below, then back over it... enjoying themselves so much!

Finally, we moved on and continued along the trail to our lunch spot, where I read a book to those who were interested during our lunch break.

After lunch, it was time to find the leaf litter nets we'd placed in the moving water the week prior.

The older children enjoyed adventuring to collect the leaf litter bags.

Although we thought we had put them in good spots, we could not easily find them all at first.

But, keen eyes prevailed!

And the bags were recovered.

Meanwhile, one child found a dead fish, which ended up becoming a specimen for learning.

The leaf litter became the larger draw though.

The children were given tweezers, magnifying glasses, and more so they could pick through the litter to find creatures.

Of course, some crazy kids opted to take breaks to explore the water further and - eek - one or two of them also ended up with tiny leeches which we had to pull off!  (Oops!  That was an unexpected lesson!)

Other children enjoyed taking breaks to toss pebbles into a pond.

Even our youngest friends, though, did not take breaks long, but, rather, dug right into our explorations!

It was wonderful to see friends so engaged in discovery!

Better yet, one of our moms has a biology background and was able to help the children pinpoint the different species of critters they discovered.

They sure did discover a lot of them!

I cannot express how glad I am that this lesson engaged the children so much!  It was a bit beyond my background, but, together with other moms and the kids, it became an experience we all enjoyed and learned from!

Then, after our formal explorations ended, it was time for free play and fellowship.  Bubbles...

Hugs and love!

Stick play.

Private chats. (I still wonder what secrets were being shared here...)

And even a friend gifting my then recent First Holy Communicant with a saint book he relishes to this day.  (The gift was an unexpected surprise and just one example of how wonderful it is to share time with fellow Catholics!  I just love when learning, fellowship, and faith come together!)

As you can see from all the photos,the outing proved to be another absolutely ideal day of Habitat Explorers.  In fact, it remains among my fondest homeschool memories.

Our final day of the co-op - on meadows - does, too.  I will try to get the lesson plan for that outing up within a week or so!

In the meantime, feel free to browse all o f our other Habitat Explorers Co-op posts.

 

All the Plans!

Getting Started

Favorite Habitat Books

Intro Lesson

Woodland Habitat Outing

If you use all or parts of this lesson, I'd love to hear about it in a comment here or on the Training Happy Hearts Facebook page.  I'd also be delighted if you'd take the time to share your own tried-and-true inspiration and resources, which may inspire our future outdoor experiences!  Thanks!

When My Son's "Problem" Becomes Your FREE Printable Lego Mini-Challenge Cards

Do you have eager brick builders in your home that enjoy making Lego creations?  Then, you make like the FREE printable Lego Mini-Challenge Cards the my son came up with for a Show-n-Tell Brick Builders course that he's helping me teach at a local co-op. 

Some of my son's mini-challenge ideas are quite simple, such as:

Build a bridge.

Others are more complicated, such as:

You are a goldsmith.  The king needs a new crown.  Make one for him.

All are aimed at getting a child's brain thinking and hands building right away.

My son and I hope you enjoy these Mini-Challenge Cards. We also hope that, if you have a moment, you'll read on to discover the "problems" which prompted the cards, and, if you like, leave a comment for their main creator - my oldest son - who would love to hear what you think about his work.

How Our Co-op Planning Challenges Led to Mini-Challenge Cards

Two weeks ago, as a part of a commitment to help me plan, prepare for, and teach two spring co-op classes, my son finished making some Mini-Challenge Cards with the help of his sister's laminating and cutting efforts.

Although the cards are simple, the road to their creation had a few bumps, which required problem solving and a growing repertoire of skills.
The problem solving began months ago, when I was coordinating our spring co-op, looked at the registration list, and realized:

Uh oh. My boy is not going to be happy.  He is the only boy even close to his age signed up and, so far, there's it not a single classes that would be even remotely interesting to him.

As co-coordinator for our local spring co-op, I had to think quickly about solutions for this potential problem, and since positive problem solving is something I've been working on with my oldest son, I decided to enlist his help.

"Son," I began while we were on a walk by ourselves one evening.  "I know you love co-op..."

"Yes..." my son prompted me to go on.

"Well, I have some good news and some bad news about the spring."

"What?"

"Co-op is going to run again, but your closest friends won't be able to come, and you'll be the only boy your age."

"I thought that might happen," my son responded.  He knew that two of his closest friends are now involved with an all-year academic co-op and another boy his age had had to drop out of our enrichment-based co-op in the fall. 

After a sigh, my son went on.  "No kids my age... What classes are being offered?"

In response, I began listing different parent names and the classes that they had suggested so far. With each course title I spoke, I could see my son's shoulders slumping further and his walking pace slowing. 

As I expected, none of the courses other parents were planning to teach sparked any interest in my son.  Still hopeful, I asked, "So, what do you think?  Would you like to take any of these?"

A dejected, "no" was my son's response, followed by a brighter, "Could I teach a class instead?"

A smile played at the corners of my mouth, since I had had this very idea myself.  "Perhaps, Son.  I think you could, but you're not that much older than the other children.  Do you think that you teaching a class by yourself would work?"

"Yes!"

"Really?"

"Well, I could help teach."

"That could work."  I smiled. "Is there a class you'd like to assist with?"

"None of the ones you already said," my son responded.

"Well, then, we have to think of some solutions," I suggested.

No reply came from my son, so, after a stretch of silent walking, I said, "If you do not want to help with any of the classes that others are teaching and you don't want to take any, what should we do?"

Footsteps continued to fall.

"As I see it, we have three choices at this point.  We could find something you want to teach.  I could teach a class you want to take.  Or, we could bow out of co-op this spring and pick up with some other things we've been wanting and needing to do."  (In all honesty, I had one other choice in mind, but I wasn't about to speak it yet.)

My son then weighed each of the ideas I had offered, immediately nixing the last one after saying he would not want to spoil things for his younger siblings by being the reason we took a break from co-op.  He knows they like it and wants to them to continue enjoying it.  He commented further that I do a lot for co-op and that he would not want to take my help away from the group by requesting that our family no longer participate. 

"But, I really don't like any of the classes, Mom."  He continued walking. 

Half-teasing, I then suggested, "Oh, I have another idea, you could bring some things to do and use co-op time as a study hall..."

We both laughed at this idea.  Quiet study?  During co-op time?  Seriously?  That would not be my son's style.

Negative pensiveness broken by laughter, my son smiled again.  "What are you teaching, Mom.  Maybe I could teach some different classes with you?" 

Exactly.  I thought. "Sure, Son.  That could work.  Why don't you tell me what you'd like to co-teach with me and I'll ask the other coordinator if she thinks it would be okay for you to be my assistant..."

And so it was that my oldest son invested in the idea of being my Junior Assistant for both a Show-n-Tell Brick Builders course and a Knights in Training one this spring. 

Over the past couple months, my son took his commitment seriously, and, from late winter until just two weeks ago, he busied himself reading and researching about Lego builds and knights in order to help me to plan and prepare materials for both courses. 

As a part of that process, my son made the Mini-Challenge cards so that children who might finish up with the main challenges he came up with for each week's Brick Builder lesson could remain actively engaged in class-related activities until every child in the class was ready to present their creations.  

To make the cards, my son helped me choose a background and design a simple layout.  Then, he ordered a tall stack of Lego books from the library and perused different things online in order research and brainstorm ideas for the cards.  Finally, he took turns typing his ideas out on his own or dictating them to me for me to type, making 48 challenges in all.

This process was not difficult, but it did require focus and sustained effort, which are both things my son and I are constantly working on for him.  So, I was delighted to see how our Mini-Challenge Cards project unfolded with him working hard and growing his repertoire of computer skills.

I am equally happy to say, that our first two Brick Builder and Knights classes went GREAT!  I could not been more pleased with how well my son did in planning, preparing, and teaching each class with me so far. 

We've been getting positive feedback from students and parents about both classes, and my son is so excited about how his efforts are paying off that he has already begun asking when he'll be old enough to teach a class all by himself, or with me as his assistant.  I told him, "In time, Son, in time.  Let's just enjoy what we are doing right now, and we'll talk about that later."

And that is what we are doing - enjoying the present, which includes brick building fun and sharing my son's ideas with you in hopes that you and yours might also enjoy meeting mini-challenges with success!

We'd love to see the Lego builds you create using these cards.  Pop on over to our Facebook page to upload a picture or tag us in a comment on a picture you upload elsewhere.  My son will be so excited to see your creations!