The good weather made for a leisurely evening and we had an opportunity to speak with Barb, one of the school custodians, about the outdoor classroom summer projects. It's wonderful to have so much interest and support from members of the school community.

One of the trees caught our attention: This tree, and only this one, had attracted dozens of ants to its upper branches. Any ideas as to why, foresters?
 

 
All of the white spruce are in great shape and have grown substantially since last fall — we even have a couple of alders that have sprouted, too.
 

 
Rain is forecast for the next few days, so we'll pick up again next week, planting out the trees from two of the beds around the constructed wetland, then turning the vacated beds into a vegetable garden in the weeks that follow.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 
A quick glance into the water revealed that we already have a number of resident aquatic insects: water striders, water boatmen, and at least three families of water beetle, as well as the egg masses of some as yet unidentified organisms...

Summer will see us planting within the wetland with aquatic plants 'rescued' from the City of Fredericton's retention ponds — plants that would otherwise be dredged and composted — as well as on the berms and around the fence; we hope to make the plantings both a school and community event. Finally, the installation of a set of class benches and some student-designed interpretive signage will help complete this outdoor classroom resource.

Next is the creation of a low-impact interpretive nature trail at Garden Creek Elementary School. Unlike other schools where we are installing outdoor classrooms, Garden Creek Elementary School is fortunate to be adjacent to a piece of land that offers rich learning opportunities — including four distinct habitat types: forest, stream, grassland, and wetland — but the access is currently limited by steep slopes and lack of a defined trail. We plan to address this with the construction of a mulch/gravel trail and the installation of student-designed interpretive signage this summer.
 

 
Finally, later in the summer we'll be offering a weekend environmental education camp for Grade 6–7 students at Yoho Lake. We had originally planned to offer the camp last fall, but had to postpone it due to scheduling and funding constraints. Fingers crossed for this year!
 

 
Both Hana and I plan to field-test the camp curriculum during an upcoming overnight hike with staff and students of Nashwaaksis Middle School Hiking Club to Fundy National Park. I'll be sure to share any stories!