Little River Outdoor School

Little River Outdoor School Outdoor Elementary School

Today we got to see a tiger swallowtail just as it emerged from its chrysalis. It fell to the ground, almost like it was...
06/29/2022

Today we got to see a tiger swallowtail just as it emerged from its chrysalis. It fell to the ground, almost like it was injured, but we figured out pretty quickly it was just because it had just come out. She quickly climbed up a tree and we watched as she stretched and tested her new wings. We could still see tiny drops of green hemolympth (essentially caterpillar blood) on its wings. This turns black within a few minutes of them coming from their chrysalis so it was so cool to see it before it turned. One of our favorite nature finds so far!

This week we made our own paper from recycled paper and added petals from the wildflowers we dried. The students started...
06/29/2022

This week we made our own paper from recycled paper and added petals from the wildflowers we dried. The students started a fire with flint and steel and made ink from boiling ripe pine cones that we collected. They have also been collecting feathers over the past few weeks to make quills. Everything was finally done today and we got to practice using the quills, ink and paper. It was tricky at first getting hang of it, but towards the end they were able write clearly with it. We’ve been learning about the American Revolution for the last few weeks and this was a great project to really be able to see first hand how things were written back at that time.

Drying wildflowers to add to our handmade paper that we’re making next week and unripe pine cones to make mugolio - pine...
06/21/2022

Drying wildflowers to add to our handmade paper that we’re making next week and unripe pine cones to make mugolio - pine cone syrup.

This week we finished up our anatomy unit that we’ve been working on for awhile now. We found a black swalowtail at the ...
06/16/2022

This week we finished up our anatomy unit that we’ve been working on for awhile now.

We found a black swalowtail at the end of her lifecycle. She is still alive, but barely. They named her Astrid, figured out what she would like to eat, gave her some wet moss to drink from and built her a habitat. Once she passes, they want to check her out under their microscope. It was cool getting to see as she uncoiled her proboscis (tube tongue) to drink. We learned all about butterflies before, but none of us had ever gotten to see that happen up close before.

We also got to spend some time with Scone and Camo, the new pigs, and the new chicks.

Io moth, a first for us!
06/15/2022

Io moth, a first for us!

06/13/2022

Our friend George, the black rat snake. He’s been around this area longer than we have, and we get to hang out with him all summer long. We saw him being chased by some birds, so we think he may have been going for an egg snack. He finally got away and went back to his home - a hole in this tree. We’re excited to be back from break!

There is so much to see this time of year. Here are some of our nature findings just from today.
05/25/2022

There is so much to see this time of year. Here are some of our nature findings just from today.

We collected violets with the goal of making violet paint. We talked about acidic and alkaline substances and went over ...
05/19/2022

We collected violets with the goal of making violet paint. We talked about acidic and alkaline substances and went over the pH scale again. We played a guessing gamed involving the pH scale as well. After we collected violets we made the paint by boiling the violets on the stove. We added lemon (acid) and baking soda (alkali) to see how it reacted and changed the paint. We made hypotheses beforehand and then saw how the acidic substance lightened and changed the color of the paint and the alkaline substance darkened the color of the paint. After, for fun, they mixed the acid and alkaline substances and saw it react. In the end, our paint was too light to use as a paint (next time we need more violets!) but we still enjoyed the process of collecting the violets and doing the experiment.

Today we finished the fort! It was just windy enough that we were able to really see how it would block the wind for us....
05/12/2022

Today we finished the fort! It was just windy enough that we were able to really see how it would block the wind for us. Later in the day some students read in it.

We found a butterfly chrysalis and have been finding all sorts of moth and butterfly wings all week. We love watching the swallowtails circling around overhead while we eat lunch.

This week we’ve been learning about the urinary system so today we did an science experiment to reinforce what we’ve been learning and then went on a hike in search of horsetail, a natural diuretic (just to see and not use, luckily!) We didn’t find any horsetail, but we did get to see baby goslings and some beautiful azaleas. Later, while exploring the creek we found various macro invertebrates, salamanders and crayfish.

We’ve been working on shelter building. They had to figure out which way the wind usually comes from and consider water ...
05/11/2022

We’ve been working on shelter building. They had to figure out which way the wind usually comes from and consider water flow during rain before selecting the right spot. Then they made the frame and filled it with large sticks. Now they’re in the process of covering the large sticks with thinner sticks and sealing the edges with mud. Afterwards they’ll cover the whole thing with leaf debris. They’re also working on a fireplace (for looks) and will fill the inside with leaves and pine branches to lay on to help insulate themselves against the cold ground.

Today we got to take a field trip to help plant native trees at Springhouse Community School to help offset carbon emiss...
05/06/2022

Today we got to take a field trip to help plant native trees at Springhouse Community School to help offset carbon emissions. We had such a great time and all together got about 75 trees planted.

Address

3368 Bethlehem Church Road
Floyd, VA

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 3pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 3pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 3pm
Thursday 9:30am - 3pm

Telephone

(540) 745-2034

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Little River Outdoor School posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Little River Outdoor School:

Shortcuts

Share

Category