This year in Grade 4 Social Studies students are learning about habitats. Keeping this in mind, today was an especially exciting day! Today we discovered that we don’t need to look very far in order to begin our studies. In fact, we became acutely aware that the beautiful location of our very own school was the perfect place to start!
It all started yesterday, when Ms. Davies was carrying a chirping toad toward the crosswalk. This poor toad had found its way on to our playground and needed to be returned home. Before releasing it into the wild, Ms. Davies mentioned that she had seen salmon running in the creek that very morning. Based on this new information, off we set mid-morning in search of toads, salmon, and other creatures. We also kept a careful look out for patterns in nature as we have been studying complex patterns in Math class.
We set off with Ms. Davies as our leader. Within the blink of an eye, we found ourselves in a gorgeous woodland surrounded by plants and animals that the majority of us had never really taken the time to examine before. It soon became quite apparent that our campus is, in fact, part of 85 acres of gardens and parkland, and all in the heart of midtown Toronto.
During our walk, we followed one of the many paths along the west branch of the Don River. Here we discovered an even richer habitat than we had first anticipated. For example, during our walk we spotted squirrels, chipmunks, and several types of birds, water spiders, nests and burrows. We also marvelled at the wide array of trees, shrubs and weeds. Many of us were able to point out several patterns both found in nature, such as those in leaves, and manmade, such as brick walls.
As we continued on our trek, we discovered that not only does the Humber River “run” through Glendon campus, but the salmon do as well! Some of us were even able to catch a glimpse of a few salmon migrating up the river. We took a moment to wish them “good luck” in their efforts to find a place to spawn.
It really was an amazing walk and we would like to extend a special thank you to Ms. Davies who took the time to lead us through the area, all the while pointing things out, making interesting observations, and listening to those of us who were excited to share our ideas with the group!
Alison Green, Learning Strategies Specialist
