Yesterday, at 9:15 a.m. we left William O. Schaefer School to go to the Greenburgh Nature Center. We got on the bus and rode with Mrs. Schaefer's class. Alex P.'s mom joined us. We went over the Tappan Zee Bridge. At one point, we made a wrong turn so we had to turn around.  Mrs. Nerkizian was looking at the map on her phone to see if we were going in the right direction. 

Everyone kept on saying, "Are we there yet?"  Ashley wasn't feeling so well.  Finally, after about an hour on the bus, we arrived.  It looked like we were in the woods.  There were lots and lots of trees all around.  We got off the bus with 4 bags of our snacks but our guide, Dean, said that we wouldn't have time to eat because we got there a little bit too late.  (It's a good thing that we've already talked about being flexible!)

Alex's mom put the snacks back on the bus and we headed along the trail.  Ashley, Rebekah, Hope, Sofia, Allison and Isabelle noticed a small, hairy looking caterpillar.  Everyone was careful not to step on it.

As we entered the trail, we saw a bird's nest up in a tree.  It was a robin's nest.  We couldn't see the blue eggs inside the nest that was built in a maple tree.

Next, we saw a bush that had thorns on it.  It is called a cat bush because the thorns look and act like a cat's claws.  The leaves at the top can be eaten.  Dean picked one off and ate it!  Some people said, "Ewww!" and others asked to eat some.  The answer was no.  We wondered what it tastes like.  Dean said it tastes like salad.

The next plant that we saw had small white balls on it called galls.  The galls are made of animal spit.  Inside is a little worm.  Dean picked one off the plant and opened it for us to see.

As we continued to walk on the trail, we found a decomposing log on the ground.  There were fungi and insects around it using it for food.  Over time, it will decompose and break down to soil.

Dean found a dandelion that he picked.  Everyone thought that it was filled with pollen but it turns out that the white part on top is really made of seeds. 

He blew them and we watched each of the seeds glide through the air like parachutes.

Would you believe that the sun even came out for a little bit?!

We continued on the trail and finally arrived at the Nature Center. 

Our first stop was the bees.  There were 3 white boxes with drawers in each of them.  The center one was the most active.



There was an opening on the bottom of each of them for the bees to come and go.  We found out that the worker bees are females.  Their job is to look around and collect nectar to bring back to the hive.  The boys sit around, not doing much. (Dean said they watch BeeTV.)  Their only job is to help the queen bee and give the eggs Royal Jelly.  Scout bees go out and look for food.  When they come back to the hive, they dance around in a figure 8 and they shake their "beehinds."  Hope got to demonstrate.  She thought it was weird having to shake her rear end. 

Our next stop was a bird bath that was nearby.  Dean put on the water to fill it up.  He told us that the bees and butterflies like the water muddy.  There was a worm and some ants that started to move away when the bird bath was getting filled.  We knew it was filled when the water started to run down the front of the stone.

Next, we headed to see some animals.  On our way, we spotted a birdhouse in a tree.  We also spotted a chipmunk crossing the boardwalk.

We arrived at a large bird enclosure.  We saw two red tailed hawks inside.

Here is a better look at what it looks like.
To be continued…