The Beekeeper Visit

         Last quarter, Ms. Dietz had a special guest.  A beekeeper came to visit the class, and the shocking part was that he brought his bees with him!  In a special observation hive, we got to see the origin of the saying "busy as a bee."  All of the worker bees know their job, whether it is taking care of baby bees (called larvae), building the hive, or finding food.  The queen gets taken care of by the worker bees, she has babies and is the most important member.  All of the worker bees are female.  The males are called drones, they mate with the queen. 

         Honey bees are very interesting.  They are so important because they pollinate flowers, and that provides us not only with beauty, but also our fruits and vegetables!  They are also gentle and only sting if someone bothers their hive or them.  If they sting you, it may hurt you, but it kills them!  There is a dangerous type of bee, the Africanized bee, that is very aggressive and will chase you over long distances or corner you under water!

         The beekeeper taught us really cool things about bees, but not only that, he let us sample some honey!  Now we really love bees.  When we see them in our garden, we will know to leave them alone to do their work, and we will say thank you to those tiny hard working girls!

Radishes!

Radish mature quickly, so they are the first crop students get to sample from the garden.  How do they like them?  Well, it was mixed results.  The radishes from our garden tend to be very tender, with a slightly sweet taste, then they get a little HOT!  It was a little more than many students bargained for!  Most of the radish went to our classroom taste testers, but we also reserved some for teachers who love our fresh veggies.

John Loyd Coastal Clean Up!

It was a lovely day to pick up garbage:)  John Loyd Park, located in Dania, is a great protected coastal wilderness area.  In order to keep it great, 4H sponsored a Coastal Clean Up Day!  I picked up a tan while doing wildlife some good.  I got to see flowers, old sea turtle eggs, and stingray in Whiskey Creek.  Here are some typical flowers that love the sandy coast.

Possum in My Pocket Part 2

Here are the winning poems in tribute to our opossum visitor:

"Possum in My Pocket"

There is a possum in my pocket
There is a frog nestled in my hat.
A turtle living in my shirt.
In my shoe, lives a bat.
Many animals live inside my clothes.
I took them from a zoo.
More animals are yet to come.
Behind, I hear a "Moo"

Animals are all around me
They itch me and scratch
A whole farm is living with me
Oh no!  I hear a hatch.
I'm taking them to my barn,
I put them in and lock it.
My animal friends are lovely, but
There's still a possum in my pocket!
-C.G.

"There is a Possum in My Pocket"

There is a possum in my pocket
And I don't know what to do.
It crawled in while I was sleeping
I hope it didn't poo!
I tried to take it out
But it did not want me to.
There is a possum in my pocket
And I don't know what to do
There was a possum in my pocket,
But now it is in my shoe!
-A.Q.

I carry him around
It doesn't make a sound
This possum in my pocket
He is upside down
Should I turn him around?
This possum in my pocket
-L.L.

"Possum in My Pocket"
He was running around in the library
I think I might name him Cherry
He's black and white
He didn't pick a fight.
And he loves to be...
Hanging in a tree.
-J.B.


Possums, possums, here and there
Possums, possums, everywhere
Possums eating snakes
Possums, oh how marvelous, how great
Possums, tree branches are their beds
Possums like to play dead
Possums, tails so slender
Possums, Ms. Dietz found in the Media Center
Possums, possums, here and there
Possums, possums, everywhere
-J.P.

Possum in My Pocket!

Ms. Dietz was strolling around the Media Center when she spotted something furry!   She followed it all the way around the building.  It seemed lost.  It was a young possum trying to find its way out of school.  Ms. Dietz decided to help him and introduced the class to the amazing features of North America's only marsupial.

We learned all about the immune system of these amazing animals.  They are immune to venomous creatures, so coral snakes, spiders, berries, beetles, scorpions, and bufo toads are tasty snacks to opossums.  Also, their body temperature is too low to incubate the rabies virus. 

An effective predator deterrent that opossums use is playing dead.  This survival strategy assists them from becoming a meal by rolling over, showing their teeth and slobbering.  We found it frightening yet oddly cute.  His paws looked like hobbit hands!  We also observed the different colors of his fur and his tail looked like it was made of plastic.  He was fearful of all of our faces staring at him and any noise in the class, we had to stay very quiet. 

At the end of the day, the class escorted the opossum to the Native Tree Garden by the bus loop.  We found a tall Gumbo Limbo tree located near where he was found and put him on the trunk.  He climbed all the way to the top.  Hopefully, he is hanging on a tree with his family.  We will miss you, Felipe (aka Poptart the Possum)!

 

Ready for Fall!

 Welcome to Driftwood Middle Environmental Wellness and the 4H Driftwood Dig It Garden Club! 

The beginning of October signals a change in weather...and if you live in South Florida, it signals the time to plant crops!  In the classroom we have kale, chard, broccoli, radish, sunflowers, and carrots already growing under UVB lights.  We will plant seedlings outside this week.