- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Stephen Lyn Bales, editor

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

EdVentures@Ijams homeschoolers learn about mammals



EdVentures@Ijams homeschoolers met last Friday to learn about the furry creatures that live at the nature center, from shrews to otters.

Yes, mammals were our topic. We explored mole holes, met an opossum, found oodles of gray squirrels and one chipmunk but no foxes, beavers, coyotes or minks because they are all nocturnal and we are diurnal. We even looked at different types of skulls, albeit no lions and tigers and bears, oh my. We learned about the arrangement and type of the teeth--called dentition--can determine if the animal was a carnivore or herbivore or if it was some kind of rodent.

Ijams Homeschool Academy
is divided into three age groups and taught by Christie Collins, Ashlind Bray and Stephen Lyn.

Next month's exploration will be yard birds.

And even though the school year has started, we still have room for a few more junior explorers at a discounted price. Call Lauren: 577-4717, ext. 135.












Saturday, October 21, 2017

Ijams reaches out to Gibbs with spider truisms




Spiders are so misunderstood. Last Thursday, Ijams educators did an outreach program, "The Truth about Spiders" for the kindergarten kids at Gibbs Elementary School. And believe us, their teachers had prepared them beforehand.

Eight legs. Yep. Eight eyes. Yep. Two body parts. Yep. Plus that spiders are predators that eat lots and lots and lots of insects, so they are really good to have around.

We took Rosie, our Chilean rose hair tarantula and we found a lovely garden spider, a.k.a. writing spider outside sitting in her orb web, so the young spider-ologists got to examine her closely.

Ijams has been doing outreach nature programs to local schools since the 1970s.