MOSS Day 2

Hello Families!

Wow what a day!  We woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow at MOSS.  Today we focused on adaptations.  We spent the morning conducting a series of activities ranging from bird beak adaptations to plant defenses.  Our work with bird adaptations focused primarily on the feeding mechanisms of humming birds, finches, and woodpeckers.  Following this we hiked up to the sagebrush meadow and analyzed the various adaptations sage has developed to cope with such dry climates.  After the sagebrush we moved into a gorgeous aspen grove, and followed that with a session in a meadow that is starting to shift into a forest community (or at least will in the next couple hundred years).  After a very cold lunch, we spent the afternoon learning about using insect biodiversity as a water quality indicator and discussing ecosystem services.  Everyone is in high spirits and having a fantastic time!

From left to right, Kaylee, Sara, Jeremiah, Anna, Jordyn, Taylor, and Lauren giving the weather report to the entire MOSS student body.

Sophia, Tobias, and Lena brainstorming different bird beak adaptations

Culminating bird beak adaptation activity

hiking up to the sagebrush

the local fauna doesn't seem too scared of 6th graders

hiking into the aspen grove (this shot really captures the dominant weather pattern today... sooooo cold!)

Noah and Cathan working on their meadow adaptations creature (we created creatures that were adapted to these meadows, but were also entirely fictional).

Liam crossing the meadow

a nice winter shot of Payette Lake

CREW building activity to lead a blindfolded partner to a tree, let them feel, smell, taste (well maybe not taste) the tree, lead them away, and see if they could find the exact tree with the blindfold off.