Hello GAP families, Here is a quick update of what we've been up to over the past two weeks: Week 2 - Our theme for the month of January is the garden in winter. We kicked off week 2 by taking a closer look at winter weather, from how it forms to how it affects the earth around us. Students shared their knowledge about weather patterns, as we learned more about clouds and precipitation through fun, hands-on experiments! We created our own rain clouds in jars to observe how moisture condenses and then falls as rain, and also created our own fog to study what happens as warm and cool air mix. Also back by popular demand: quick pickles! Week 3 - This week we continued our theme of winter in the garden by shifting from weather in week 2, to looking at how plants have adapted to survive winter conditions. Our time together was spent focusing on observing, cooking, and tasting different root vegetables and talking about the vital role they play in providing food and other essential services to humans, animals, and the ecosystem during the winter. Students taste-tested beets, carrots, yacón, and radish and created a shaved root veggie salad. On Thursday we also created our own ink from red beets, and used the ink on Friday to create drawings of root structures, as well as playing with potato stamps. Best wishes, and hope you're all getting to enjoy the SUN :) Brynna
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Hello GAP families, Although the icy weather made this week shorter than usual, we made the most of our three days together: To start 2016 and winter term off right, we began by making a "wishing tree" that we hung in the garden. Students shared the highlights of their holidays, and we reflected on what we all wanted to bring into our lives in the new year. Students then wrote their wishes (both for the garden, and in life in general!) and hung them up in the garden to share. On Thursday and Friday we cooked two traditional new year recipes: Vietnamese salad rolls, and homemade corn bread! Even in January we discovered fresh herbs hiding out in the garden...we hunted for mint to roll up with carrots, cucumbers, basil and rice noodles. Looking forward, in January we will be wearing our science caps: focusing on hands-on activities and exploration of weather systems, and the survival of plants and animals in the winter garden, including adaptations, evolution, and natural v. artificial selection in plants! Brynna Hello GAP families~ I hope you've all had a happy and restful holiday full of family, friends and delicious food! I apologize for the lateness of these updates, but hope you'll still enjoy the photos and a little look back at how we spent the last two weeks of fall term together. The end of fall term was focused on sharing our gifts with each other and our families. These gifts included food, art, found natural objects, and handmade crafts. We shared our different winter traditions and celebrations, and spoke about the current and traditional importance of the winter solstice to humans, animals, and the garden. As we begin our winter term together, we will take the opportunity to celebrate a new year and setting our plans and intentions for this years garden. This will include taking a closer look at seeds, planning our crop rotations, and watching the weather and patterns in the garden as we get closer to spring. I also want to personally send a big thank you to all of the GAP students and families that make this such an incredible program. It has been a joy to get to know everyone and to become a part of the Abernethy community over the course of the term. I am excited to start the new year together, and for all of the experiences it will bring! All the best, Brynna |
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November 2019
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