Small, Crawling and Flying creatures in Reader Rock Garden
What role do small, crawling and flying creatures play in supporting the biodiversity in Reader Rock Garden?
This was one of many questions that our grade one/two class focused on upon our recent return from Reader Rock Garden. This small garden provided many opportunities to see first hand how plants and animals co-exist and rely on each other for survival.
The Tiger Lilly was a perfect example of a flower that flourished in the garden. To understand and appreciate how this flower survives, we first took our time to observe, sketch and paint this flower. We then changed our focus from that of an artist to a botanist and took the flower apart. During this process, the pollen from the flower quickly grabbed our attention as it marked our paper and stained our fingers. Many students were aware that our flower had pollen but did not know what its purpose was. We researched and discovered what pollination was and why it was so important. We also identified which animals were important pollinators and how they supported this vital process. Many more questions were raised, and our learning will continue as we discover more about the complex roles that these animals and plants play in a food chain.
