On June 11, I had to get up bright and early, but I was excited because I was heading to a Teacher Workshop put on by the Texas Wildlife Association at the Fort Worth Zoo. The weather was perfect and as I walked up to the Education Building, which is tucked away next to the Zoo entrance ... I felt so peaceful! The river was full and the flowers were blooming. There were about 15 turtles hanging out on the rocks and sunning themselves ... and I loved the one that jumped in for an early morning swim! THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST TRAININGS I HAVE EVER ATTENDED!!!!!!!!!!
As I stood there and took in the beauty ... this tree and it's perfect reflection caught my eye! I just love this shot!!!!
Amanda (left) and Toni (right) our trainers for TWA ... they were awesome!
One of our first activities was to go behind the Education Center and journal what we saw, felt, heard, & smelled ... I noticed this vine growing across this walkway
As I stood there ... I felt like it was staring at me! I think it looks like a face, with the vine as hair!
We did a great creature investigation .... talking about which Texas Wildlife animal may have eaten these eggs ... different animals use different ways to open the eggs!
Very COOL!!!!!!
We learned how to find TRACKS ... and see what animals may be lurking in your neighborhood!
That is flour & a can of tuna in the middle ... you can use different foods in the middle (i.e. birdseed, lettuce/carrots, tuna) to see what animals may visit!
But ... watch the weather -- if you put this out and it RAINS ... the experiment is washed away!
We learned about skulls and skins and our MANTRA
Eyes in FRONT ... it HUNTS
Eyes on the SIDE ... it HIDES!
We received this Texas critter book ... which is really great to learn about all the CRITTERS of Texas!
We also received a flashdrive with a HUGE binder of lesson plans!!!!
One of the funny things we did was to create a new species of bird ... we received info sheets on feet/body/beak and had an assortment of craft supplies ... ours was called the Bobbing Duster!
We did some water lessons (which will be GREAT for next year in Kindergarten!)
This one was really fun and easy!
We made a "mountain" out of thick paper (just crumple it up)
on the "peaks" draw lines with a washable marker
place skittles "pollution" at various places on the mountain
Use a spray bottle and see where the pollution run-off goes
Decide where are safe places to live ... How does pollution affect the water cycle
Our bird made a visit to the polluted mountain!
At lunchtime we were able to walk around the zoo and eat our lunch!
I visited the Museum of Living Art
super cool reptile exhibit!
This guy looked pretty relaxed!
These beauties were right outside of MOLA and they kept "talking" to me!
As I was walking back to the Education Building the flamingos were making quite a lot of noise!
This flamingo right in the middle kept lifting it's back leg up as if doing ballerina barre work! It's crazy that they have great balance on one LEG!
I walked a few feet to the right and realized what all the chatter was about ... the flamingos were sitting on these huge mounds ... NESTING
I did not realize that flamingos mate for life and both take turns sitting on the eggs
I loved watching them stand up and then carefully reposition those big bodies back onto the egg!
Just some beautiful flowers on my way back to the Ed. Bldg!
This guy took the place of the turtles and I really loved the fluff on his head!
SILLY SELFIES!!!!!
Me and a turtle statue
If he was real I don't think I'd be smiling!
The BIG, BAD WOLF!
If you want more information on the TWA programs visit their web-site by clicking on the following link ... they have school visit programs, trunk programs, on-demand webinars, and teacher programs!
ALL FREE!!!!!!!!!
This link leads you to the Conservation Legacy part of the TWA web-site which details the programs including the teacher program I attended
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