Waters Elementary
4540 N. Campbell Ave. Chicago, IL 60625  (773)534-5090 
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Spring Moves Into Summer

6/6/2016

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Dear Friends, 

We completed all of our field ecology trips for 2015-16!
Huzzah.
But, we're not done.

Monday, June 6, after drop off we will start compiling the 1st Grade Tree Books.
Glue pots ready!
From 11:30 until 2:00 I will be preparing our 1st graders for the Tree Olympics on June 20. Join us if you can to see how much these young people know.

While I'm in class Chef Clayton Miller will be demonstrating to the 8th grade the art of pizza dough making.  We have winter wheat almost ready for harvest, but I fear it won't be ready.

On  Tuesday, June 7, at 1:00 p.m.. the 8th grades will come to the garden to celebrate their impending matriculation. They will squeeze lemons to make fresh gooseberry lemonade. They will roll out the dough, dress it with our garden pizza sauce, sprinkle with cheese, bake and serve! They will also pot the tropical plant cuttings that have been rooting for the past months. The rolling, chopping, squeezing, baking etc, takes a lot of supervision.  Please join us if you can.


Wednesday is Biodiversity Day at Waters, for 4th through 8th grades, from 8:30 a.m. until 3:15 p.m.

The goal of the effort is to focus our school community on the biological richness of  our school grounds: 
from plants and trees, 
to bugs and slugs and butterflies and birds, 
mammals and reptiles 
and every other kind of life form that we can identify.

Classrooms who sign up to participate will be divided into smaller groups,
mentored by professional biologists, 
fitted with clipboards, 
field guides, 
iPads,
iNature programs, 
and set loose to "discover" a species in our garden. 
The student will describe it in words and drawing, 
get confirmation on ID from the resources listed above, 
and when "certified" become the discoverer of this species in our gardens.
 
The project will continue on into Garden night, and the entire school community is invited to participate. 
The total number of species discovered will serve as a baseline for future assessments. 

A  key precept of ecology is that high biodiversity = ecosystem health. 
High bio-diversity means resilience,
adaptability, 
complexity, 
and also, 
exquisite beauty.
How are we doing?
Let's find out.

Friday, June 10, is the Recycle Captains luncheon in the Conference Room.
Students will join me for pizza, fruits, salad and lemonade during their regular lunch period. 
These kids have done diligent work all year and I am so happy to honor and serve them.
I will need help prepping the food, fetching pizzas and serving, starting at 10:00

I went for a walk the other day to look at the plantings on the Horner Park side of the riverbank.
It was an amazing thing to be able to walk for an hour through a natural area with interesting contours, copses of trees, savannas covered with waving grasses. By the water a killdeer was nesting unhappy about my intrusion. Near the north end of the project I startled a doe, grazing in the grass! I wonder how it got there as the whole site is fenced in. 

Mr. Leki

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    Ecology Program & Calendar
    PictureMr. Pete Leki, Waters Ecology Program Founder and Director
    Visit the Waters Ecology Program Website for current/historical writings, films, photos, and interviews.

     Email: 
    petelekisan@gmail.com

    Links
    Water Ecology Program Website
    Riverbank Neighbors
    Friends of the Chicago River
    Forest Preserves of Cook County
    Openlands
    North Park Village Nature Center

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