Here at MTS, our teachers collaborate. Our Lower School Science teacher, Suzanne Beard, joined with our Studio Art teachers, Evy Packer and Tyler Bewley, to provide the Kindergarten students with an in depth experience of common backyard birds and their nesting habits from both a science and art perspective. Taking advantage of the California Junco bird that nested in front of Evy’s home, the kindergartners viewed footage of the bird’s daily activities, the hatching of the eggs, and their flight from the nest.
During this mini unit on birds, K students learned to observe and describe a bird’s nest as a structure, as well as learn about the birds behavior around nesting, laying eggs, and the process of baby birds growing feathers in order to fledge (fly). They were able to observe and touch real nests, familiarizing themselves with the materials, and then manifested their growing knowledge to build and create their own nests in science class. At the same time, the kindergarteners talked about these same types of nests in art class and thought about the structure and texture of the outer and inner parts as described by line and color. Then they practiced translating what they saw into visual marks drawing with pastels.
