This past week we were able to visit Le Moyne College to look at all of the samples that we collected while we were at Highland Forest. Hilary also collected some samples from a local pond near her house as well. The students were all ready and excited to make their way to Le Moyne right after lunch! It was so exciting to step foot onto a real college campus – and during classes! Once we arrived we were greeted by Hilary McManus, walked into the Coyne Science Center and began our research. There were microscopes, jars of pond water, and algae EVERYWHERE! It was awesome!

The students entered the huge lab, sat down on the super swirly chairs, and started sharing the things that they saw throughout our expiration of freshwater biomes and what they saw in the pond samples on the table. The students came up with some great examples. Over our trips we have found: minnows, crayfish, boatmen, leeches, nymphs, snails, cat tails, and much more. The students watched and discovered all of the amazing things that were in Hilary’s pond samples. They sat and drew what they saw, asked questions, and made inferences. We then were able to see what was under the lens of Hilary’s microscope on the projector in the front of the room. We looked at one tiny drop of pond water and WOW did that have a lot of stuff in it! All types of cells with fancy words that I cannot pronounce let alone try and spell, and we looked at an algae sample we found at Highland Forest. There are so many interesting things to see under a microscope that we cannot see with the naked eye! We saw all of the cells and the make-up of one strand of algae- simply amazing! The students were all patient and interested in what they were learning. The students then rotated around to different microscopes and looked at insects, plant life, and other water samples. The energy from the students was amazing! Lastly, we took a quick trip to the green house and looked at all of the interesting plants that Le Moyne keeps there.

So much that we learned! So many exciting things we saw! It was a great experiential learning experience for the students- and me! I am so glad where this unit has gone. The trips have been an amazing addition to our unit! I cannot wait to see what

the students do on completing the poster for school!