Session 4 - Observe

This session was at a completely different pace than normal. Lots of the Eco-Club members had to go for hockey practice, so we had a small class of 6 to work with. The idea for this session was to build on the planting session last week in a fun and engaging way. We wanted to plan a session around what can be found in a garden environment, to learn about what's good for the plants we grow and what isn't. 

Before the session, we had a chat within our small circle - Why did you join the Eco-Club?, What do you like about nature? We had the chance to have a much more candid conversation considering the smaller number. We got to learn that Mohammad S. and Valencio both catch snakes. Valencio said that he doesn't like that his parents kill snakes when they catch them, and he tells them not to, but they don't listen. Mohammad also grows vegetables in his house. So far he's grown turmeric in his kitchen garden. He had 2 coconuts in his bag to give to his friend for Dussehra. 

Valencio can make sounds EXACTLY like a bird. Unfortunately he's a shy performer and didn't want to be recorded, so your ears won't be blessed today. 

We started the session with a 2 minute reflection, where everyone closed their eyes and imagined a garden. We wrote down all the things they imagined on the blackboard. After this, I asked everyone how the different things could be related. If they could think of a relation, I asked them to join the two through a line and write how they're related along it. E.g., the relation between a flower and a butterfly would be 'food' and 'pollination'. Everyone was really excited by the activity and we formed even more connections than expected. Even Vishal and I were surprised to learn that dragonflies eat mosquitoes!

After the relationship web activity, we wanted to see these things for ourselves. So we divided them into 3 teams of 2 and gave them our soil bingo charts (developed by Palluyir Trust) for them to tick off as many things as they could find and to write any more things they found on the back of the sheets. We found so many more things than I could've anticipated! All kinds of bugs, shells, seeds, etc. Everyone was running around all over, yelling out to us every time they found something. As we found things, we discussed how they might benefit or negatively affect their ecosystems.

Different seeds around campus

Shell of an edible snail found in fields,
called 'Conge' in Konkani

Large yellow Praying mantis (id unknown)

Animal homes

Slugs found under a rock

Bird nest

Edible 'Chirputtam'
(taste similar to tomatoes)

An ant gathering -
Some were carrying eggs (white round things in the picture), others were eating larger ants

Valencio found termites under a rock!

Mohammad found a grasshopper :))

                                                                    

Everyone stayed for well after the session was over, trying to find something more interesting than the last. Mohammad and Karthik made the most interesting observations and were very proud of themselves, as were we with them. I think Vishal and I did the worst of the lot.