Forming Perspective on Friday

On Friday for our 30 x 30 Nature Challenge we spent most of the morning outside.  The first thing we worked on was a sketch of the Evanston Community focusing on perspective and line of sight.  Sketching exactly what you see ... not what you think you see.  We followed our eye line out to the furthest point in the distance and then sketched down to the closest objects right in front of us.  We discussed how the lines of objects formed layers.  We labeled the living and non-living things that made up the ecosystems in our sketches.  We also talked about the examples of human development, human needs, shelter, roads, the school etc.

Then, we moved to explore up close an ecosystem on the pathways behind the playground (compound).  We noticed that this section had more trees that were overgrown and that there were at least four different types of berries.  We spotted birds and evidence of other animals and insects that use this area as their habitat.  We found rabbit fur and droppings.  We found many different types of leaves.  We noticed that the bushes/trees were very dense and so this made a great place for the birds to hide.  Here are some pictures of us sketching and writing down our questions and inferences: