Salamanders and Pine cones!

Did you know that Chestnut Trees are threatened to become extinct?  Well Mrs. Spinner and Mr. D's class found one that is producing chestnuts in our very own woods!  Today in the woods we took some time to meet at the Chestnut Tree and talk about how rare it is to find a Chestnut Tree.  Many students enjoyed finding chestnuts on the ground but had to be careful because chestnuts are quite prickly on the outside. 

We discussed how pine cones are able to open and close and watched this short video in our classroom:

We later tested this out by putting pinecones in water.  Students discovered that the pine cones in the cold water closed first and the pine cone in warmer water took longer to close.  We took the pinecones out of the water to dry and will check on Monday to see if the pine cones opened back up!  The pine cones close to protect the seeds inside.