Fallen Tree Inquiry Continued …
We continue with 4 year olds
As we investigated with the group of older children (4 years) they noticed that the play structure was broken and also how the branches were covering the whole area around the play structure and interwoven within it.
Children noticed that the play structure
had been crushed.
S: “Look at what happened!”
R: “It was like a big puff ball before.”
B: All the wind pushed the tree on to it. The wind pushed all the branches down too.”
Educator Lise took the children onto the main trunk of the tree that had been cut down to talk about it further in close contact with the tree and then she and children walked the lengthways on the trunk to the examine the roots.
A closer look at the recently exposed base of the tree.
As children climbed down to the base of the tree we examined the enormous roots and we noticed there were two large holes, we also noticed in the earth that there were two large boulders (rocks) that created these holes, we talked with the children about this discovery: did the boulders push the tree or did the wind or was it a combination of both?
A Closer Inspection
R: There are so many roots sticking out of the tree.
B: The roots don’t like to be on the outside.
R: The roots look sharp underneath.
At the studio we did some drawing as we continued our conversations about the fallen tree.
Children drew the wind in its relation with the trees.
S: “I’m making the trees, I’m touching them together, I’m drawing how the wind got into Mother Earth and then it knocked the tree down”.
Children drew the wind and added to the tree and root ball that the younger children had drawn, using big movements to portray the wind.
S: “It’s a massive broken tree from the wind”.
B: “The tree fell because it was so old”
A child began to move the lightweight tracing paper like the wind. We added the paper over top of the tree drawing so the child could add more wind and movement to the drawing.
Pedagogical Reflection-January 2025
These were very rich encounters with children and show how connected they are with the natural world (non-human) from their unique experience of living on a remote island. The program also has an ‘outdoor’ forest school connected to the childcare program, there are multiple ways this exploration can continue to unfold and deepen.
This beginning inquiry took place during fall/winter and we are excited to follow the forest and surrounding area as the changes take place seasonally, as well as, how climate change continues to disrupt and amplify these changes. What we conceive as ‘normal’ around weather and the environment, and what this might look like to question and investigate with children.