What we'll be doing in February in the Bioverse

Hi everyone,

We had an exciting first session last Tuesday and explored the grounds of Dixon Elementary for plants and other life forms. Each of the three groups found a great collection of twigs, plants, leaves, rocks and other evidence of the life-stories happening all around us. We brought the collections back to the classrooms and made the first press for our cyanotypes, which we'll begin making on February 20. Here are some photos of what we found and following is the project calendar for February. At the very end of the post, I've included an outline of cyanotype printing and some excellent examples from "The Artling" website.

Here are some photos from our first Hidden Stories of the Bioverse session and some of what we found -- right in our backyard.

Here's a look at our activities for the month of February, 2024.

Here is a link to the web page from The Artling, all about cyanotypes and some of the images you can make with this process. https://theartling.com/en/artzine/what-are-cyanotypes-brilliant-blue-print/

This Tuesday (Feb. 6), we'll be walking together to the Williams Road Pump Station to see a demonstration by the City of Richmond Engineering Department. The engineers will show us how the pumps work to protect the area from flooding and we'll get a chance to see the water outflow in action. Remember, we'll be walking there and back (rain or shine) so make sure to bring rain boots and a good rain jacket (if needed) and a change of clothes (and shoes) for the rest of the school day. See you on Tuesday!