One day a momma Mallard duck needed to build a nest. She needed a safe place to lay her eggs. She found that place under the platform of our climber on the 2/3 playground. She built her nest out of the wood chips that are under the climber. Using her beak, she pushed the wood chips into a circle mound and climbed in the middle of it to lay 8 eggs.
Day after day, she sat on the eggs. Sat. And sat. And sat. She is still sitting there on her eggs. While she sits, 200 second and third graders play all around her. Kids stand on the platform and wait their turn to climb or to use the zip line. Even with all that noise and jumping, she still sits on her eggs.
My third grade classroom windows look out on the playground. One day while I was doing my work at my desk, I watched the momma duck waddle out from under the platform to the edge of the playground. She flew to the pond to drink water and eat food. She left the eggs behind unprotected. When the second grade kids came out for recess, they saw the nest was empty and tried to touch the eggs. When the momma duck came back she was not happy.
Now we have kids who stand by her nest and protect it. Sometimes they make a circle in the wood chips all around the platform to remind people to stay away from the momma duck and her eggs.
There are 8 days of school left. I hope that the 8 eggs hatch so that I can see the ducklings before summer begins.
This story and the photos by Karly Gort, third grader in Ms. VanArkel’s classroom
