By Sun and Candlelight

A Day at The (Science) Fair!

This post is about our homeschool group's Science Fair - and all the neat exhibits and nice kids - but most of all, it's a post about Earlybird and how he participated in his first science fair ever!

(The Fair was held in the community room of a local library. Unfortunately, there's not much natural light in this room, so my pictures are all rather dark.)

So to back up a bit, when I first got wind of the Fair, we - or rather, I - decided to do a tree project with Earlybird. I thought this would be easy since trees are readily available to observe. They are also something familar to EB and of which he is quite fond. There are other "scientific" things he likes - such as planets and steam engines - but he's a bit obsessive about those subjects. I thought we'd "branch out" a bit and choose something a little more low-key.

Ideally, when it comes to science fairs and the like, a child chooses his own subject. But EB can be funny about these things. Knowing that he'd balk at the idea of "doing a fair" or making all these activities "more important" than they seemed to be ... I kind of kept the Fair itself under wraps.

So we just started talking about and looking at trees everyday, and on Arbor Day, we conducted the "Tree Poll" at my blog. Then over this past week, leading up to the Fair on Friday, I kind of kicked things up a notch and we started creating a presentation from all our work. (At this point EB knew we were going to the library on Friday *with* Daddy because he had the day off, and that we'd see our homeschool friends there ... he still didn't know his tree project would be on display!)

And speaking of displays, here it is!

I chose an end corner next to the doorway for EB's display, because I wanted it to be easy for him to duck in and out of the room.

Our exhibit consisted of this:

A binder entitled "Trees by Earlybird" (only, we used his real name, natch) which contained many pages of tree-related information and activities (quotes from books we read, bark rubbings, worksheets, maps, pictures of "our" trees, a bibliography listing books we read, a favorite tree quote, etc.).

A bin holding "Tree Things" we collected: acorns and helicoper seeds, spruce cones (with fresh sap), bark, leaves, etc.

A maple tree sapling, complete with roots. (Pulled up from our front lawn.)

Also on display, our Tree Poll results!

Bill helped EB and me take our raw data and turn it into this great graph! (He used the Numbers program on my Mac to do this.) And as it turned out, maple trees are the most popular tree! (My own pick is the sugar maple - for its gorgeous, orange fall foliage - though I also love oak, apple and hawthorne trees, too.)

Just for fun, I had EB decorate a small tub with leaf stickers and we set up a small voting station as part of the exhibit. (Maples won, once again!)

Fyi, the orginal results were as follows:

Maple ... 13 votes

Oak & Cherry ... 9 votes each

Birch & Willow ... 5 votes each

Dogwood, Apple & Eastern Redbud ... 4 votes each

Magnolia, Redwood & Japanese maple ... 3 votes each

The rest of the trees got 1 or 2 votes apiece: Poplar, Crepe Myrtle, Plum, Christmas, Banyan, Pine, Palm, Aspen, Ginko, Lemon, Lime, Mango, Carambola, Jacaranda, Pecan, Cedar, Balsam, Hemlock.

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So the older boys and I had arrived ahead of time to help with set up. Bill brought Earlybird over a bit closer to the start time ... and as predicted, he completely changed his mind as they approached the library.

"No, I don't want to go to the Library! I just want to stay home!"

Fortunately, as EB gets older, it's easier to snap him out of these bouts of indecision and obstinance (they usually concern transitions of some kind). In this case I just took his hand and suggested a quiet turn about the library - no pressure, just walking around - and this seemed to re-set his batteries. Once he let go of that tension he was ready to try again ... in fact, look how excited he was to check the Fair out!

Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) he would go nowhere near his own exhibit (or that of his brothers - seen below, to the left of EB's tree display) so I could not get a picture of him *with* his own project!

I think he was quite over trees by now, lol. But he found the other exhibits very interesting!

Naturally, the solar system presentation was a huge draw.

As was the shark exhibit ...

 (He really wanted to get his hand in that blue water!)

As the room filled up with presenters and observers, EB got itchy, so Bill took him over to the children's room to decompress.

Nothing beats a little train-table time for finding his "quiet" again.

Meanwhile the kids finished setting up. I think there were 20 presenters in all! If I may, I'd like to give you all a little tour ...

Here we have a display about Bridges.

And another on Migrating Birds.

This one was all about The Human Heart.

And this was an experiment on Current Electricity.

This presentation was all about Aerodynamics ... that is a flight simulator program being demonstrated on the laptop. How clever!

Here's a presentation on Robots ...

... and another on Alchemy, an early form of chemistry, practiced in the Middle Ages.

This was a very cool River Delta demonstration.

And this was a super cool Magic Milk experiment!

Some of the kids prepared talks to go along with their displays. This first talk was on Solar Energy - it was very enlightening! (And wonderfully dramatized!)

This was perhaps the most adorable presentation I've ever seen. This little boy (I'm not sure of his age, but as you can see, he's quite young) prepared an exhibit all about the Saber-Tooth Tiger. His talk was very informative and focused. As he talked, he showed us his saber tooth fossil which looked just like the real thing - a tooth that could grow to be about 19 inches long! Unfortunately, however, as this young lad pointed out, his fossil tooth was only 10 inches long ... because they ran out of clay. :)

And here are my older boys in the midst of their talk on Steampunk Science, aka "Victorian Era Science in Fact and Fiction, and How It Compares with Modern Day Reality." They talked about the Industrial Revolution, steam power and machines like submarines and airships as they were first imagined and then later invented. They brought books by Jules Verne and Scott Westerfield so they could give examples of science-influenced literature. And of course, they built Legos - a "steam-powered" airship and a scene from a famous "steampunk" movie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Not shown, but also present, were exhibits on the largest flower on earth, first aid, tsunamis, as well as a great ball contraption.

Everyone worked so hard on their projects and everyone was so good about paying attention and showing respect to others. They really are a great group of kids - and familes! - and we're blessed to be learning and living alongside them.

As for Earlybird, well wouldn't you know it, he ended up having a GRAND time at The Fair! He would dart out of the room if it got too crowded (or too quiet if a talk was being given) but he really enjoyed looking over all the exhibits and asking the kids to tell him all about what they had done. We were very proud of how well he handled himself, and the day, from start to finish!

The Fair wrapped up around 2 p.m. At this time we broke down the displays and tables, gathered our stuff, said our goodbyes and headed home.

And that was our Day at the (Science) Fair!

Now, before I go (and I know I've kept you here long enough!), I'd like to show you what EB and I set up in his room today ... see the third shelf down?

This is the kit that was used by the boy who did the Solar System exhibit - the one EB loved so much! It's called Smart Lab: Stars and Planets. My friend Patricia told me where to find the kit and today I picked one up!

And when I got home, EB and I set up a little "science fair space" in his room ...

He's quite pleased, as you can see ...

I think the wheels are already turning for next year!

*

Well my friends, I hope you enjoyed this (not-so-little) tour of our Homeschool Science Fair! Thank you so much for reading and letting me share the joy we found in our day. It really was such fun - a great experience to remember and build on.

Hope you're all having a good weekend ... I'll see you here again very soon!

❤

Help with a Poll? Enter a Giveaway!

Happy Friday, my friends ... and Happy Arbor Day, too!

So I was gathering up our "tree" books for this week, when I came across The Happiness Tree. It's such a sweet, colorful book - a unique celebration of trees and the feelings they inspire - but, alas, my boys have outgrown it. So in the spirit of Arbor Day, I'd like to recycle our love for this book, and pass it on to another family who will enjoy it as we have. :)

From the back cover:

"So begins the magical journey from seed of hope to forest of happiness. This ode to trees invites readers to discover life's true gifts ~ peace, courage, love, generosity, tolerance ~ as revealed by our precious forest friends. The story and paintings, accompanied by lyrical tree biographies and an index of state trees, sing with reverence of the natural world and everything good in life." 

So here's what I'd like to do!

First, whether you're interested in the book or not, we need your help with a poll!

Earlybird will be participating in his very first science fair next month and the theme we're working with is "The Fantastic Forest." The results of this Arbor Day poll will not only help us with our poster, but they will also appear in my "Spring into Summer" newsletter!

So to partake in this poll, I would ask you to answer the following question for us ... and Monday morning I will pull a name from the comments to win our copy of The Happiness Tree. (If you don't want to be included in the giveaway, just let me know in your comment ... we'd still love your help with our poll!)

So ... Earlybird's Arbor Day question for you is:

~* What is your favorite tree (and why)? *~

And if you'd care to share a happy tree memory, please do! We're very excited to hear your response! We are big fans of trees, for so many reasons. They are beautiful and strong ... they provide for, and even protect us in many different ways. There is a lot to love about trees!

I hope you can help out with our poll, but most of all I hope you all have a nice day. As always, I thank you sincerely for stopping by ... I will see you again very soon!

❤

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Sunday Evening Chit-Chat

(A little bit of this and that.)

Just popping on quickly to remind you that I'll be hosting "Masterpiece Monday" here tomorrow, so if you'd like to join us, be sure to tune in to "The Old Curiosity Shop" tonight and then come on back in the morning to chat.

:)

Also, while I'm here (and before supper comes out of the oven), I wanted to talk briefly about next week. There's lots coming up!

First off, we have Leap Year on Wednesday, which is always kind of neat. (For the record, this is a very cute movie - and the scenery is gorgeous!)

Then March comes in (perhaps like a lion?) on Thursday.

Thursday also brings the Feast of St. David of Wales. We always mark this day with special food and dragon stories. (A red dragon is the symbol of Wales.)

Friday is Dr. Seuss Day (also known as Read Across America Day), and if we could, we'd go see The Lorax, but instead (and in true spirit of the day) we'll read the book. What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book? I'd have to choose Green Eggs and Ham - it happens to be the first book I ever read!

And speaking of green eggs and ham, I'd like to make a spinach and ham quiche for Friday (aka green eggs and ham!) but as it's Friday (and Fridays are meatless for us during Lent) I'll probably serve that dish on Thursday instead. Then I'll switch the leek-and-potato soup (for St. David's Day) to Friday. That will taste nice with grilled cheese. :)

*

Other baking plans this week include making refrigerator bran muffins and homemade pretzels. Crafting plans include working on those Lenten banners I mentioned in this post, and we'll make the first panel of our "stained glass" doorway cross. (One panel for each Sunday through Easter.)

Learning plans include reading this book for Book Group on Friday (my turn to lead!) and kicking off a four-month, four-elements study ...

March = air

April = water

May = earth

June = fire

We'll explore the way the elements affect our everyday life, the world around us and even how they are part of our Faith. I'm really looking forward to it. :)

*

Oh, and one more quick thing! One of our Lenten goals this year is to spend more of our family time doing things together other than just watching TV. So last night we sat around the table and played a really wonderful game, Around the World: The Ultimate Global Board Game. It was so fun and quite educational! Some of the questions were ridiculously easy but they only illustrated the point that information we take for granted other people might not know as readily. Certainly we were stumped on many questions that focused on lands and cultures unfamiliar to us ... it was a great eye-opening exercise!

*

Well, now I will wrap up and bid you all a good night. I hope you've had a nice weekend and feel ready to start a new week! I'll see you all again soon ... and remember, if you watch Masterpiece Theater tonight, do stop by sometime tomorrow - I'll do my best to have the chat post up as early as possible.

Thanks for stopping by, my friends ... Good Night, and God Bless!

❤

Magic Flowers and Morning Notes

Longtime readers may find this photo a little familiar ... and that's because we do this "experiment" every year! ;)

We call them our magic flowers ... we take tiny white carnations (January's flower smells oh-so-good) and turn them into "rainbow carnations" with just a little water and food dye. This annual activity lends itself to a nice conversation on plant structure, while looking very pretty in the window! It's also a fun way to bring a little light and color into our normally cold and gray winter.

Well, I hope you all have a nice Tuesday ... the Downton comments are still coming in, so be sure to check in for new thoughts and theories. Also, while I'm thinking of it - tomorrow is both Robert Burns Day *and* Irish Coffee Day, so we'll brainstorm a little on that. And in case I haven't mentioned it in the last 24 hours, lol - my new desk is scheduled to arrive sometime this morning!

So I'll be back later today with my Tuesday Tea post - and hopefully a little peek at my new desk!

Have a great one, my friends ...

❤❤❤❤

Fossil Day Fun!

In honor of National Fossil Day (which was yesterday, October 12th), Earlybird and I made some homemade, backyard "fossils!" 

I found directions for making leaf fossils online here ... and since the day was nice (and this craft was a bit messy) I decided to set up our work area outside.

We began by measuring and mixing the flour and salt ...

Then we dug up the next ingredient ~ dirt!

Earlybird (who is in dire need of a haircut!) added the dirt ...

... and then the water.

He mixed it all up ...

... and then kneaded the "dough" on some wax paper.

Once our "mud" was thoroughly mixed, we shaped it into egg-sized balls ...

... and lined them up on the wax paper.

(I won't tell you what we thought they looked like, but I bet you can guess!)

Next, we flattened our mud balls into 1/2-inch thick patties.

Now, Crackerjack was going to participate in this project too, but he's currently fighting a wicked cold and felt too "yucky" to pitch in. He did join us for a short walk around the yard, looking for leaves and seeds, etc. to "fossilize," but then hurried back inside "to get warm."

Here are our fossils in progress ...

We carefully and firmly pressed the leaves, seeds and feathers into the mud. (Full disclosure ~ I did this part; EB was too impatient, lol!)

We then carefully peeled the natural items away, leaving behind subtle imprints...

Fossils!

We moved them to a cookie sheet and brought them inside to dry overnight. And in the morning they looked like this:

Now, Fossil Day may have come and gone, but this is a great craft/science project to do with the kids at any time of year! 

In fact, I think fossilized autumn leaves would make lovely place markers and/or favors for Thanksgiving dinner! You could always make a plain, tinted dough (instead of one using dirt), using shades of green, gold, orange and brown. Poke a hole at the top while the dough is still soft and then thread a pretty ribbon through to serve as a loop. Just a thought!

Well, I hope you all had a nice day - it's very rainy and raw here, but the house feels quite cozy as I finish up this post. The lights are on, the boys are busy, the kitchen smells great and Bill just walked in the door. So that's my cue ~ I'm off till next time!

Have a great night, everyone ...

:)

Monarch Monday

Now, before I launch into our monarch butterfly story, I wanted to tell you all (in case you didn't know), that this is National Earth Science Week. Also, this Wednesday is National Fossil Day. These special events offer lots of opportunities for good learning and fun!

Our younger two are focusing on earth science this year, so we've got that part sewn up. This week they're working on maps and globes, and they've started a sky log (Crackerjack) and a moon journal (Earlybird). (Bookworm, our 11th grader, is studying chemistry this year, but he's pretty involved in the sky observation, too.)

Our project for Wedneday will be to make leaf fossils ~ combining science with nature study, history and crafts. :)

Leaves are a big part of our autumn learning, as is fall migration. We've been reading about monarch butterflies (and tracking where their favorite food, milkweed, is blooming), so it was quite a nice surprise to find a real, live monarch on our deck late yesterday afternoon!

What was odd, was that the monarch was staying very still - and as you can see, we got very close to it. It was moving, so we knew it was alive, and as far as we could see it was not injured. Throughout the rest of the afternoon it just slowly made its way across the deck towards the steps. Before nightfall we got it to climb onto a pine needle branch and moved it up onto the table. I'm not sure why this seemed like a good idea, but it seemed somehow less vulnerable this way.

Unfortunately, this morning we found the monarch in the same exact place - and now it was most definitely dead.

But still so very beautiful, especially sparkling with dew.

We took the butterfly inside and gently laid it to rest on our nature shelf. 

While this story had a sad ending, it was a neat experience for the boys to see a monarch so up close. We talked about what might have happened to it ... we wondered if it was on its way south when it fell ill (or prey to a bird or beastie of some kind). 

We'll keep this lovely butterfly in a place of honor at our nature shelf (I might look into mounting it somehow) and we already made plans to plant a dedicated butterfly garden next spring. :)

On a happier note, we spied flying squirrels at the feeders again last night - three at least!

Here's the best picture I got:

(Click to zoom in.)

They're pretty cute and fun to watch - but they sure do spook easily! It was very hard to get a picture ... we couldn't be sure if it was our movement that startled them, or the owl we could hear hooting off in the woods. They have nothing to fear from us, certainly - but that owl would be very bad news for these tiny creatures!

Well, that's all for me today ... I've got to get my "4:00 tidy" on and see about supper. (Grilled turkey burgers, corn on the cob and steak fries - yum!) 

I thank you all for stopping by today and taking time to read about our little adventures. I hope your day was nice, too ... and I wish you all a peaceful evening.

See you again very soon!

:)

Nature Study Club ~ September 2010

Our Nature Study Club met for the first time this (academic) year, yesterday here at our home. We started the meeting in our backyard, but then walked the kids down to a trail behind our home. Our September mission ~ to say goodbye to Summer and look for signs of Fall ...

As usual, we had a wide range of ages attend Nature Club - a few teens, several middle schoolers and plenty of little ones. Twenty-eight children in all, which was a fantastic turn-out! I made up a trail checklist* for the kids to work off of, listing things they might be able to observe on our walk. I also prepared a bunch of clean baby food containers (small plastic tubs with fitted lids) to serve as miniature collection boxes. 

Here's one of the tables I had set up in the yard:

 

In the left corner are the collection boxes and checklists.

And in the right corner is an assortment of autumn books and nature magazines.

*Here's the list of items I had on my handout:

 Ferns and/or moss?

Wildflowers ~ how many different kinds/colors?

A nest or sign of nesting activity?

Scat?

Fungii ~ where is it growing? What kind?

Trees ~ how many kinds can you identify?

Any sign of fall foliage?

Insects ~ see, hear, or other evidence?

Seeds ~ in travel, on the ground, on a plant?

Spider webs ~ what kind? Is the spider visible?

A fruiting plant and/or a vine?

An animal ~ see, hear or other evidence?

Migration in action? (Look up!)

Sounds ~ birds, squirrels, human, elemental?

Can you find the temperature by cricket song?

(Count the number of chirps in 15 seconds + 38 = temperature)

Is there a breeze? In what direction is it blowing ?

Any nice or nasty smells?

 Other observations?

Above is the "moms resource" table. I put out a variety of nature-related books, field guides, audubon guides etc. 

And here are some photos from our walk, as you can see it was an absolutely beautiful day:

Goldenrod, a plant that grows all over New England in September.

Milkweed - the pods have not opened yet, but soon ...

I believe this is pokeweed.

And wild asters (or Michaelmas daisies), another September favorite.

One of the very observant children spotted this incredible caterpillar, munching on some goldenrod (and completely unaware of the tiny spider stalking nearby!).

No idea what kind of butterfly he'll be, but he sure is colorful!

We went off-trail for a bit, meandering into a field to listen and look for insects. There were many, many dragonflies darting overhead, grasshoppers and locusts hopping about and just look what the children found here:

A praying mantis! 

I haven't seen one since I was a child! I remembered them as being green so I was surprised this one was pale brown. We wondered if he was camouflaged to blend in with the faded grass?

I couldn't get a close picture of this shy bird, but I think it is a flycatcher of some sort. Only rarely do we see them in our backyard.

The following picture shows the most startling discovery of all ...

Bill had spotted this animal jawbone earlier in the day. I told the kids to look out for it and sure enough, on the walk back home, they were able to find it. Out came the cameras and sketchbooks! 

We wondered what it might be - and what might have happened - trying to determine if the teeth were sharp or dull. Guesses included coyote, fox, dog and deer. Bill looked online last night and actually this most closely resembles a deer jaw. 

Do any of my readers have any thoughts? (Other than, ew, lol!)

Last photo - this a collection box that got left behind ... just look at all the little treasures that fit in here!

We made lots of neat discoveries, but the nicest part of the day was the friendship and good fun. When we returned home, the children played, the mums chatted and we all enjoyed some cold cider and cornbread. I'm just so thrilled to see another year of Nature Club off and running!

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope wherever you live, you're enjoying the blessings of this lovely time of year. :)

Adventure in the Early Spring Woods

 

On the lookout for Spring ...

First off, we have pretty much recovered from the flooding. We have a dumpster in our driveway filled to the brim with assorted things - various items ruined by the water, random stuff that should go out anyways as well as the old kitchen floor (a project long in the making). So things are pretty much back to normal ... :)

Last week we attended our March Nature Club meeting - this month's theme was two-fold, a discussion of nature photography and a search for the very earliest signs of spring. The kids were quite eager to talk about taking pictures - several children owned their own cameras in fact. I was thinking I might organize a photography club for our group in the fall - I'm thinking, a monthly meeting, possibly a shared blog, and a photo show at the end of the year? Well, I'll be starting a project plan for that idea sometime this week, but back to our meeting for now ... 

So, after a quick chat we spread out over the park (a local wildlife reservation) to look for signs of the season. I handed out a scavenger list for the kids to work off of - it was pretty early in the season to find everything but they did really well. 

Here are some pictures from our walk - and by the way, the weather could not have been lovelier - 70 degrees and sunny, with a cool eastern breeze.

 

Lots of buds on the treetops ... 

 

One of the many brooks running through the woods. There was a lot of excess water (and tree damage) from the recent severe weather.

 

I wish I could share with you how soft the air felt and how fresh it smelled. Early spring in the woods is just magic.

Most of the green we saw was moss - there was lots of moss! The boys thought this gnarled stump looked like a river troll rising out of the mucky water!

 

Another bit of green - fungus growing up an evergreen tree. Not sure of the variety, though we've seen this kind before. 

 

A mallard pair by the shore. 

 

A pretty view ...

Now, I've never done this before, so I hope it works - but I'd like to share a little video to give you an idea of what the woods sounded like ... see if you can guess what this sound is:

Spring Woods Movie Clip

 Wondering what's making all that ruckus? Well, the answer is in the picture below:

 

Look a little closer ...

 

Tis the season for peepers! Actually I'm not sure what kind of frogs these are but they were awfully loud as you can hear from the clip. The woods, chock full of vernal pools, were absolutely ringing with frog song! 

And by the way, did you catch Bookworm's exclamation at the end of the video there? Look what we found practically underfoot:

 

Zoom in ...

 

I think this garter snake was listening to the frogs as intently as we were! ;)  

 

This was a new bit of growth - not sure what it is - another thing to research! And look at all those acorns - they were everywhere!

 

Lots of running water, impromptu waterfalls here and there ... 

 

The mini-figs had quite an adventurous day - as did we!

 Well, thanks for stopping by and checking in! I hope you all had a nice weekend. I'll be back again just as soon as I can. :)

Oh, but before I go ... here is the scavenger list in case you'd like to try it with your children:

signs of nest building

buds

a spring flower

three shades of green

a fresh smell

mud

a new bird sound

an early spring insect

a fiddlehead (young fern)

Good Luck!

Our Winter Nature Station

It can be hard to get out in nature when the bitter weather and nagging flu season conspire to keep you inside. We rely on our birdfeeder windows quite a bit at this time of year, but this week we decided to set up a "nature station" on our deck. The station will feature different items as seasons and interests change, but for now we've set up a birdbath and some ice crafts.

 

 Below is the heated birdbath:

 

And here we have the "ice mobiles" we made (pre-freezing):

 

I got this idea from an activity described in Nature's Playground (a fabulous book btw!) ...

 

We took random bits of nature easily found in our yard (and a few things from our fridge) and set them in aluminum cake pans. We used sliced clementines, cranberries, evergreen branches and cones, dried leaves and cracked corn. Then we filled the pans with water and left them out on our table to freeze.

(Note - By the time we got to the last pan I realized that taping the materials to the bottom of the pan would keep things from floating around too much in the water. I did this with the leaves but it would have worked well for the pinecones, branches and citrus slices too).

The end result was to be a collection of pretty ice mobiles to hang in the trees (I could just see them glinting in the winter sun). They'd be lovely to look at *and* provide tasty for the birds and squirrels who frequent our yard.

But we had a few setbacks. First we had a snowstorm ...

 

And then we had a week of near-40 degree weather! The mobiles have not yet frozen solidly enough to hang in the trees! Ah well ... such is the fickle nature of Nature. :) This activity has really drawn the boys' attention to the rising and falling temperatures this week though ...  

Not that I'm complaining of course, but it looks like we are in for more "mild" weather over the next several days and then possibly some storminess next week. If and when we do get these mobiles ready to hang, you all will be the first to know!

Hope you all had a good week - ours was nice and pretty quiet. Earlybird is still fighting that cough but I think he is at last getting past it. (Last night was the first in over a week he didn't wake from coughing.) Here's to a happy and healthy weekend ... see you all again sometime soon! :)

A note on the carnation experiment:

I've had several people mention that they've had little luck with the carnation experiment in the past. I was just replying to a friend of mine when I realized maybe the trick is in cutting the stems short ...

Before placing the stems in their glasses of water, I cut them to approximately 6 inches in length. I only did this because the flowers would fit better inside the small glasses, but now I am thinking it also enabled the food dye to reach the flower more quickly and perhaps more efficiently. 

My mum had a good suggestion too - the next day I tried snipping the ends once again - this time just a trim - and the sure enough, the flowers deepened their shades. They are still sitting alive and well on our window sill (up high out of the way of the cat)! 

I hope you all have a nice Sunday ... today I'll be turning the dining room back into a learning room (now that the tree is finally down and put away). And I'll continue tinkering with my new blog template and sidebars this afternoon ... you've probably noticed I've changed a few things. :) The banner is a scanned sheet of "vintage" scrapbooking paper ~ I liked the colors, the flowers, and the little hint of nature (a favorite theme of mine here). Many thanks to my dear husband for spending several hours yesterday working on that banner - positioning it just right, adding the text, figuring out the CSS codes. He saved me a lot of time and frustration! 

And yes ... I took down my photo. I figured it was time - I think everyone knows what I look like by now, lol! And I think (or I hope) I look pretty much the same as I did four years ago when Crackerjack took that picture of me. It's still on my "profile" page, I believe.

And I have not forgotten the minutes from my Blog meeting ~ I will get those written up just as soon as I can. :)

Have a wonderful Sunday, my friends!

Winter Learning with Earlybird

Happy Friday, Folks!

So first of all, my support group meeting last night went great! It was a small group but we talked A LOT about blogging ~ my blog, other blogs, how and why one blogs, etc. I will write up the minutes from our conversation and get them posted over the weekend. Many thanks to the kind ladies who ventured out on a cold January night to listen to me blab on (and on) about blogging and all kinds of other random off-topic stuff. :)

I must say, all that talk last night really got me excited to blog again! I hope to overhaul the design of my blog as well - for one thing, these sidebars are ridiculously outdated ... and for another, I'm getting tired of these colors ... have to see what I can do about all that!

But for today I thought I'd share a few things I'm doing with Earlybird this week. The first pictures show our "Carnation Experiment." If you're a homeschooler, I'm sure this activity is familiar to you ... we set it up with my mum the other day (EB calls these Nana's flowers):

I bought a bundle of white carnations at the supermarket - goodness do they smell nice - and we placed a stem in a small clear glass filled with water and food coloring. I kept one flower aside in plain water for comparison.

And here is how the flowers looked the next day!

 

Aren't they pretty? Magic flowers! (This would be a neat Valentines, Easter or Mother's Day activity with the kids - you could even look up what different colored flowers mean.)

 The boys all enjoyed the experiment (and Bookworm had some interesting insight on color absorption from a lab he did at BU last fall) but this was really all for Earlybird. And let me tell you, he was thrilled. We have started a small science notebook for his observations - mostly photographs, simple words and a few drawings, too.

Here's a peek at our Winter Word Bulletin Board:

 

(Btw, I did not make those snowflakes! They came pre-cut in a package.)

And at the nature table we have a page from a favorite book on display:

 

This is the loveliest book - Our Apple Tree by Gorel Katrina Naslund. It's a sweet tale of the seasons in the life of an apple tree, as told by the two little elves who call it home. Lots of gorgeous, finely detailed illustrations inside. Next month we'll visit our local orchard to find an apple tree to "adopt" this year. It will be fun to see how it changes through the seasons.

Well, that's all for me today - off to get the kids started on breakfast and lessons. I hope you all have a fabulous Friday and I'll see you all again very soon. :)

 Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Advent!

I just love this time of year ...

 

There is something especially beautiful about winter sunrises, don't you think? It's almost as if the sky is doing it's own holiday decorating! Or maybe giving  us a bit of cheer on these bitter early mornings. Scientifically speaking, it must have something to do with the weather conditions at this time of year - cold, frosty, dry - but almost daily it seems (unless it's raining) - the sunrise is startlingly intense and varied. I think I take pictures almost every day ...

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! Ours was wonderful - bustling, happy and homey. Lots of good food, family and friends ... and lots of leftovers to indulge in this week!

Right now I am working on a December "plans" post (hoping to post mid-or-late-week), but for today I'd like to share some photos from the past month or so ...

 

One Saturday Bill was breaking down the yard toys and we found this little fella (a salamander) hiding in the folds of the bouncy house! Isn't he gorgeous? We deposited him safely under an old log by the compost pile. Hopefully he'll curl up and enjoy a long winter's nap.

 

The Blue Jays have been especially active this fall. This picture was actually a tree filled with a band of birds, but the best shot was this guy in the middle.

The following few pictures were taken on a recent Nature Club activity - we learned about a local watershed and did some percolation experiments. It was a cool, gray day ...

 

 

 

I really love the woods at this time of year - everything seems so bleak and done-for, so the tiny bits of color really stand out all the more. A flash of blue feathers, a bright ray or light, the punch of a red berry ...

 

Boston on (yet another) cloudy day ... on our way into the Science Museum.

 

Crackerjack and Bookworm making "their" pie on Thanksgiving eve - a lime jello cool whip variety. :)

 

I made the one above - a "Holiday Fruit Pie" filled with cranberries (dried and fresh), orange peel and golden raisins. I thought it came out pretty well. :)

 

And a little taste of Advent preparations underway ... more on the tags and ribbons (etc.) to come later this week!

Have a wonderful week, my friends ~ and Hurray for December tomorrow!

Be back just as soon as I can ...  

Fraught with Frost

Look very closely and you might notice the tiny bits of ice on this beautiful little bee. This picture was taken around 6 a.m. on an unseasonably cold September morning, before the sun had risen above the treetops. As I passed the sedum blooming beside our front door, on my way down to get the morning paper, I noticed a couple of bees perched atop the blossoms, seemingly already hard at work for the day. Upon closer inspection I realized they were, in fact, frozen stiff! The poor things must have been caught out after "curfew" the night before! 

But do not fret, for this tale has a happy end ... soon after the sun rose and cast its warm glow across the front garden beds, the brittle bees miraculously came back to life and went merrily on their way! One flew off, while the other went straight back to work where it sat. 

Isn't nature amazing? :)

Nature Club Field Trip: The Arnold Arboretum

My apologies, dear readers. I'm still trying to get back on track with my posting. After an illness sweeps through a household it can be several days before all the cogs in the machine get put back to rights. First comes the household itself - laundries are caught up, groceries are replenished and rooms are cleaned. Then come the missed lessons and make-up work. And finally the hobbies fall back into place. I also had a meeting here the other night for my homeschool support group to prepare for ... our topic was "closing up shop" for the school year. I'll post about our conversation as soon as I can. :)

For today, I'd like to share some pictures I took last week while on a field trip with our Nature Study Club. For our May meeting we visited the Arnold Arboretum. It was a glorious - if unbelievably hot - day.

Inside the visitor center:

And onto the path:

Happy Friday, everyone!

An Apple Study Starting in Spring

When one thinks of apples, one's thoughts typically turn to September, but really, this is a great month to start an apple tree unit. Just visit an orchard and see!

Look at all those pretty pink branches, spread out over the landscape like a blush. These trees are part of our town farm. I brought the boys here the other day in order to choose an apple tree to befriend. We'll follow it through the seasons of the year, and record our observations in our Tree Journal.

Here's the apple tree we chose:

Next time we visit we'll ask the farmer what variety of apple this tree bears.

And now for some close ups:

We immediately found a real "personality" hidden within our tree. See the face there?

The buds are just starting to open.

The structure of an apple tree is unique - stocky and sprawling.

I won't permit it of course, but this tree would make for good climbing!

 

Have you ever smelled apple tree blossoms? Heavenly.

 

A sparrow nesting up above ...

... strawberries growing below ...

... and lots of bees in between.

Goodbye for now, lovely orchard. We'll be back again soon!

In my next post I'll talk about some of our apple-themed seasonal activities!

Hope your week's off to a good start!

********

Meet Feroshi and Figaro ...

... our new fire-bellied toads.

 

This is Figaro ...

 

... and this is Feroshi.

 

I think.

(It might be the other way around.)

Fire-bellied Toads eat crickets, mealworms and possibly, moths. They are highly active and they like to sing - especially at night. They can apparently live between 10 and 20 years. 

Oh, and guess what? They could mate.

(Evidence pointing to that distinct possibility was illustrated earlier this morning.)

We can't tell their genders, and neither could the otherwise helpful Petsmart employee.

Am I crazy for doing this? Maybe. 

Do I have time to care for pet toads? Probably not. 

But in my defense I offer you three words:

Hands-on-Learning. 

 

 

 

 

With the addition of pet toads into our family mix, we are now - officially - a house o'boys. 

More on our April amphibian study in a future post. :)

Meet Charlie ...

... the robotic dog the boys made at their Lego Engineering class yesterday. They built and programmed "Charlie" to bark and even wag his tail!

Next week is our final class - when all the teams will work together to build a robotic zoo.

(You can be sure I'll have pictures to share!)

***

I hope you're all enjoying your week ... ours has been pretty busy so far. Later today the older boys will attend the first meeting of their new "Pokemon Club" and the youngest has his social skills class. This means an easy supper will be in order - I'm thinking take-out pizza might just do the trick! ;)

*v* ~A Late Winter Nature Study ~ Owls~ *v*

Before I launch into my owl notes, I first wanted to address a more general nature study question. I was recently asked how I go about choosing our nature study subjects - specifically, if am I following a timetable listed in a book or a type of science curriculum. Although I do have countless nature-related resources in my posession, I don't follow any one text to a "T." What I do, generally speaking, is to follow the seasons, because it's so easy to learn when you're excited about the natural year.

I also plan studies around our Homeschool Nature Club schedule, which is one of our favorite monthly activities. So, for instance, in March our group will be visiting a maple farm and we'll learn all about maple sugaring. (So I can't help but think: trees and their gifts, local farms, evaporation, leaf buds ...) In April we'll be spending a night watching for salamanders (amphibians, night noises, the spring woods, vernal pools). In May we're going to learn about New England geology (rock collecting, dirt samples, erosion, stone walls) and in June we'll visit flower gardens (seeds, flower parts, gardening, pollination). 

As you can see, this schedule gives me a whole bunch of great themes around which to plan our ongoing nature study!

Since our current study focus is owls (see our owl pellet post here), I've made lots of notes on owl-related learning activities. I'd like to share them with you all today. (Activities mentioned in blue font are the ones geared toward my littlest learner, Earlybird.)

*v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v*

*v*First of all, as with anything we do, there are always books - lots and lots of books! Some we own, but many more we borrow from the library. I am already hunting down maple-related resources for next month. I display them in our learning room, and a select few will be featured along the top of the nature shelf. Please see my sidebar book list at left for owl titles.

*v*Earlybird enjoys playing with puppets and it just so happens we have two owl puppets in our basket - a big hand puppet and a small finger puppet. I'll make up a few simple stories for "the owls" to "tell," possibly in conjunction with a few other critters. For example, the mouse puppet could make a narrow escape, and the crow puppet could abandon its nest to the mother owl. I try to take actual facts and weave them into the stories.

*v*Another thing I like to do with Earlybird is act out the animal itself. What does the owl say? Can you hoot like an owl? Can we pretend to be owls, flying silently through the night sky?  

*v*Along the same lines, we might make up "an owl nest" using blankets and pillows. Since owls nest in tree cavities, I will probably clear out the cupboard beneath the china closet and let EB pretend to be an owl in his nest. I might even encourage him to go "hunt" for prey - small puppets hidden around the house (you could use pictures if you don't have puppets) - to bring back to his "nest."

*v*We could listen to and learn an owl poem. A famous one, of course, is "The Owl and The Pussycat." (We have the Jan Brett version somewhere around here ...)

*v*A short simple handmade book about owls can be assembled - with construction paper pages, possibly stored inside a sturdy binder. The pages will hold pictures (colored, drawn or printed out) and owl terms: eyes, ears, feathers, claws, beak, hoot, nest.

*v*We've long subscribed to a wonderful nature magazine, My Big Backyard, and we have serveral years' worth of back issues on our bookshelf. The inside back cover always has a colorful fact page about something "in season." The January 2006 page is all about the Great Horned Owl. I will color-copy the page and hang it as a focal point on our nature board.

*v*The boys can color realistic owl illustrations such as the ones found in the Dover coloring books: A Walk in the Woods and Birds of Prey. I brought home simpler line drawings for EB to color from the owl pellet class last week.

*v*Speaking of owl pellets - you could order a kit online and do an owl pellet dissection at home. We placed the baggies of bones the boys brought home from their class on top of the nature shelf for now.

*v*We will use our Birdsong Identiflyer to listen to various owl calls. The Raptor card features several owls, including the Barred Owl who paid us a visit the other night. If you don't have an Identiflyer, you can find owl calls readily online. Once the weather warms a bit, and we can open our windows in the evenings, we'll start listening for night sounds in the woods - like spring peepers and possibly, owls.

*v*On a mild day we will take a walk in our woods to look for potential owl nests. Clues would be large cavities and owl pellets on the ground near the base of a tree.

*v*I'm going to pick up a package of feathers at the craft store and make an owl mask with EB. This would have been fun to do today as it is Mardi Gras! I've also bookmarked a couple of cute owl crafts at The Crafty Crow:

• Pine Cone Owl
• Construction Paper Owls

*v*The boys can read about owls in folklore and mythology. There is also lots of amazing information here. I'll also ask the older boys to write a short report about an owl species of their choice. For reference, they can use the books we have on hand and/or the information we find online.

*v*I've asked Bill to make a log-sided owl house with the boys. The plans can be found in The Curious Naturalist. We'll set it up at the edge of the woods out back.

*v*For a family movie night, we'll watch Hoot, which is about burrowing owls in the Florida everglades. (It was also a great book!) Two other videos I have on request at the library:

• It's a Hoot! 
• Owl Moon and Other Stories

*v*Just for fun, one afternoon I'll put together a little Owl Tea with woodland themed treats such as the Owl Pellet cookies I found in Small Wonders:

Mix together 2 cups white flour and 2 cups chopped pecans. Set aside. Cream 1 cup butter. Add 1/2 cup sugar. Mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon water. Gradually add flour/nut mixture to batter. With lightly floured hands, shape dough into small "owl pellet" shapes. Bake at 325 F. for 25-30 minutes. If you like, while still warm, roll cookies in sugar (white or confectioner's). 

*v*On order from Acorn Naturalists, and due to arrive any day is this owl food web poster. I'll put it up in the learning room.

*v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v*

And goodness me, but I think that's all I can think of - for now! Lots of ideas here - not all will get done of course - but we'll have fun in whatever we do. And in a few weeks we'll know a lot more about owls than we do now!

I'm always on the lookout for more ideas, though ~ so if you have any owl study suggestions - you know I'm all ears! :)

Thanks for stopping by today ~ Have a great evening, my friends!

*v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v**v*

February Nature Study Club: Owls by the Sea

Truth be told, the fact that we were by the sea had little bearing on the Nature Club theme of the month, but it made a catchy title and I just had to show you the view from the place where we met ...

The Atlantic is gorgeous in the winter. Cold, yes - but gorgeous. :)

All this to say, our Nature Study Club held its February meeting today, and our theme this month was owls. We met at a wildlife refuge located along a salt marsh.

We've explored this refuge before, but this is the first time we've been inside their discovery museum. As you can see on my left-hand sidebar, we have a little owl study ongoing - a post full of notes and ideas is coming on that very soon - but for today, the older boys learned how to dissect owl pellets. 

The museum classroom was set up with interesting owl-related stations. These three plaques showed (from left to right) the talons, prey and feathers of an owl.

This poster showed the owl pellet cycle in action:

Crackerjack played with a beautiful snowy owl puppet:

Here is an owl skull replica with an owl egg in the background:

Our teacher today, Mary, gathered the kids around to talk about owls for a while. What they knew, what they wondered about ... in this picture she's talking about how some owls have tufts that look deceptively like ears.

One of the really neat things we learned was that owls are absolutely silent in flight. This is because the tips of the wing feathers have tiny bristles that create micro-turbulance - a phenomenon that negates any sound the wings might make.

Mary showed the kids some beautiful stuffed snowy owls:

Then it was on to the pellets! Each child was given one pellet and various dissecting tools. 

Crackerjack was somewhat hesitant, but he got into it after a while.

 

Not surprisingly, Bookworm jumped right in.

 

(I have to make a confession. You see how both my boys are wearing dark gray fleece shirts? Well, I'm not in any of these pictures, but I was wearing a charcoal gray turtleneck and sweater today. But I swear I did not mean to color-coordinate with the owl pellets - it just worked out that way, lol!)

We learned that an owl pellet consists of the fur, feathers and bones that an owl cannot digest. These materials find their way into the owl's gullet - and when the gullet is full, the muscles contract and the pellet is regurgitated (i.e. the owl vomits). The kids were given reference charts to help in identifying the bones.

This was not an activity that Earlybird could participate in, but I did bring home some nice coloring sheets for him. (He stayed home with his Nana and they talked - what else? - planets.) But I do have lots of owl-related activities planned for next week - and many are kinder friendly - so stay tuned for more about our current nature study!  

For now, thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a good night!

Monday Morning Museum Pics

 

You know, call me crazy, but I could swear the sun is much brighter these days. It feels different as it fills my house ... softer, lighter, warmer. It makes my winter-weary heart so happy to see these little signs of far-off spring.

And the bird song! Have you heard it? Very early in the morning, some little bird out there in the woods is seriously getting his groove on - just in time for Valentines Day, I guess. ;)

Well, thanks for all your well wishes. I am feeling back to 100% now! Bill and his folks brought the older boys to the Museum of Science yesterday, and Bookworm took lots of pictures. That top one is a luna moth looking out at Boston Harbor. How I'd love to see one of these beauties in our yard this summer!

Here are few more of Bookworm's pictures ...

Obviously someone else took this picture as Bookworm is in it! (My guess would be Bill.) That's Grandma Barbara behind BW.

Crackerjack, admiring the bones of a Triceratops.

The (almost) Full Snow Moon on the drive home.

The Museum of Science is a great place to spend a few hours on a cold winter Sunday. The boys had a lot of fun, and came home with some possible ideas for a spring Homeschool Science Fair. 

Lots to do this bright Monday morning, plenty to catch up on ... I will be back again sometime soon!