Outdoor Challenges #16 & 17

We've been enjoying a little break from planned activities but now we are trying to get back into the swing of things with Outdoor Challenge #16 . It is almost too late in our area for planting sunflowers but hopefully this will work out. The kids have been doing some gardening with their grandparents so when I pulled out the supplies they knew exactly what to do. It was fun just sitting back and watching them work. Sam could even read the package of seeds enough to know when to expect them to germinate and bloom. He has become quite the "teacher" for Charlotte and seemed to enjoy instructing her in the process of planting seeds.

I did not plan to do Outdoor Challenge #17 today but the kids wanted to go for a ride in the wagon and take a look at our trees. Sam made some really cool observations. He noted the differences in our leaves texture from when they were budding in the spring and now. He spent quite a bit of time trying to find the creature that was munching on our Elm without success. Charlotte really enjoyed it and picked up quite a bit of new vocabulary today.

Outdoor Challenge #15

We were traveling the Friday that we would have normally done the Outdoor Hour Challenge #15. Nature study helps the miles go by! We id'd our trees that we saw on the way.....Loblolly pines and Southern Magnolia were the ones we saw the most frequently. We counted Egrets that we saw under the Basin Bridge portion of 1-10....37. We realized that yellow Daylillies are a favorite at roadside parks because they were at every single one that we stopped at from Texas to Florida.

Ahh vacation! We spent the week at "The Beach House" on Amelia Island. This is the second time we have stayed at this particular house and I suspect we will head back sometime in the future because we have not explored every nook and cranny of the island. Fabulous place to visit for nature lovers. We of course spent alot of time at the beach. Charlotte's favorite activity was playing in the tide pools. Sam loved it all.....riding wave, flying kits, building sand castles, crawling aroung the sand like a crab from Burgess' Seashore book that we have been reading.

We also spent alot of time exploring Fort Clinch State Park. Florida has the BEST state parks and we usually spend quite a bit of time in them every time we visit. Fort Clinch has a fort that Sam loved, a beach area, a river area, a play ground and hiking trails with real Florida alligators. Yes we did see one but didn't stay to take a picture!



What are these kids looking at?


Red Ear Sliders. We were warned that the was an aligator that has been spotted in this water so we stayed high up on the bridge on today's visit.

Once back home we went to our butterfly garden in hopes to draw some flowers. Sam was absolutely not interested in drawing flowers. I will use the resources that Barb-Harmony Art Mom suggested in Outdoor Hour Challenge #15 to continue drawing in my journal and perhaps Sam will join me.

The butterfly garden is in full-bloom. The flowers are taller than Charlotte. You can barely see Sam in this picture but he is there standing tall trying to see me over the blooms.

Outdoor Challenge #14

Pressing Flowers- Green Hour #14

The flower of the week was our Hibiscus. We reviewed the anther and filiment and our new flower part is the stigma which is quite prominant on a Hibiscus. Our plant had flowers in all stages from buds to faded blooms. We also took a good look at our Huisache-Daisy and were able to see them in all stages as well.
Sam watched the video from Green Hour #14 , helped me gather supplies and gathered our Huisache-Daisy and Hibiscus. He was upset that there weren't more variety in our backyard! Charlotte brought us a few Dandelions to press as well. Sam is thinking about what to do with these flowers after they are pressed - his suggestions was to make bookmarks.....we'll see how they turn out.

This was the simplest flower press to make! He could do it all by himself!

Outdoor Challenge #13

We wanted to take a closer look at our Stargazer Lily but there were no blooms. Sam found perhaps the saddest looking trumpet lily in a much neglected part of our yard- I had quite forgotten that it existed.

We laminated the front and back of one card with the parts of the flower from Barb- Harmony Art Mom's Green Hour Challenge #13. The second card has our Stargazer Lily on one side and our Trumpet Lily on the other.

I wanted to ID the anther and filament since they so prominent on these specimens. Sam wanted to ID all the parts so that is what we did. I think Sam is going to have an easy time remembering our terms for this week-our lily's anther was LOADED with pollen and he was covered with it by the time he was done examining it.

We walked around the yard taking photos of our flowers for the upcoming week and we came across these bugs. I'm not sure what they are but we'll keep an eye on them to see if we can figure it out.

Outdoor Challenge #12

New Nature study focus-Green Hour Challenge #12

Sam has had his eye on this particular kit for a while so when I mention that we were going to plant some seeds there was no doubt which seeds we were going to plant! I purchased the fly trap terranium and we kneeded the peat moss and then Sam added the water to make the mixture.

He created a "river" with rocks and added a mini snake for good measure. Now we finally get down to business and plant the tiniest seeds you can imagine. The next step is to........place terratium in the refrigerator and leave for 8 WEEKS before continuing the planting procedure. This is know as stratification. AHHHH.....I know I did this with the older kids but I don't remember this particular step! Check back with us sometime in August.....we'll have some Venus Fly Traps to show ya'll.

Outdoor Challenge #10 & #11

Green Hour Challenge #10 asked us to have an outdoor picnic. My kids thought I'd lost it when I took this picture of them eating today. We eat outdoors several times a week most of the year-although usually not junk food like today!

Green Hour Challenge #11 asked us to start a seasonal tree study. Our focus area this quarter has been trees and we are ambitious and are going to try to follow 6 of the trees in our yard. We shall see how that turns out this year.....

Big Sis' joined us for a hike after lunch. We were able to climb the bike trails which is far more exciting then walking the flat walking paths. Sam calls this off-roading and it is one of his favorite activities.
We also toured a local sea turtle facility. Awesome! We've toured one during a recent trip to Florida but yesterday we were able to get up close. It was SO hot in there the kids were beet red and our clothing was drenched with sweat when we left.

Charlotte was amazed by the babies and didn't want to leave their tank. Sam was fascinated with the 2 year old turtles and we learned that in nature it would take these loggerhead turtles 7 years to reach this size.

Outdoor Challenge #9

We spent the day attempting to volunteer at the butterfly garden and chasing Charlotte which didn't work out very well. While we were there we got a chance to watch this baby armadillo do some serious rooting around in square foot area.

Be the armadillo, Sam! We did not have as much luck finding items as the armadillo but it sure was fun pretending.

Outdoor Challenge #8

Magnifying glasses have always been well used around here but our absolute favorite was a Brock Magiscope which proved to be indestructable but not toddler proof. Charlotte managed to hide the shaft so well that we have never been able to find it. Our new favorite device is the Eyeclops.
You really can see your sweat as it emerges from the gland and nothing gets our whole family involved in one activity than this cool device. Far better that an microscope because everyone can "ohhh and ahhh" at the same time. Today we looked at leaves, a couple of the wildflowers in our yard, and of course body parts....we can't seem to get the eyeclops out without trying to find something on somebody that is disgusting. It was remarkably easy to get Sam in the shower tonight after he saw how much microscopic dirt was on him after our outing this afternoon.
This week we added an entry for our Texas Ash tree. Sam disliked my attempted outline of a Blue Jay so I found a website with a picture that I printed off for him to color. He is very specific about what he wants to include in his notebook. This entry has a drawing of the bark , a leaf rubbing, a Blue Jay, and a drawing of his treehouse that is under this tree.

A pan of seeds, assorted funnels and containers to fill and refill and you have entertainment for the kids, seeds for the birds and hopefully plants in a few weeks.

Up close and personal- Green Hour # 8

Outdoor Challenge #7

We did not have a Green Hour we had a Green Week! We have inspected, dissected, poked, prodded, virtually every wildflower, tree, insect, and bird in our backyard. Big Sis' joined in much of the adventure and has been crowned "Butterfly Catcher Extraordinaire"! In an attempt to try to keep our focus on our trees we have started playing games with our trees. "Race you to the ( name , characteristic, etc)" is a favorite with Sam.




We've set up our tree identification book differently then Barb-Harmony Art Mom suggest in Green Hour Challenge #7. We have a 2 page spread with seasonal pictures of our trees on the left and pictures of the bark, leaves and any defining characteristics such as cones, nuts, or flowers on the right. This is our first entry and I forgot to take pictures of the needles of our Loblolly pine! I have also started a nature blog that will correspond to our identification books that we will be making.....mainly to help me organize our pictures before we put it all together. The little kids have been impressing their dad with their vocabulary when talking about their trees.
We decided to let the perimeter of our property get a bit wild to see what would grow...much to the liking of my oldest son who dislikes edging the yard. Already wildflowers are taking over and Charlotte is overjoyed with all the possibilities.

Outdoor Challenge #6

This particular basket was found on a beach in Spain by Dad when he was about 6 and has traveled with him throughout is life. It makes the perfect container for Sam's pinecone collection and a lovely centerpiece. I have been wondering what do with this basket for years and Barb-Harmony Art Mom's Green Hour Challenge #6 helped me find the solution. Thanks!

It has been a rough week. Sam recovered from his respiratory ailment and was his usual active self for a day before an intestinal ailment brought him down. His participation in our green hour challenge was minimal this week. He did join us outside and walk around the yard a bit to look at our trees but he was happiest swinging so that is what he did for the hour he was outside. All our plans for identification books, etc will need to wait until next week.

Charlotte made her first pine cone bird feeder. I planned on doing this to help get Sam out of the house because this has always been one of his favorite activities. He got really tickled watching his sister make such a mess. He gave her pointers and directions from his "supervisor's" seat on the swing. " Too much peanut butter." " Charlotte,stop eating it!"

The Blue Jay family loves Charlotte. She got as much bird seed on the ground as she did on the pinecone. They have been dining in that area of the yard since we left but have not allowed me to get a picture.

Sam did help her find the perfect place to hang her finished product. We will be able to see the birds from our dining room window.

Outdoor Challenge #5

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We've been sick and our nature walk time was the first time we've been outside all week. We walked around our yard and looked at our various trees comparing their bark. Sam settled in the hammock which gave him the best view for watching the blue jay family make their nest in on of our trees. He took a nap and woke up so refreshed! The fresh air was just what he needed.


While Sam slept and Charlotte played I read the sections in HONS regarding trees....it is quite a long section. There were nine poems that could be used for copywork or memorizing, a vocabulary list, and many ideas for projects. I have been inspired by reading all the other green hour experiences and really enjoyed Melissa-Sparrow Nest's bird poster. There is park close by that a variety of native trees that are labeled (makes it identification dummy proof!) and I want us to create our own tree identification booklet. We'll try to make it out there this week if we all continue on the mend and then visit seasonally when we finish our tree study.

So to enhance our tree study these next few weeks....

I picked a poem from HONS to work on memorizing and include in our nature notebook.

WOOD-GRAIN

This is the way that the sap-river ran
From the root to the top of the tree
Silent and dark,
Under the bark,
Working a wonderful plan
That the leaves never know,
And the branches that grow
On the brink of the tide never see.
-John B. Tabb


I made a list of the vocabulary on pg. 623 so that I include those terms while talking about our trees.

Our main project will be long term in the creation of our own tree identification book


We will date our trees as the leaves appear and study each particular tree in our backyard in detail as the leaves start to bloom.

A casual observation on 2/29/08

Same species of tree. The tree on the left received extra......hmmm...."water" from Sam during the winter and appears to have liked the special treatment.

Assignment #5

Outdoor Challenge #4

The Assignment

" The child should never be required to learn the name of anything in the nature-study work; but the name should be used so often and so naturally in his presence tha he will learn it without being conscious of the process." Handbook of Nature Study. pg.11

I am wanting to really focus on trees but we couldn't resist a trek through one of our favorite parks which is looking a bit wild from winter. The kids seemed a bit shocked at the change since the last time we visited in the fall. They have witnessed the changes in our yard but seemed to think that "butterfly garden" would remain unaltered through the winter. So, although I want to focus on trees, I also wish to visit "butterfly garden" at least monthly this year to document the changes. Sam did not want to make an entry in his nature notebook this week and I did not insist upon it. He did help me pick the pictures to add to this blog entry.

I really wish I had taken a picture of this tree and not just the contrast of the blooms against the sky. I think this is a Texas Redbud but will need to see the leaves in summer to make sure.

Firecracker Plant in the foreground and the old brush being removed for the new growth. I need to remember the picnic table so we can bring our notebooks and draw next time we visit.

A few of the specimens that I'm not sure of their names but will try to follow throughout the year.

Outdoor Challenge #3

Assignment #3

"Why do pupils dislike writing English exercises? Simply because they are not interested in the subject they are asked to write about, and they know that the teacher is not interested in the information contained in the essay. But when they are interested in the subject and write about it to a person who is interested, the conditions are entirely changed." Handbook of Nature Study pg.16

May I always remember to help them find their interest before requiring them to write.






Sam's words for this week...

Silence

Red Beetle

Rough Hard Bark

The specimens were the pine trees in our back yard. Sam has been collecting pine cones all week.










Sam hard at work on his first entry to his Nature Notebook. He did not want to copy his words but wanted me to write them for him.








He is quite proud of the results. I don't think his smile could be any bigger!





Sam's only complaint was that my camera could not take a picture of the red beetle that was climbing on his tree. I need to upgrade my camera!