How about a little engineering, physics, teamwork and competition while we aren’t in school?
Category Archives: science
Nature Study–Part 2
We took a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park today! It was a wonderful experience. Even though Parker and Jonah are still so young, it was worth the work to go on this field trip. We picked up some Junior Ranger workbooks that will help us focus on certain aspects and areas of the park. We are blessed to be this close to one of the most beautiful places in America.
Nature Study
This week for our science co-op we
accomplished Outdoor Hour Challenge #1!
accomplished Outdoor Hour Challenge #1!
It was nice just walking and observing with the kids. I noticed things in our yard and neighbor’s yards that we usually pass by without paying attention. We talked about the birds we heard and they were excited to find some mushrooms at the base of one of the trees. We were all asking each other questions and they made notes and drawings of their observations.
“In nature-study the work begins with any plant or
creature which chances to interest the pupil.”
-Anna Botsford Comstock
Plants: Part 2
The little boys colored this maze of a bee flying to a flower. We briefly talked to them about how the bees help with pollination. Then they were off to get dirty and be pre-schoolers…
We’ve been using The Handbook of Nature Study and The Young Naturalist as our resources. Today we printed out this Venn diagram and had the older kids walk around outside and observe and record the differences between flowering and non-flowering plants. It was interesting because Foster thought that the if the flower just had a bud that hadn’t bloomed it would be categorized as non-flowering. I explained the difference and helped them find a bush in our neighbor’s yard that was a true non-flowering plant.
We also planted flower seeds in clear plastic cups. Our experiment is to put each cup (3 per family) in different locations in our house to observe how the different amounts of light effect their growth.
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| In full sun – plant #1 |
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| In partial sun – plant #2 |
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| No sun – plant #3 |
It may take a week or more for the seeds to sprout but we will keep checking and observe and record their progress.
First day of Spring
We started a new science unit with our friends today. After coloring and labeling basic plant parts, the kids had fun potting a plant, planting new flowers in the front flower bed and watering random plants around the yard.
A first day of Spring filled with dirt, flowers, running through the water.
Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!” ~Robin Williams
All the Little Grubbs 