Who's in the House - Science Play

A habitat is a special place where a plant or animal lives. Just like you have a home or place to live, so do animals and plants. When we talk about an animal’s or a plant's home it is more like a neighborhood than a "house." An animal needs five things to survive in its habitat: food, water, shelter, air and a place to raise its young.

Animals require different amounts of space. Habitats can be big like a forest or they can be much smaller like a burrow. Some animals defend a huge territory or roam over a large area. Some other animals need only a small amount of space and can put up with neighbors that live close.

Just like you have to go to the store to get food, an animal leaves its "shelter" to get the things they need to live. If the population's needs aren't met, it will move to a better habitat.

Different animals need different habitats. A fish, for example, needs clean water in which to live. A grasshopper, however, needs a big space where it can hop and leaves that it can eat.
  

Here are a few habitats we observed:

Doodle Bugs or Ant Lion pits

Several different species of ants

Carpenter bees bore through soft woods to lay eggs and protect their larvae as they develop. Female carpenter bees will chew a tunnel into a piece of wood to build a nest gallery. The bits of wood she chews and deposits outside the nest are called "frass". The tunnel openings usually look about one or two inches deep, but they can be up to 10 feet long! These tunnels usually have several rooms where the bees hold their eggs and food. 

Wasp Nest

 Spider web

 Wood boring insects in a dead tree

We also saw: birds nests, squirrels nests, rolly-polies and slugs under rocks, spider egg sacks, lizards on trees

Turkey Track Leaf Play

I love those awesome old Oak trees that have leaves shaped like turkey feet. I grew up hearing them called Turkey Track trees. Little Mister and I were outside playing yesterday and he noticed some 'turkey track' leaves on the ground. I was so proud of his observation skills and we immediately jumped into the moment. Within seconds we were on a Turkey Track Hunt through a far-away, dark jungle. (I know turkeys don't really live in the jungle, but that's where my little hunter wanted to tromp!)

We brought some of our trophies inside and sorted and matched them according to size. All in all, we had a terrific hunt. We used our imagination and then sharpened some math skills. I'd say it was a successful afternoon!

***No actual leaves were harmed in the evolution of this post! Stunt leaves were employed and promptly released after they served to make Little Mister smarter.***

Playing with Spiders made me Smarter

First, we painted our letter S black. Then used a small piece of yarn dipped in white paint to make spiderwebs.

Every entomologists has this hang up: Spiders are NOT insects!! Insects have only 6 legs, spiders have 8!
8 legs just means MORE play-doh fun!

We practiced some color matching with bottle caps and pipe cleaners.

We crafted a spider catcher to place in our garden. It is a little hard to see in the picture. We found a Y shaped stick and tied another stick across the top to create a place for a spider to build its web. The catcher was then stuck into the ground and awaits a tenant!

I also made a printable to practice patterns.

Finally, an oldie but goodie! We made a hand print spider and placed it in a web near our front porch!

I hope you enjoyed all these spider-y activities!
And I know you're smarter already!

Nature's Math - Count on Fruits and Veggies

Nature's many shapes and patterns are interesting and may be complicated. You may have to look hard to see that these shapes and patterns often have something in common.

Have you ever heard of a man named Fibonacci? He loved numbers so much that he wrote books about math.  Around 1175, in Italy, he discovered a sequence of numbers that helps explain nature's math. Some folks call it the Fascinating Fibonaccis!

Here's how to count the Fascinating Fibonaccis: 

(to get to the next number, add the preceding two numbers. Here's how to start:)

0+1 = 1

1+1 = 2

1+2 = 3

2+3 = 5

3+5 = 8

5+8 = ...

To see an example of Nature's math, cut open some fruit or veggies and count the sections inside.

Here we cut a pear, a cucumber and a lemon.

How many sections are in each?
(seed cavities)

Lemon = 8

Pear = 5

Cucumber = 3

Other ways to observe nature's math: daisies, pinecones, leaves, pine needles, and pussywillow buds... Just to name a few!

You want more fruit and veggie math? Well...
Here is a FREE beginner math printable. 
Simply circle the number in each box that tells how many fruit or veggies are shown.

Acorn-palooza

These things were falling everywhere. 
We lost gobs when hurricane Isaac dropped by for a lengthy visit. 
I'm glad we had picked up several buckets full before the storm. 
Now, what to do with them all....

What have you done with acorns lately?







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Making Our Own Fall Y'all

I hate to be the barer of bad news, but not everyone's Fall season starts with a specific date on a calendar! Where we live, the air conditioner runs on full blast well past Christmas. Our Fall weather usually hits in January and our Winter in February. March is always if-y and by April, it's hot! Oh the joys of living in the Deep South. (However, I must add here that I am Southern by the grace of God... *wink*)

Anyway, we have been seeing all these beautiful fall crafts and activities on blogs and have found it really hard to get into the Fall spirit. Today we decided to take matters into our own hands, literally!

First thing this morning we grabbed some paint brushes and went outside to pick an unsuspecting tree. We painted some red, orange and yellow leaves. What do you think? I believe the tree looks satisfied with its new look. Sort of a mix between: I can do Fall and These colors don't make me look fat!

After creating a Fall fashion show in our front yard, we made an appearance at Nonnie's. It was decided that she too needed a touch of Fall spirit. We gathered up some FALLen leaves from her yard and made some mini trees. We simply glued our collected leaves to a piece of thin cardboard cut into the shape of a tree canopy and attached it to a toilet paper tube by slitting each side of the tube. These leaves received the royal treatment and are the envy of ALL their peers. Who wouldn't love them? They're fabulous! 

It may still be hot here but, with some imagination, we are experiencing Fall.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Pokeweed and Pine Needles

This is something I used to do when I was a little girl. My Granny had pokeweeds in the woody areas behind her house. Their red and purple beauty just seemed to beckon us! Of course, my cousin and I didn't use paper to paint with these juicy, splendid things. We freely smeared them on trees and the back of an old tool shed! It was great fun until we came inside with our hands (and most of our arms and clothes) all stained a beautiful, velvety color! My Granny didn't really think that it was as great as my cousin and I did. Oh well, it left stains on our clothes and wonderful memories of childhood in our hearts!

As Little Mister and I walked around in the woody area beside our house today, we found loads of pokeberry bushes! I picked a bag full while he found the perfect pine needle branch!

There's some berries

Hurry Mommy, Let's Paint

Please use caution and supervise your child well if you paint with Pokeweed berries!!!

Interesting Facts about Pokeweed:
* U.S. Constitution was written in Pokeweed ink.
* American Indians used pokeweed ink to decorate their horses.

* The pokeweeds, also known as poke, pokebush, pokeberry, pokeroot, polk salad, polk sallet, inkberry or ombú, comprise the genus Phytolacca, perennial plants native to North America, South America, East Asia and New Zealand. Pokeweed contains phytolaccatoxin and phytolaccigenin, which are poisonous to mammals. However, the berries are eaten by birds, which are not affected by the toxin because the small seeds with incredibly hard outer shells remain intact in the digestive system and are eliminated whole.

  

Grapes and Goats

Thought that might get your attention. Today was rather an interesting day. We started out with plans to go on a picnic to the lake and ended up in the park squirting grape juice on t-shirts. How in the world did that leap come about? Insane heat was the culprit to blame for these change of plans. Fortunately, I had a backup plan. I have been wanting to try some ideas about Eco-friendly dyes and today just seemed to fit the bill. We took a t-shirt and several pillow cases to the park and had some "grown-up" friends join in the fun! (I use the term 'grown-up' very loosely!)

Procedure-
Pour grape juice into a squirt bottle. Boil about 8 tea bags in 1.5 cups of water and put in a jar.
Tie yarn on the pillow cases and dip them into jars of tea. Then, squirt grape juice on them and place them in plastic bags to sit for at least 4 hours. Finally, rinse them in cold water and pop in the dryer.

We had an extra pillow case so I hung it over a bench and just let him squirt until his hearts content.

Now, I bet you're wondering where the goats come in . . . 

It was quite serendipity actually. We pulled over to look at chickens running around in someone's yard and their owner came out and told us about some baby goats she had around the corner. Well, we just couldn't pass that up! Little Mister touched noses and ears and fed them grass until we were finally chased away by pesky yellow jackets. All-in-all, it was a great day of . . . Grapes and Goats!

See the Yellow Jacket? It didn't sting!

Bird Nesting Orbs

Today is my Daddy's birthday. Still active and doing it all after all these years. (I told you before that my daddy knows all, does all and can beat up your daddy . . . much like . . . Superman!) 

Along with so many other things, he enjoys bird watching and has several bird feeders in the yard. Since they live out in the country, he constantly has to come up with ideas to keep racoons, squirrels and other critters away from the feeders. That's alright, I believe he enjoys the challenge. And thus far, I believe, he has been winning the battles.

Since he is such a bird enthusiast, we decided to make him some nesting orbs to hang in his yard.

Materials- 20-22 gauge wire, scrap pieces of yarn, ribbon, cloth, felt, cotton and anything else soft, a soft ball about the size of a tennis ball.

Procedure-
1. Wrap the wire around the ball to make an orb shape.
2. Squeeze the ball and pull out of the orb and then reshape the wire.
3. Fill the orb with your materials.
4. Hang in trees for the birds to discover.

Mushroom Spore Prints

The Deep South in summer can often be, well, hot and sticky! Afternoons are laced with thunder and heavy rains! After which, the air is so thick you could hang your laundry on it, if you could find a way to pin it! And so goes all our days this past week! Driven inside by either an aversion to sweat or running for cover from rain so dense you can hardly see! 

Early this morning we happened upon a beautiful mushroom during our brief walk around the yard. Since I knew we would have a lot of inside time on our hands today, we decided to make some mushroom prints!

Objective- Uses senses to explore environment (MS Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers: Scientific Development 3.3.4)

Materials- white card stock, fresh picked mushrooms, large bowl or dish, fine mist hairspray

Procedure-
1. Find mushrooms and carefully bring them inside. Careful not to touch under the caps.
2. Remove stems. We just easily twisted ours and they popped right off.
3. carefully place the top of the mushroom on the white paper.
4. Cover with bowl and wait for about an hour.
5. Take off the bowl and carefully lift up the mushroom top. The spores will have left a really neay pattern on the paper. It will easily smear so be careful.
6. Spray a light mist of hairspray to help protect the print.

When we lifted the bowl, Little Mister quickly noticed the smell. Some mushrooms have a strong smell! (By the way, I can't stand them but my little guy likes them..... and that's OK!)

Once we had the prints finished, I let him dissect the mushroom. We talked about: smooth tops, bumpy stems, and rough gills (underside of the top where the spores are)!

a mushroom find in the yard

checking it out

hard to have to wait