During my neighborhood walks, I pass this American sycamore tree. These majestic deciduous trees grow more than 100 feet high and are usually planted as shade or specimen trees but should not be planted close to your home.
The tree is currently covered with round seed balls, similar in size to sweetgum balls on the bottom of the following photo, that will drop in the spring. Be cautious handling them.
Sycamore trees are easy to identify because of the bark that peels away. Eastern woodland native people used Sycamores to make canoes.
To our children we give two things,
one is roots and the other wings.
This quote is familiar to many of us. When a seed germinates, roots are the first to grow. They will anchor the new plant. A strong root system prevents wind and other disruptive forces from uprooting it. The roots also absorb the nutrients necessary for growth. Just like roots, parents nurture and provide security for their children. Our goal is to raise confident children grounded in love who can stand firm when troubles come.
Searching for specific natural items has been the focus of many of my recent posts. On your next hike, look for roots. Many can be seen above ground. Notice the shape, size, and the path they follow. Did you see any uprooted trees?
To watch roots grow, push toothpicks into a sweet potato with the narrow, rooting end pointed downward. Place the potato in a cup of water, so approximately 1/3 of the potato is submerged. Put the cup in a dark cabinet or closet. After roots appear, move the cup to a sunny window.
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Colossians 2:7
I have to confess that I once thought that when the sun set, the moon rose, but that is incorrect. Have you seen the moon during daylight hours? Watch the video below to find out why.
A Rube Goldberg Machine (RGM) is a crazy contraption which accomplishes a simple task in the most complicated and funniest way possible. They are based on the “invention” cartoons of the famous, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Cartoonist, Rube Goldberg. To go to the Rube Goldberg site, click here.
The 2022 machine contest has been announced. Click here for the entry form. Be an engineer and create a Rube Goldberg machine!
Check out this biography about Rube Goldberg. Click here. What perseverance!
Click here to read Rube Goldberg’s Simple Hum Drum School Day. Draw a crazy contraption! What a fun way to demonstrate cause and effect relationships and apply force and motion concepts! All ages will enjoy this creative task!
In previous posts, I’ve encouraged you to look up for nests, around for tree bark, and down for tracks as you hike on a trail or in your neighborhood. On this excursion, look down once again and try to locate moss. Moss is a small flowerless green plant that lacks true roots, grows in damp or shady habitats, and reproduces by means of spores. Like other plants, moss does produce its own food through photosynthesis. There are 12,000 species of moss! Moss can benefit forests by forming a carpet that will slow down and retain water, thereby reducing soil erosion and helping to prevent water loss during dry periods. Click here to learn more about moss.
When you find a clump of moss, how easy is it to lift up a corner? What do you see underneath the plant?
You can find moss even in an urban setting!
Make a terrarium using moss. Click here for directions from the blog, Childhood by Nature. How many different species of moss can you find and identify?
Groundhog Day is the ideal time to investigate light and shadows! Below is a compilation of shadow investigations I previously completed with my students.
A shadow is formed when a natural or man-made light source blocks an opaque object. Shadows can move and change. Bringing a light source closer to an object will make its shadow grow larger while moving the light source away will make it smaller. Try changing the angle of the light source. Move the light from left to right (imitating the rising and setting of the sun) and note how the shadow changes. What does the shadow look like when the flashlight (sun) is directly overhead? What would you see if two light sources were directed toward an object?
Bring a basket of items outside on a sunny day and place them on a white sheet of paper. Check back during the day and note how the shadow changes.
Hide objects from a child’s view and then project them onto the wall. Can your students identify what is creating the shadow? Turn the object on its side or stand it on its end. Does the shape of the shadow change? I used an old overhead projector to do this investigation, but you can also take the lampshade off a lamp.
Make a guessing game with cards. Place a picture on one side of the paper and its shadow on the back of the card. I made a collection of these in my early teaching days before we had copiers! I cut out pictures from coloring books.
Ask students to draw, color, and cut out an animal of their choosing while out of sight from classmates. Use clipboards to scatter your children around the room. While children are looking forward, place a light behind the animal and ask students to identify the animal from its shadow.
Form animals using hand shadows. Click here for the Safeshare link for the video below.
Did you notice the children’s silhouettes in the photos above? To capture children’s silhouettes, simply ask them to stand so that you can see their profiles on the wall. Take a photo of the silhouette, print it, or project it from your laptop and trace it. I remember trying to trace children’s silhouettes while they attempted to sit still! Another option is to trace around children, while they are lying down on bulletin board paper, with a white crayon. Display the opposite side, so lines aren’t visible.
Trace children’s shadows with chalk outside on sidewalks or a driveway periodically throughout the day. Measure the length of the shadows with measuring tape. Compare the differences.
Play the classic game of shadow tag when you are outside. Another fun shadow game is the mirror game. Find a partner. One person is the shadow. The shadow copies his/her partner’s movements.
Children will discover that light can pass through some objects which will lead to an exploration of transparent, translucent, and opaque objects. Children tested to see how much light traveled through a collection of materials in the investigation below.
