Your sense of smell lets you know that you have reached the Low Country! South Carolina has the most marshland of any East Coast state and the Low Country is known for its rich, nutrient filled pluff (plough) mud. This critical ecosystem supports a plethora of wildlife.
But why do the marshes smell? The gooey decomposing matter releases a distinct sulfur odor, similar to rotten eggs.
I snapped the following photo at Huntington Beach during a trip last fall.
Click here to view full screen. Are you familiar with this Civil War story?
Cardinals are a familiar songbird. They bring back sweet memories of my grandmother. She decorated her home with a blue and white theme but used pops of red (often cardinals) throughout the rooms. I often saw her sporting a red cardinal pin.
Cardinals also remind me of the holidays with their striking red feathers. Males are more colorful than females. Why? During my research, I discovered that cardinals are named after the Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church who wear red robes.
Christmas cacti, native to Brazil, are popular because they bloom during the holiday season and come in an array of colors.
Use Christmas cactus to teach children about propagation. Follow these simple directions and watch the video below for additional information.
Break off segments where two leaves meet and be sure that each cutting has three or more segments. You can place the segments into soil immediately, but you may have more success if you allow the segments to dry for two days out of direct sunlight, so they will callous. Try both methods and compare the results.
Fill a medium sized pot with soil. Water the soil. Christmas cacti are succulents, so be sure there is a hole in the bottom of your pot for water to drain easily.
Add several cuttings. Insert the cuttings, so the node is about 1/2 inch below the soil.
Place the pot where it will receive indirect light. Do not overwater. Be patient!
The weather in Atlanta has been unusually warm and rainy this December. Consequently, mushrooms are appearing which is certainly not a usual sight for this time of year! Why do mushrooms grow when it rains?
I recently discovered this beautifully illustrated and informative book. Watch a preview below.
Read Mushroom in the Rain on a rainy day and then hunt for mushrooms. Observe a mushroom over a week and journal about the changes. Click here to view full screen.
Retell the story to practice sequencing. It’s also an easy tale to dramatize. Click here for full screen viewing.
My annuals have died with the onset of cooler weather, and I’ve missed the colorful flowers that donned my deck and yard.
I waited to prune my bushes, so I could use the cuttings to refill the containers. Then I foraged for seed pods. cones, and grasses. Christmas tree vendors gifted me the bottom branches trimmed off of evergreen trees. After gathering these natural items, I inserted them into the potting soil where the annuals have died or around the remaining perennials. The result brings me joy!
Last time, I filled these containers, the branches lasted weeks, some even months. A few of the cuttings even began to propagate! I also added some sprigs of holly and a few evergreen branches to indoor plants. Be cautious if you have pets.
It has rained all week, but when there was a pause in the showers, I walked through my neighborhood and discovered nature’s art on the sidewalks.
When leaves stick to the porous concrete overnight, the leaf tannin is transferred to the sidewalk, and the result is lovely ecoprints of fall leaves.
Tannins are responsible for the brown color in deciduous leaves and appear once chlorophyll and carotenoids disappear. It is a waste product of a tree’s metabolism and has protective properties. Among other uses, tannins are found in tea and wine and used to tan leather.
“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” Albert Einstein
My husband and I both noticed cuttings from the Leyland Cyprus on the ground and assumed that the other had pruned the tree. We discovered however that neither of us had touched the tree. Hmmm. After removing them, more branches appeared on the ground the following day. I did see a pair of crows on the top of the Leyland a week ago, but no other wildlife since then. What do you think?
“You’ll never know the answer to the question you don’t ask.” Sid O’Bryant
When my daughter was young, she would help me search for snails for my second-grade students to investigate. It began our appreciation for these gastropods, and it’s always fun when we find a snail gift for one another.
I discovered this snail when I was raking leaves and I took him inside for a photo shoot.
I recently added this book to my library. Click here to view full screen. Compare people and snails. How are they alike and different?
Learn more about snails on Scishow Kids. Click here for full screen. Compare snails and slugs.
What is wrong with this snail? I see this mistake too often!
Click here and here for previous snail labs. The first lab includes a snail craft.
What a beautiful way to integrate art into a unit about snails! Click here to view full screen.
Love the illustrations in this informative book about snails. An ideal book to teach descriptive words, as well as positional concepts, such as through, into, over, and up. Click here for full screen.
Another fun book with snail characters to introduce prediction and the concept of perseverance. Click here for full screen.
No video for this fun story that blends math concepts with facts about snails but add it to your library if you are a fan of snails, like me.
Snails have spiral shells. Click here for a previous post about spirals.
As I’ve meandered through my neighborhood this fall, I have discovered a variety of berries. Why do plants produce berries? Look below the photos to discover why.
Plants produce berries to protect and spread their seeds. How? Click here to learn more.
As I walked through my neighborhood, my eyes were suddenly drawn to this long mound in the grass. Moles had been at work!
Moles are small burrowingmammals that live mostly solitary lives underground. They have tiny eyes and front claws that are perfectly designed for digging tunnels and underground chambers. Their diet consists of invertebrates, especially worms and insect larvae. Although they aerate the ground and don’t eat plants, homeowners usually regard them as pests.
Moles are classified as mammals because they are warm-blooded, their body covering is fur, babies are born alive and young nurse on mother’s milk. They are sometimes mistakenly thought to be rodents.
