When we turned a corner in Venice and discovered a musician playing the glass harp, I was able to check an item off my bucket list. It was such a delight to see this in person! Such artistry!
Might be fun to try this investigation at your next dinner party or family meal! There are numerous ways to add to this investigation. Collect a variety of goblets, give your student or child a pitcher of water, and let the discoveries begin!
After breakfast one morning in Amboise, France, we heard the balloons before they came into view. We were excited to watch them because we had plans for a hot air balloon ride the following day.
Eight of us met our pilot and his assistant while it was still dark and boarded the van to drive 30 minutes to an open field in the Loire Valley. Their experience was evident as they skillfully pulled the basket off the trailer, unrolled the balloon, and inflated it with air using a large fan. Then they turned on the burners to heat the air because hot air rises. They prompted us for assistance as needed. So peaceful and no better way to watch the sunrise over the French countryside.
No photos of us in the balloon because as soon as the eight of us crawled inside, we lifted off and after we landed, we were asked to immediately disembark.
We helped pack it all back onto the trailer.
This is an elementary video, but it accurately depicts our experience. Go here to view full screen.
A hot air balloon pilot is also called an aeronaut. Go here to view full screen.
For older students: “This is the true story of one child, Peter Wetzel, and his family, as they risk their lives for the hope of freedom in a daring escape from East Germany via a handmade hot air balloon in 1979.” (Amazon)
Thanks to Starrmatica for the following two book suggestions:
“John Jeffries, an Englishman, and his pilot, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a Frenchman, want to be the first. On January 7, 1785, they set out to cross the English Channel to France in a balloon.” (Amazon)
“More than a century before the Wright Brothers invented their plane, Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier sent a flying machine into the skies—a hot-air balloon with three animals in the basket.” (Amazon)
It is on my bucket list to visit the Alburquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Go here to view full screen.
Can you identify the fungi growing on the trees below? Are they mushrooms? What general observations can you make about the wood on which they are growing? What differences do you see between them? Notice that many grow like shelves or brackets Examples are turkey tail or chicken of the woods. Others may be capped, like shitake or oyster, or even resemble a jelly like substance.
Learn about the life cycle of a mushroom and the symbiotic relationship between mushrooms and trees on the video below. Go here for full screen viewing.
After watching the video, can you identify the stages of the mushroom’s life cycle below?
I’ve come across some other mushrooms on recent walks. This has to be the largest mushroom I’ve found!
I believe this is a cauliflower mushroom.
Some other fun finds! Is a mushroom a plant or an animal? Right, neither! How do you know? I am amazed by the diversity in color, size, shape, and texture!
I discovered this mushroom on a recent trip to France.
Make a mushroom pizza with your students or children. Visit a grocery store and observe the different types of mushrooms in the produce section or purchase a mushroom growing kit. Go here for more information.
Fall is an ideal time to search for mushrooms in the woods but be sure to warn students not to eat the mushrooms they find. Go here for full screen viewing. I see a foraging class in my future.
It’s challenging to capture photos of chipmunks. Squirrels will stop and eat, but chipmunks always seem to be on the run! I accidently cornered this chipmunk, and quickly snapped some photos before he determined which direction to best scamper off. Read more about chipmunks here.
Facts about Chipmunks
Chipmunks are the smallest member of the squirrel family.
Underground burrows, a chipmunk’s home, can be as long as 30 feet.
Chipmunks are rodents, like rats, mice, squirrels, and porcupines, which means they have front teeth that continue to grow. It is the largest order of mammals.
Solitary, they interact very little with other chipmunks.
Many predators eat them, but they are quick escape artists.
Stretchy cheek pouches allow these omnivores to store food as they forage.
Young leave their mothers after two months and dig their own tunnels.
When I was young, I believed that daddy longslegs, or harvestmen, were spiders. They do have eight legs and both are classified as arachnids, but they are not spiders. Unlike spiders, they have one body part and don’t spin webs. Spiders have two body parts (cephalothorax and abdomen) and insects three (head, thorax, and abdomen.) The number of eyes also differs. Most spiders have eight eyes, while daddy longlegs have two. In addition, they don’t have fangs or produce venom. Daddy longlegs will shed a leg if threatened.
An informational text in the Smithsonian Backyard Series:
