March 20

Rainbows

Discovering a rainbow is always a special moment! Have you noticed that the sky is darker above the rainbow? Do you know why? Click here for the answer from Physics Girl. You won’t look at a rainbow in quite the same way again!

The visible spectrum appeared on my wall. I believe the light was refracted by the stop sign outside.

Place a prism on your window and observe the visible spectrum move around the room. Why does its location change? For another example, Click here. My students also brought the prisms outside to refract sunlight onto sidewalks.

Complete a rainbow arch to demonstrate capillary action. Click here.

Tilt a mirror inside a container filled with water, shine a flashlight toward the mirror, and look for a rainbow on the wall.

Use rainbow peeps or refraction glasses to find rainbows. Look at a variety of types of light. How does what you see through the lenses change? Click here for more information. Click here to order rainbow peeps. Remind children to not look directly at the sun.

Refract light with a CD. Click here.

Spray your hose with the sun behind you and low in the sky to refract the sunlight and reveal the visible spectrum.

Put the colors of the spectrum in order using density. Click here to watch Steve Spangler in action. Salt could be used in place of sugar.

Click here to use rainbows to develop the skill of questioning.

Watch the following video for additional ways to create rainbows and to observe the visible spectrum. Click here to watch the video full screen.

If you are studying rainbows, enjoy a rainbow snack of yellow (bananas), purple (grapes), orange (oranges), green (kiwi), red (strawberries), and blue (blueberries) sliced fruit.

For full screen viewing, click here.

 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (Genesis 9:13)

Category: Parenting Tips, Reading, Science | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 16

Hawks

Hawks are diurnal while owls are nocturnal, but both share a similar niche in the woodland ecosystem. I often see hawks soaring above me, but occasionally I catch them perched on a branch. These birds of prey are common throughout the United States. Click here to read more from the Audubon Society.


Click here to view full screen.

Click here to view full screen.

Check out this fun informational book about hawks. Click here for a peek inside. Use it to teach text features such as captions, labels, text boxes, and diagrams.

The Truth About Hawks | Maxwell Eaton III | Macmillan

With these attributes, it isn’t surprising the Atlanta’s professional basketball team chose the hawk as its mascot.

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February 5

Story Walk

While I was visiting the Chattahoochee Nature Center, I happened upon their story stroll, a collaborative effort with the Georgia Public Library System. What an engaging idea!

At the first marker, hikers are invited to scan the QR code which takes them to the story below, allowing them to listen to the story as they follow the woodland path. The author encourages readers to use their senses to learn about the plants and animals that inhabit these ecosystems. Click here for the author’s site.

If you choose not to listen, copies of the pages are on the markers.

Viewing areas are available for hikers to pause and reflect. Be sure to gaze into the sky, among the branches of the trees, and across the forest floor.

Because the forest is everchanging with the weather and seasons, new discoveries will await you each time you venture down the story path. On this chilly day in January, I was surprised to see a turtle sunning itself on a log. Turtles don’t hibernate but do brumate. Click here to learn how my lab turtle brumated.

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February 1

Beavers – Natural Engineers

Beavers, the largest rodent in North America, are a keystone animal in a woodland ecosystem and amazing natural engineers! They were once hunted to near extinction for their pelts, meat, and castoreum, but are no longer considered endangered.

When I visit the Chattahoochee Nature Center, I never miss the beaver habitat. When possible, rescued animals that are brought to the on-site CNC clinic are rehabilitated and released. “On average, the Wildlife Department receives an average of 500 injured raptors, reptiles, and amphibians annually.” Animals that cannot be set free are used for educational purposes. Although primarily nocturnal, this beaver was active during my recent visit.

What a perfect shape for swimming! Beavers are semi-aquatic, meaning they spend their lives in and out of the water. They can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes while under water.

Did you know that beavers’ larger hind feet are webbed and used for swimming, but their front feet are hand-like and used to manipulate objects? Beavers are herbivores and weigh up to 70 pounds.

The beaver’s thick fur repels water. Transparent eyelids allow them to see underwater and their nostrils and ears are closeable. Beavers remain active even on cold days and do not hibernate.


A beaver’s flat tail acts as a rudder when they swim. They will also slap their tail to warn of danger.


Like other rodents, beavers’ front incisors never stop growing, so they must chew to control their growth. Teeth are orange because of the iron in them. “Beaver chew” are sticks left behind after the beaver has eaten the bark and leaves. The sticks are used to make rustic furniture.

Click here to view full screen.

Click here to view full screen.

Click here to view full screen. I found this film fascinating! Before you build your dam below, listen to the plan the beavers use in this film. I have a new appreciation for the simile, busy as a beaver.

Gail Gibbons has written many non-fiction books for children.

Paperback Beavers Book

Five Busy Beavers is a fun rhyme with predictable language that introduces the concept of subtraction.

Five Busy Beavers | Scholastic Canada

Go outside and task your child with designing and building a dam. Use a shallow plastic tub. Then collect mud, leaves, rocks, moss, twigs and any other natural materials to construct a dam across the tub. Pour water on one side of the dam. Does your dam prevent the water from moving to the other side? Add some plastic pond animals to your ecosystem. Remember that beavers don’t live in their dams. They are social animals and build homes called lodges.

Do you have a dam near your home? This dam created a pond in my neighborhood. Use your discussion of beavers to kickstart a study of dams. Discuss how they are constructed and their purposes. Locate famous dams.

When you visit Yellowstone, be sure to see the beavers. Click here to learn more.

Category: Engineering, Reading, Science | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 30

Engineering Outside

After reading the classic books, The Borrowers or The Littles, create a home for the characters with your children. Use as many natural objects as possible or repurpose items. Add plants or walkways. Construct a swing or a bridge. You are only limited by your imagination! If you are working with more than one child, create a community. Then compose your own story.

The Borrowers Borrowers 1 - Picture 1 of 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Enchanted Trail is open at the Chattahoochee Nature Center. These structures and many more were built by families and placed along the woodland trail. Use them for inspiration.




A former student made this structure:

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January 23

Concentric Circles – Patterns in Nature

Having something intentional to find on my hikes or in nature always improves my observational skills. Ask your students or children to look for concentric circles. What are concentric circles? Many students in the United States are familiar with the Target Store logo, so use it as an introduction. Click here to view the following video full screen.

I have surmised over the years that most children don’t know how to use a compass, so teach your students how to make concentric circles with a compass and increase their understanding of geometry and measurement skills.

I found these concentric circles inside the carrot I ate for lunch.

Some people have concentric circles (whorls) on their fingerprints. Click here to go to a fingerprint lab. Are there any concentric circles in outer space?

Let’s focus on the concentric circles (capillary waves) created when an object drops in water. Take a walk in the rain and notice how circles are formed as drops hit the water. “Some people walk in the rain and others just get wet.” (Roger Miller)

Let’s watch in slow motion. Click here to view full screen.

Investigate dropping objects of various sizes, weights, and shapes into different depths of water, and compare how the concentric circles change. What happens when one set of ripples hit another? Do this outside by dropping natural objects in a pond, a child’s pool, or a puddle. Inside, fill a shallow tub of water and collect small objects to drop, such as a penny. Use bath time to investigate this phenomenon. Do objects that float still create ripples?

Take and print a photo of the concentric circles that form when an object drops in water and then measure the space between each circle. That space is called the annulus. What did you learn?

Inspire your children to create artwork using Kandinsky’s concentric circles. Click here to view full screen.

Another option would be to have each child fill one square with circles and then put the individual circles together to complete a cooperative piece of artwork. Go outside and fill the squares that divide a sidewalk with chalk concentric circles. These circle activities would be perfect for International Dot Day.

Share on Valentine’s Day or anytime!  Click here to view full screen.

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January 12

A Study of Ice

Temperatures have dipped below freezing, and I saw ice for the first time on a recent Greenway walk. Since Atlanta rarely is that cold, I am sharing some photos from friends who live where they consistently see ice and snow.

Use water to teach the states of matter. Ice is the solid form of liquid water, produced by freezing.

Click here to view full screen.

Can you identify the object in this photo captured by my friend Ellen? Watch below to find out!

May be a closeup of outdoors

Click here to view full screen.

Click here for a lab about melting and freezing.

There are many simple investigations that children can perform to investigate how water changes from liquid to solid.

  1. Does water expand when it freezes? Fill a mason jar about halfway with water. Draw a line where the water stops. Place the jar in the freezer and test your hypothesis.
  2. Does hot or cold water freeze faster? Place a small glass of each temperature of water in your freezer. What do you observe? (Results may surprise you!)
  3. Mix salt into a cup of water until it is saturated. Will the water still freeze?
  4. Fill a Styrofoam cup halfway with water. Place it in the freezer. What happens to the cup when the water freezes? Apply what you learn to why potholes form on roadways.
  5. Take ice out of the freezer and place it in a bowl. What happens? How long does it take for the ice to melt? Will it melt faster if you sprinkle salt on the ice?
  6. Color ice cubes with food coloring. Drop one in a glass of vegetable oil. What happens? Click here for more information.
  7. Make slushies or ice pops (popsicles). There are many recipes online.
  8. This is a great opportunity to investigate insulation. Place an ice cube in a can, glass jar, and Styrofoam cup and cover each. What happens? Design your own investigation.
  9. When outside on a cold day, touch various materials and compare the temperature of each. Include metal (car and gutter), wood, concrete, plastic, soil, plant parts, and glass.

Click here for an instafreeze investigation from Steve Spangler.

Tinkergarten has fun ice projects too. Click here and here for ideas from this great organization. The following photo of an ice ornament was taken in Montana and shared by my friend, Susan. How fun it would be to decorate a winter tree with these!

How does an ice spike form? Click here to learn more.

Integrate social study concepts into your study of ice and learn about the Arctic.

Click here for a lab about icebergs. Click here to watch the Safeshare link.

Ice Is Nice! : All about the North and South Poles Hardcover Bonn - Picture 1 of 1

Can bubbles freeze? Click here to learn more. Photo taken by my friend, Ellen.

May be a closeup of nature

Which sports use ice? Click here to view full screen.

Sports are based on physics. Watch the video below to learn more. Click here to view full screen.

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January 9

Cats

While at my daughter’s home during Christmas, I practiced new camera skills using her rescue cat, Phoebe, as my model. Cats do have their quirks, so let’s learn more about the reasons for some of those behaviors below.



After watching the following video, look again at the photos above. What does her body language tell you?

Click here to view full screen.

Many children’s books have cat characters. Use this picture book to teach perspective or in an art class to illustrate how the same subject can be represented in different ways.

Click here for the Safeshare link.

Amazon.com: They All Saw a Cat (9781452150130): Brendan Wenzel: Books

This story is from the cat’s perspective. Click here to take a peek inside.

Category: Art, Reading, Science | 1 Comment on Cats
January 5

Science Can Be Smelly!

The many ways that animals are unique is incredible! Just look at the variety of noses, eyes, tails, feet, coverings, and ears. A fun way to compare these differences is with the following series:

There are so many other ways that species differ, including habitats, diet, and reproduction. Animals also discard wastes in multiple ways! Biologists can identify an animal through its scat, and they will examine it, a non-invasive method, to determine an animal’s health, movement, and diet.

The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit Mini Edition - Picture 1 of 1

Click here to watch full screen.

I occasionally see scat when I hike. Who do you think has been here?

We planted grass in the fall. Guess who we caught nibbling it.

Click here to watch full screen.

The following book shows the animal’s tracks, as well as its scat, and challenges you to identify the animal using both clues. Owl pellets are distinguished from scat.

See the source image

When we visited Yellowstone, I came across this book. Watch a preview of the story below.

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January 2

Pigeons

I was visiting my daughter in an urban area of Chicago for Christmas. Yes, it was frigid and snowing, but pigeons were still surprisingly active. Before landing on rooftops, synchronized flocks swooped across the sky. Doesn’t this appear to be a black and white photo?  However, it was just a gray day with barely a hint of color. I was drawn to the monochromatic palette.

As I watched the behavior of pigeons, I wondered how they have adapted to life in the city. They are certainly amazing birds and I have a greater respect and interest in them after further study!

Some facts:
There are hundreds of species of pigeons, and they are related to doves.
They historically nested on coastal cliffs which is why feral pigeons have easily adapted to living on city buildings.
Highly social animals, they are often seen in flocks of twenty to thirty birds.
Pigeons mate for life and both sexes care for their two chicks. They average eight broods a year.
Young are fed nutritious crop milk which is regurgitated from their parents.
Pigeons are selectively bred for racing, show, and in some cultures for pets.
They can fly up to 600 to 700 miles in one day at speeds averaging 78 mph.
Pigeons are known to be highly intelligent and can recognize themselves in a mirror.

Do you remember the scene in which the Banks children in Mary Poppins want to feed the pigeons for tuppence a bag?

Integrate history into your study of pigeons by investigating passenger or homing pigeons. There are many theories about how pigeons find their way home. They may use the sun and visual cues or Earth’s magnetic field (magnetoreception). Other studies indicate that infrasound (low frequency sound waves) or olfactory navigation guides them back.

Click here to view full screen.

Click here to view full screen,

To view full screen, click here.

Noah may have been the first to use a homing pigeon. He sent out a dove who returned to the ark:
“He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So, Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.” (Genesis 8:10-11)

Mo Wilhelm has a popular picture book series about pigeons for young children. Teach dialogue and character traits through the series. These humorous tales can also be used to instruct persuasive writing and types of sentences (commands, statements, exclamatory and questions).

Click here to view full screen.

Click here to view full screen.

Search for additional monochromatic examples in nature, in your home, or in clothing. Such a great assignment to teach observational skills! Task your students or children with creating a realistic or abstract monochromatic painting. For additional fun, ask them to dress in a monochromatic scheme.

See the source image


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