Geology and Archaeology

Last week we learned mostly about geology and archaeology.

Georgia looked through her rock collection and at the new specimens she collected while on vacation. She also looked through her library book about minerals and learned about the different ways to identify a mineral. She learned about luster, cleavage, hardness, gravity, and the streak test. She also visited a couple web sites on minerals, such as this one: http://www.minersoc.org/pages/education/dragons_cave/entercave.html.

While learning about minerals we also talked about the periodic table of elements and the chemical make up of the minerals we learned about. And we learned about the historic uses for minerals, too.

We also visited the Journey of Mankind site and learned about the migration of humans through time found here: http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/. We talked about archaeology and the clues that may be found and put together. We also viewed and read about some cave art and rock art. We also talked about the climate changes in earth's history, and of the Bering Strait.

We watched a documentary on the Mayan civilization and talked about their system of time keeping and their extensive knowledge of astrological events.

Georgia had a class at the nature center about reptiles and amphibians. She was also able to hold or touch a variety of species while learning about them. The class went on a hunt through the woods to search for what they learned about, too.

On Wednesday we went to Boonshoft with some friends. We looked through the science room at the different specimens.

They each tried on a turtle shell to see what they would look like if they were a turtle. (of course they were all cute lil turtles) Olivia could be totally hidden beneath the shell.

We visited the bats, the wild animals, "shopped" at the grocery store, and experimented at the water table. Georgia was particularly proud of her water works!

The kids also had fun pretending to be archaeologists as they searched for dinosaur bones!

We watched a documentary about the beginnings of life on earth called Before the Dinosaurs on the Discovery channel. And another called Walking with Prehistoric Beasts about animals after the dinosaurs. The show ended with the Australopithecines .

Afterwards, we looked through elephant book and learned about its prehistoric, extinct, and living ancestors.

We all played the National Geographic Geography Bee Game.

Today, the girls went to the library and passed in their reading record for last week. They each got to pick a prize. They each chose a pink snake.