Tuesday, December 30, 2008

For the Birds



Olivia's nature class for December was about making treats for wildlife. The class read a story by Eve Bunting called The Night Tree.



Afterward, the kids made some decorations like the ones in the story. Olivia made a peanut buttered pinecone dipped in seeds, and she strung some apple rings on yarn. The class went outside and picked out a tree that was accessible from all sides, and was close to a wooded area so the animals could feel safer. Then they decorated the tree with their creations, and some popcorn and cranberry garland as well.



Party for Wildlife

In mid-December we attended a Party for Wildlife at Brukner Nature Center. Everyone that attended brought donations for the animals. We brought various types of food items, such as seeds and vegetables.

We visited with some animals and learned more about them. The nature center is also a rehabilitation center, so the animals they have are ones that were rescued.

The girls learned about an owl, opossum, snake, and a very large and long-lived toad, which they got to touch.

Livy is touching the toad.
checking out "Hoot"
Olivia calls any owl "Hoot" after watching the movie.

The girls each made a treat for the birds to take home.

Olivia is putting peanut butter on a pinecone.
Georgia is, too.
Then they put it in a bag of seeds and shook it.

We also explored the nature center and visited with other animals downstairs.

Olivia can look up and see the turtles from underneath.
This is one of her favorite spots at this nature center.

Georgia and Olivia touching the turtles.

The girls measuring themselves against a very long snake skin.

Georgia is checking out Ohio's Endangered Species...

...and a geologic timeline.

Georgia is playing with a food chain activity

Producers, Primary Consumers, Secondary Consumers, Decomposers, and back to Producers.


We also visited the animals outside.

visiting the bald eagle
and a fox.

We started to take a hike but the rain came and we headed home instead.

December

This month the girls learned about the history and customs of winter holidays around the world, as well as the seasonal changes in the natural world. We read some library books and visited websites to learn more. Here are some of the places we visited...

Gingerbread Horses



Gingerbread Men

Christmas Cookies

Decorating the tree



Making Trees and Ornaments for a Countdown Poster


They added one of their ornaments each day until Christmas.
The end result...




Touring Daddy's work




Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Gymnastics

Georgia on the bars

The girls are still taking gymnastics. They love it and have fun with it.

Making a Compass


We made a compass with a pin, magnet, lettuce leaf, and a bowl of water.

Georgia also experimented with her magnets and figured out which ones were stronger, and which were weaker. She used paper clips, magnets of various shapes and sizes, and a pen and paper to make a chart and take notes.

The Art of Rock Balancing

We recently discovered a blog called Think! "A Program Designed to Encourage Kids to Think Outside of the Box." Our first challenge was to have the kids gather seven rocks, and then stack them as high as they can. Here's what the girls came up with...


The Think! site also shared a link to some beautiful photos of rock balancing.

http://www.coolic.com/2008/09/art-of-stone-balancing.html

The girls submitted some of their photos which have now been posted to the Think! site.

http://kidswhothink.blogspot.com/2008/12/week-fourteen-radical-rock-solutions.html

We have had so much fun trying to balance rocks in different ways. It has a zen quality to it, very relaxing and requires much patience, and very fun to do! We can't wait to see what the next challenge will be!

Fall Hike


We read more about the monkey brains here. We also found a picture at that site of what one looks like when it's sliced open.


Let's Say Thanks

I found this site that allows us to send a note of thanks to our troops serving overseas. It is free. You choose a card design, enter your personal message, then Xerox prints them and gives them to Give2TheTroops to be distributed along with their care packages. Just thought I'd share for anyone interested.

http://www.letssaythanks.com

http://www.give2thetroops.org/