Welcome Dandelion

Plentiful Fungus

A Fungus Among Us

Trees Standing Waiting

Greening from the Ground Up

Reaching for the Sun

Gathering Spring's First Hope

Purple Prevailing

Residents Awaiting

Peek-A-Boo Sunshine

Newness Bursting Forth

]]> http://inthesparrowsnest.com/2011/04/welcoming-spring/feed/ 6 http://inthesparrowsnest.com/2011/01/winter-blues-sale-and-giveaway/ http://inthesparrowsnest.com/2011/01/winter-blues-sale-and-giveaway/#comments Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:41:05 +0000 Melissa http://inthesparrowsnest.com/?p=1189 Do you love the NaturExplorers studies? Have you been looking at them wondering if you should really spend the money?

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1st name chosen = Any THREE products of your choice!

2nd name chosen = Any TWO products of your choice!

3rd name chosen = Any ONE product of your choice!

CLICK HERE TO FIND THE ENTRY POST!

The sun's reflection made the moth appear brown, when really it's more grayish in color.

This moth is pretty large and at first glance seemed pretty bland in color.  My oldest daughter suggested I see if it would let me pick it up (notice how she makes me do it).  So, of course, I did.  And the moth was just as friendly as could be.  I think they are rather lazy in the morning and they’ll let you do that.  When I picked it up it spread out it’s wings to reveal six rows of bright yellow bands.  I don’t think it’s so bland in color anymore.

The six rows of bright yellow bands were outlined in black and white.

My daughter took numerous closeup photos so we could observe the details.

A closer look shows the moth's proboscis and compound eyes.

I really was amazed at how long the moth allowed us to observe it.

You'll notice in this photo the pinkish looking bare spot on it's back; that was what helped me to accurately identify it.

The following is a video we took showing how the moth would flutter it’s wings.

Shortly after we took this video the moth took to flight towards the woods in back.  This particular moths flies rather slow and my first thought was, “Oh no, a bird will get it.”  And sure enough down swooped a bird after it.  Well, that bird was not going to eat MY moth that has just blessed me.  So I took off “shooo-ing” the bird away just in time.  The moth fluttered on down and landed at the base of a tree.  My daughter and I decided we would go “rescue it” by putting it back in the safer place we found it.  Well, God has other plans, He has taken care of this moth just fine.  Ever heard of camouflage?

Can you see the moth?

Wow! Amazing!

We left that beautiful moth right where it was!

First she mixed Plaster of Paris with water.

Next, she poured it into a pie plate mold.

Next, she shook all the air bubbles out and then waited for it to set up.

Later in the day she painted her creation!

This was a very fun project and I plan to try doing some different things with plaster.  I have some ideas for nature projects!

The idea for fresco painting came from my favorite artist project book, Discovering Great Artists by MaryAnn Kohl.

• looked at several pictures of butterflies and drew attention to how their wings were similar;
• used pattern blocks to have her build butterflies symmetrically (I would make one side and have her copy it to the other and also just let her do this on her own); AND
• I printed out a simple outline picture of a butterfly (off the internet) and, ahead of time, I colored half of it using crayons, and then had her use the same crayons to copy what I had done.

I think she did a great job!  Now on to deciduous trees!

]]> http://inthesparrowsnest.com/2010/08/thank-you/feed/ 2 http://inthesparrowsnest.com/2010/08/butterfly-and-moth-blessings/ http://inthesparrowsnest.com/2010/08/butterfly-and-moth-blessings/#comments Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:55:08 +0000 Melissa http://inthesparrowsnest.com/?p=1154 As always when we start paying more attention to something in nature, God starts blessing us with wonderful opportunities to see it.   As I said before we are learning more about butterflies and moths this first couple weeks of school.  Yesterday my oldest daughter came running excitedly through the front door declaring that we were being visited by a huge group of butterflies.  I used my camera to videotape what we saw.

Mostly they were Cabbage Butterflies, but they varied in intensity of yellow color.  But also there were several little tiny butterflies, called Eastern-tailed Blue, that I managed to catch close-ups of.

Eastern-Tailed Blue Butterflies

At first I wondered why the word “blue” was in their name; that was until I caught a picture of one of them flying off.

Eastern-Tailed Blue Butterfly, in flight

Then this morning, again my older daughter went out our back door to take the dog out and observed several moths on the concrete around our outside light.  That is a great place early in the morning to find moths!  Here are a few that we observed.

Beautiful, orange-ish rust color

Frequent Visitors

Do you notice the shimmering gold on this one's wings?? Gorgeous!

The Beautiful, Luna Moth

Even though this isn’t first first encounter we’ve had with a Luna Moth, since it is not frequently that we get to see one, we gently took it inside to observe closer.

Now this is hands-on schooling!

This was a great teaching opportunity (seize the moments!) to teach my youngest about the differences between a moth and butterfly.  Here is another quick video.

I pray we continue to get blessed with such great opportunities to observe and learn about these wonderful creatures!

“Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life.  And everyone deserves a little sunshine.”

~Jeffrey Glassberg

Open fields of wilflowers are the perfect spot to find butterflies of all kinds. Butterflies need the heat from the sun for energy, thus why you will not see as many out on a cool and/or cloudy day.

The soaring heat and humidity of August makes it an excellent time to observe butterflies in nature.  In fact, for this first structured week of school, I have focused on butterflies with my youngest daughter.  Since my other children are much older its been a long time since I’ve had to think of the basics of butterflies.  We’ve been focusing on these three things:  life cycle of a butterfly, symmetry (butterfly wings), and the parts of a butterfly.  And of course the most important thing is we’ve spent some quality time outdoors chasing and observing butterflies too!  All of my research and ideas for activities and projects that I’ve used have come from the Butterflies Flutter By unit.

There was a gorgeous Monarch butterfly fluttering around us for a long time. He is sitting on the red clover at the center of this picture.

It’s been so nice to focus on the simple, basics of butterflies.  And to see my daughter’s unreserved enthusiam for these beautiful, winged creatures has been simply priceless.  On one particular day we managed to catch a Red-Spotted Purple butterfly to observe for a little bit.  Both my daughters got to stick their hands inside the enclosure to enjoy feeling the butterfly on their hands.  I believe being able to utilize the sense of touch and tangibility in your study of nature is highly beneficial.

The color and pattern on a butterfly's wings is a piece of God's most beautiful artwork.

As your schoolyear is beginning, be sure to bring some sunshine into your life by learning more about and observing butterflies.

Can’t wait to share more about what we’ve been doing.  However, we’re busy adjusting to the new schedule again!