Our church has a wonderful little wooded area with picnic tables and benches. So I gave the kids parameters and let them set about to see what they could discover and journal about. Here are some photos from the classes, including some of their discoveries.

Next week for our very last co-op meeting before summer break we will be having an end of the schoolyear party, including an Art show and Drama performance. And also there will be displays put up from the other classes. So the students will get a chance to show off their nature journals to others!

I left the students with tremendous encouragement to keep up their nature studies over the summer! And to help to encourage the families in our co-op to keep nature study alive, I will be leading a nature club two Fridays each month May through August. We will be visiting parks all around our area and focusing on different nature topics for each one. I look forward to sharing with you about our meetings.

This week, our family received a special package in the mail. We had been waiting for it to come for several weeks. We received live ants in the mail! We bought an ant farm for the kids for Christmas, and we just received our pet ants in the mail. They had to wait until the spring to ship them when it was warm enough. So for this reason, coupled with the fact that I have been hearing so many people complaining of ants in their kitchens lately, I felt a lesson on ants was a great idea! After, all when I think of spring, one of the things I think about are the return of ants!

Along with our ant farm, I also brought in our crayfish and the bean plant we planted from last week’s lesson.

Materials Needed for Activities/Experiments:

Ant Farm – active with ants (can be ordered by clicking this link Ant Farms or bought at many local stores)

Whiteboard Preparation:

List the classification of ants, and the ant life cycle.

Class Starter:

Read the The Grasshopper and the Ants – Aesop’s Fables

Questions to be answered in class today: What is an ant? What is the anatomy of an ant? How are ants classified? What is the life cycle of an ant? What do worker ants do?

( Throughout this whole lesson we will be observing the ants in the ant farm.)

1) What is an ant? What is the anatomy of an ant?

Ants are insects.  Insects and their relatives are part of a huge group of animals called anthropods. Insects have three segments to their bodies: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. They also have no internal skeleton, their insides are all mushy! They instead are covered on the outside with a hard outer layer called the exoskeleton.

The head is made up of the feelers or antennae which the ant uses to touch and smell with, the pinchers which the ant uses to carry , dig, defend and eat with, compound eyes which the ant uses to see many of the same thing with, and the brain which it uses to think with. It would take 40,000 ant brains to equal one human brain, however an ant brain has amazing processing power likened to a computer, and ants have the largest brain of all insects.

The thorax has 6 legs with a sharp claw on each end. These help the ants to climb and run fast. If a human were an ant, we could run as fast as a race horse!

The abdomen is made up of the poison sac and a stinger which it uses to secrete on it’s enemies and two stomachs.

2) How are ants classified?

As you may already know, every animal and plant in the world is classified into a system to help scientists identify them. It’s a means by which we divide and organize all the animals and plants into groups. Classification makes things easier to find, identify, and study. As you’ll see there are 6 classes that animals are divided into. We owe this system to Carolus Linnaeus. Remember him from when we learned about Phenology? He was one of the founding fathers of plant phenology.

The following is the classification of ants:

Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Anthropoda

Class – Insecta

Order - Hymenoptera

Suborder - Apocrit

Family – Formicidae

3) What is the life cycle of an ant?

The life cycle of an ant is as follows:

Egg – Queen lays tiny oval shaped eggs

Larva – worm like larva grow and grow causing their skin to shed; they don’t have eyes or legs yet.

Pupa – one the larva reaches a certain size, it spins a cocoon and pupates; during the time in the cocoon, the larva changes into an adult ant.

The life expectancy of a worker ant is 45-60 days, however the queen can live up to 10-20 years!

4) What do worker ants do?

Speaking of worker ants, let’s talk a little about what they do. First you should know that in an ant colony there are three different types of ants: the queen, the males, and the worker ants. There will be one queen ant per colony, she is much larger than the rest. The queen and male ants are strictly for making more ants. The worker ants, which are all females have many different jobs to do in the colony. The ants that are in our farm are all workers ants. They always begin their work by cleaning themselves. Then they go off to work! Here are some of the different jobs done by the workers ants.

Queen Tender: help the queen deliver her eggs by grabbing eggs with their mandibles.

Nurse Ant: lick larvae so they do not dry out, and feed them as they grow.

Tunnel Diggers: dig tunnels for traffic and new chambers to store eggs and larvae and food. (which is what you see them doing here in this farm)

Guards: stand near the entrance of the nest, blocking strange ants from entering.

Foragers: the oldest workers ants search for food. Most foragers search within 50 feet of hte nest, but if food is scarce, they may travel thousands of feet.

These workers ants only live 45-60 days, and they spend it working HARD!! You will notice in this farm how hard they are working.

5) Bible Lesson

Proverbs 6:6

⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard;
       consider its ways and be wise!

Proverbs 30:24-25

²⁴ “Four things on earth are small,
       yet they are extremely wise:

 ²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
       yet they store up their food in the summer;

6) Notebook Entry

Ant Diagram

Ant Life Cycle

 Files:

7) Nature Challenge

Observation of Ants -

- Take a nature walk. Continue looking for the signs of spring. On your walk look to see if you can spot any ants yet. Look under logs and rocks. If you cannot find them yet, be sure to keep your eyes out for them on future walks as the temperatures continue to rise. When you do find them, take a moment to just observe. What sort of things do you see them doing. What kind of ant do you think they are? Worker? Do you see any eggs? Be sure to not disturb them too much. You may see the worker ants frantically moving the eggs if you’ve found them.

- If you find a colony of ants, bring them a little something to eat such as cookie or bread crumbs. Put them near them and watch what they do with it.

Scrap pieces of paper with varying colors and backgrounds

Nature Magazines (to be used to cut pictures from)

Glue Sticks 

Write Camouflage with the definition

Draw figure of bird’s wings covering children (see photo in Bible lesson)

Explore Spring: 25 Great Ways to Learn About Spring (Explore Your World series)

Draw 50 Baby Animals: The Step-By-Step Way to Draw Kittens, Lambs, Chicks, and Other Adorable Offspring

Baby Animals of the Woodland Forest (Nature’s Baby Animals)

I See Animals Hiding

Animals With Crafty Camouflage: Hiding in Plain Sight (Amazing Animal Defenses)

Where in the Wild?: Camouflaged Creatures Concealed … and Revealed

How to Hide a Butterfly and Other Insects (Reading Railroad)

What Color Is Camouflage? (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2)

Animal Disguises (Science Kids)

Spring Song

camouflage

mammals

fledglings

predators

burrow

instinct

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/camouflage.shtml

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/camouflage/camouflage.html

http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/animals/camouflage/grownups.weml#teachers

http://home.howstuffworks.com/animal-activities4.htm

 CLASS TIME:

Welcome Back to Class

Class Attendance

Recap Last Week – Signs of Spring

Weekly Challenge Participants Sharing Time

Class Starters:

Quote:

“Have ye not seen Him, when through parted snows

Wake the first kindlings of the vernal green?

Have ye not heard Him, when the tuneful rill

Cuts off it’s icy chains and leaps away?

In thunders echoing loud from hill to hill?

In songs of bird, at break of summer’s day?

Have ye not felt Him while your kindling prayer

Swelled out in tones of praise, announcing God was there?

- Mrs. Heman, from Type Lessons for Primary Teachers

 Nature, God’s creation, speaks of Him. Over and over I will say this to you, if you learn nothing else from my class, I want you to understand that nature is a place that if you open your eyes to see, you WILL find Him. And one of the many ways that I see Him in nature in spring is by noticing the birth of baby animals..baby birds, baby bunnies, baby chipmunks and squirrels, baby raccoons, baby frogs, baby opossums, and even baby skunks! Spring is alive with new birth, babies everywhere!!

Questions to be answered in class today: Why do so many animals have their babies in the spring? How do animals find and make their homes? How do animals keep their babies safe? What is camouflage?

Spring is a time when loads of animal’s babies are born. Why do you think that is? Basically, because the weather getting warmer. Because the weather is getting warmer that means #1 the temperatures are more suitable for raising young ones; and #2 there is more food available to eat. If babies were born when winter time was coming, the babies wouldn’t stand as much of a chance of survival because they would could freeze or die from starvation. Now, what’s one of the main things that animals have to have before having their babies?

 2) How do animals find and make their homes?

Animals have to have homes just like people do. Many animals make new homes in the spring or return back to the same ones if they’ve migrated, or just keep using the one they’ve used all along if they do not leave. Animals have homes for the same reasons we do. They need a place to have their babies and keep their families safe from bad weather and danger. Animals are born knowing what kind of home they need. Now how is that? The instinct that God gave them tells them exactly what they need to do to survive. And one of those things is to have a suitable home. Some animals find simple shelters to call home, yet others build complicated structures. Some use homes that other animals built before them, they just move right in and make themselves comfortable.

The majority of animals build their homes using natural materials like grass, dirt, sticks, and mud. It all depends on the type of home they need, and where they live. Animals that live on or near ground level will make or find homes naturally close to the ground. Such as the Song Sparrow, even though it can fly, tends to hang around the ground a lot, not much in trees. Therefore it builds its nest down low near the ground. And some mammals, like skunks, rabbits, chipmunks, and groundhogs dig burrows down underground to have their babies. Often snakes will find old burrows and make them into their homes. Sometimes the old owners will come back to find a new animal has moved in! How would you like it if someone moved in to your home while you were out at the store?

Some animals make their homes using material they make from their own bodies. Many insects do this. Such as bees make their own homes from beeswax, paper wasps use their own spit, spiders spin webs from their own silk.

Large animals like deer and moose actually don’t build homes. These kinds of animals move around a lot, so they have their babies in the woods or in tall grass. They push some grass down and make a soft nest, but leave tall grass around so they are hidden. Animals that live in trees such as squirrels make nests in high places. Sometimes they’ll find holes in trees to make their nest in or make it in the crook of the tree. Squirrels use leaves and twigs to build their nest.

Generally, it’s not too easy to find animal’s homes, and that’s good, that’s the way the animal wants it. So most animals will spent a lot of time finding the safest, hardest-to-find place for their homes that they can.

We as humans will hardly ever leave our babies alone. But animal mothers do it all the time, they have to seek after food. If baby animals are hidden well they are actually pretty safe when their parents are not around because babies have no scent yet, so predators cannot smell them.

Animal parents often leave their babies alone during the day. Deer and rabbits only visit their babies a couple of times a day to feed them. The rest of the day the mothers are close-by, but not right next to their babies. This keeps the babies safe from any predators that may be hunting.

Baby animals have other ways to stay safe from predators. One way is how they look. Many animal babies have fur or feathers of a different color from their parents. For example, a baby fawn has light colored spots on its brown coat. Adult deer do not have spots. The light spots help the baby deer to blend in wherever it is. Does anyone know the name of this?? This is called camouflage. Baby birds are usually grayish brown, no matter what color the parents are. Their drab colors blend in with their nests, so it’s really hard for predators to see them.

Psalm 32:7

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

Psalm 91:14

When God created animals, He gave many of them the gift of camouflage. This gift helps to protect them from harm, guard them from trouble. This camouflage is symbolic of when we choose to follow and love Jesus Christ we are in His protection. Much like being camouflaged; He IS our camouflage in an evil world. And when we choose to not follow and love Him, much like the animals that have no camouflage, we will stand out in the way of danger and be subjected to the evils of this world.

There are many species of birds that have very creative ways of protecting their eggs and babies. Have you heard of the Killdeer bird? The Killdeer bird is the only “shorebird” we have in this area. Although technically shorebirds, they often times as in our case live very far from the ocean. Well Killdeer birds have an amazing way of protecting their eggs and babies. Now first it’s interesting to know that they lay their eggs right on the ground, right out in the open. Now that doesn’t seem very safe does it? But, when a predator approaches they exhibit a clever “broken wing display” in which they appear to be struggling with a broken wing while leading the predator away from their babies! Why would a predator be more interested in that? If the Mama Killdeer has a broken wing she will be easy prey, and she’s much meatier. Therefore she’s willing to sacrifice herself for her babies.

Another interesting fact is that many birds that make traditional nests will use their wings to cover their eggs and babies to protect them from the weather elements. When cool weather and cold rain comes down, parent’s waterproof-feathered wings give warm protection. Psalm 91:4 says, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” 

Again, when we choose to be under His protection we are choosing to be under His mighty wings, His loving care. So many people choose to live outside of this umbrella, trying to accomplish life on their own human ability.

 Being in His protection doesn’t mean that everything will always be perfect and that nothing bad will ever happen to us. Being camouflaged or under His wings simply means that we are under His care, and whatever happens to us we know that He is ALWAYS with us and that He will be there to help us through whatever comes our way in life. And that nothing bad will happen to us that He will not use for our good.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” 

Label top of sheet with Camouflage and the definition (from board)

Look at camouflage photos I took – download by clicking image below.

Have students choose a photo
Glue onto top section of page

- hand out magazines

- have student pick a picture of an animal that would be easy to camouflage

- have students come up to table to find a piece of paper as a camouflage background for the animal

- glue animal on the paper scrap

- glue onto bottom half of notebook and label “My Camouflage Creation”

- Interesting Video on Camouflage

Below I have posted a video about a Marine Biologist who studies camouflage and the Cuttlefish. Watch the video. Make sure you pay special attention toward the end of the footage of the octopus, VERY cool!  

Visit the link below and take the Baby Animal Name Game Quiz. At our next class, tell me how many you missed. I missed TWO! http://biology.about.com/od/animalnamegames/a/aa102308a.htm

As we discussed in class, this time of year, birds are pairing up to have a family. It is a frequent sight in backyard trees, or overhead flying above you to see birds in pairs. Take a nature walk simply to try and observe pairs of birds together. Also look for things like pieces of nesting material in bird’s beaks. Also, look in the trees and bushes, can you spot any nests?

Literature Resources:

Spring (Nature Projects for Every Season)

Explore Spring: 25 Great Ways to Learn About Spring (Explore Your World series)

Everything for Spring: An Early Childhood Curriculum Activity Book

It’s Spring

Spring Things

Spring (Simply Science)

(I will be coming back to this post to add more spring books later)

Class Starter:

Read Solomon 2:11-13 and discussed

¹¹ See! The winter is past;

       the rains are over and gone.

 ¹² Flowers appear on the earth;

       the season of singing has come,

       the cooing of doves

       is heard in our land.

 ¹³ The fig tree forms its early fruit;

       the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

       Arise, come, my darling;

       my beautiful one, come with me.”

Read quote from Our Birds and Their Nestlings: “It is springtime, and the old earth has awakened from her long winter nap. Songs of gladness greet her everywhere as she throws off the snowy blanket that has covered her through the dreary, cold days and long, silent nights of winter. She hears the gentle patter of raindrops which call from their hiding places the bloodroots and the violets. A sunny smile lights up her face as the birds chirp their songs of welcome to the spring.”

 Questions to be Answered: What is Phenology? What are some signs of spring?

 1) What is Phenology?

Phenology is the study of the seasonal timing of life cycle events. You are studying phenology when your record the date a certain plant flowers, a tree’s leaves emerge, an insect hatches, or a migratory bird appears on it’s nesting grounds. The dates on which these happen each year are affected by factors such as daylength, temperature, and rainfall.

Journey North has a wonderful website where students can learn more about phenology and even report their sightings, and much, much more!

 2) Bible Lesson

What does spring make you think of and feel like? Perhaps freshness, newness, new birth, new beginnings, coming back to life. To me it is symbollic of the resurrection of Jesus – read Matthew 28:1-10 and discuss. Let us rejoice this time of year as we remember this.

 3) Signs of Spring and Notebook Entries

First, we brainstormed a list of the signs of spring up on the whiteboard, and the students wrote the list in their notebooks as we brainstormed. Then the students, if they wanted to, drew a spring scene in their notebooks as well.

4) Nature Challenge

RESEARCH – PHENOLOGY

 Ok, now on to this week’s lesson…Thunder and Lighting!

 Materials for Activities:

Blue Ice Cubes

 - (water and blue food coloring frozen into cubes)

Warm water

Clear, plastic container, the size of shoebox

Red food coloring

Brown paper lunch bags

Whiteboard and Other Preparation:

Draw the three main types of lightning (what will be on notebook entries)

Place chairs in circle in main area, with chair for sun outside of circle

Talk to helper about pretending to be person on earth

Literature Resources:

Non-Fiction

Explore Spring: 25 Great Ways to Learn About Spring (Explore Your World series)

The Weather Book (Wonders of Creation, Vol. 1) (Wonders of Creation , No 1)

Weather Mania: Discovering What’s Up and What’s Coming Down

Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather

The Kid’s Book of Weather Forecasting: Build a Weather Station, ‘Read the Sky’ & Make Predictions! (Williamson Kids Can! Series)

Janice VanCleave’s Weather: Mind-Boggling Experiments You Can Turn Into Science Fair Projects (Spectacular Science Project)

Wild Science Projects About Earth’s Weather (Rockin’ Earth Science Experiments)

Wild About Weather

Weather!

The Weather Book: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to the USA’s Weather

The Essential Book of Weather Lore

Fiction

Storm on the Desert

Thunder Cake

Storm in the Night

Ohio Thunder

Like a Hundred Drums

Books on Benjamin Franklin

How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning

Benjamin Franklin: Writer, Inventor, Statesman (Biographies)

The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin

A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin (Picture Book Biography)

Key Weather Words:

Weather

Convection

Currents

Atmosphere

Electrical Charge

Negative Charge

Positive Charge

Thunderstorm

Cold Front

Warm Front

Expand

Contract

Forecast

Internet Resources:

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/index.htm

http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/

http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/

http://www.scholastic.com/kids/weather/

http://www.wildwildweather.com/

http://www.kidslightning.info/sabintro.htm

Class Starters:

Read Psalm 135:7: “He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.”

Quote:

“There is no season such delight can bring…as summer, autumn, winter, and spring.”

 – William Browne

Questions to be answered in class today:  Why is spring a crazy weather time of year? What is “whiplash weather”? What causes thunderstorms? How do they form? What is thunder and lightning?

1) What is Whiplash Weather?

Have students gather in main area. There’s a new term that I’ve just recently become familiar with. It’s called Whiplash Weather.  During the spring months the weather is often referred to as this.  Why do you think that is so?….what does whiplash mean? The weather tends to be unstable this time of year. Spring is the hardest time of year to predict or forecast weather. What is the reason for this?…it all begins with the sun and how it works with the air. The earth is a huge place, and all encompassed (surrounded by) air.

Let’s pretend that this circle of chairs in our earth. Let’s pretend that we are the air and the sun (designate one student to be the sun which will sit in a chair outside of the circle pretending to shine on earth; and have teacher helper pretend to be person on the earth in the middle of the circle).

The air moves around the earth all the time, all over the earth, being driven by the sun (have students hold hands and move around the circle of chairs signifying the air moving around the earth). And the sun and air’s job is to try to make the temperature “even” or “moderate” all over, that is NOT an easy job to do. (stop the students for a moment)

Remember how the sun’s rays hit the Northern Hemisphere at an angle during the winter? That means the sun is lower in the sky, and so the earth doesn’t get as much of the sun’s light or heat and the air is cooler (have the teacher’s helper pretend to be cold as the student’s pretending to be the cold air move again).

Well, in spring the sun appears higher and higher in the sky (have the student pretending to be the sun stand up on the chair). Now its rays are hitting the earth more directly and make the air warm right up (have the teacher’s helper pretend to warm up). But the ground takes longer to warm up than the air; the ground is still pretty cold from the winter.

So in spring, the air and sun have a lot more work to do to even out the temperatures. The warm air that is heated by the sun and the cold air coming up from the frozen ground can bump up against each other (have students gently bump up again the chairs, the earth’s surface). That means the weather changes from warm to cold, and back again (have teacher’s helper pretend to be warm then cold then warm and back and forth).

(Have students stop and listen) These changes help clouds to grow very quickly, sometimes spring storms have such large clouds that they make huge amounts of rainfall, and sometimes lightning, hail, and even tornadoes. But remember the warm air and cold air are close together. The weather can change from sunny and warm to snowy and cold in just a few hours. This is called “Whiplash Weather”!! (have students take a seat back in classroom).

2) What is a Thunderstorm? How does it form?

In our part of the country, spring time means thunderstorm time, That’s because thunderstorms happen when lots of cold air meet lots of warm, damp air.  When the cold and hot air meets, this is called convection. What happens when you take a ice cold water bottle from the fridge and set it in the hot air/sun? It sweats, or creates water, this is called condensation, right? All this sweating in the sky is great for cloud making. And as the clouds grow they tumble together and rise and collect more and more water. Those humongous, warm, water filled clouds get pushed higher and higher into the sky, where they meet with more cold air. Eventually the clouds get so full, down comes the rain. Now, a thunderstorm is basically rain with thunder and lightning. So, what is lightning and thunder? Let’s start with lightning since it comes first.

3) What is Lightning?

The energy created by the very warm air and the very cold air moving together inside of a cloud cause’s electrical energy (friction) (have kids rub their hands together and feel the heat of friction). When enough of this friction happens it’s possible that we will get lightning.

Let’s demonstrate another way, what lightning is. Have students gather in main area where carpet is.  Have them take off their shoes and drag their feet about, becoming conductors of electricity.  Then have the cast off their stored electricity on one another!  Zap!! Have students return to classroom.

In our demonstration, you were the clouds and the spark of electricity was the lightning. Within a cloud, particles of air, dust, and water vapor crash together. Like when you stroked your feet onto the carpet, the colliding particles caused the buildup of static electricity. The charges that separate within a cloud can build up in the same way nad then jump to the ground below. We call this giant discharge of electricity, Lightning.

Lightning begins when some of the negative charges move from the cloud towards the ground. This movement starts things off, and it called the “leader”. Not only does the leader set the path for the lightning bolt, but it makes the surrounding air electrically unstable. Charges become free to move about from the cloud. A split second later, a huge amount of electricity follows the leader’s path. Electrons in the unstable air drain into the ground below and then shoot back up into the sky. This rapid and major release of electricity from the air to the ground and back produces a huge flash of lightning. Lightning is very dangerous; you should never be outside when it is around. Just imagine the small spark, you couldn’t even visibly see, that you created from rubbing your feet on the ground, that little shock can hurt a bit. Actual lightning is WAY more powerful. A lightning bolt heats the surrounding air to five times the temperature of the sun’s surface!!

 There are three main types of lightning:

Intracloud Lightning – the kind that happens within a cloud

Cloud-to-Ground Lightning – the kind we know most about; the most dangerous kind that jumps from sky to the ground.

Intercloud Lightning – lightning leaps across a gap of clear air between two different clouds.

 4) What is Thunder?

 Thunder is simply the sonic boom sound of the lightning exploding into the air. Light travels faster than sound, so we see the lightning first, then hear the thunder. Think of fireworks. Or think of when you get “shocked” there is sometimes a small audible sound. Now think of how big lightning is and why is produces such a loud sound!

Let’s do something fun to demonstrate the sound of thunder.  Use brown paper lunch bags to blow up and pop. Just like lightning in a cloud, the compressed air in the bag came loudly bounding out…THUNDER!

5) Convection Demonstration (warm and cold air interaction)

In this demonstration the cold air is the blue ice cubes and the warm air is the red food coloring. Fill the plastic container a little more than halfway with warm (not hot) water. Place the blue ice cube at one end of the plastic container. Then add three drops of red food coloring to water at other end.  What happened to the ice cube in the warm water? What happened to the drops of red food coloring? What else did you notice?

Warm (the red) air molecules have more energy and move faster than do less energetic cold-air molecules. The speedy warm air molecules tend to move away from each other. So warm air, with its molecules space further apart, is lighter than cold air, with its sluggish closer spaced molecules. This causes warmer air to rise, and colder, heavier air to sink. This up and down movement of air due to differences in temperature is called convection currents.

6) Bible Lesson –

The Bible lesson will be sent this week as part of your nature challenge.

 7) Notebook Entries

Types of Lightning – Draw a thunderstorm scene, noting the three main types of lightning.

Nature Challenge

Bible Lessons

 - Look up and read Job 38, pay close attention to verse 35

The actual path of a lightning bolt appears to be crooked and haphazard. However, Job 38:35 reminds us of the Creator’s detailed control of nature. He even opens up the conducting path for the electrons: “Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’”?

 - What is lightning good for?

Read the following linked article, and come ready to explain to me why it is that we really need lightning. The next time lightning is crackling across the sky, remember to thank God for his provision of our essential nitrogen.Questions to be answered this week:  Why does the landscape change in winter?  Where did the plants and animals go?  Why did some disappear and others didn’t?  How do animals stay warm?

1) Contrast two lists up on the whiteboard:  Nature in Summer/Nature in Winter

- What are some things that we see and feel in nature in summer versus nature in winter?

Summer – green grass, insects/butterflies, green trees, more animals, gardens, flowers, warm and hot temperatures

Winter – brown/yellow grass, lack of insects/butterflies, bare trees, fewer animals out, no flowers, snow, cooler/cold temperatures, ice, different birds

2) What happens to plants in the winter?  Why is there such a lack of green?

It all has to do with the sun – remember that from last week?

There are some key ingredients that plants need to grow and flourish.  Three of those are water, dirt, and sunshine.  Which of those is lacking in the winter? – sunshine (less direct light) and water (frozen)

Trees and plants look dead in the winter, are they?  No, they are dormant.  To be dormant means to lie asleep, or be inactive.  They shed their leaves in order to preserve water so that they can survive the lack of sunshine.  They will “wake up” and return to cycle again in the spring.  Evergreens are an exception to this, we will be learning about them next week.

3) Bible Lesson from Nature – Coming Back to Life

When the plants and trees go dormant for the winter, you might think they were dead, but they are simply in a temporary state waiting for when they will burst back forth into life again.  What does this remind you of from God’s Word?  When Jesus gave the greatest sacrifice for mankind by dying for them, hope was temporarily lost, but then He burst back forth into life triumphant over sin.

4) What happens to the animals in winter?  Why do some leave and others do not?

Because of the changes in nature in winter, lots of animals are faced with a shortage of food and proper shelter.  So, what do they do?

They do one of three things (write the following things up on the board):

1.  Migrate – to pass at times from one region or climate to another

2.  Hibernate – to pass the winter in an inactive sleeping state

3.  Adapt/Cope – stay and make the changes necessary to survive

5) We are specifically going to discuss in more detail about how the animals that stay cope and survive the winter.

(put the following list up on the whiteboard as the kids brainstorm the following question)

How do animals adapt and cope in winter?

- change their food source – one example – the Carolina Wren eats insects most in summer, then changes to seeds in the winter

- grow thicker fur, feathers – notice dogs get thicker hair

- camouflage themselves – the American Goldfinch loses it’s yellow; snowshoe hare turns from brown to white in winter

- puff up feathers – birds will puff up their feathers a lot in the winter to trap heat in

- store up food in summer – squirrels will store up acorns and other nuts to eat throughout the winter

- gain fat for insulation – animals eat more during the summer/fall to gain more fat on their bodies to insulate themselves from the cold

- search under snow for food- dig down under the snow and leaves to search for food

- sleep more, wake up to eat (not officially hibernate) – bears, raccoons

- find alternate shelter – deer will travel to find groups of evergreens to protect themselves from the cold

6) Science Experiment – Fat Insulation

This experiment was to show the kids how extra fat helps to keep the animals insulated in the winter.

 Materials Needed for the Experiment:

Petroleum Jelly
Ice Water in Bowls
Cotton Swabs

I first had the kids divide up in pairs.  Then each group was provided with a bowl of ice water.  One student then helps the other to coat one of their index fingers with petroleum jelly (the fat) using a cotton swab.  The student then dips both index fingers (one coated and one not) into the ice water.  Which one gets colder first?  Then the students switched so that the other one in the pair could do the experiment.

7) Notebook Entries

Our notebook entries consisted of a picture of a groundhog under the word “Hibernate”, a flock of geese flying under the word “Migrate”, and under the word “Adapt” we listed the things that animals do to cope in the winter (from above #5) and pasted in two pictures of animals adapting (chipmunk storing food, American Goldfinch in winter plumage).  And at the bottom is a list of “key words” with their definitions (from above).  Again, those of you doing this at home, you could just have the students draw pictures if you have the time.

Nature Challenge

With your parent’s permission, take a nature walk and notice the changes in nature during the winter.  What do the trees look like, the grass, how about the sky?  How about animals, what kinds do you see?  Can you see any birds?  If so, can you identify them?  What about insects, do you see any at all?  Make a list of the things you observed, such as: bare trees, birds singing, wind blowing, cool breeze, etc.  Make this list as long as you can.  And be specific if you can, such as list a specific type of tree, bird or other animal that you observed.  Draw pictures if you’d like.  How much of what you’ve observed will change in the summer?

Bonus:  Pick one animal and find out how it spends the winter.  Research it further.  How does it prepare for the winter?  Does it hibernate, migrate, or adapt?  Why?  Write a short report on this animal.

This class was so wonderful!!  Lots and lots of learning happening and even better lots and lots of very interested and engaged kids!  The class was packed full of great information and fun, so without further ado, shall we get started?  One quick note first…since I am leading and teaching this class it is quite challenging to also be a photographer, so unfortunately I did not take any photos during class (I honestly forgot/was too busy)!  But I did recreate some of the things at home so you could have some visuals, and I will try to explain things as clearly as possible.

First I asked some questions to the students to give them an idea of what we would be learning about:  Do any of you know why is it winter?  Where did all the daylight go, have you noticed that it is darker earlier at night and later in the morning?  What is the winter solstice?  Why is it summer now in Australia and winter here?

Where we live we do not have as much sunlight in the winter.  It gets dark much earlier in the evening and stays darker longer in the morning; all of the students had noticed this.  Also, the sun’s position in the sky is different now than in summer, it’s lower on the horizon.  In the summer the sun is higher up in the sky.  In the drawing below I illustrated this concept (please refrain from making fun of my quick artwork! LOL).

Then I asked them if the earth was orbiting (encircling) the sun, or if the sun was orbiting around the earth?  I explained to the students that the sun was not moving as it appears to be in the sky, it is the Earth that is doing all the moving.  I went into a short history lesson:  did you know many years ago people thought that the earth was the center of the solar system and that everything including the sun revolved around us?  After all, that is what it looks like if you watch the sun in the sky, you would think that it is doing the moving.

Well, around the early 1500s, a man named Nicolaus Copernicus had been observing the skies night after night, day after day, and started to have a different idea.  He proposed in his writings that the earth was indeed the one moving, not the sun.  And it wasn’t until Nicolaus was passing away late in his life that he shared his knowledge on this.  He hadn’t shared it until then for fear of his life being taken because it was a very “different” belief back then.  He also probably felt like no one would believe him because if the earth was moving why were they not falling over (which lead to us talking about gravity).

It wasn’t until about 100 years later that his concepts were fully accepted.  A really great kid’s book on this story is Nicolaus Copernicus: The Earth Is a Planet by Dennis B. Fradin.

So, now we know the earth travels around the sun (the complete trip takes 1 full year, four seasons, 365 days, 12 months).  We also know that while the earth is traveling around the sun, it is also spinning on it’s axis, which is what gives us day and night.  Next we did some explaining of some vocabulary words.  Using my globe to point things out, we defined the following:  equator, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, North and South Poles, winter and summer solstice, spring and fall equinox, axis, and orbit.

Next we did a hands-on demonstration to show these concepts.

 I used a table lamp without it’s shade (the sun) and placed it on a stool in the center of the room.  Next I took an orange with a bamboo stick put through it at an angle as the axis and the equator drawn around the middle with a permanent marker.  Also I used the marker to “dot” our approximate location on the orange (the earth).  This photo is taken from the Explore Winter: 25 Great Ways to Learn About Winter (Explore Your World series), by Maxine Anderson.

One of the students came forward to walk the earth (orange) around the sun (lamp), all the while I was showing them where the light was shinning on the earth, thus showing them how the sun hits us more directly in the summer, and less directly in the winter.  Also explaining why it’s summer now in places like Australia in the southern hemisphere.  The student took a second trip around and this time I had the earth spinning to show why there’s day and night.  I posted back in December another way to do this demonstration too, you can find that here:  Winter Solstice.

To help the students understand the concept of the sun hitting us more directly and giving us more heat, I used two flashlights, one pointing directly down on the table, and the other hitting the table at an angle.  We observed how the flashlight that was hitting directly was offering a more brighter condensed light (heat), such as during the summer here, and the one that was angled, like the sun is hitting us in the winter, was a less intense light (heat).

 We discussed that it was because of the earth’s tilt on it’s axis that we have the seasons.  An interesting fact is that the earth is actually closer to the sun in the winter, but it’s the tilt (position in relation to the sun and the indirect heat) that makes it colder.

There’s actually a scientific name for this: Perihelion – the place in the earth’s orbit where it at the nearest point to the sun on the ellipse, it occurs on January 3rd. The opposite is called Aphelion, when it’s the furthest away from the sun, occurring on July 4th. Here is a website that explains this and gives you a model: Perihelion and Aphelion.

Next we had a Bible lesson about how God had put our planet in the exact perfect position to the sun; not too close, not too far.  Otherwise our planet would have been uninhabitable.  He knew exactly where to put the earth so that our planet could flourish with life, the life that He has provided us.

Also we talked for a moment about the relationship of the sun to our planet, and how it supports all life, how we encircle perfectly around it, how it controls our climate/weather; and how this is symbolic of our relationship with God in our life.  We are supposed to be living with God at the center of it, allowing Him to control and guide us in a perfect relationship.  Have you ever really thought about why we feel so much better and happier when the sun is shinning?

Lastly (whew!), we completed our nature notebook entries!  I had pre-printed the definitions of the solstices and equinoxes on little pieces of paper for them to glue in the corner of their entries.  Also, I had found little graphics (in a workbook I have) of the earth to use for these entries in order to save us time since we only have about 10 minutes to complete these entries.  But these could easily be hand drawn too.

The nature challenge for this week is as follows:

With your parent’s permission, go outside in your yard on a sunny day around noontime and observe the location of the sun in the sky.  Remember how we discussed in class to NEVER look directly into the sun, it can damage your eyes; but you can see the location of it still without looking directly at it.  Make note of the sun’s location in relation to the horizon by sketching it on a piece of paper, making sure to include the horizon line (i.e., trees, hills, buildings) to show the approximate distance that the sun is from it (just as I did in my sketch).  Place the date and time of day on your paper.  I will be having you pull these out around the spring equinox to do again and see how the sun’s location has changed!

 Welcome to class!  We had a wonderful first day, so exciting!  I have an fantastic group of kids to teach.  There are 12 children total in the co-op class I am teaching, they are all 4th graders.  And, yesterday I became aware that all of them are Nuts About Nature, just like me!  How about you?  I am also excited that I am able to share this class with YOU so that you may follow along as well, we are so glad you are with us!  Don’t worry about the grade your child is in, this class could be easily adaptable for most ages.

 We had a wonderful first class, really I am so excited!  When you are teaching about something you are passionate about, it’s not only educational it’s just plain fun!

 The theme of our first class was:  Why study nature? Can we learn from it?

 It may seem fundamental, but I think it’s important to first establish the basics of what exactly we’d like to accomplish during this class and why.  So, first I asked the students two simple questions:

 What do you think nature study is?

 I got answers such as: it means to go outside and look at nature, and it means to play outside, and it means to find out about things in nature.

 Why should we study nature?

 I got answers such as:  so we can learn about the things in nature, so we can get fresh air, and then the jackpot answer came….so we can learn about God’s Creation

 Next we shared two key Bible verses together:

 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?” ~ Job 12:7-9

 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” ~ Psalm 19:1-3

 We discussed these verses for a few moments.  Here are some of the prompt questions I asked the kids:

What does it mean when God says that we can ask the animals and they will teach us?  Does it mean that Mr. Bluebird will verbally speak to me and tell me how to do my school lessons that day?!

- No, of course not!  But it does mean that when we observe and learn about His Creation, that it will teach us about Him and all about our lives that He has given us here on earth.

 How can the Heaven’s declare God’s glory?  How can they speak to everyone in every language so that it can be understood?

- If the time is taken to observe and study Creation, every person will see God’s glory it it.  And we will understand that it is from Him.

 For parent/teacher inspiration, It may also be helpful for you to pay a visit to a couple of blog posts I did:

Can Nature Teach?

Carving Out Time for Nature Study

 Ok, next we went on to a little Nature Notebooking 101.  First, again I discussed the basics of what a nature notebook is and why we would keep one.   There is a good introductory article written here:  The Secret of the Nature Notebook.  We discussed that we would be keeping a simple nature notebook for our 11 weeks.  I provided them with blank nature notebooks that I had bought at Discount School Supply.  However, those of you who are doing this class here at my blog can either use one that you already have in your homeschool, or easily pick up a blank sketch notebook or just grab a folder and put some blank paper in.  There are plenty of instructions online on how to create your own nature notebook, but please do not get overwhelmed with this.

A nature notebook should never feel overwhelming, it does NOT have to be elaborate and beautifully decorated or done.  It’s simply just a place to draw and write about your nature experiences, a place to keep memories of what you have experienced in nature.  It’s a beautiful thing to look back on and remember the experiences you have had with nature, not marvel at the perfectness of how it looks!   This class is about showing you how simple nature study AND notebooking can be!

So, for this first week we decorated the front of our nature notebooks.  I emphasized that this was their notebook and they could personalize this to their liking with things they enjoy in nature.  I was SO impressed with the attention they put into their notebook covers, they truly got into this!  I went around the room cheering their impressive efforts!

After completing their notebook covers, we cleaned up our tables, put things away, and out the doors we went for a quick nature walk!!  I must apologize because while I had my camera with me in my pocket, I totally forgot about it being there!  It’s a testament to how much fun we were having outside!  So you will simply have to use your vivid imaginations to come along with us!!

We found a wonderful little area with lots of trees outside of the church and a couple of picnic tables.  And there, for this first week, I just let the students go about nature, finding and bringing things of interest back to me.  I encouraged them to find one thing they thought was interesting.  Very eager and excited children brought me all sorts of goodies such as twigs, walnut shells and hickory shells, rocks, pieces of green leaves (which is quite significant here in the winter).  Each time I tried to use it for a quick teaching such as letting them try to guess what their treasure was.   It’s amazing how children’s faces light up when they are out in the fresh air searching and discovering.

Our time was over too soon, and they had to be on to their next class.

But each week I am also giving them a challenge to do at home, and here was the challenge for week 1:

With your parent’s permission, take a nature walk this week and find something that you are interested in knowing more about. This could be anything in nature such as a plant, clouds, a tree, or an animal. If possible, take a photo of it or even draw a picture. Remember that even in the winter there is plenty of nature to observe, and everything in Creation is there for us to learn from. Upon returning from your walk, find out a little information about your chosen nature item. Come to class prepared to share one interesting fact about your item. Don’t forget, if you took a photo or drew a picture, bring that to share too!

This challenge could be easily applied for those of you doing this in blogworld, except your child could complete a notebook page on the item they found and share their findings with a friend or another family member or on a blog.  The main purpose of this challenge is to ignite interest in the children, for them to find something that catches their attention in nature and makes them want to know more, igniting a love of learning!

The lesson for next week will start our focus on winter.  We will learn about just why winter is here, what is the winter solstice, just where did all our daylight hours go, and why is it summer other places and winter here.

I would love to hear from you if you are doing these lessons, or simply just following along to get ideas!  Please leave me a comment!  If you do a blog entry I would love to be able to hop on over to take a look at your nature study happenings.

Happy Nature Adventures!!  Melissa