Prairie Primer-Big woods- week 4

This week we learned about the California Gold Rush. We read the book By the Great Horn Spoon. This was nice for a "Boyish" aspect. I know Sky has really enjoyed this story. We used a lapbook from Hands of a Child. The kids aren't really loving the lapbooks but we pushed through- I will update a picture later of the completed books. We ended up playing North to Alaska for lack of a different game which inspired me to create one. When I finish it I will upload the files on here. At our co-op Ms. Alicia led the kids in a fun Trivia game covering different topics in the Big Woods book. The kids remembered alot! she also brought some yummy pumpkin bread and the gold rush bars featured in the PP. I thought it was delicious but my kids weren't too keen on it. I had the kids do a "gold nugget" hunt. These were yellow Easter eggs with scraps of paper in them. The papers either had an amount of ounces written on them or said Fool's Gold. When they had collected all of them each child totalled up how many ounces they had. We then figured up how much their gold was worth in 1849 and today. Sky had the most ounces and was the richest man so we dubbed him Sam Brannon. If you don't know who Sam Brannon was he was the man who made the most money off of the Gold Rush. He wasn't a miner but was very clever! Sam Brannon is actually the one who started the Gold Rush when he ran screaming through the streets that gold had been found at Sutter's Mill. John Marshall and John Sutter were trying to keep it quiet! Sam Brannon was clever because before he made the announcement he bought every piece of mining equipment around. Then he re-sold the items at a higher price. Sky was cracking up when he heard that. Anyhow, this unit study also sparked a mini-lesson about the law of supply and demand. Now, even Denim understands the concept :)
   We had two outings this week in addition to our studies. On Monday we went on two tours of the Blue Bell ice-cream creamery. It was so much fun and a perfect introduction to summer ahead! It was also an easy field trip to host. We had such a great response to this trip that we ended up doing two tours. In all there were about 60 people who went with us for this. It was only a dollar per person, too, so it was very affordable. Here are some pics from our trip

We are planning to do this trip again this summer when my niece and nephew come down to visit. I think they will enjoy this as much as we did.

On Wednesday we were supposed to go see a beekeeper as a follow up to our unit on Bees. Something came up so we ended up going Friday evening. This man was so patient with them. The kids really enjoyed processing the honey and have decided that now they need to begin beekeeping! They are already planning on buying the stuff to get started. Here are some pics from that trip.

Prairie Primer Big Woods -week 3

The following pictures are not scenes from a bad dream LOL.  These are pics of Denim acting out the chores of a worker bee. A very smart mom from our co-op suggested I have her act things out in an attempt to improve retention. So, as our Prairie Primer studies this week focused on bees we gave it a shot. Here is a "Picture-Play: of the worker bee's jobs starring Denim.



A worker bee helps to build a cell



If the cell is damaged a worker bee will help repair it.

Worker bees also help keep the cell clean.



"nurse" worker bees feed the larvae in the cells
(the plate is supposed to represent larvae)







Worker bees cap the cell with wax just before the

larvae turn into pupae.





In some of the cells the worker bees will store the food.



If a cell becomes too cold the worker bees will form a blanket of bees to keep it warm.





If the cell gets hot the worker bees will drop water on it and fan it with their wings to cool it off



The worker bees also help take care of the queen and will even lick her clean

"Guard" worker bees defend the cell at all costs.

The enemies of worker bees are doomed- the bee will attack and sting!

When a worker bee stings- it suffers a worse fate as it will lose it's stinger and die

"forager" worker bees bring the food back to the hive

There are a few other jobs worker bees do and we acted out many, many scenes.  I asked her afterwards about some of the things we learned- I was quite discouraged. We did have a good time doing this but the point of the whole thing was retention. However, the kids and I played a beekeeper game from homeschool share which you can find here:

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/beekeeper_game.php

Denim and the bee game we played- this game is so much fun they want to play it everyday!

I was amazed to find out- she really remembered a lot! I'm not sure why she couldn't immediately recall the information but acting it out seemed to help her in the long run and that's what I'm after!  If you are studying bees this is a great asset and a lot of fun! We also inspected a honeycomb- the kids were really impressed with this.

We happen to be oh so lucky (not!) to have a bee and wasp problem in our backyard right now. They aren't honeybees but they were there so we checked them out, too.



There's a tiny bee in there.



We learned so much this week about Bees. I think our greatest source of information came from the book Questions and Answers About Bees by Betty Polisar. This was a fantastic resource! It is jampacked with information and awesome illustrations. You can find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Questions-Answers-About-Polisar-Reigot/dp/0590321331

  We also have an unexpected field trip next week to meet a bee-keeper and help process honey! I was speaking to a few moms on Sky's baseball team and they happen to know a very passionate beekeeper who lives nearby. I contacted him and he's willing to let the kids come on out Wednesday so look for an update on that next week!

Baloo at St. Augustine- May 4

Boy is Baloo getting around!
 Leann left a note that he was able to enjoy a little relaxation at the beach on Saturday, Sunday, and a little bit of Monday before heading back home to Huntsville, Alabama.

She also sent back this beautiful picture of Baloo on the beach. That water looks so inviting right now! Did you know that St. Augustine, Florida is actually the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent? It's true- apparently it was founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts! If you're interested in learning more about this here is a link to the page I obtained this tidbit from:
http://www.oldcity.com/history-information.cfm
Have I piqued your interest yet? If so why not visit easy fun school and check out their Florida unit study! http://www.easyfunschool.com/Florida.html

In addition to easy fun school check out the Interactive Lesson Summaries from Houghton Mifflins Florida Studies textbook. http://www.eduplace.com/ss/socsci/fl/books/bkd_fl/index.shtml This site provides support for the taxtbook but has value without it- maps, organizers, and more! This map came from the children site for that textbook. http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/fl/books/bkd_fl/

The map below shows Sir Francis Drake's attack on Saint Augustine, Florida, on May 28 and May 29, 1586. Also, the interactive maps on the children's site would be great to use with a Florida unit study!

Geo-Bear Baloo update 5/3/11

I recieved the following information in an e-mail from Baloo's current guardian Leann.

Well, as you probably know by now, Baloo did not get to see a shuttle launch on Friday. The launch was scrubbed about 3 hours prior to launch due to an Auxillary Power Unit heater not working. The heaters must work to keep the hydrazine warm in the cold of space. Engineers and workers are working to resolve the problem. The next opportunity for launch is Monday afternoon.



So we made the best of the day and visited Lighthouse Point Par at Ponce Inlet, FL. Here is the site where you can learn more:

http://www.ponceinlet.org/

The lighthouse is 175 feet tall and is the tallest in Florida and the second tallest in the United States. Construction was completed in 1887 and has a Fresnal lens light that has been restored and works today. Here's a photo of Baloo and the lighthouse.
On Saturday, we moved up the beach to St. Augustine, FL. St. Augustine is one of the nation's oldest cities, with Spanish explorers arriving in 1565. There is a ton of historical things to see here but, since we are traveling with our dog (ZZ), we won't take advantage of many of the things to do. But we (and Baloo) are staying on the beach and enjoying a little rest and relaxation. If you want more information about St. Augustine, it can be found at http://www.augustine.com/.
 
Thanks for the links Leann! All I can say about the ponceinlet link is WOW! There is a wealth of information here. This site is perfect for homeschoolers wanting to do a unit study on lighthouses, Florida,  or Ponce de Leon. Just click on the educational resources link on the left sidebar and you will have access to everything from Vocabulary to building a potato powered lighthouse. This is a great educational find! We went to the site and did the virtual tour. I think if we're ever down in that area we will have to stop in and do a real one! In the meantime, I think the kids will be doing that unit study this week! Thanks Leann and Baloo.