Science Experiments

Our science experiments with Backyard Scientist continues to be a successful part of our homeschool. All 4 of them gather around and want to be a part of it. I personally think its a little light on the science explanations, but the kids love it so I'm not going to stop using it.

This week we talked about things floating in water. We started with an empty bottle- Bottle 1/2 full
Bottle 3/4 full

Bottle completely full

Then we gathered a bunch of different objects together to see what would float and what would sink. Their favorite part!!! They were running all over the house for more things! And of course they couldn't help climbing on the counter in their excitement.

Winter Tree Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Winter Series - Winter Tree Study

I knew the time to do this challenge was getting close so I have been anticipating it for a few weeks now. We enjoyed looking at our Autumn Series Tree Study pictures and talking about some of the differences between the seasons.

I almost have my husband convinced to cut a branch off our trees to bring inside so we can watch them, but he is undecided (This is because our trees have been in our yard for less than a year and they had a rough summer/fall, so every branch and bud is precious!)

A's tree & journal page:

N's tree & journal page:

I have the same tree as N - here is my journal page:

Cattails in Winter

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Winter Series - Cattails in Winter

We reviewed our Cattail pages from the Autumn Series and talked about how the cattails we brought home exploded in the kitchen one day - seeds everywhere!! I also reviewed the pages in the handbook Of Nature Study.

We did not spend much time outside for this challenge - its still pretty cold around here!! And my two toddlers pretty much turn into posicles as soon as we get outside. After getting up close for a few minutes, We sat in the car and discussed the questions in the challenge at Handbook of Nature Study.

Journal Pages: While we were drawing we discussed the different parts of the cattail plant. We looked at a student's diagram I found at Google Images to help us. The diagram is about halfway down the museum page.

A-

N-

Me-

Composer Study - Winter 2010

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart - Wikipedia - General info

Mozart - Classics for Kids - Radio programs and other resources for kids about Mozart

Mozart - Classic Cat - "the free classical catalogue"

25 Mozart Favorites

Library Books:
Young Mozart
Mozart Finds a Melody
and others . . .

The Story of Mozart

Classical Kids - Mozart's Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through the Magic Flute. Our library doesn't have the other Classical Kid cd's for Mozart which makes me sad.

My kids are loving the Magic Flute story! We also found a dvd through our library called Mozart's The Magic Flute Story- narrated in English and sung in German, its a fabulous introduction to this opera (dragon, bird caller, magic flute, Queen of the Night, prince and princess, labrynth - lots to interest kids!).

Artist Study - Winter 2010

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso - Wikipedia

Pablo Picasso - Taschen Portfolio

This is the only Taschen Portfolio for Picasso I could find at Amazon, but the cover is different from the one we have, so the pictures we are using may be different than the ones found in here. As a personal preference, I am using the pictures that don't have nudity.

Google - "Pablo Picasso Lesson"

TONS of lesson ideas can be found for Picasso. We probably won't be doing any of these lessons in particular, but we will talk about Picasso's different styles and subjects, such as faces/portraits, Harlequin, Blue Phase, Cubism, etc. The lessons I've found on the web have given me useful information for this.

YouTube:

I love doing modern artists because there are videos where the kids can get to see the real person they are learning about. Here are a couple that look interesting- (preview before you show to your kids, I know I will!)

Meeting with Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Library Books:

We will potentially be reading more than I have listed, but here is our starting list-

Oooh! Picasso

What Makes a Picasso a Picasso?

Picasso and the Girl with the Ponytail

Draw with . . . Pablo Picasso

The kids are already enjoying this book - It gives instructions on how to do some of Picasso's simple drawings.

Nature Study Follow-Up

On our walk today I answered one of the questions from our list for the Handbook of Nature Study's Autumn Series-Winter Jumpstart Challenge, which I posted here.

Today's Question: What are the horned owl's nesting habits? Do horned owls migrate? They especially want to know if we will be able to find and watch the nestlings again this year.


Earlier this week I reviewed some excellent information about the Great Horned Owl at the following websites:


The Owl Pages - Forest Preserve District of Cook County - The Great Horned Owl

Answer: Great Horned Owls do not build nests of their own, but will overtake an abandoned nest. Nesting season is January-February, lay 2-4 eggs at a time which incubate 26-35 days. Families stay together during the summer, nestlings leave in the fall, adults remain in their breeding grounds year-round. Average home ranges are about 1 square mile.

So we have a good chance of seeing the owls again this next year. Hopefully we will be able to find their nest again.


Here are some of my previous posts about our owl family: First Sighting, Getting up close & Owl Pellets .

My kids reminded me of how we first found the owls- I was pointing and talking about some other birds when my daughter said there was an owl. I, of course, corrected her and continued to tell them all about the birds I was talking about, only to be corrected myself when I realized she was pointing at a different tree with real owls!! Originally I thought it was 2 adults, but we later determined there were 3 nestlings and the parents were usually away from the nest when we came to visit in the early evenings.

On our walk we were very sad to find that one of the trees where we had spotted our owl family had fallen over. The kids are hoping the owls will come back to the same nest. I hope we haven't scared them off.

We walked down to the trees and found lots of evidence of the owls from the past year- owl pellets, feathers, bones, and this handsome skull.

My kids couldn't resist climbing in the fallen tree.
In the tree still standing we were able to see the large nest high in the branches.

And I couldn't resist sharing this video of our darling Dade, hopping through the snow like a rabbit.

It was good to be out, trudging through the snow and breathing the fresh air.