Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Habitat crafts!

We made habitat crafts to represent different habitats in North America. Here they are!

This is a duckweed plant. It can be found in the wetlands.


These are water lilies. They can be found in the wetlands.


These are the Northern Lights. They are found in the Arctic tundra.


This is a giant sequoia tree. It can be found in the temperate rainforest.


These are leaf rubbings. This type of leaf is found in a deciduous forest.


These are cattails. They are found in rivers and lakes.


These are pine trees. This type of tree is found in a coniferous forest.


This is a pickleweed. This is found in the desert habitat.


This is a collage of a tropical rainforest.


This is a beaver dam. It can be found near rivers and lakes.


This is a prairie. It can be found in the grasslands.


This is a cityscape. It is part of a city habitat.


This is a styrofoam print of a seashore habitat.


This is a cactus. It can found in a desert habitat.


Here is the book where we found all of our habitat craft ideas:

Monday, November 21, 2011

Happy to be done "Habitats"

After weeks of studying Habitats, we are glad to be movin' on!



With the plan of making our backyard more habitat-friendly to small animals and birds and bugs, we planted daffodil bulbs.


And made our own bird feeders to hang in the trees:


Photo shoot @ the beach!

We went for a walk to Eaglecrest Beach and Mom let me take some pictures with her camera. I think they turned out pretty great! Some of them remind me of postcard photos!









Thursday, November 10, 2011

Books I've been reading

Here is what I have read in the last six weeks or so:

Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Babysitting Bandit
Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Wedding Day Disaster
Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Case of the Sneaky Snowman
My Magical Pony: Summertime Blues
My Magical Pony: Falling Leaves
My Magical Pony: Silver Mist
My Magical Pony: Pale Moon
My Magical Pony: Midnight Snow
Nim's Island
Nim's Friends
Nim at Sea
Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul
Main Street: Special Delivery
Mallory on Board
Alice in April
Magic Treehouse: Lions at Lunchtime
Magic Treehouse: Dingoes at Dinnertime
Magic Treehouse: Earthquake in the Early Morning
Magic Treehouse: High Tide in Hawaii
Magic Treehouse: Leprechaun in Late Winter
Magic Treehouse: Twister on Tuesday
Rescue Rider

A habitat near home

By our house, there is a swamp. We go there often. There is also a creek. There is lots of mud and plants and trees there.


We noticed that there was a tree freshly cut down. We were worried because the construction workers might have wrecked animals habitats.


Me and Jacob were looking under a rock to see if we could find any bugs.


Here is an example of some of the plants that were living in this habitat.


Deer poop is evidence that a deer has been there.


More examples of living things in the habitat.


This is a really cool beetle we found.


Here is an insect that we found when we lifted up a rock:


Grass grows here.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

October science experiments

We had one of our friends over to do science experiments with us.

First he taught us one that he knows. He filled a container with water. Then he sprinkled pepper on the water's surface. Then you dip a Q-tip in dish detergent and touch the water with it. The pepper moves away from the dish detergent. We learned this is because you break the surface of the water. You can only do this one time and then you have to start again with new water and pepper!


Then Mom made us a batch of "goop"! We had to keep adding more and more cornstarch to the water to get it to feel right. Then we had the idea to add colour! "Goop" is neat because when you squeeze it, it turns into a solid and then when you let go, it turns into a liquid and drips out of your hand.

Aquarium field trip!

While in Tennessee, my family visited the "Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies".

Here I am touching a horseshoe crab. If you touch the bottom side of them, they pinch you but if you touch the top, it feels smooth.


These are jellyfish. They are really graceful swimmers.


The penguins at the aquarium had an inside and an outside habitat that was connected by an underwater tunnel. They seemed happy in this habitat.


When I got the chance to touch a stingray, I felt so excited. They felt really slippery, like a snake.


In the aquarium, we went through a shark tunnel. It felt so freaky because there were sharks all around us.


This was a giant crab that we saw. It was interesting to see how the workers had created a warm and dry habitat for this animal.


Here is a seahorse. We noticed that they can camouflage in their surroundings really well.


It was neat to see all different kinds of fish living in the same habitat. There was even sharks in this tank!


The aquarium had fake scenery to make it look like a real ocean.


At the aquarium, I saw many different kinds of animals in their different habitats!

September science experiments

We borrowed a science kit from our friends that was called "Tasty Science" - it gave us ideas of science experiments to do.


We used litmus paper to test different liquids. We tried vinegar, baking soda and water, plain water, and lemon juice. The results weren't as obvious as we had hoped.


Next we made our own sugar crystals. We had to mix sugar, boiling water, and grape flavouring.



We did an experiment with oil and water and food colouring. The drop of food colouring got trapped in the oil layer, and then when I poked a toothpick, it helped the colour to get to the water layer!


One of our favourite experiments to do is called "Magic Milk" - it is neat because the pattern always turns out different.



I love science!