science Archives - http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/tag/science/ Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:48:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/cropped-logo-square1-32x32.jpg science Archives - http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/tag/science/ 32 32 Making Egg Geodes http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/making-egg-geodes/ Mon, 18 Nov 2013 13:49:13 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=644 I have always wanted to make egg geodes with the kids. We finally did it! It’s a fairly simple science project & can be done in a day or two. Most of that time is waiting for the crystals to form. We remade our mix 2 extra times, so it took us about a week …

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Egg Geodes Title

I have always wanted to make egg geodes with the kids. We finally did it!

It’s a fairly simple science project & can be done in a day or two. Most of that time is waiting for the crystals to form. We remade our mix 2 extra times, so it took us about a week to complete. With the exception of the alum, the supplies are items most people already have at home.

DAY 1: PREPARING THE EGGS

I carefully split open & washed 6 eggs.

Next, the kids spread regular ol’ school glue inside each of the egg shells.

Then they sprinkled alum on the wet glue. You want to cover the inside & top edge of your egg completely with alum. This alum gives the dissolved alum someplace to stick to when it cools & starts to form crystals.

I’m guessing the cheapest way to buy the alum is finding it in bulk online. But, I didn’t think that far ahead, so I just bought 4 small jars of McCormick’s alum at the super market.

The eggs dried overnight.

Egg Geodes Setup

 

DAY 2

I put about 2.5 cups of water in a saucepan, then set it on the stovetop to heat the water. Right before it started boiling I dumped in 3 little jars of alum. After the alum dissolved I poured the mixture into 7 containers. Then, I added different colors of food coloring to each container. After the water cooled just a bit, I added an egg half to each cup. Then we let the eggs sit in their colored alum water for about a day and a half before checking them.

Egg Geodes Day2

 

DAY 3

We took the eggs out of their colored alum water the next day. They were coming along well, but we stuck them back in their water to see if we would get even more crystals.

Egg Geodes Day3

 

DAY 4

The next day, we checked the eggs again. They didn’t seem to have anymore crystals than the day before, so I took them all out of their water.
With the eggs sitting on the counter, I dumped the alum water in the saucepan. I also added a smidgen more water & alum.
The bottom of the containers had alum crystals, so those got scraped into the saucepan, too. I reheated the water, which dissolved the alum, then poured the water back into the containers. After cooling a little, I placed the eggs back in the containers for another overnight stay.

Egg Geodes Day4

 

DAY 5

The next day we took the eggs out of the water for good. Most of the eggs did seem to have more crystals since their second alum bath.

Egg Geodes Day5

 

COMPARISON

Egg Geodes Compare
After the first bath. After the second bath. The next day after it dried.

 

 

DAYS 6, 7, & 8

Because I couldn’t bare to waste what was left of the alum water. I mixed a couple of the colors together & repeated the process yet another time. This time we created crystals in 4 egg halves.
The eggs sat in the alum water for 2 days without being disturbed. I actually think I like the way these eggs turned out better than the first batch. There seemed to be a few more large crystals.

Egg Geodes Day678

 

FINAL RESULTS

Egg Geodes Final1

Egg Geodes Final2

 

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Solar Paper Silhouettes http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/solar-paper-silhouettes/ Sun, 19 Aug 2012 19:45:26 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=4916 This is the extreme version of making sun prints on construction paper. I walked passed this solar print paper at the store and decided to give it a try.   The Paper The pack I found came with 12 sheets of blue paper & a little frame to hold your treasures in place.   Creating …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Solar Paper

This is the extreme version of making sun prints on construction paper. I walked passed this solar print paper at the store and decided to give it a try.

 

The Paper

The pack I found came with 12 sheets of blue paper & a little frame to hold your treasures in place.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Solar Paper

 

Creating Solar Silhouettes

We placed one blue paper in the frame. Then the kids added their collection of plants. After the plants were placed just perfectly, they layed down the top of the frame.

The directions said to create your design out of direct sunlight because the paper reacts quickly.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Solar Paper

 

They weren’t kidding. In less than a minute of being outside the paper already began changing color.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Solar Paper

 

You know it’s done when the paper turns a near white. This took only about 2 minutes.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Solar Paper

 

We brought the paper inside & removed the plant pieces. Notice where the plants were is blue & where the sun hit the paper is white.

The directions said to run the paper under cold water, which we did. Running the water over the paper changed the blue parts to white & the white parts to blue. Now that’s some crazy science.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Solar Paper

 

Next was to let it dry and the next day I hung it in our school room. Later I will have the boys add these to their nature journals.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Solar Paper

 

Farm Kid2’s Solar Creation
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Solar Paper

 

I think this one is my favorite. I love how the daisies turned out.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Solar Paper

 

We still have paper left over. What objects should we experiment with next?

 

Save

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Biomes of the World: Deciduous Forest http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/biomes-of-the-world-deciduous-forest/ Sun, 03 Jun 2012 17:45:26 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=5685 Our final stop on our trip around the world was the deciduous forest of Europe. Wikipedia describes a deciduous forest as:  forests that are dominated by trees that lose their leaves each year. They are found in areas with warm, moist summers and mild winters.   School Room For this weeks biome display I had …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Europe | Deciduous Forest

Our final stop on our trip around the world was the deciduous forest of Europe.

Wikipedia describes a deciduous forest as:

 forests that are dominated by trees that lose their leaves each year. They are found in areas with warm, moist summers and mild winters.

 

School Room

For this weeks biome display I had the boys go to their room and find animals that could be found in a deciduous forest.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Europe | Deciduous Forest

 

Deciduous Forest Pocket Chart
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Europe | Deciduous Forest

 

Left: Farm Kid1’s deciduous forest postcard.

Right: From the Russian tundra to the deciduous forest of Europe is about 3960 miles. We marked it on our map.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Europe | Deciduous Forest

 

Other

Left: We watched the Seasonal Forests episode of Planet Earth.

Right: This weeks art project was based on the yearly cycle of a deciduous tree. Farm Kid1 started out by drawing one tree shape with branches. Then, I made 3 more copies of the tree. Now he had 4 trees – one for each season. Next, he used a pencil eraser to dot leaves on the trees. After the paint dried he glued his trees in order & titled his artwork.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Europe | Deciduous Forest

 

We rummaged through our continent box filled with all things European.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Europe | Deciduous Forest | Continent Box

 

To finish off the week we visited the World Forestry Center to learn more about deciduous forests.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Europe | Deciduous Forest | World Forestry Center

 

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

 

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Biomes of the World: Tundra http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/biomes-of-the-world-tundra/ Sun, 20 May 2012 17:19:32 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=5683 After visiting the great barrier reef on our trip around the world, we explored the tundra of Russia. I wasn’t feeling well the week before, so I didn’t have much in the way of extras for this week. But, it didn’t matter anyway. Farm Kid1 felt crummy all this week so we only did the …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Asia | Tundra

After visiting the great barrier reef on our trip around the world, we explored the tundra of Russia. I wasn’t feeling well the week before, so I didn’t have much in the way of extras for this week. But, it didn’t matter anyway. Farm Kid1 felt crummy all this week so we only did the basics for this unit.

Google defines a tundra as:

a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen

 

School Room

As I said, we didn’t do much on this unit – including in the display. I added two books, that’s it.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Asia | Tundra

 

Biome chart with tundra information
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Asia | Tundra

 

Left: We measured that it was 6600 miles from the Great Barrier Reef to the Russian Tundra.

Right: For the postcard, Farm Kid1 chose to draw a herd of musk ox.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Asia | Tundra

 

We looked through our box on Asia. But, it had nothing related to Russia or Siberia which is where the tundra is located.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Asia | Tundra | Continent Box

 

Hopefully we have a better virtual visit next week when we explore deciduous forests.

 

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

 

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Biomes of the World: Coral Reef http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/biomes-of-the-world-coral-reef/ Mon, 14 May 2012 16:48:45 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=5681 The next stop on our trip around the world was the Great Barrier Reef in Australia studying the coral reef biome. I especially loved this week because many years ago I used to scuba dive & this brought back many fun memories. Google defines a coral reef as: a ridge of rock in the sea …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef

The next stop on our trip around the world was the Great Barrier Reef in Australia studying the coral reef biome. I especially loved this week because many years ago I used to scuba dive & this brought back many fun memories.

Google defines a coral reef as:

a ridge of rock in the sea formed by the growth and deposit of coral

 

School Room

Our coral reef display
There are a few books and Disney’s Finding Nemo DVD. I also added a couple personal treasures the hubby & I have collected on our tropical vacations.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef

 

Biome pocket chart with coral reef info
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef

 

Left: The front of Farm Kid1’s postcard. I love that he drew a diver.

Right: Fish stamp Farm Kid1 drew for his postcard.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef

 

Farm Kid1 loves exploring our continent boxes. This is what Australia’s box looks like.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef

 

We have done a few silhouette projects. Farm Kid1 wanted to do another one for his coral reef craft.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef

 

Other

I love Wyland! He’s an amazing artist and a marine conservation activist. His paintings are Beautiful, with a capital B. His sculptures are fantastic. We went into his gallery once while in Waikiki. I couldn’t afford much in there, but I did buy his Artist of the Sea book.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef

 

A funny coincidence
I brought home a book from the library without really looking through it first. It had the word reef in it, so I checked it out. Farm Kid1 & I had just finished admiring Wyland’s book when I started reading Riddle of the Reef to him. And I’ll be danged, one of the characters in the book was Wyland himself. It was a fun coincidence.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef

 

Before we had kids, the hubby & I were fortunate enough to go on a few diving vacations. Farm Kid1 & I looked through 2 of my diving scrapbooks. These photos are from one my all time favorite diving moments. During a night dive in Bonaire we witnessed coral spawning (that’s the blurry stuff in the photos). This is not something you see everyday. It was definitely a rare treat that I won’t forget.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef | Bonaire | Scuba | Coral Spawning

 

Our Bahamas trip was a fun book to look through with Farm Kid1. The number one reason is that Farm Kid1 loves these pics of his dad near a barracuda. Dad earned a few more cool points with these pics. And second, there is a fun story involving Farm Kid1. We booked this trip with some diving friends many, many months in advance. This wasn’t an ordinary vacation, we spent a week out at sea on a fairly small motorized sail boat. As life would have it, I ended up being 8 weeks pregnant with Farm Kid1 on this trip. So not only did I not get to dive, but I was also extremely sick from the morning sickness combined with the rocking boat. I did get in a couple good snorkeling adventures though. The pics in this photo were taken by a friend of ours & my dad.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Australia | Coral Reef

 

One day I would love to make it Australia both to explore the land and the great barrier reef.

 

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

 

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Biomes of the World: Sahara Desert http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/biomes-of-the-world-sahara-desert/ Fri, 11 May 2012 13:53:56 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=5679 From Antarctica we traveled almost directly north to the Sahara Desert in Africa on our trip around the world. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a desert as: arid land with usually sparse vegetation; especially: such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 10 inches of sporadic rainfall annually   School Room Biome pocket …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Africa | Sahara DesertFrom Antarctica we traveled almost directly north to the Sahara Desert in Africa on our trip around the world.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a desert as:

arid land with usually sparse vegetation; especially: such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 10 inches of sporadic rainfall annually

 

School Room

Biome pocket chart filled with desert information
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Africa | Sahara Desert

 

Using a globe we measured the distance from Antarctica to the Sahara Desert was 8,250 miles and marked it on our map.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Africa | Sahara Desert

 

Left: A sunny stamp for Farm Kid1’s passport

Middle: The front of the postcard Farm Kid1 is “sending” to his dad.

Right: He also designs a stamp for the postcard and writes a short message.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Africa | Sahara Desert

 

Our display for the week
From our house I set out a few books, the Planet Earth DVD’s (since there is a video on the desert) and Disney’s Aladdin movie. I also set out a number of books we checked out from the library. At night I read The Missing Mummy to the boys before bed. I have never read any of these books before, and the boys seemed to enjoy it. It had just enough suspense to keep their attention and wonder what was going to happen next.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Africa | Sahara Desert

 

We looked through our African continent box. Farm Kid1 loves the continent boxes.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Africa | Sahara Desert

 

Our art project for the week.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Africa | Egyptian Art

 

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

 

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Biomes of the World: Tropical Rainforest http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/biomes-of-the-world-tropical-rainforest/ Sat, 28 Apr 2012 20:19:30 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=5675 After visiting North America, the next stop on our imaginary world tour was to the Amazon rainforest in South America. This part of the world is a favorite for my kids – as I’m sure it is for many kids. There is such an array of fun plants & animals. They love the big snakes, …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World |South America |Tropical Rainforest

After visiting North America, the next stop on our imaginary world tour was to the Amazon rainforest in South America. This part of the world is a favorite for my kids – as I’m sure it is for many kids. There is such an array of fun plants & animals. They love the big snakes, colorful birds & frogs, monkeys & big cats.

Google defines a tropical rainforest as:

a luxuriant, dense forest rich in biodiversity, found typically in tropical areas with consistently heavy rainfall.

 

School Room

We used our globe & multiplication to figure out approximately how many miles it is from the temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest to the Amazon rainforest. We came up with 5,280 miles and marked it on our map.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World |South America |Tropical Rainforest

 

Our biome pocket chart filled with info on the rainforest.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World |South America |Tropical Rainforest

 

Left: Every week Farm Kid1 is “sending” a postcard to his dad who didn’t travel on this trip with us. He decorates the front & writes a little message on the back.

Right: South America stamp in Farm Kid1’s passport.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World |South America |Tropical Rainforest

 

Left: Rainforest collage made by Farm Kid1.

Right: Farm Kid1 chose to do his rainforest animal report on a toucan. The animal report wheel is from Enchanted Learning.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World |South America |Tropical Rainforest

 

A few rainforest goodies sitting in our geography center. Toy animals from the boys collection, a Tropical Rainforest leveled reader from scholastic, Afternoon on the Amazon Magic Tree House book & Jan Brett’s The Umbrella.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World |South America |Tropical Rainforest

 

Field Trip

Our rainforest theme took us to the Oregon Zoo once again. To see my post on our trip through the Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit click here.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World |South America |Tropical Rainforest

 

More Rainforest Info

Our South American Continent Box
Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool
Kids Do Ecology
Blue Planet Biomes
Enchanted Homeschooling Mom

 

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

 

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Biomes of the World: Ice Cap http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/biomes-of-the-world-ice-cap/ Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:52:15 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=5677 From the Amazon Rainforest we traveled south to the ice cap of Antarctica on our trip around the world. Google defines an ice cap as: a covering of ice over a large area, especially on the polar region of a planet.   School Room We didn’t have many Antarctic things laying around the house. But, …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Antarctica | Ice Cap

From the Amazon Rainforest we traveled south to the ice cap of Antarctica on our trip around the world.

Google defines an ice cap as:

a covering of ice over a large area, especially on the polar region of a planet.

 

School Room

We didn’t have many Antarctic things laying around the house. But, we did find a penguin puppet & a few books to add to our geography center this week.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Antarctica | Ice Cap

 

Biome pocket chart with ice cap info
Ice Cap - 5

 

Farm Kid1 took quite an interest in leopard seal’s this week. So that’s what he chose to do his short animal report on. I made up this mini-book just to give him another option for his reports. I like the small size so that it can be added to his animal notebook without taking up the entire page.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Antarctica | Ice Cap

 

Left: I know it actually doesn’t snow much in Antarctica, but this stamp is the best I could come up with.

Right: Front of Farm Kid1’s postcard from Antarctica
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | Antarctica | Ice Cap

 

This is our method for measuring distance from one place to another. One inch on our globe measure 660 miles. From the Amazon rainforest to Antarctica was about 9 inches or 5,940 miles.
Ice Cap - 4

 

Just because I already had this put together & it is penguin themed, I had Farm Kid1 do this antonym activity. This file folder activity is from an Evan Moore Literacy Centers book.
Ice Cap - 6

 

Other

Antarctica continent box
Penguin Painting

We didn’t make it on an Antarctic themed field trip. But, we did watch 3 Antarctic movies:
March of the Penguins
This documentary didn’t have near as much action as the shows my kids are used to watching, but they still enjoyed it very much. Farm Kid1 even seemed to have learned a few things.

Encounters at the End of the World
I had high hopes for this one. I thought it would be so cool to see how the researches live day to day. Although, Farm Kid1 & I both did learn quite a bit, the show itself was kind of boring. My two youngest didn’t even stick around to watch half of it. Maybe it was that the guy narrating didn’t have much drama in his voice.

Planet Earth: Ice Worlds
My kids love the Planet Earth shows. This one discusses both the North & South Poles.

 

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

 

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Biomes of the World: Temperate Rainforest http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/biomes-of-the-world-temperate-rainforest/ Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:09:45 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=5673 The first stop on our world tour was a temperate rainforest in North America. This is very similar to the biome we live in, so it was a great place to start. Although, I think the idea of a temperate rainforest confused Farm Kid1 a little bit. He’s only ever heard about tropical rainforests. I …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | North America | Temperate Rainforest

The first stop on our world tour was a temperate rainforest in North America. This is very similar to the biome we live in, so it was a great place to start. Although, I think the idea of a temperate rainforest confused Farm Kid1 a little bit. He’s only ever heard about tropical rainforests. I could have also chosen a coniferous forest as our home biome.

Wikipedia‘s basic definition of a temperate rainforest is:

Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rainfall.

 

School Room

This week the pocket chart showed the following information:
• average high temperature around 76°
• average low around 35°
• annual rainfall definitely varies, but averages around 100″
• example plant producers are salmon berry and moss
(Click here for a quick peek of our hike at Munson Creek Falls, with a stop for picking salmon berries)
• example herbivores are deer and elk
• example carnivores are black bear and cougar
• example decomposers are slugs and worms
(Click here for a post on how slugs mate)

Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | North America | Temperate Rainforest

 

Left: I stamped Farm Kid1’s “passport” with evergreen trees.
Right: Farm Kid1 chose to do his temperate rainforest animal report on the coyote.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | North America | Temperate Rainforest

 

Front side of his temperate rainforest postcard.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | North America | Temperate Rainforest

 

I sent Farm Kid1 on a mission to collect things from his bedroom that are found in the temperate rainforest. These are the things he came back with. They are placed near our world map and continent boxes.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | North America | Temperate Rainforest

 

Since we were visiting North America, we rummaged through our North America continent box – even though there wasn’t much on the temperate rainforest.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | North America | Temperate Rainforest

 

Field Trips

We had fun visiting both the Tillamook Forest Center and the World Forestry Center.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | North America | Temperate Rainforest

 

Around our House

Some maps state we live in a temperate rainforest, some don’t. Either way, we have many of the same plants and animals as Olympic National Park, which is a temperate rainforest. The temperate rainforest is dominated by large trees, but is also home to many mosses, lichens and epiphytes. Right now one of my favorite wildflowers is in bloom, the trillium.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Biomes of the World | North America | Temperate Rainforest

 

This was a fun week. I actually learned a few things about our environment, as well.

For more information on a temperate rainforest check out this post from Marietta College or this pdf from Nasa.

 

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

 

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Virtual World Trip Overview http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/virtual-world-trip-overview/ Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:46:56 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=4736 For 9 weeks we will be doing a unit on biomes. The first week was an introduction to habitat & biomes & a review of the continents. The next seven weeks we will be visiting (in our imaginations) each of the 7 continents & stopping in 7 different biomes. The last week we will use …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Virtual World Trip Overview | Home School

For 9 weeks we will be doing a unit on biomes. The first week was an introduction to habitat & biomes & a review of the continents. The next seven weeks we will be visiting (in our imaginations) each of the 7 continents & stopping in 7 different biomes. The last week we will use to tie up any loose ends.

Geography Center

The materials on the cork board are staying for the entire unit. The books, videos, and plastic animals placed in front will change weekly based on which biome and continent we’re studying. To see how we made the map check out this post.

Since we’re traveling the world we must have a passport. There’s an envelope on the board to hold it.

We’ll be sending a postcard from each continent. Those are on the board as well.

I also added a miles traveled sign so we can easily keep track of how far we’ve traveled.

Our continent boxes are placed in front.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Virtual World Trip Overview | Home School

 

Every time we visit a new continent Farm Kid1 will get a stamp in his passport. I downloaded the passport cover from Guest Hollow.com.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Virtual World Trip Overview | Home School

 

Every Thursday Farm Kid1 will get a blank postcard. He will decorate the front, design a stamp and write a short letter home to his dad.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Virtual World Trip Overview | Home School

 

Each week we will add a push pin to our next destination. We will also show how many miles we traveled from our last stop.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Virtual World Trip Overview | Home School

 

Biome Chart

The top two rows are dictionary definitions. Most of my definitions came from Merriam-webster. I also added pronunciation, syllables and part of speech. The word biome will stay the entire unit. The specific biome will change weekly.

Next we have 3 graphs: average annual rainfall, average high temp & average low temp. Farm Kid1 will add the new information each week.

The bottom row shows basic information about the biome. Usually the left side will show a food web or forest layers & where the biome is located throughout the world. The right worksheet shows the producers, herbivores, omnivores, carnivores & decomposers of the biome. I print a blank worksheet & the various plants & animals. Farm Kid1 decides where they fit in the food web & glues them down. I’m so proud of him. When he doesn’t know for sure if something is an omnivore, carnivore or herbivore he grabs one of his animal books & looks it right up.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Virtual World Trip Overview | Home School

 

More Activities

I would like Farm Kid1 to do one art project based on a biome each week.

Farm Kid1 will pick an animal from the biome we are studying & do a short report on it. He’s done similar reports various times through the year. He loves doing them. As well as learning a little more about a particular animal, I’m also using these reports as a way to simply get him to write. He’s also  learning how to do research. When he can’t find the information he’s looking for in one of his books, he has learned how to use google to find it. He’s also learned how to find a picture online & print it. This is laid back & quick. He loves it. He’s so proud of himself when he’s finished his report.

We will be examining the appropriate continent box each week.

Any time we can take a field trip we will.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Virtual World Trip Overview | Home School

 

It’s been time consuming getting this all together, but Farm Kid1 really enjoys all of it. Well, except for the dictionary definitions. I think he’s bored by those. But, he loves finding & adding the information to the graphs, figuring out the food web & doing animal reports. So far, this seems to be a fun way for him to learn about both continents & biomes.

 

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

 

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