Earth Day | Follow-up 2

A little late, but here it goes.  I’ve decided to focus on Earth and Space for science next year.  I thought I would use Earth Day as a sort of introduction into Earth Science.  We saw a documentary about the natural wonders of the world on Netflix (sorry, can’t remember the name).  We also read Usborne’s See Inside the Planet Earth by Alex Frith.  We picked up the April issue of Click magazine, which was devoted entirely to Recycling.  (Although, truth be told we haven’t read it yet, hopefully soon.)  I found a really good experiment in the book Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun: 22 Super-Charged Projects for Kids by Michael J. Caduto.

This was a very simple project.  Simply cut the top off of two plastic bottles.  Place a thermometer inside each bottle and tightly cover one of them with clear plastic.  Place both bottles next to each other in the sun.  Monitor the temperature of both throughout the day.  Make sure to continue the experiment late into the evening.  Do you think there will be a difference in the temperature within each container?  What do you think will happen once night falls?

This experiment is meant to emulate Global Warming.  The sun’s heat does not escape properly in the covered bottle.  I left the bottles out all day.  I checked the temperature when I brought them in at night and had Ignacio fill in the final data the following morning.  He had a lot of fun checking in on the thermometers.

Disclaimer: Please excuse my dirty garden window; I’m too short to reach the glass.  :)

Earth Day | Follow-Up 1

We love to craft.  So, when I saw this project shared by A Mommy’s Adventures I knew I wanted to try something similar.  She in turn got the idea from Itsy Bitsy Learners.  Isn’t the internet wonderful?  Be inspired! 

Our version was done using watercolors, oil pastels, and construction paper. 

Ignacio loves geography.  We have many maps and globes.  I found this tiny globe in the Dollar bin at Target.  It comes in very handy, especially when we don’t have much room left on the table.  Ignacio wanted to draw the outlines for North and South America.  He was afraid that if he didn’t, they wouldn’t be recognizable.  He had to decide where to start.

He did a really good job.  He drew it all himself.  He only asked for help in deciding how wide to draw South America.  (I should mention that we used a thick watercolor paper.  I traced a Frisbee and cut out the circle for him.)

He then colored it all in by layering two shades of green oil pastels.

I love Prang watercolors, you can’t beat their vibrant colors.  Ignacio chose to mix blue and turquoise blue for his water.  In all honesty, I was too lazy to go upstairs and look for our good brushes.  We used the brush included in the set and as you can see, we had quite a few loose fibers left behind.  No worries, they come right off once it dries.

I brought out some of our multi-cultural construction paper and Ignacio chose the paper he thought best matched him.  It is hard to tell from these pictures, but he did choose the best match.

For obvious reasons I traced his hands for him.  Using a 9x12” sheet of construction paper I had him place one forearm on each corner then position his hands towards the middle, almost touching each other.  He cut them out himself, only asking for help cutting where the fingers meet.

I cut out a heart to use as a template.  He then traced it onto red construction paper and cut his heart out.  I like using heavy bond double sided tape, rather than glue.  It forms a strong and immediate bond.  I especially like that the edges do not lay perfectly flat.  I love the texture and dimension.  We matched the corners in his arm cutouts to the corners in his background paper, perfect fit.  He loved this project!

A few close-ups:

Next post I’ll share a few resources we’ve been using this week to learn more about our Earth.

Earth Day!

Did you do anything special for Earth Day this year? Now that Ignacio can read, he likes to look for upcoming holidays in our family calendar. He has been looking forward to Earth Day for some time now. We decided to celebrate Earth Day the entire weekend by just getting out there and enjoying the outdoors. Ignacio and I started the weekend by volunteering at a local nature reserve. We pulled enough Garlic Mustard to fill half a garbage bag. We then went on a mini hike and bumped into a naturist. He took the time to talk to Ignacio about different plants and share ideas for future visits. On our way back, we met an astrophysicist! Turns out he shares Ignacio’s love for both Pluto and Betelgeuse, how awesome is that?! We enjoyed the rest of the weekend in our backyard and a local park. This is by no means a complete list of our activities, but I thought I’d share a few highlights.

Upon arriving at the nature center, we were asked to pull Garlic Mustard. It is invading the area and not allowing native plants to grow. I really liked how thoroughly everything was explained to Ignacio. They showed us pictures of what the plant looked like and explained why it needed to be pulled. The importance of pulling the root was also stressed. Ignacio was a natural! There were a few times that we found a worm within the root. We always set it free.

Afterwards we decided to enjoy one of the paved trails.  Ignacio decided to do this while walking backwards.  I have no idea what he is doing with his hands, he kind of reminds me of Frankenstein here!

He thought this was the perfect spot to rest.  He plans on bringing a book with him to read here next time we go, he claims it is very comfy.

The fun continued when we returned home.  We hula-hooped, played with bubbles, jumped rope, and enjoyed our swing set.  Francisco is determined to climb up the slide, he has yet to do so…

So much fun!
 

Sunday was full of fun times as well.  Ignacio loves to “fly like Superman”!  We tried to play Frisbee, but Francisco thought it was more fun to play keep-away. 

 

We decided to go kite flying, but once we got to an open field the wind just wasn’t strong enough anymore.  Good thing we brought our boomerang!  

 

I’m a sucker for beautiful flowers…

 

We also enjoyed the sunset…

 

Stay tuned, more Earth Day fun to come.