Fall Fun

Here in the Northeastern United States, the ground is covered with leaves. For many homeowners, they represent the drudgery of raking. Why not make it fun for the whole family? On this day, my son started it all... he went to the garage, got his rake, and started making a pile. Soon my daughter, husband, and Father-in-Law had joined him. I spent this day taking photos, but several days later the kids and I played in the pile.

Look at these faces... you can tell they're having fun!

And check out my husband's perfect dive into the mountain of leaves!

This was a moment filled with joy and laughter. We still haven't gotten around to raking up that pile, even though weeks have passed. We have jumped in it on many different days, though! I think that's more important than getting all of the leaves off our lawn. 

If you live in the city, you probably can't make leaf piles, but you can run through the leaves that collect where the curb meets the road or along the edges of parks. Kick your feet up high. See how far you can make them fly!

Getting outside does not need to be complicated. Just look for little ways to enjoy yourselves. You'll feel closer as a family and be healthier, too. The same goes for teachers...get your students outside as much as you can. 

Have you played in the leaves lately?  Or, if you live in a warm climate, have you perhaps played in the sand? Tell us about your most recent outside play.

Top 10 Ways to Promote Science Inquiry

About a month ago, I promised to post my suggestions for guiding children in their science investigations.

Here are my suggestions, in no particular order:

1. Join in the fun. There's nothing like modeling the behavior you wish to instill to get kids motivated. This isn't "learning" science from a textbook. This is "doing" science. Get your feet wet or your hands dirty. When I was preparing to go out and draw the caterpillars, my daughter (age 5) couldn't wait to get started. My son (age 8) opted not to participate. That is, until he saw the two of us heading out with our pens, hand-lenses, and colored pencils. "Oh... magnifying glasses!" he said. He quickly changed his mind and joined us. I had to insist he come in when it was dinner time.
2. Provide basic materials to enhance observations. For small items, this includes magnifying glasses (hand lenses). For birds or far-off objects, binoculars will do the trick. A bug house or butterfly house is also nice, if you have it. Large jars with holes in the lids will also work for most insects. In addition, a decent set of colored pencils and a notebook chosen for the developmental stage of your child is good. For younger kids, this might be a notebook with blank space at the top for drawing with large-ruled lines below. For older kids, this might be all blank pages (like my son chose) or lined pages. (See examples here.) 
3. Teach kids how to use the tools properly. Practice this before an investigation is to start. Once the novelty of a hand lens wears off, kids are less likely to hold it up to their eyes and make silly faces. (Though that can be fun, too). In a classroom setting, however, it's best to get the silliness out of the way so the more serious work of science can begin. Let them be silly for a few minutes, then indicate when it's time to work.
4. Maintain your sense of wonder. Listen to your children/students talk. Remember what it was like to be a kid, awestruck by natural phenomena. Listen for possible investigations.
5. Slow down and pay attention. Instead of rushing from commitment to commitment, take a few minutes to notice your environment. Is the moon out tonight? Are there any flowers still in bloom?
6. Spend time in nature. This is an extension of above. You can't pay attention to nature without being outside. City dwellers... paying attention to the nighttime sky is a great way to connect with nature's cycles. Or, how about those plants growing up in the cracks of the pavement? Or maybe the birds on a wire above your head. What can you learn by observing them?
7. Share what you're doing with others. Talk about what you've noticed. People are interested in natural phenomena, even if they forget to stop and notice it themselves. Ask if they've noticed the same things as you. Listen to, and learn from, each other.
8. Help kids ask questions and seek answers to their questions. This is the beginning of any scientific investigation. When scientists set-up experiments, they are looking for answers to their questions.  
9. Remember that not every question will lead to an investigation. If that were true, we'd never do anything but investigate (for those of us who have young children, anyway. There's a steady stream of questions from young kids). But, saying, "I wonder..." keep kids thinking in this way even after they pass through the early years. I'd even go so far as to say that it helps keep us grown-ups "young."
10. Know your limits. Learn to recognize when you can continue an investigation without knowing the outcome and when you need to seek more information. For example, I knew enough about the first caterpillars we were investigating (Swallowtails, by the way! Still no changes.) to move the caterpillars into our butterfly house. Once we found the woolly bear caterpillar, however, I recognized that I did not know enough specifics about woolly bears to move it into the butterfly house. As a naturalist, I do not want to harm any animal I'm observing.  I did some quick research before giving my daughter the go ahead. 

Bonus idea for teachers:

Plan ahead. This is especially important for classroom teachers who have a room of 20 or more kids to organize. Having good lesson plans decreases behavior issues. If you don't know what the kids should be doing, how will they? Along these same lines, have good procedures in place. Model the behaviors you want kids to demonstrate. Practice them right from the beginning of the year. Assign jobs such as Materials Manager, Recorder, etc.

Here are two of my favorite books for those of you who want to learn more. Both books are useful for parents and teachers, though Rachel Carson is especially good for parents and Ellen Doris is especially good for teachers.

(I use this book in the graduate level science methods course I teach called "Science in the Elementary Schools: Teaching with Evidence").

Have any of you tried doing investigations with your children/students since you read my posts about the caterpillars? Will you try one now? How helpful was this information?

Baby Honeybee

Me in full bee gear.

Today I won't offer an activity to do with kids.  Rather, I have some photos I hope will be inspiring.

My father-in-law and I are backyard beekeepers. We got our first hive during the spring of 2009 and they've been humming along ever since. We're certainly not experts. In fact, more often than not, we're unsure of what to do. But those bees just keep doing what they do- raising young, caring for the queen, guarding the hive, and foraging for food. During our last hive inspection we watched an amazing sight- the emergence of a "baby bee" from her cell.

Luckily, I had my camera nearby so I caught it all on film. My cropping isn't perfect (and blogger won't let me line up my photos), but she's in the middle of each photo.

By the last photo, she has blended into the crowd. If I hadn't cropped the photo to put her in the center, you wouldn't have been able to find her. In fact, if I hadn't watched her emerge and made note of her location while taking the photo, I wouldn't have been able to find her, either.

Are any of you backyard beekeepers? Do you know any beekeepers? You might not even realize there's one next door to you. More and more city dwellers are keeping bees in rooftop hives.  Last weekend, I met a beekeeper from the Bronx (as in New York City!) 

Expect to hear more from me about bees in the future!

Fall Leaves

Here in Southern New England, now is the perfect time to get outside with your kids and enjoy the blaze of color on the trees. Every time my five-year-old daughter steps outside, she finds another beautiful leaf to share. "Oooh, Mommy, look at this one!" is her most common phrase.

I remember that as I child, all I wanted to do was find a way to preserve those leaves so I could enjoy them in the dark winter months. I tried many methods, including the fairly well-known practice of ironing leaves between two pieces of waxed paper and hanging them in front of a window. This exercise was fun, but the bold colors didn't last long.

A couple of years ago I had a new idea, this time inspired my my kids' same desire to preserve their leaves. 

Leaf Placemats
Here's what you need:

• an assortment of leaves. Gather a variety of shapes and colors.
• white glue
• 11 X 17 paper (We used copy paper weight but any paper will do).
• access to a color copy center an hour or two after finishing the project
• clear contact paper or access to a copy center that does laminating

Procedure:

1. Take a nature hike with your kids. Collect leaves together. (If hiking in public a place, such as an arboretum, be aware that collecting may not be allowed). While you're walking, take advantage of the time together. Talk about which leaves you like and why.  Note the shapes of the leaves. Try to find which trees your leaves came from. 



Be careful of these leaves, though. That's poison ivy!

2. Bring your leaves home. Before rushing right into the craft, give your kids a chance to explore the leaves a bit. Maybe they'd like to sort them in some way or talk about them with you. 
Glue the leaves onto the 11 X 17 paper. Kids as young as 2 can participate in this with parent support. Ask the children where they want glue and help them apply it. Then they can stick the leaves down. Encourage older kids to make a pleasing design.  Note: the leaves do not need to be securely glued in all places. They just need to last long enough to make a copy.
3. As soon as the glue is dry, take them to the copy center and make color photocopies. (The cost varies but is around $1.00 per sheet). If you wait, the leaves will start to fade, so the results will not be as good. The quality of photocopies today is terrific. They'll look exactly like your creations.
4. To preserve the placemats, have the copy center laminate them. This is not a cheap process, so confirm the cost before placing your order. An alternative is to mount them on sturdy paper and cover them with clear contact paper. Public libraries sometimes have laminating machines and may allow you to use them for a fee. (I laminated ours at our public library). These coverings allow you to wipe the placemats clean with a damp cloth (DO NOT submerge them in water). We made ours 3 years ago and they're still in good condition.

Here's and alternative project  inspired by my daughter:

Leaf Rubbings

Materials:

• Assortment of leaves
• Light weight paper such as regular copy paper
• crayons
• tape

Procedure

1. Arrange the leaves upside down (vein side up) on a piece of paper.
2. Carefully place another piece of paper on top. Tape it down.
3. Using the side of a crayon, gently rub across the surface of the paper. The leaves' shapes and veins will be revealed in the rubbing. This process is magical for young children as the leaves "suddenly" appear.
4. Experiment with different colors. Even though my daughter loves pink, it was not a satisfying color for this project. Her favorite was a deep blue that clearly revealed the veins.
5. Ask the kids to embellish the rubbings, or not, as they feel inspired.
6. You can then frame these pieces or laminate them as above.

Relatives love to receive these projects as gifts and they're perfect for the Thanksgiving table.

For my readers from regions where leaves don't turn or who are overseas... try a project like this using flowers and green leaves. You'll need to gently flatten the flowers enough that they can sit on the deck of a copy machine.

Have you tried projects like these? Will you try one now? What other ideas do you have for preserving our beautiful fall leaves (or flowers)?

White Mind (continuing the conversation from "Coloring Between the Lines")

If you've read my "about" tab, you know that connecting with nature and with people of different cultures and backgrounds is important to me. Nature is all around us if we just pay attention. So is culture. Sure, I can travel overseas to experience another culture, but there are subtle cultural differences all around us. There are differences of culture from one family to the next. That's one reason I was required to live with three different families when I was a Rotary Exchange Student in high school. Living with one family would have given me a view of that family's culture. By living with three different families over the course of a year, I was able to experience the daily routines and rituals of three very different families.

Culture includes the way we portray ourselves to the world and the way the world sees us. The United States is a varied, dynamic, interesting country that benefits from the contributions of people of all races, religions, and creeds. The sheer variety of people who live here and govern via a democracy makes us unique.

Yet, in the children's books published in the US, the majority of children portrayed are white. When children of color are depicted, the stories frequently revolve around a white person and have people of color in the background. Or, the story revolves around race issues, rather than portray a child of color having every day experiences that don't revolve around race. Described another way- stories that give the readers a "slice of life".

I touched on this topic briefly last July but many others have written more eloquently than I on this issue. I encourage you to join the conversation. Or, at least read what others have to say.
Here are some places to start:

• Coloring Between the Lines: Reflections on Race, Culture and Children's Books by Anne Sibley O'Brien (My post is in response to this post)
• The Open Book (blog maintained by publisher Lee and Low).
• The Elephant in the Room a Publisher's Weekly blogpost by Elizebeth Bleumle
• Mitali's Fire Escape - "a safe place to chat about books between cultures"

Added 10/27: Also see Nikki Grime's blog post from today.

At a minimum, I hope these blogs will make you think. Then, as a parent or teacher, examine the books you choose for your kids or students. Do they reflect the diversity of people around them? Can children of color see themselves positively portrayed within the pages of those books?  (Booksellers, please also see Mitali Perkin's post for tips on selling multicultural books).

For a list of suggested titles, you can also visit Elizabeth Bluemle’s “A World Full of Color” list at LibraryThing.

Have you recently read a great children's book with a protagonist that is not Caucasian? Do you have any titles to suggest to us? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.

Caterpillar Investigation, Part 4

In three previous posts (here, here, and here), I described our caterpillar investigation. The caterpillars seemed to suddenly appear on the parsley in our vegetable garden. We started by observing them in the garden and eventually placed two caterpillars in a "butterfly house" to hopefully watch their metamorphosis into butterflies.  We are patiently awaiting some changes. One point I neglected to mention on those previous posts is the fact that this butterfly house in exposed to the cold. It's inside our screened porch so it's protected from severe weather but the temperature is basically the same as outside. I did this because the caterpillars were outside eating our parsley. Presumably, those caterpillars are adapted to the seasons and should, therefore, be left to experience the appropriate weather.

Last Wednesday, we added a new specimen to our butterfly house- a woolly bear caterpillar. I almost crushed the fuzzy little creature while walking through our dining room. Luckily, my husband spotted it and stopped me. Of course, I picked it up and showed our kids.

My daughter was the first to suggest we place it in with the other caterpillars. I was happy to support her investigation, as long as I knew we could keep the caterpillar healthy. Unlike the first caterpillars we found, I did not know how to care for a woolly bear. Even though I've seen them for my entire life, I had never seen one eating or researched their life cycle. I did a quick Internet search to be sure of what to do to care for it. I learned they eat clover or grass and would need a stick on which to climb. The kids gathered the needed supplies and we added the woolly bear to to the butterfly house. We need to add "fresh" grass every day until it stops moving around. Then it will winter over and make a cocoon in the spring. My research revealed that this caterpillar must be allowed to experience the cold or it's life cycle will be disrupted. It will make a cocoon too early and emerge as a moth that cannot survive the cold weather. 

We now have two un-identified caterpillars that made crysalids (photo to left)  in the butterfly house. We think they will emerge as butterflies very soon. (Full disclosure... I know what they are but I haven't told my kids or my readers. Does anyone besides Gail want to suggest what kind they are?) We also have the woolly bear that will eventually spin a cocoon and emerge as a moth in the spring. We check them each day to watch for changes and now we add grass or clover as the woolly bear needs more. We also need to add some pieces of bark or maybe leaves for it to hide beneath.

So, our investigations continue. I'll keep you posted when anything changes. In the meantime, I leave you with this idea. Take baby steps in your investigations with children. Know your limitations. Resist the urge to look up information just to get answers. By observing closely, you and your children (or students) can learn things together. Do find out enough, however, so that you can properly care for any organisms you observe.

Have you embarked on an investigation with your children or students lately? What did you do? What did you learn together? If you haven't done an investigation, how might you begin? Try to make time to to begin one soon.

Cranberry Harvest

Yesterday we attended the A.D. Makepeace Cranberry Harvest Celebration in Wareham, MA.  A. D. Makepeace is the largest cranberry grower in the world. The festival offers a nice balance between fun activities and learning about the harvest (mostly through fun activities!). It was a pefect fall day to explore the cranberry bogs and learn about the cranberry harvest. For busy families, a festival like this is a great way to get outdoors together- no planning necessary- just show up!

One thing I love about this festival is that it really is all about the cranberries and what is local. And, it is affordable for families. Admission is only $2.00 per person, under 7 free. If you bring non-perishable food items for a local food pantry, admission is free. Once you're inside, there is plenty to do free of charge, including a bog tour. There are also loads of picnic tables in the main festival area, at the bog, and even in the parking lot, so families can pack a lunch (no coolers allowed, though). For those who want to spend some money, there's plenty of food to choose from, a crafter's tent, and various hay rides, moon bounces, and helicopter rides.

Yes, there are vendors, but this is not a highly commercial festival. Makepeace also hosts organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the Lions club, and edible South Shore. These groups share news about their good work and, in some cases, raise funds for their organizations.

One of my favorites at the festival is the "bridge" set up at the harvest site. Visitors climb up and over the trucks as they're loaded.

From above, you can see the berries come off the belt  

and land in the back of a tractor trailer.

There were also jugglers, a bluegrass band, and an owl show. Then there's one of my kid' favorites...a GIANT sand pile that inspires kids and adults alike to roll, jump, skid, and slide. There's nothing like some good old fun for the kid in all of us. Best of all, we got to be outdoors.

Obviously, this harvest festival is over for the year, but the harvest continues. If you live in Massachusetts, you can probably find a bog and watch the harvest from the road. My son's school bus has been known to stop for a few minutes when they're ahead of schedule to watch the helicopters load up. We can still hear them working every day.

How about where you live? Is it harvest time now? Have you attended any good fall/harvest celebrations. Are there ones you plan to attend in the next couple of weeks?