How to Escape Education's Death Valley

Ken Robinson continues to make so much sense.

TED - Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Just listened to this presentation and had to share the thoughts. Excellent talk by Sir Ken Robinson.

AFRICA: Akhwari--Greatest Last Place Finish Ever

Have you ever heard of John Stephen Akhwari? If not, you should find out who he is, and you should share his story with your children. Let me help you.

John Stephen Akhwari is a marathon runner from Tanzania. He was the African champion runner and he competed in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Even though Akhwari had previously beaten the man who would win the gold medal in the men's marathon that year, Akhwari is mostly known for having the worst marathon finishing time in the history of the Olympics. But really, the time isn't the important part--the finishing is. 

Here is the quote he is most famous for:

"My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish it."

Akhwari's Olympic marathon finish is nothing short of heroic given all the circumstances and given his tenacious grit. He is an amazing example! I like everything about the following video except that at the end it categorizes Akhwari's finish as one of the "strangest." I disagree. I think it's one of the best and most inspiring.

Years later, Akhwari was called upon to be honored and participate in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, carrying the torch. Here is a good follow up article on Akhwari's life since his famous finish. 

Whether you're studying Africa, the Olympics, focusing on biographies, working on character development, or need a story for a Family Home Evening lesson on enduring to the end, John Stephen Akhwari from Mbulu, Tanzania, Africa is someone to talk about.

AFRICA: The Sahara

It's not like my kids don't know anything about the Sahara. Much of what we've read and watched has included it. But I did want one specific activity regarding it. And because it's good to mix things up, I created a crossword puzzle on the Sahara.

There are many puzzle generators on the internet; some are free, some are not, and some are more user friendly than others. I tend to use Puzzlemaker at Discovery Education most often for creating puzzles. I also tend to copy/paste what's on the screen to Microsoft Publisher so I can manipulate things better for printing, too.

For this particular puzzle, I had the kids read a Live Science article on the Sahara first and then gave them the puzzle. All the answers were inside the article. It was quick and informative.

Here is my Sahara Crossword if you'd like to use it.

AFRICA: Literary Comparisons and Essays

Even though we are doing a unit on Africa for the sake of geography and social studies, I am going heavy on the writing with this unit, learning and/or refining (depending on the child) the writing process and different types of essays. Two picture books have been tools for writing comparison essays. 

The Egyptian Cinderella is obvious:  compare the traditional "Cinderella" with this African cultural version.

After reading Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, which some people call an African Cinderella tale, I felt there were more possibilities with this book. I left it wide open with no suggestions whatsoever. I told my kids to independently read the story and then think of some other story they knew that was similar and write a comparison essay on the two stories. I was pleased with how that assignment turned out. One compared it to "Cinderella," one to The King's Highway, and one to "The Princess and the Pea."

In my opinion, you're never too old for picture books. I love them! Also, I like introducing concepts with picture books, like comparison essays. Rather than beginning with two huge literary works that may be overwhelming, it's good to start building those writing muscles with something smaller where kids can be clear and successful before tackling something bigger.

AFRICA: Swahili

Jambo is "hello" in Swahili, an important language in Africa. Though the official language of only three African countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) it is widely spoken throughout East Africa and elsewhere. Swahili is a lingua franca, or a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.

We learned a little Swahili while learning about it. The following video was fun to watch, like a cultural exchange.

The highlight of our learning about Swahili was being introduced to "Baba Yetu," which is The Lord's Prayer in Swahili, put to music, written by Christopher Tin. It's hard to say which of the following two versions is our favorite.

(I loved one of the comments on the feed:  "a song written by an asian guy sung in an african language about the lords prayer by a white guy in africa now thats how this world should be together fam")

I created two notebooking pages to go with our lessons on Swahili. The first was to write a summary of the history of and facts about the language (top) and two write some basic English words and the Swahili translation (bottom) like numbers, greetings, family members, etc. The second notebooking page is for writing the words to "Baba Yetu." Over the top of the globe showing North America, the kids wrote The Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 in English. Over the top of the globe showing Africa, the kids wrote the "Baba Yetu" lyrics.

Baba yetu, yetu uliye (Our, our Father who are)
Mbinguni yetu, yetu, amina (In heaven, our, our, amen)
Baba yetu, yetu, uliye (Our, our Father, who are)
Jina lako litukuzwe (Let's glorify your name)

Utupe leo chakula chetu (Give us today our food)
Tunachohitaji utusamehe (We need you to forgive us)
Makosa yetu, hey (Our errors, hey)
Kama nasi tunavyowasamehe (As we do forgive those)
Waliotukosea, usitutie (Who did us wrong, don't put us)
Katika majaribu, lakini (Into trials, but)
Utuokoe, na yule, milele na milele (Save us, with him, for ever and ever)

Ufalme wako ufike utakalo (Your kingdom come that it be)
Lifanyike duniani kama mbinguni, amina (done on earth as in heaven, amen)

Baba yetu, yetu, uliye (Our, our Father, who are)
Jina lako litukuzwe (Let's glorify your name)
Baba yetu, yetu, uliye (Our, our Father, who are)
Jina lako litukuzwe (Let's glorify your name)

Christopher Tin - Baba Yetu Lyrics | MetroLyrics

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As a side, if you're thinking you've heard the song before, or you're wondering when and why it was written, it's kind of an interesting situation. Christopher Tin wrote "Baba Yetu"  for the "Civilization" video game. 

You may or may not want to tell your kids that. We had a discussion about what The Lord's Prayer, Swahili, and the history of the world's civilizations might have to do with each other but it led to my kids telling me that playing "Civilization" was perfectly acceptable "homework" the next day.

AFRICA: Maps, Maps, and More Maps

I'm not sure which is more exciting: a blank map waiting to be marked or a brilliant, colorful, already informative map. I love maps!

A great way to get geography down is to spend a lot of time with maps, especially making them. You don't have to do the same type of map over and over--there are lots of things to map! Every time my kids mapped something new, they had more countries and their locations memorized.

Here are some of the continental maps we did with Africa:

Political map - countries
Physical map
Map of major rivers
Natural resource map
Map of products/exports
Political map - capitol cities
Map of average temperatures
Map of official languages
Map of predominant religions
Map of LDS missions
Map of LDS temples
Latitude and longitude with worksheets

After marking some of these maps, it was good to put them side by side and analyze.  For instance, looking at all the maps having to do with religion and churches, it's pretty obvious why the LDS church doesn't have anything going on in North Africa.

Map making leads to familiarity.

OK Go - Genius to Give a Go Yourself

Normally I do not like music videos. They tend to ruin songs for me. (I like what I conjure in my own head while listening better.) Sometimes, though, someone breaks out and impresses me.

Such is the case with the band Ok Go. My son came home one day and wanted to show me some of their videos because he knew I'd like them. And, boy, do I! They are pure creative genius. They're done in such a way that I can appreciate the songs by themselves, separate from the videos, but I can appreciate the videos for their innovation as well. These are entertaining but educational.

Ok Go has several clever music videos. The following are my three favorite.* 

The first is one big Rube Goldberg machine. A few years ago one of my boys was in a biweekly science class with some other homeschooled boys and I remember on one of the days the boys were tasked with building their own Rube Goldberg. I thought it was a brilliant idea. Watching this video should make kids want to put on their thinking caps and get to work building something themselves. The link above is THE place to go for lesson plans, etc. to take the next step. I'm thinking that with winter coming and the holidays and needing a break in between some other bigger unit studies, we'll take a week or so and have some fun with this. (A Rube Goldberg lesson would be a nice addition to studying physics as well.)  

Incidentally, a peppy song titled "This Too Shall Pass" is handy to have on one's playlist.

The clever video for "The One Moment" isn't just creative and fun to watch but also a highly satisfactory way to ponder the impact and importance of a single moment. (Also, HOW do they get their timing so perfect?)

Finally, the following version of "Needing/Getting" is exceptionally smart. The enormity and scale of the project is insane but impressive. The ability to nail details is inspiring.

*While I do like much of their music and many of their videos, I am not recommending everything they sing and do.

Posts from the Past - The October Homeschool

It's been years since I posted these.  I thought I'd pull 'em out and dust 'em off for anyone who missed them before.  Happy October!


October Unit Factory - Ideas for Octoberish unit studies

Mood Music for October - Suggested musical selections for listening enjoyment in October

Tricks with Treats--A Bag Full of Math - Practical, fun math problems with Halloween candy

No, I'm Not

No, I'm Not

by Sasha Takis

It happened again.  I was checking out at a warehouse store and the cashier asked, “Do you homeschool?”  I smiled and nodded.  Then she said, “You must be so patient.” She went on to say that some days she just couldn’t wait to send her kids off to school.  I clenched my jaw and swiped my card.  

I’ve grown so weary of the familiar assumptions.

“You must be so organized.”

“You are a saint!”

“You must be a lot smarter than I am.”

“You’re so brave!”

“You must be so patient.”

Guess what, people?  I am none of these things.  I am so not these things that sometimes I want to shout it.  Yes, there is some vain part of my persona that has occasionally puffed up at the praise and even been pleased that this is what other people think of me.  But the bigger part of me, the honest me, wants everyone to have a reality check.  Why?  Well, it’s too much pressure for one.  Secondly, and more importantly, it frustrates me that people think that they have to be these things in order to homeschool.  As if they themselves might consider homeschooling—if, and only if, the Virtue Fairy would come and bestow these gifts.  It annoys me that people put on blinders and assume that all public school teachers and college professors are all of these things.  (Because let me tell you, I’ve met more than several hands full who are not.)  People are people!  We all put our pants on one leg at a time; we all have different strengths and weaknesses to work with and we all have something to offer, no matter what we are or what we are not.

So what am I?  I am a mother who loves my children and is trying the best way I know to do what’s right and best for them.  So, before walking off with my purchases, I smiled at the cashier and simply said, “I’m really not that patient.  I just don’t want someone else getting the best years of my kids’ lives.”

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Originally written for and published in LDSNHA's Sentinel.

CCCW - Renouf Tree Settings

In our biology and botany studies we have been learning about the basics of plants and right now more specifically trees and leaves. While looking for an autumn art project on leaves, I found and fell in love with Eloise Renouf's style of drawing trees as first seen in this sketchbook project. We just had to do something with this!

We used white cardstock and black Sharpie pens. A basic straight-line tree trunk works fine, or you can add a thicker trunk. Choose multiple designs to repeat for the branches. (For inexperienced/unsure artists, practice on scratch paper first.)

Now it's time to paint! Watercolors add both color and additional shape.

Once the kids were done with theirs, they were to use their favorite finished piece as the setting for a new piece of creative writing.

I found creating fall images this way absolutely addicting and made page after page over the course of a few days.

Trees and/or scenes can be as simple or elaborate as each artist wishes, and all skill levels can give this a good go.

Happy Autumn, Happy Homeschooling!

AFRICA: A Long Walk to Water

Our back-to-school studies this autumn have centered on literature and writing combined with world geography. Our first book to read, discuss, and write about is Linda Sue Park's A Long Walk to Water. This is an excellent book that I highly recommend to everyone.

Due to everyone coming and going at different times, I'm not currently reading anything aloud to the family. Everyone had to read this on his or her own. This book is best read that way anyway, however, as the point of view switches back and forth between two main characters.

As I said, everyone read this book. My youngest had only to fill out a book report on it. The older ones had a packet of study questions to fill out. After they answered the questions in writing, we all discussed it together. Then they were each supposed to choose one of the topics of discussion and expound on it in an essay.

Here is what I prepared for the study packet:

A Long Walk to Water

By Linda Sue Park

*Complete sections 1 and 2 of this reading journal before beginning to read the book.

*Begin reading; when you reach the post-it note on page 6, answer the question in section 3.

*Read the remainder of the book. When you are finished reading, IMMEDIATELY complete section 20.

*Complete sections 4-19.

*Read the provided National Geographic articles.

1.  Do your best to copy the map that is next to the title page of the book here.

2.  Vocabulary - 

What is a village?

gourd

cassava 

sorghum

acacia

3.  "Into the bush. Do you hear me? Not home. Don't run home. They will be going into the villages.  Stay away from the villages--run into the bush."  (pg 6) 

Imagine you are Salva. Write what you would be thinking at this point. Would you run into the bush?  Why or why not? 

4.  You have often heard of America's War for Independence. You know that Freedom of Religion played a large part in the founding of our nation. Were you aware that this is a struggle all over the world and it has been for the entire history of the world? Why do you think this is? (pgs 6-7)

5.  Salva is able to identify fellow Dinka tribesmen by the scar patterns on their faces. (pgs 15,19) Scarification is normal and popular throughout Africa:

Scarification, as a cultural activity, is widely performed across Africa. In essence, it is the practice of incising the skin with a sharp instrument, (such as a knife, glass, stone, or coconut shell) in such a way as to control the shape of the scar tissue on various parts of the body. Cicatrisation is a special form of scarification, whereby a gash is made in the skin with a sharp instrument, and irritation of the skin caused by applying caustic plant juices forms permanent blisters. Dark pigments such as ground charcoal or gunpowder are sometimes rubbed into the wound to provide emphasis. These cuts, when healed, form raised scars, known as keloids. The most complicated cicatrisation was probably found in the Congo Basin and neighbouring regions, and among the Akan speakers of West Africa.

Scarification is a long and painful process, and a permanent modification of the body, transmitting complex messages about identity and social status. Permanent body markings emphasise fixed social, political and religious roles. Facial scarification in West Africa is used for identification of ethnic groups, families, individuals, but also to express personal beauty. It is also performed on girls to mark stages of the life process, such as puberty, marriage etc. They can assist in making them more attractive to men, as the scars are regarded as appealing to touch as well as to look at, but also as testimony that women will be able to withstand the pain of childbirth. 

 ( http://www.randafricanart.com/Scarification_and_Cicatrisation_among_African_cultures.html)

Many people would call this practice "barbaric" and call these people "savages." What do these words mean? 

Do you agree that scarification is barbaric and/or savage? Why or why not? 

Keeping in mind the purpose of scarification, make a list of other cultures (modern or historical) and the methods they use to communicate the same types of things.

6.  "To the pond and back--to the pond and back--nearly a full day of walking altogether. This was Nya's daily routine seven months of the year. Daily. Every single day." (pg 20)  

Take a moment to seriously think about Nya's life. Her mother isn't being mean. This is a matter of survival. This is the reality for some people in other places. Now think about your life in comparison. What do you take for granted? What do you think is hard or miserable that, honestly, really isn't?

7.  Salva, a child, is abandoned numerous times by adults (pgs 13,18,21,66). What do you think of this?

How does this compare with what you know of other mass migrations such as pioneer wagon trains heading west in the United States? 

Why do you think different peoples/cultures would behave differently regarding children in these situations?

8.  Salva's story begins in 1985, Nya's in 2008. Twenty-three years later the Nuer and Dinka tribes are still fighting over land. (pg 26) Why do you think this is? 

9.  "Salva heard that sigh all the way to his heart." (pg 29) 

What does this mean? 

10.  "A cold fist seemed to grip Salva's heart." (pg 38) 

What is Salva feeling? Why does the author describe it this way? 

11. What type of channel is mentioned? (pg 49) What do you think of both the problem and the solution surrounding the channels? 

12.  "Salva Mawien Dut Ariik!" (pgs 53-54) Why does Uncle use Salva's full name? Why is it important to remember who you are, especially in difficult circumstances? 

What does your full name mean to you and/or remind you of? 

Is there another name you wear on your heart which you should remember? What name is this and what does that mean to you?

13.  "If you give them your water, you will not have enough for yourself! It is useless--they will die, and you will die with them!" (pg 55-56, 58)  

Is there wisdom in what the man said? What would you do? What should you do? Are there ever circumstances where what you should do changes? 

14.  Salva gets through his arduous journey one point at a time. Introduced to this approach by Uncle, he fixes on something he can see and reaches it. (pgs 53-54, 72-73, 82) Is there wisdom in this?  What does this teach you about goal setting in everyday life and in crisis management when you're overwhelmed and maybe in danger or afraid? 

Write of a time when you have used or you may need to use this approach. 

15.  "When the smaller boys grew too tired to walk, the older boys took turns carrying them on their backs." (pg 81) 

Why do you think the boys cared for each other and those younger than them when the adults they'd encountered previously would not? 

16. As Salva led the long trek to Kenya he thought of his family, remembering the good things they taught him (pg 81). How much influence does a family have on an individual member and how important is that? 

What influence has your family had on you so far in your life?  How does or how will that help you?

17.  It took a year and a half, but 1200 boys arrived safely to Kenya (pg 82). What are your thoughts on that?

18.  Have you ever given much thought to where your old clothes go when they are donated? How does knowing that people like Salva may receive them make you feel? (pg 91-92) 

19. In Africa there are tribes, chiefs, villages. What other times and peoples have lived with these? Any nowadays besides Africans? Why or why not? 

20.  How do you feel after reading this book? What are your immediate thoughts and impressions? 

Taking the Summer Off

Preface:  I've taken a really, really long break from blogging. I'll give it one more go. It's discouraging to spend the time and then see that your blog only gets a few hits and those are mostly from random porn sites. If I get more of a regular readership, I'll keep going. 

The summer of 2017 was the best summer I've had in a long time. It's not that other summers haven't been good; there are always highlights and happy moments. Most summers as a whole, though, have left me feeling empty and exhausted, wondering where the time went and feeling like a victim of circumstance. I did not want one more summer that did not feel like summer, whatever that meant. I had a vague, elusive notion of what I thought summer should be and I wanted to make it happen. This was the year I lived summer on purpose.

For many years we have homeschooled through the summer. There have been various reasons, including but not limited to climate (the years we lived in Seattle meant cold and rainy Junes and Julys, and the years in Utah meant some days too hot to be outside so might as well study inside) and schedules (vacations in spring or fall or busy baseball/softball schedules meant makeup in summer). There was the belief that homeschooling is our lifestyle and learning never (or at least it should never) stops so, continuing our studies made sense. There was a sense that if we didn't continue homeschooling through the summer we were wasting time. And kids can certainly get bored easily so why not do something more worthwhile with that time? 

Here's the problem. Well, problems. Every change in season brings a new set of demands and activity. It is certainly possible to happily homeschool through each and every season, but as I always say, "If I am doing this then there is something else I am not doing." In this case that means that if I am going to spend my time and energy homeschooling, there are other things I cannot do because there is only so much time and energy to go around. I love to garden, but it takes a lot of time and energy. I love traveling with my children to baseball/softball tournaments, but it takes a lot of time and energy. I love to enjoy the types of activities that can only be done in hot, summer weather, but it takes a lot of time and energy. For years I have tried to do all of these things at the same time, with the time and energy simply running out. At the end of the summer I feel like a big, fat failure at everything. I can't truly enjoy any particular activity at any given time because I feel the constant weight of the other activities waiting their turned to be crammed into my life. 

Coming out of a hard spring, wanting summer to be different, but feeling the weight of my own expectations for everything, I was still going to stubbornly forge ahead with a unit study over the summer. But I couldn't stop thinking about how badly I needed a successful garden this year, the past years having been mediocre at best to straight up fails because I tried to do too much and/or was gone too much. I had numerous outdoor projects I wanted to do but I had put them off for years due to lack of that ever so limited time and energy I keep talking about. I couldn't stop thinking about how thoroughly exhausted I was. Looking ahead, I had 12 weekend tournaments in a row coming up, the first 10 of which were all out of town. (And mind you, laundry and meals and regular housework doesn't diminish in summer just because outdoor chores increase or because you're away from home more.) And then came the real epiphany:  I realized that for all my efforts at summer schooling over the years, we'd never amounted more than a good solid week or two of schooling when you added everything together. 

Then, my kids begged for a summer break. They, too, were exhausted and burned out. They had some good points to make. And all of a sudden, taking a break from homeschooling was the only logical, sane, and humane thing to do.

So we did.

And. It. Was. Glorious.

Instead of looking out my window longingly at the hammock in my back yard, I climbed in it and read adult fiction under the shade trees. Adult fiction! I haven't read adult fiction in at least a decade because I'm always pre-reading literature for my kids or reading nonfiction for a multitude of reasons. I finally had some wiggle room and didn't feel guilty taking advantage of it.

Instead of wishing we had more time to go swimming, fishing, hiking, etc., I conscientiously planned it and made it happen every week because, that was the plan, for a change.

I could go on. But it wasn't all leisure and play. If it had been, I'd have been just as dissatisfied with my summer as I would if we'd only worked.  I believe in the wisdom of Aesop's "The Grasshopper and the Ants," but more importantly, work is good for the soul and everyone feels better when they've done a job well.  And, after all, there was the garden. 

If you are one who chooses to homeschool year round, this is in no way meant to dissuade you. Everyone's lives look different from each other's. It's really about finding balance. Ha. It's always about finding balance. This was the summer of fixing my scales.

Cleaned up a flower bed.

Found a perfect picnic spot.

Canned 50 jars of summer applesauce.

The beach!

Finally grew cucumbers successfully.

Kayaked for the first time.

Invented a new holiday recipe.

Wildflower hike!

BIO: Flowers - Reproduction and Pollination

Mmmm.  The air is intoxicating right now with the heady fragrance of flowering trees and bushes. Between the lilacs, the honeysuckle, the flowering pear trees, the cherry and apple blossoms, and many more perfectly perfumed petals, I am in springtime heaven!

I purposely waited for now to focus on flowers and flower reproduction in our biology studies. At the end of our ecology unit we spent some time specifically on bees in general and also on what is happening to them ecologically speaking. It was timed to flow into flowers and pollination.

For this topic, I highly, highly, highly recommend watching Disneynature's Wings of Life!  Someone has put a slightly altered, misnamed, and perhaps pirated copy on Youtube that you can watch for free (see below) but after watching that version I loved it so much I had to purchase it. (Bonus:  as of the date of this post, the multi-format is 43% off at Amazon!)

Before diagramming the parts of a flower, I gathered several different flowers from my yard to dissect and inspect.

jj

We went on a walkabout looking for pollen, pollinators, and to again identify pistils and stamens on flowers in various stages of life.

Pollen!

More pollen on the stamens and a fertilized pistil.

We could observe the bee's pollen sacs on her legs.

Happy spring homeschooling!

Kahoot!

Never be afraid to listen to your teenagers and learn from them! For a recent Family Home Evening, one of my teens introduced us to Kahoot! We. LOVED. It. We played game after game, all of them centered on things relating to the LDS Church. He explained that they play Kahoot! in Seminary on occasion, and he's played it in some of his public high school classes as well, on those subjects. I was intrigued, then hooked, and stayed up that night creating a Kahoot! of my own to use in our homeschool the next day.

Kahoot! says it is "making learning awesome." I would agree. There are so many possibilities! You can look up and play any Kahoot! already created, and they exist for pretty much any topic, including the inane and absurd. (Because anyone can create a Kahoot!, some of them are... less than worthy. These can range from being ridiculous, to wrong, to basically illiterate.) There are some seriously good ones out there, though, and it really is a great tool for motivating, challenging, and engaging students (or families, groups of friends, co-workers, etc.).

Because my kids love these, and because they are easy to create and I can do anything I want with them to use them in our studies, I am all over this. Here are two that I created in the past week. 

Reproduction in a Flowering Plant

Human Anatomy Pre-Quiz

In addition to using Kahoot! in our homeschool, I want to create some for future Family Home Evenings, family reunions with family history, and in other settings.

Try it!

BIO: EYH Ecology - The Genius of Graeme Base #2 and a Refreshing Final Project

At first glance, you probably won't know how the following three items go together.

These three items did come together nicely, however, for a fun lesson. 

Odzala is a national park in the Republic of the Congo. The video we watched centered on a water hole within Odzala, which they call a bai. I had purchased Graeme Base's The Water Hole at the same time I purchased his other books and had been saving it for this unit. With the video using the word bai repeatedly, I wondered if that's where the name for the "new" Bai drinks came from. We'd never had Bai drinks before, so I purchased some to sample as a nice Eat Your Homework addition.

It turns out that bai is the Mandarin Chinese word for "pure" and it's also an acronym for botanical antioxidant infusions. That's what Bai, the company, has to say about it. The drinks are an interesting thing to learn about in and of themselves, and they fit right in with our ecology unit because a main ingredient of Bai drinks is coffeefruit--the part of the plant normally tossed as waste after coffee beans are taken out of the middle of the fruit. 

Anyway, this is how things went:  We watched the video and talked about our thoughts and reactions (because there are some unexpected things you learn relating to some animal's behavior).  A couple of days later we reviewed some things, including the word bai. The bai in Odzala is of course a very important source of nourishment for the animals there, and not just because they need water but because of what is growing in and around that water for food. I pulled out the Bai drinks I'd purchased and told them about my word association and what I'd learned about the drinks. Then, while sipping our nourishing, refreshing Bai drinks, I read aloud The Water Hole.

The Water Hole is, first and foremost, a visually delicious picture book. Base is a wonderful artist and a genius with clues, mysteries, and hidden pictures. The Water Hole is also a counting book, but we of course didn't need to use it for that. I used the book as a little test. We were nearing the end of our unit and in the background of each two-page spread is a geographical clue. My test for the kids was to see if they could name the biome and the location on the planet that each of these pictures represented. It was a fun little activity and they passed with flying colors. (They later examined the book individually, looking for the hidden animals.)

This segued into my assigning them their final project for the unit. Each was to choose a country--any country--and create a PowerPoint on that country from an ecological view. What biome(s) make up that country? What makes up the wildlife? How does it affect agriculture, industry, economy? What are people's lives like as a result? I required a minimum of 10 slides. Later, after each did the research and made their slide shows, they presented them to the family.

BIO: Ecology - Creating Mini Biomes

It would be awesome to have the budget to travel to every single biome in the world during a unit on biology/ecology. You can fake that with a trip to some top notch zoos or aquariums (14 thumbs up and a van-full-loud "Huzzah!" for Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium in Nebraska in that respect--plus, it's just our favorite zoo).

You can also get up close and personal with identifying and matching plant and animal life to their proper biomes by creating miniature ones at home. 

For our unit, we created two:  a desert and a rainforest. Our local Walmart had an impressive variety of plants from all over the world, many of them identified by country. I had my kids go through all their old toys to find plastic animals and separate them into like ecosystems. (There were a few that we weren't sure exactly what they were so that made for some bonus research.) 

For the desert we used an old, large glass bowl. We put a layer of rocks on the bottom for drainage, then used some soil especially for cactus and succulents. No one wanted to chance touching the cacti, so I got to sacrifice for science. Lo and behold, some cactus plants have spines even in their roots, so this proved trickier than I thought. I did end up with bits of spine stuck in my fingers, but I lived.

The cool thing about creating a mini rainforest is that if you do it right, you get to watch the water cycle in action and you really do have a rainforest. I purchased a medium-sized, inexpensive glass aquarium to do this in but you could use anything clear that you can seal off, including a soda bottle. I just wanted it on a larger scale. Select your plants based on type, but also find varying sizes to represent the forest floor, the understory, the canopy, and an emergent tree. Again, we put a layer of rocks on the bottom for drainage, then I used just regular potting soil with fertilizer in it. We planted our flora, placed the fauna, and then thoroughly watered the soil. After that we put the cover over the aquarium. (Depending on the type or fit of your cover, you may need to use packaging tape to help seal it better.) We put it near a sunny window.

We didn't have to wait long for evaporation and transpiration to begin. That was followed by condensation... and "rain."

After a few days it's a good idea to take the top off and let some fresh air circulate. When you do this, let your kids get their faces and hands inside. It will smell and feel like being in a jungle!

Look! Raindrops on our plants!

We let ours air out for a while then we put the cover back on and watched it happen all over again.

BIO: Ecology - Current Events

Newspapers are another great resource for unit studies.  In just the course of a couple of months there was an abundance of current events directly related to our unit and I shared them with my kids, following that up with a discussion when the topic led to one.

New Tiny Frog Species Found in India

New "Ant-Like" Bee Species Only in Western U.S.

"Feral Hog Apocalypse" in Texas

Wisconsin Hunter of Feral Cats a Target

Hundreds of North American Bees Face Extinction

Rusty Patched Bumblebee First to Be Endangered

Want Ad for Python Killers in Florida

Federal Cyanide Trap in Idaho Injures Boy, Kills Dog

Family Speaks Out After Cyanide Bomb

Cyanide Bombs Common in Utah and West

Group Asks for Idaho Ban on Cyanide Bombs

Utah Prairie Dogs Have Their Day in Court

China's Massive Pollution Problem

China Exports Pollution to Western US

(These last two aren't as current as far as publication goes. I looked them up, having remembered reading about it before.)