You may recall that when the autumn colors come out, so does my November Playlist. (I've pretty much made all of autumn my peaceful, reflective, especially grateful time of year.) I wanted to share this year's additions to this personal playlist.
First is an entire album: David Tolk's Impressions. With pieces titled "Grateful," "October," and "Autumn Sky" you can't go wrong. I consider myself a tough critic, though, of musical selections purporting to represent ideas or, as the title suggests, impressions, as each of us has our own experiences and perspectives. I actually put this music in, closed my eyes, and tried to see if the music conjured images and feelings synonymous with the titles and, for me, they did. I have listened to these songs over and over this fall. I especially love "Old North Bridge" and "Evening on the Seine." And "Nothing Like the Sun" expertly calls to mind beams of light as they flash, flit, filter, and flare on an autumn day.
Here is the album in its entirety:
Now, if you want to experience, truly, a little bit of what Heaven must be; if you want to hear musical perfection; if you want to feel your soul weep and soar at the same time, listen to this. I cannot get enough of Karl Jenkins' Benedictus, performed by 2 Cellos.
The Benedictus, or Song of Zechariah, is a song of thanksgiving and praise in Luke 1:68-79 sung by Zechariah at the birth of John the Baptist. It is called Benedictus because the opening line in Latin is, Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel."
Here is a 2 Cellos performance of Benedictus. Theirs is my favorite.
Frank Gregorio has put together some amazing video trailers that are fantastic and inspiring and, I think, are a great way to introduce science topics. Between the stunning video and moving music, they really grab your attention and give enough information that they "hook" you on the subject.
Introduction to Life
Introduction to Biology
Introduction to Biochemistry
Introduction to Cells
Some people have complained about the "bad science" in the Intro to Life video. I saw it as a springboard for discussion. The questions are posed about what makes something alive--movement, reproduction, etc., and then it says, "but water moves," "fire reproduces..." Well, water flows, fire spreads, but this is a great introduction to scientific thinking. What is the difference? Does water act for itself, like something that is alive, or is it acted upon, because it is not alive?
Anyway, I really like these videos for kicking off topics.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
One reason I have stuck with unit studies over the years is that it allows our family to "be on the same page," as in studying the same topic together, while adapting for different ages and stages.
Regarding the topic of Ecology, Animal Friends is a great introduction for younger children. They will easily see how each animal has its own habitat and diet needs and it will segue beautifully into learning about habitats, ecosystems, and biomes on an elementary scale.
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.
I am often asked how I put my unit studies together, or what they look like. In an effort both to share that information and to keep better personal records on resources we've used, I've put together a fairly comprehensive list of the books, videos, and websites we used in our latest Ecology unit study. There is a good chance I have missed a book or site or two, but I've kept track of probably 95%.
These first three books we learned from together as I read them aloud. It's a good idea for every unit study to have at least one read aloud. The Last Egret is a true story from the journals of Charlie Pierce, written in an adventurous chapter book.
As you'll see later, chapter books/read alouds are accompanied by stacks of nonfiction. This particular unit was geared toward kids between the ages of 12 and 17. Some things were a bit over the 12-year-old and I adapted them. I did use some picture books; I value them and they work. Assignments and discussions then are tailored to ages and capabilities, obviously going deeper and expecting more from older kids.
We are so blessed in this era to have easy and free access to fabulous video content. YouTube has enhanced unit studies tenfold! Though not everything of value is there (like Planet Earth, which I highly recommend) there is a wealth of goodness to be found there, such as the video below.
Colleges and universities have put a wealth of information and educational resources on the Internet, along with high school teachers, museums, foundations, etc. They often have pages for children with games, video, worksheets, experiments, slide shows, and more. I definitely like using those. I was super excited to find ProCon.org, too, and will probably use it for critical thinking, debate and discussion on other topics. For this unit, we discussed at length the arguments ProCon had onClimate Change.
Without further ado, here is the full list of Ecology resources we used.
Books
Ecology from DK Eyewitness Science
Ecology and Plant Life, A Prentice Hall Illustrated Dictionary
Water, a Natural History by Alice Outwater
Wetlands (Learning About the Earth) by Holly Endres
Biomes - Wetlands by Duncan Brewer
Welcome to Everglades National Park by Nadia Higgins
Let's Take a Trip--The Everglades by Cheryl Koenig Morgan
Everglades by Jean Craighead George
Deadly Waters: A Mystery in Everglades National Park by Gloria Skyrzynski **
Last Egret: The Adventures of Charlie Pierce by Harvey E. Oyer III **
The Great Salt Lake by William Lee Stokes
Seductive Beauty of Great Salt Lake by Ella Sorensen
Forest (FL Inside Guide) by David Burnie
There's an Owl in the Shower by Jean Craighead George **
The Book of North American Owls by Helen Roney Sattler
Biomes Atlases Tropical Forests by Tom Jackson
Animal Homes by Tammy Everts and Bobbie Kalman
DK Animal Homes by Barbara Taylor
Who Really Killed Cock Robin? An Eco Mystery by Jean Craighead George **
The Amazing Honey Bee from Reading Discovery Nature Series
The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons
Several various pamphlets on pollination and properties of honey from local honey specialty store
The Water Hole by Graeme Base
A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry
National Parks Coloring Book by Peter Copeland
Rangers Activity and Sticker Book from the National Park Service
The Story of Smokey Bear by Robin Bromley
**Fiction/Chapter Book based on ecological principles
A couple of months ago I came across a gem of a resource. Since I can't get my kids to the Everglades right now (no matter how awesome a field trip that would be and how much I would love to do it) I wanted some good video to watch while we learned about it, and I didn't want to have to pay for it.
My YouTube search found me a fantastic miniseries that not only helped with our study of the Everglades but also with our entire Biology and Ecology units. Here is the series trailer, which is good to watch because it explains how the series came to be.
What I love about this is that the Nature Boom Time videos are quality. They are interesting, informative, creative, and energetic. I am blown away (there's the boom part!) by the paper craft inserted for explanation. The time, work, and love that went into that!!! I also love that this is a brother and sister (and their best friend) taking on something huge together.
It's no wonder Nature Boom Time won an award from and was picked up by National Geographic.
If you like Charlie and Kirby and what they do, they have also done some other DIY videos about other subjects. Just head to World by Charlie on YouTube.
Meanwhile, if someone were to ask you what the largest organism on the planet is, I betcha you'd never guess the answer. Here it is:
It's Easter candy time. What I like about that is the variety of really cute (and yummy) spring and nature candies, especially Lindt's chocolate insects, frogs, ducks, and bunnies.
The chocolate frogs lend themselves nicely as accompaniment to an acronym that would fit a Family Home Evening or Church lesson, or homeschool devotional. They're also a great meaningful treat for Visiting Teaching, a pick-me-up for a neighbor or friend, or an addition to an Easter basket. I created the tags below and sent a package of chocolate frogs to my missionary with one of the tags attached:
When you wake up to a foot of snow in November or December, or even January, it's wonderful, beautiful, and magical.
It's glorious to get out and hike in the crisp air of a winter wonderland...
...to appreciate the changed landscape...
...and welcome seasonal visitors.
Yes, winter has its rightful time and place and it has a beauty and wonder all its own. I like it very much. Even a winter with so much snow it's taller than I am and I nearly lose my mailbox.
Yes, waking up to a foot of snow on November 27, or December 27 is awesome. January 27, okay. But waking up to a foot of snow on February 27 is depressing and maddening. There comes a time when enough is too much!
Especially when baseball season is imminent. When the snow finally melts (and brings flooding, but it's progress) and you see grass for the first time in a long time, you're just done with winter. And then you wake up to a new foot of snow. And then that melts and a couple of days later you wake up to another 6-inch blanket. Depressing and maddening.
Looking out my window today I see just a few patches of the once magical whiteness. For the first time in MONTHS there isn't so much as a hint of a possibility of snow in the two-week forecast. So, farewell, Winter. I hope.
