Posted by Cindy on October 26, 2009
Last week’s nature study compared a new pond structure to the older ponds we have been studying.
The kiddos observed the differences in plant life, animal life, general activity and sounds.
We also compared how the new pond was man-made, while the others we have observed were natural depressions in the land. You can see the bank created to hold in water in the picture below.
One of the old ponds we studied was fed by a constant stream and another by a spring from underground. This one, however, is fed only by water run-off after rain. You can see the sloping land above the pond in the picture below. The space for this pond was chosen specifically for all the run-off potential.
Besides many of the more obvious differences in fewer plants and animals, there was far more erosion taking place on this new pond that isn’t protected by plant growth yet. We talked about how this pond is being used frequently by cattle, which means plants will have a difficult time settling near the bank. This led to some super discussions of water conservation from the perspective of a farmer.
With very little to get in the way, this is a GREAT pond for skipping rocks! And my kiddos spent lots of time practicing their skills!
Posted by Cindy on October 14, 2009
Our nature topic of the month is ponds. We’ve been having so much fun studying plant life, water birds, erosion, pond sources, pond health and so much more! Our most recent trip to a pond focused on pond plants. Below are some pictures of the wonderful finds – even in October!
Algae
Duckweed
Rush
We think the foremost plant might be water buttercup.
Pondweed
Possibly hornwort
Measuring the perimeter of the pond
This particular pond is stream-fed and a stream leads away from it, too. We followed the stream and the kids decided to build a bridge across with some downed limbs.
Just a little quiet time. Oh, how I wish there were more! 
An underwater root
Tons of ideas for learning about pond plants can be found in the NaturExplorers unit Peaceful Ponds.
Posted by Cindy on October 9, 2009
October is an awesome time for finding spiders and their amazing webs in my area. Take a look at the webs we found in and around a barn.
Orb Web
Sheet Web
Funnel Web
Tangle Web
And I couldn't pass up this picture of spiderlings that recently emerged from their egg sack!
I tell ya, once you start looking for things in nature, God is always good to give you quite a show!
Enjoy spider nature study with oodles of ideas in the NaturExplorers Spectacular Spiders study.
Posted by Cindy on September 30, 2009
We’ve had a wonderful month of nature study! I don’t know whether the fruits and nuts were abundant enough to make our nature studies such a success or the weather was so picture perfect that anything would’ve been a success. Either way, we had fun! We’re off to study ponds in October!
Here are the resources from the sidebar…
Posted by Cindy on September 23, 2009
As we were finding giant turkey prints on a farm walk, one of the giant turkeys who had been hiding in some brush decided to get out of dodge. I know you can’t see him very well, but in the middle of the bottom picture is the very fast flying turkey skedattling across the field to safer hiding places.
This is a two-year-old hand beside one of the prints we found.
This is a nine-year-old hand inside an even bigger print.
Bye, bye Mr. Turkey!
NaturExplorers’ Beautiful Birds has great ideas for studying birds of all types!
