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
Ideas for learning about pond plants can be found in the NaturExplorers unit Peaceful Ponds. This unit is currently being revamped, which means the price will go up soon!
Posted by Cindy on September 28, 2009
When you think of the Creation Museum, the first thoughts that pop into your head are probably things like Bible truths, dinosaurs, Noah and the flood, the need for Jesus and so on. We took a tad different approach to the normal routine of simply touring the museum this time around. Even though it rained the entire day, we spent time enjoying the beautiful and wonderfully varied nature trails.
Even though we probably would’ve had a lot more time to observe and look closely at plants and such on a pretty day, the rainy walk was a great way to see things we might not normally see. God’s creation is beautiful in any weather!
Water was dripping from everything, including us!
They have several water areas like waterfalls…
marshland….
And ponds
Plant life is just as varied from native to tropical.
Five different bridges make for a fun walk. My children’s favorite is the swinging bridge seen here.
Water, water everywhere!
Even clinging to the spider webs!
Trying to stay dry… Caleb found the leaf a bit too late. If you can’t tell, he’s soaked through and through.
And my personal favorite find of the day - itty bitty, teany-weany, less than 1/4″ each Bird’s Nest Fungi! It’s hard to tell, but each little cup has little egg-shaped pieces that are actually the mushroom’s spores and are ejected into the air by the rain!! How cool is that?? Now, see what we would’ve missed on a pretty day?
Posted by Cindy on May 29, 2009
Here are some more very cool discoveries from a recent nature walk.
Can you see inside the hole? The picture below this one shows the mushrooms that were growing in the hole – and they were huge even if the picture doesn’t show that very well.
We wondered who enjoys this cozy little burrow.
Ants were busy, busy, busy going back and forth on this little path they had created between two ant holes.
Conks aren’t a good sign for the health of the tree, but they sure are pretty to look at!
We have several old brick piles from a house we tore down on the farm. Take a look at this amazing and fuzzy orange fungus! We believe it might be called Spreading Yellow Tooth.
Can you see the puff of pollen floating off of the plant? Every time we stepped on one of these plants, pollen dust went flying through the air like a little bomb.
What cool nature finds have you made lately? Speaking of nature study, be sure to read Jimmie’s post about The Duty of Christian Homeschoolers at http://ShiningDawnBooks.com – it’s AWESOME!
Posted by Cindy on May 17, 2009
If you take a walk anywhere on our farm these days, you see plants covered in what looks like spit. It’s especially obvious on the stinging nettle and alfalfa plants.
Caleb decided to investigate inside the spit on our recent nature walk and this is what he found.
Crawling on another of the same plant were the same bugs, only brown. They’re hard to see in the photo below, but look about midway down on the right side of the plant.
We made many guesses about the identity of these little creatures, but decided to find out the exact identity when we got home. They are…..
Spittle Bugs (named for the spit-like protection the nymph forms around it’s body), which are a type of aphid
Below are a few helpful websites for learning more about spittle bugs.
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2005-05/1116730719.Zo.r.html
http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/youth/bug/bug049.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphid
I have big news coming tomorrow! Remember all the talk about the NaturExplorer e-books Melissa and I are working on? They are finished and ready for you! Be sure to stop by here tomorrow (Monday) for the big unveiling of our NaturExplorer units and a fun giveaway!!!
