Time for a Winter Give-away!

Courtesy of our sister site, Simple Science Strategies, here is a great give-away to bring in the new year:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

See "Time for a Mid-Winter Give-away!" for more details about these two great e-Books.

Squirrel and Bird Nest Study

Bare trees reveal squirrel nests. (c) Kim M. Bennett, 2012.

Last month, we spent a lot of time exploring the world of fall, seeing treasures revealed when the leaves fall off the trees. One unexpected sighting was a massive squirrels' nest, in a red oak near our driveway.

Our discovery led my youngest son to request that we re-read The Burgess Animal Book for Children (BABC), from the beginning. If you are following along in BABC, this study would accompany the section on squirrels (the third "study" in the book).

Read along for a nature study on squirrels nests, which includes many ideas we've used over the years.

Read-Alouds:

Our favorite animal study read-aloud!

Sometimes our natures studies happen by accident (such as our discovery of this squirrel's nest). Other times, a read-aloud piques our interest. Our favorite nature study read-aloud is The Burgess Animal Book for Children. And it fits perfectly as a read-aloud if you are using the Exploring Creation through Zoology series, which focus on animal classification, as the BABC chapters are laid out to introduce children to animals as they are related to one another. And who doesn't like Peter Rabbit?

If you want to fill a book basket with books to go along with this study, here are some of our family favorites:

• The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, by Beatrix Potter (my youngest brother was a big Beatrix Potter fan)
• Miss Suzy, by Miriam Young (my own childhood favorite) 
• Rakkety Tam (Redwall Series #17), by Brian Jacques (a favorite of my eldest son)
• Nuts to You!, by Lois Ehlert (all my kids loved Lois Ehlert's collage illustrations - a great thing to try for your creative arts connections, if you use the "Five in a Row" approach to homeschooling)

For our squirrel nest study, we just enjoyed Chapters 4-8 of  The Burgess Animal Book for Children. Again!






My little guy grew up surrounded by technology, and enjoys reading books on our NOOK Color. The e-Books compatible with the NOOK are available at Barnes & Noble. We noticed that there are several free ones with great photos of squirrels:

• The Squirrels of Summer, by Robert Mason
• Everybody Loves Squirrels, by Richard Gerard
• Gunshin Date, the Samurai Squirrel, Max M. Power

If you don't have an e-Reader, you will love the NOOK products. (My youngest son uses it to listen to Pandora, watch videos, read books and do research). There are many apps available for our favorite online resources (Pinterest, Dictionary.com, Ancestry.com, etc), so it functions as a nice little mobile device when we don't want to carry the laptop.

Lesson Ideas:

Gray squirrel nest (c) Kim M. Bennett 2012

We discovered the squirrel nest as one nest among three we found the same week: the other two were an oriole nest and an unidentified warbler nest. So it made sense to compare the three nests as part of our study.

We studied the two bird nests on the front porch (the squirrel nest, of course, was WAY up in a tree), discussing their similarities and differences, but you could also use a double bubble map (see "Comparing Nests: The 'Same and Different' Center" for examples of how to use a double bubble map with individual students or groups of students, or in a classroom).

We love the Exploring Creation series, and are using Land Animals of the Sixth Day this year. Pages 113-118 cover "Mouse-Like Rodents," including the squirrels. The material is very much like that of the BABC.

Nest of the Northern Oriole (c) Kim M. Bennett 2012

Our other "go-to" resource, the Handbook of Nature Study, discusses the nesting habits of red squirrels on p. 235. We have mostly gray squirrels in our area. Red squirrels like forests with more evergreen trees -- our forests are mostly oaks and maples.

Click image for more info.

When we first started homeschooling several years ago, I read that many homeschoolers used this book as part of their homeschool nature study work. I borrowed it from the local library, but soon decided that it was well worth the approximately $25 it costs to buy a used copy on the Internet. Buy it!

Other Resources:

My son and I created a set of notebooking pages to use in conjunction with our squirrel study. Since he was already working on another writing project, we mostly used the organizing tools (have I told you before that my son is NOT an avid notebooking enthusiast? He would rather fill notebooks full of action stories, so I choose my battles carefully...)

Nests, Nests, Nests!, a 25-page resource. $1.95

"Nests, Nests, Nests!" reviews the e-Book that we created to go along with this study. This set includes both primary and regular-ruled science journaling pages focusing on animal nests, as well as a variety of framed pages for thematic writing, note-taking or nature study. Organizers for studying and comparing nests of different animal orders, coloring and copywork pages, and game cards for sorting and classification tasks make this set versatile, perfect for direct instruction or independent learning tasks. You may also download a free sample of some of the pages.

The resources also include copywork, which you can see to the right. We chose scripture from Genesis, as that we are using Genesis through Deuteronomy and Ancient Egypt, from Simply Charlotte Mason, for our Bible Study curriculum, and are currently reading Genesis. We are used to using scriptures for copywork, since that is what is used with the Exploring Creation texts.

Discussion Ideas:

Here are some of the discussion questions we used when studying about nests (I've marked each one to show what science discipline it relates to -- physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, or engineering, technology and the application of science):

1. What types of materials do different types of animals use in their nests? (L)
2. How do these materials differ from one another? How are they the same? (P)
3. What makes these materials useful for nest-building? (E)
4. What different ways do animals build their nests? (L)
5. How are different kinds of animals adapted to obtain protection where they live? (L)
6. How might natural phenomena (such as winter storms) and human activities (such as tree cutting and clearing for building) cause changes in animal nesting behaviors? (E)

For those of you with children at multiple ages in your home, these questions follow a general progression from K to grade 4, as you move down the list. But don't get stuck on that -- my son (a fourth grader) was fascinated with seeing (up close) the actual materials used for each nest, and for different parts of the nest (for example, the warbler nest was a very tight cup of birch bark, leaf pieces and grape vine bark, but it was lined so neatly with tightly packed pine needles -- fascinating. Learning is what you make of it.

Unidentified warbler nest from M's collection. (c) Kim M. Bennett 2012

Inside lined with tightly packed white pine needles. (c) Kim M. Bennett 2012

Outside was formed with bits of bark from paper birch. (c) Kim M. Bennett, 2012

We Love to Share...

This post and our ideas was shared on the Outdoor Hour Challenge and Simple Science Strategies Blog Carnivals.

September Study 3: Migration

I don't know what the weather's like where you live this week, but it's been unseasonably warm and tropical here in Connecticut, and, right now, it is pouring. Despite the warm turn, we see the flora and fauna around us listening to a different message, as they begin to prepare for cold weather which is soon to come.

September is an excellent opportunity to begin a year-long study of migration.  Here is a suggested outline for the fall portion of a migration study, with ideas on how to follow it up in the spring.


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Background Information
The Handbook of Nature Study has an overview of bird migration on pages 35-37; for information on the migration of monarch butterflies, check page 305.

An excellent research to consult all year is American Robin: Journey North, a collection of pages with photographs of the robin lifecycle, range and migration maps, downloadable recording sheets for classroom use, newsletters and more. Even if you decide to study an animal other than the American Robin, you will get a lot of ideas on how to organize a year-long migration study.

Migration Basics, by the National Parks Service, is an excellent overview of migration, and covers many kinds of animals besides birds and monarchs. There are also many links to activities for home and classroom.
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Beginning the Study in September

1. Choose an animal to study.

First, do some research to find out what animals that live near you migrate in the fall. One of the best sources of information is your wildlife field guide. Find a creature that you see regularly in the summer, and look up its range on the range map in the field guide. If your creature has separate winter and summer ranges, it migrates. Some animals migrate incredible distances, while others move just enough to keep up with their food supply.

• Look up migration online or in a book from the library. What animals migrate where you live? What animals in other parts of the world migrate?
• Do these animals all migrate for the same reason?

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2. Watch for signs of impending movement:

Animals usually change their behavior when migration is imminent. For example, many migrating birds will begin to congregate in large groups. Begin by counting the number of the creature you see in your yard each day. You should see that the number increases, or you will start seeing large groups gathering in parks, school yards, or other open areas. You may notice a large group of birds coming into your yard to eat berries or other foods that you have in the yard.

• What animals do you see gathering in larger numbers than in the summer?
• What are they doing when they're in the large group? When do they gather? Do they gather all day, or just in the evening to roost?
• Are there males, females and young birds? Or are the males and females separate?
• When did you begin to see them gather?

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3. Start noticing the weather:

Scientists don't know all the things that trigger migration instincts in animals. But we do know that changes in the seasons are connected. Vultures will often take flight on a warm, sunny day after a cold spell, because they ride "thermals," columns of warm air that rise from the ground, to get to soaring heights. You will see several all spiraling slowly into the sky in a column -- very cool to see. So start keeping track of the weather. 

• What's the weather like when they gather? Is it warmer and sunnier than usual, or colder? Did the weather change suddenly?
• Was the weather cold for a period of days before you noticed the animals gathering?

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Collect Data



Create a data table. Count the number of your animal you see each day (your dependent variable), and some other factor that you think has something to do with migration (your independent variable -- ideas include air temperature, sunny/cloudy weather, day length...).

Some sites, like American Robin, include places for "citizen scientists" to submit their data. Also check out Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology for projects that involve volunteer data collectors who watch bird movements throughout the year.

Don't forget to sketch, take photographs and journal about your observations. Enchanted Learning has migrating animal printables to add to your notebook. The American Robin site has Resources to Explore that include many items that can be used in a homeschool or classroom migration study.

Use a migration study as an opportunity to do some map work. Incorporate range and sightings maps into math and geography. Calculate distances traveled for math. Practice using a map key, a map scale and legends.
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Extend Your Learning
Do more research about your animal:

• Where does your animal go when it leaves your area? 
• Find your home and the animal's winter home on a map. How far does your animal travel?
• What does the animal do when it gets to its winter home? 
• Does your animal change color before or after it migrates? Why or why not?
• When the animal returns in the spring, do the males and females come back at the same time?

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Share Your Study

When you finish your September observations of your migrating species, tell us how you documented your study. Post the link to your blog in Mr. Linky, and submit your blog post to The Little Green Corner Blog Carnival (see the sidebar to the right).