Monarch Butterfly???

Ever since being assigned this assignment, I've had my eyes peeled for a monarch butterfly. On my way to work last Friday, I was driving out from my neighborhood (Fox Grove @ Evans and TPC), stopped at a stop sign, and there it was, fluttering accross my windshield! I swear I saw it, but I was running late and didn't have time to park, fiddle with my phone, and go running after a butterfly. I thought, where there's one there must be more.

On Sunday I carried a camera with me everywhere I went and even walked through my entire neighborhood, but to no avail. I found every critter imaginable though: A gigantic nasty spider, tons of dragon flies, yellow butterflies, moths, crickets etc.

I Looked Here:

...and here

...and here

Then when going into the garage to get some car stuff I found this guy:

I don't believe that this is a monarch and if it is, I feel bad because he was dead. It's a shame he didn't make it to the end of his journey. Poor guy.

Simple Machines @ Home

Simple Machines are all over the place so it was super hard to pick just one example of each simple machine:

Wheel and Axle: Dough Roller, the wheel is the part that rolls over dough and the axles are the handles.

Wedge: this is any tool that separates an item. This Cheese slicer separates or puts a wedge between the slice of cheese and the whole block of cheese.

 

Lever: the lever of this hammer is used to pull nails out of a wall, piece of wood, etc.

Screw: these are definitely everywhere but these screws are working to hold up the curtain rod.  

 Pulley

This is a type of a pulley that pulls up or lowers our garage door.

Recycle, Reduce, Reuse

Hmmmmm....well.....my family and I are not big "green" people and I personally am not overly concerned, however, I did find somethings around the house:



We normally save a few plastic bags from grocery shopping because they're great for a variety of uses!



My bag for when I go shopping (shoes, clothes, you know, necessities), I just thought it was cute but I use it! It says:

buy-ology (n.) 1. the science of shopping green. 2. a selfless act in which today's living shopping organisms carry reusable totes to offset the overabundance of plastic bags. 3. a simple way to support the environment and living matter in all its forms 

Energy saving bulbs! I don't believe we have them because it conserves energy as much as it does conserve the $ to pay for that energy. But hey, everyone wins!

Science @ Leon Springs Elementary

Here are 4 lizards a little boy in my class brought to share with his classmates. He caught with his own bare hands! The students where completely amazed and curious!

The students in 1st grade are studying magnifiers and how they can make things look really big.

Children's science journals.

During their science/social studies time, the students were allowed to experiment with magnifiers around the class room.

Science at Home and my Neighborhood

Well science is everywhere, it's how we explain the world around us right? So here are some things I found around my house:

The wasp nest: I think almost everyone should have a photo of a wasp nest because they're everywhere. I think these things are disgusting and the pattern of their home makes me nauceous, but interestingly, I believe that it's also a mathematical pattern found in nature. Even though I'm going to hire someone to demolish these creatures, I do wonder how they make the nest and what materials they use.

Meet Reptar! This is my sister's snake who I haven't touched yet or ever.  He needs heat lamps because he's classified as a reptile and he's cold blooded. He also needs live prey to eat which is pretty sad. My sister feeds him "pinkies" or baby mice once a week but I wonder what my sister is going to have to feed him when Reptar gets bigger...Rabbits???

This is my avacado tree named Cado! We usually buy avacados from the grocery store and all my life I've tried to grow an avacado tree from a seed but it never worked. Two years ago we went to Puerto Rico where you don't even have to buy avacados, you can just gather them from the side of the road. So we took home an avacado that was as big as my face, ate it (which was the most delicious avacado ever!), and then I decided to try to grow the seed. It worked! It grew, is still growing, and  is healthy! My theory as to why this tree grew was because the seed did not come from a store bought or farm raised avacado that was probably exposed to a variety of chemicals.

There is science all around me!!! I think this blog would become a text book if I included everything I've found, so I'll just stop here. :)

Project Wild at Eisenhower Park

What a bummer! I appreciate the rain and I love the outdoors, however, due to the wheather I don't feel I don't feel I gained as much as I could have. I also really would have loved to go on that hike.

On the sunny, clear blue sky of things, I did see a lot of examples that I can use when I student teach or teach a class of my own. For example, I was in a group that had to present the "How Many Bears Can Live in This Forest?" I love games, I love teaching kids games, and I thought this was an excellent game to teach kids about limiting factors and how they affect animals.

Another postitive was that I received two beautifully made books that give endless project possiblities...I love them plus they were free!

I do have some questions about some things: if this experience is only 8 of 45 hours toward becoming a certified project wild facilitator, how do we gain the other 37 hours? Also, if the weather is severe enough, why isn't there a back up plan? 

Oh, I have also made a mental note to myself: "Buy some rainboots."