Monday, August 30, 2021
Venomous Spider Study
Monday, August 2, 2021
Reptile Observation (Garter Snakes)
Garter snakes are the "fun" snakes. Although, I do not like to hold them, Skylar has no issues picking them up. There aren't many poisonous snakes within the city, I'm sure they're around, we have been lucky enough not to have any around our property.
Garter snakes in Florida are often blue. In Texas there are checkered garter snakes, and mostly active at night. Most garden snakes move around during the day, but when it's too hot they will come out more at night.
Saturday, July 31, 2021
Solar Hot Dog/Marshmallow Cooker
We've been experimenting with solar energy lately and learning how it can be beneficial for many things. The temperatures this summer have been incredibly high, with one day being over 119 degrees. We've been using these hot days and full sun to cook some food via solar cooker. Solar panels are nothing new, but solar energy can be harnessed into cooking, as well. The last few months we did a few experiments and tried out different things to cook with solar power. We constructed this solar cooker and began "cooking" different types of foods.
Monday, May 3, 2021
Insect Observation ('Greenbottle' Fly)
Along with the observation of the honey bee, we were able to observe a Lucilia 'Greenbottle' fly this week. It flew into our house and was trapped along the windowsill. We normally capture flying insects and spiders in our house and place them back outside, but with this Greenbottle fly we kept it for a few extra moments to be able to observe it's structure and study it. Skylar noted it's wing structure, compound eyes, legs, as well as the thorax and abdomen. It was a good lesson in how flies are able to land and take off quickly and use their eyes to examine their surroundings. These flies are not the greatest flies to have flying around your home, or yard. They mostly, if not entirely, depend on decaying matter, or fecal matter. They are above all the most disgusting of the flies species, but even so, it's nice to be able to study them and learn about their life. Its body is 10–14 mm in length – slightly larger than a house fly – and has brilliant, metallic, blue-green or golden coloration with black markings. These flies live less than a month.
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Insect Observation (Honeybees)
Skylar received an insect viewing kit for Easter and caught a honeybee drinking water and observed it for a few minutes before letting it free. The honeybees in our yard are abundant this season, as well as mason bees, and a bumble bees. The honeybee didn't like being captive, so we let it go quickly as not to stress it out more. She was happy to be free and even landed on the lavender before taking flight once more and heading back to her hive. We always have so many pollinators each spring and this year we plan to have milkweed growing in a pot to attract monarch butterflies.
Saturday, January 2, 2021
End of Year Classroom Redo/Organizing
Another year comes to an end in the classroom. It's always the time I use to go through things, get rid of old work, worksheets, clean the walls, and folders out, and rearrange for the new year. Here is a glimpse of what we're doing right now in the RVRS Homeschool Classroom.