On Sunday we took a visit to the ocean while we listened to the sounds of waves lapping up against the beach (courtesy of YouTube). Then we created some outstanding ocean life of our own with inspiration from our Cousteau Kids magazine subscription (courtesy of Sandy Chastan). You can view our creations below. Click on … Continue reading The Ocean

Thanks to Mike Bonella for leading our field trip last week at Sunflower Pet, his store, at 514 Pillsbury Dr.  Mike showed us all kinds of reptiles, turtles, fish (fresh and salt water), and coral. We learned about what it means to be cold blooded and warm blooded. He also taught us about symbiotic relationships … Continue reading Sunflower Pets

Dick Beeman brought back his Silk Moth caterpillars today and we were surprised at how strong the silk cocoons were. We pulled and pulled and pulled but they did not come apart! While outside we looked everywhere for silk strings and actually found quite a bit. We also saw some incredible pictures of huge, beautiful … Continue reading Silk Moths

After listening to Marisa’s facts about the state of our global village during the story for all ages, we started a conversation in the RE room about “fixing what’s wrong”.  We came up with lots of problems including… climate change, poverty, hunger… And a few fixes including… recycle, contribute, volunteer… The end result was a … Continue reading Social Action

Katie Kingery-Page shared all kinds of information about leaves and chlorophyll and then she led us outside on a search for leaves that were chock full of the stuff. The search took some of us into the trees! After collecting some excellent specimens, everyone created exquisite pieces of art by using a spoon to rub … Continue reading Clorophyll, Leaves, and Silk Moth Caterpillars

We’ve been learning a lot about bees, but this Sunday Dick Beeman shared information about other pollinators with us.  He told us about Brazilian stingless bees and we even got to taste their honey. It was very different than the honey we are used to tasting. Then we went outside to look for other pollinators … Continue reading Other pollinators

Tom and Monta led us in more bee fun on Sunday. We learned about the waggle dance and collected pollen from flowers – just like the bees! Here are two great YouTube videos about the waggle dance… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFDGPgXtK-U Click on any photo to enlarge.

Today we got ready for the World Cup by brushing up on info about Brazil.  We borrowed Ken’s “bingo” idea and played Brazil Bingo. What fun! We finished up with a little bit of indoor soccer and a bite of mango. A few brave souls even tried a sip or two of coffee. Did you … Continue reading Brazil – World Cup Fever

Tom and Monta Manney generously built us an observation bee hive and shared it today.  We were positively mesmerized!  We hope to have lots more bee adventures throughout the summer. Come to the Alsop room and see if you can find the queen. (And thanks go out to Matt Campbell for help with the install.) … Continue reading Bees 101

Tour guide Ken Embers took us on a fantastic trip to Laos today. We played Laos Bingo and learned all kinds of fun things. The kids were reminded of our service project to collect G and PG DVDs to send to Vietnam so that Vietnamese children can use them to learn English. Bring your old … Continue reading UU Travelers – Laos