Whole Lot of Science Going On

March has been a heavy science month. We've been learning about earth science in my Thursday and Friday classes. The kids loved simulating an earthquake with these jello pans and were challenged to come up with a 3-story structure that could withstand the shaking.

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They also studied erosion and weathering a different week--so many hands-on activities to go along with earth science. It's really a fun unit to teach.

We followed up part of our soil study with making a dessert to represent the different layers.

Getting to eat our science is the best!

We also had a field trip to the Springtown Preserve on the northside of Livermore, which is an alkaline sink, and has plants that are only found in this small area--pretty cool.

Even after how little rain we got this winter, the vernal pools and creek were still there.

We went the other direction to a field trip in Sunol where they learned about animal tracks and then we hiked near the creek.

They got to put their new skills to the test when they found some animal scat--probably a fox.

This was run by the parks and rec department, and it was fun for me to attend a field trip and just get to sit back and watch for once.

Then, our nature group went to the Sibley Volcanic Preserve in the Oakland/Berkeley hills after we'd learned about volcanoes in class.

We found a labyrinth as well as a lot of evidence of the extinct volcano.

Finally, Peanut and I were able to join up with a high school field trip group to do a little water testing at a local creek restoration site. A new friend from my naturalist class teaches science through the district's homeschool program and invited us to tag along.

It was a gorgeous day, and I just can't pass up a field trip.

Which is why this naturalist class has been so great for me. We had two field trips this month.

One to work on a citizen science project estimating lichen health on the north side of Mount Diablo,

and the other learning about the land management in the EBRPD in regard to sharing the parks with cattle ranchers.

We learned how they balance the land use and what the benefits are, as well as the complications. I have loved learning about every topic we've covered--everything is more involved than it seems on the surface and it's fun to get to see all the sides to the issues. 

Couple Last Things

 Bug has been working on his model boat that he got for Christmas. It's been quite the learning experience.

The miniature cannons are so cute, though!

Finally, just because they're so cute. . .

One of my dog clients has had to go back to working in the office and traveling, so we've gotten to hang out with her pups a couple times recently.

And we got a 3rd guinea pig! Bandit was one of Tilly's babies, and the family who took her ended up having a child with extreme allergies, so they asked if we wanted her back and since she was our favorite, we said yes. With that many pets, what's a little more poop? Really, it's been good because she seems to like Poppy, which makes us all happy. The other two pigs aren't always that nice to the bunny, so maybe she'll have more of a buddy now.

High School Swim

Kids are back in the pool. We had a couple meets this month.

It's always fun to see them swim.

Can't believe it's the last year for our Bean.

And we're back to their arms looking like this.

 

A Litte Creativity

Peanut is probably the most inspired person I've ever met. . . meaning that every single thing he reads, watches, or does tends to get his creative juices flowing and he starts thinking how he can make it his own. This often means writing a new story, or trying to make something, like this Animal Crate box, similar to the dozens of Kiwi Crates we've had over the years.

He decided last year that he wanted to make this one for a friend's birthday. He started working on it, but didn't get it done in time for the birthday, or for Christmas, so this year, we finally managed to do the last bits and get it in the mail only a few days for the birthday.

I can't get over how involved it was, and how he managed to do most of it all by himself. I helped him work through a couple issues, but otherwise it was all him. He came up with an octopus tank to be put together, a sheet of stickers to decorate the tank, and even this cute yarn octopus.

Of course he had a booklet with activities and instructions.

His ability to imitate the style of things is uncanny--he does it with the voice in his writing all the time. I feel like he would make a pretty excellent ghost writer.

The birthday boy was pretty impressed by the gift, too. He sent us a photo when he was all done with the craft.