Acrostic Poems

Here are a few examples of acrostic poems:


  Yellow                  Chocolate                     Red                          School
Y-yummy              C-candy                        R-remember             S-super
E-exciting              H-handy                        E-exciting                 C-cool
L-loving                O-outstanding                D-daring                   H-hyper
L-luscious             C-caramel                                                      O-overhead
O-outstanding       O- 'o' so wonderful                                        O-office supplies
W-wonderful         L-liquid                                                           L-laughing
                             A-amazing
                             T-treat
                             E-exciting

Follow the Butterfly!

When we were first assigned this blog I thought that I would never find a monarch butterfly this late in the season. The weather was turning colder and I remembered seeing monarch butterflies all over my back garden just two weeks ago. I decided to stalk my front flower garden. I kept peeking outside my front door every hour on the hour. I am sure that my neighbors think I am nuts! But just as I was giving up hope of ever spotting one BAM! there it was, using the air currents to float around my flowers.

After snapping these pictures, I went and researched these guys a little more. Who knew that butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees? Butterflies can also fly up to 11-12 miles per hour and that they can see the colors red, green and yellow. No wonder I see them on our yellow lantana plants every year.

Simple Machines

Some of the simple machines that I found around my home are: screw, wedge, wheels/axels, pulley and  lever.

 

 A key ring falls under the screw category; this is defined as an objects that holds objects together and winds around itself. Jar lids are also a good example of this.

 

 

Forks and knives fall under the wedge category;the wedge splits things apart. Nails are another good example of this. 

The inner workings of this grandfather clock is a good example of wheels/axels and a pulley system. The wheels/axels move things from place to place. Clocks and doorknobs are good examples of this.

Blinds are a good example of a pulley system. This simple machine moves loads up, down or sideways.

This bottle opener is an example of a lever. A lever rests on a turning point. A hammer or a teeter-totter are good examples of this.

How do I Reduce, Reuse, Recycle at home?



Reduce electricity waste



When I first was asked to comment on this topic, I drew an absolute blank. Reduce? Reuse? Recycle? Thinking about the recycling part was easy. Wondering how I reduced and reused things was another.

I remembered my grandmother always telling me to unplug kitchen items that you do not use all the time or for very short limited amounts of time. She is correct, unplugging unnecessary items does REDUCE your electicity bill and usage monthly.   



Energy Star Appliances





When we moved back to the U.S., my husband and I purchased several appliances that were Energy Star approved. This has also lowered our elctricity usage and bill. I also do not run the heater (for the most part) during the winter. The second story in my house stays at a comfortable temperature in the winter and what we save in the winter really helps pay the electricity bill in the month of August!



Landscape in the back garden

My husband and I 'rescued' all of this stone, so that he and my son could build this patio for me as a boy scout requirement. When we moved into our house, the yard did not have any grass and was really rocky. My family and I painstakingly dug out as many rocks as we could and REUSED them to help build this rockery (next to the patio) for my herbs and shrubs.  

The bush I rescued 

I also rescued the big bush in this picture as well as its twin in the picture above it. Our neighbors did not want these plants anymore and were throwing them away. I asked if I could have them and my neighbors agreed. The plants were only about a foot high when my husband planted them two years ago. We couldn't believe that our neighbors wanted to throw these great bushes away! This past summer, our neighbors visited our backyard and couldn't believe that these were the same plants that I had rescued from them and replanted in our yard.

 



Recycling in my neighborhood

We encourage our kids to RECYCLE. Cans, newspapers, paper towel rolls, toilet rolls, paper, boxes, glass, plastics, etc are all recycled at our house. 

Science At Leon Springs

Student Science Journal

As our assignment was to look around our assigned classrooms for science, I was to be disappointed. Third grade has a new curriculum this year and science is integrated with social studies. I did get to observe (last week) the students' drawing science instruments and then cutting and gluing them into their science journals. If they had time, the students could color their drawings. The students were excited to have the opportunity to use the microscopes this year.

As the class worked on a social studies unit, I observed these posters on the wall near the sink. The class had a few minutes of 'free time' before they had to pack up to go home. I then asked several students if they liked science. Here are a few of the answers that I received:

                                    -I love science! My Dad used to work in a lab...so you could go to the lab and     create stuff. I wish we could do stuff like that as school.

-I don't know. I haven't really thought about it.

-I like science. It's fun!

-I am excited to use the microscope this year.

-Not sure, we have not done much this year.

After talking to certain students, I realized that their attitudes about science had a lot to do with their prior knowledge and experiences. I hope that their experiences with science this year will be a great hands on experience.

Science At Home and In My Neighborhood



Moth flittering around the garden


Having students discover what science is around us is a fairly easy task. All you have to do is take your students outside and 'discover'. Living organisms, wild life and plant life are several of the topics covered under earth science. Students begin to observe, investigate, question and record their findings. These pictures are records of my investigations into discovering what science is around us.

I know that I was excited when I found this moth fluttering around my front garden. It took me several pictures of it flying from flower to flower before I got some really great pictures of what it was actually doing. 



Moth drinking nectar 



This moth was drinking the nectar from the small flowers that grow in my garden. It made me wonder if moths and butterflies prefer certain flowers over other ones.  

As my husband and I planted Jack Bean plants from seed and watched them grow, it reminded me of the science projects in school where the whole class grew a plant from a seed and graphed the plants, as well as learning about how plants need sunlight and water to grow.



Small Jack Bean Plant



Large Jack Bean Plant



For  my next picture, I was determined to get a picture of one of the many bees that buzz around my Russian Sage. In the process of chasing several bees around the flowers, my youngest came home and asked me what I was doing. I explained about the blog we had to do for our science class and he began to observe the bees as well.  (He also told me to be careful- I might get stung.) As I tried to capture a bee on my camera, my youngest began to ask questions about the bees. We both also observed a spider's web and that a poor unfortunate bee had been caught by a fuzzy black spider. Yuck!  I then explained that science is all around us-not just at school and in a textbook. A hands on minds on approach is definitely more fun than just reading about it.


Success at last!



Project Wild

Growing Up Wild Lesson Plan Book

 
Project Wild certainly lived up to its name as Hurricane Hermine's weather moved through San Antonio!
Unfortunately, we were unable to complete the nature walk and had to speed through the presentations but it was definitely worth it to go.
We were presented with two great books that will go a long way in helping us plan and implement science on a fun, kid friendly level.

  Our group presented the activity from the Growing Up Wild Book: Aqua Charades. Ironically, it went really well with the rainy day weather! As we were pressed for time, our group sang the 'Water Song' and explained a few of the activities that could be done. 

  

 

 As I took this picture, all I could think about was the song from "Winnie The Pooh"...as the rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down, in rushing rising riv'lets...

We also had several small group activities, as well as the game nature bingo. The nature bingo game is a great icebreaker, as we had to match up a different person with each fast fact inside each bingo square.