Learning about Bats

The Lubee Bat Conservancy is about 10 miles north of Gainesville, not too far from our own dwelling. The Conservancy’s focus is on plant-visiting “fruit and nectar” bats, which include the giant flying foxes with wingspans up to to six feet. They are absolutely gorgeous.


We learned that most fruit-and-nectar bats are “macro-bats,” while most insectivorous bats are “micro-bats.” While the micro-bats have the large ears and tiny bodies that allow them to hear their prey and swiftly chase it, macro-bats have relatively small ears, but large eyes and noses to help them find their food.

Cuttlefish, Chromatophores, & Coolness

Today, thanks to Creature Cast, we learned about both multicellular organisms and squid iridescence. Although I think much of it was over P's head, he seemed to grasp some of it. We talked about it more, made reference to how the iridescence was similar to butterfly wings (like in the video), and then sought out videos to showcase it in "real life".

we looked at some of Loligo squid (the kind mentioned in the Creature Cast), including some neat light displays. At about that point, we watched the NOVA "About Cuttlefish" short, and had to learn more!

NOVA has a website on these "Kings of Camouflage", and we enjoyed learning more about the Anatomy of a Cuttlefish (including its weird W-shaped pupil, its 200 chromatophores or pigment cells per square millimeter, and its blue-green blood!) and watching videos of these Quick Change Artists.

Pretty awesome stuff.

The Buzz about Bees

We attended a presentation on honey bees at the Museum of Natural History. They all enjoyed the program. The learned about the different classes of bee (queen, worker, drone, etc.), the fact that bees can be promoted from one job to another, and what different “dance moves” mean in communicating the location of food. Apparently there was a movie and honey samples, so it must have been good.

Owl Sanctuary

Today, we went with our homeschooling group to the Owl Sanctuary down in Ocala (actually called the Ocala Wildlife Sanctuary). This is a non-profit organization that specializes in rescuing birds of prey, primarily owls. We heard about the owls, how they are able to hunt using sound (echolocation) and that they don't need daylight to see.



There were many other birds and fowl there, including ducks, a parrot, a kestrel, a crow, a goose, and more. We saw screech owls, barred owls, great horned owls, and barn owls. Because it was daylight and many of the birds were in heavily secured "mews" (for their safety as well as ours), it was a bit hard to see them, and very hard to photograph them.

We ended the tour by receiving an owl pellet to take home and dissect (this is the undigestible parts of the animal that the owl fed on). Ours was a dark brown one, which should be a barred owl's pellet. It will be a fun thing to dig through.

Not Back to School Potluck

Today, along with six other homeschooling families, we celebrated not going back to school. A potluck gathering meant lots of fun and socializing to be had, for kids, moms and dads alike! Among this setting, there were groups forming to act out the Boxcar Children, a children's army, petting and caring for the goats, dress-up, water play, trains, LEGOs, and archery.



It was really a great way to continue our summer past the arbitrary school calendar cut-off. It was a hard transition to leave for pretty much everyone. Luckily, we'll see almost everyone again tomorrow (most dads will be back to work, and miss our fun trip to the owl sanctuary!).

Leo Building: Mars Base

K and P collaborated on building a Mars base, complete with green houses and tunnels from building to building.

Lego Building: Banks

P built a bank today, complete with teller desk, ATM, alarms, and an air conditioner. He then proceeded to rob it. But the police caught him.

City of Ember

"P" and "K" listened to the audio presentation of "City of Ember". Later, they discussed sections of the book with us and incorporated some of the scenarios of the book into their creative play.

August 12

P worked on his handwriting - Print and cursive for the letters A and B.

Yellowstone and vulcanism

Discussed geology with the kids in and around Yellowstone park. What causes geysers and hot springs, and how a magma chambers can heat the liquids and earth above it. Discussed the possibilities of an eruption and how remnants of earlier eruptions on volcanoes in western United Sates can be found in several western states.

Ant Lions

"P" and "K" watched a group of ant lion traps surrounding our backyard faucet. We observed how ant lion keeps his trap debris-free by placing leaves in the pit and watching the lion kick it back out again.

Little House on the Prairie

P demonstrated his reading comprehension skills this evening as I read a chapter of Little House on the Prairie, which he had been pre-reading for several days. About seven pages into the chapter I came across the phrase 'fever n augue'. Having never heard it before and unsure of how to pronounce it, I trimmed the statement down to 'fever'. Parker immediately corrected me, despite my sitting several feet away and him not being able to see the page from where he was sitting.

Mineralogy and Geology; gardening

A geologist from the University of Florida talked for thirty minutes today to "K" and "P" of the different types of rocks and minerals and how they form. "P" was able to identify the difference between internal and external in relation to a diagram of a volcano. They were able to hold and feel rocks and minerals of various types, look at them with a magnifying glass, and then drew their own volcanoes and rock formations.

After this activity they helped to pick ripe vegetables in a community garden, and to tell the difference between zucchini that were ready to harvest and which should be left to ripen more.

Ancient and Modern Athens

P and I talked about Ancient Greece and the acropolis. Reviewed photos of the building and models of what it used to look like. Watched a NOVA special on the Acropolis and attempts to renovate it and what they learned about its construction.

International Space Station

P and K and dad talked about the ISS and the different kinds of experiments they do on the station. Reviewed the NASA tracking website to monitor how fast it travels around the world.

Whaling

"P" and I discussed the history of whaling. We talked about the uses for blubber, Moby Dick and current whaling practices, including the stand-off between Japanese whaling vessels and environmentalists.

Countries and Capitals

Reviewed countries and capitals. Parker can now readily identify the capitals of the following countries from a list (and a majority from memorization):

• Egypt
• Russia
• Mexico
• United States
• Great Britain
• France
• Greece
• China

Carousel Horses

Went to library and learned about the miniature (under 27" tall) therapy horses. Heard about a ton of books about horses, but P wasn't interested in checking any out. Instead, we checked out Star Wars and other books.

Cosmos

Watched the first two episodes of Cosmos with Carl Sagan, which talked about the size of the universe and the Rosetta Stone. Later watched an animation showing the relative sizes of astronomical bodies, from the earth all the way to VY Canis Majoris, the largest known star.

Civil Action for Love

There was a peaceful gathering on Wednesday, starting at 6:45 pm, expressing love for ALL of our neighbors in front of the "Dove World Outreach Center". It was a good gathering -- between 70 and 100 people on the street in front of the church. Noone seemed to show for their 7 PM service, though it is summer, and things often change then. A nice gathering of many faiths all talking love. :)

http://www.wcjb.com/news/4288/hateful-sign-causes-neighborhood-uproar

Blue Springs exploriation

We enjoyed exploring the spring-fed "watering hole", looking for snails, watching the fish swim past, feeling the cool water.

http://www.bluespringspark.com/

Almost Molecules

P and I had a brief conversation about molecules, and how these things are connected, but he just wanted to try it out for himself. I guess not quite ready for organic chemistry.

Circle Camp Finale

After two weeks of our peace talk-themed summer camp, the kids put on an amazing performance complete with drumming, dancing, singing, and skits. Lots was learned in terms of talking with others compassionately and getting to feelings and needs instead of blame and hurt.

Amazing Butterflies

Went to Butterfly Rainforest and Amazing Butterfly Exhibit.

Geography Lesson

AT-PT Transport

AT-PT Transport



TIE Fighter

Original Composition

P wrote and performed his first "original song" today, entitled "Frog and Toad". He sang it in front of about 35 people.

Baby Wolf Spiders

We have itty-bitty wolf spider babies running around the house, with no site of mom. Learned how wolf spider mothers normally carry them on their backs until they are big enough to fend for themselves -- these will be hard-pressed to survive. Cats may be culprits.

Gopher Tortoise

A Gopher Tortoise took up residence in our back yard. Spent part of the day watching him diligently build up the entrance to his burrow, and looked at video of other tortoises online and how deep their burrows can go.

Aerodynamics (or why paper planes work better)

Swallow Tail Kites

A swallowtail kite spent around a half hours circling our neighborhood and back yard this afternoon. K and P watched the spectacle for about half the time, and later watched videos of other swallow tail kites in flight. We talked about kites and how they are related to hawks and eagles.

Ft. Clinch Camping

Enjoyed group camping for first time. Explored Ft. Clinch park. Cold water!!

Butterfly Release

Went to the Florida Museum of Natural History today. We looked at the exhibit of native butterflies and how they pick different native species of plants to lay their eggs, and watched the release of new butterflies into the tropical rain forest enclosure. We also visited the Fossil, Everglades, and Alien Invasion exhibits.

Can You Dig It?

We attended the Florida Museum of Natural History's annual "Can You Dig It" event tonight. We were able to see the live demonstrations of:

• an erupting volcano (talking about pyroclastic clouds as well as comparisons of the Pompeii eruption and the Mount St. Helens eruption);
• "magic rocks" which glow under UV lights (we got to see things glow orange, green, pink, and white) based on their component elements (like calcium);
• flint knapping, where master flint knapper Tom Nutter was making stone arrow heads the "modern way", and then discussed with us how it would have been done by Native Americans;
• the work of water and how it shapes Earth's surface and subsurface, including ridges and rivers and canyons;
• and the ground water system, complete with a 3-D model of a cube of earth down through to the deepest aquifer, and also a water model to show how pollution can get from contaminated sewers, septic tanks, and similar into our drinking water supplies.
  

We also explored mineral hardness and how a rock with a hardness less than 2.5 (which is the hardness of our nails) would flake when scraped, got to feel different stalagmites and stalactites, looked at shavings of different "rocks" under the microscope (including granite and limestone), and saw the gem cutting process (from mining the minerals to extracting the "pretty part" to shaping to setting for jewelry). We also briefly participated in the "fossil dig", but were less than impressed with it, as it was just a sandbox with different mineral rocks thrown in there -- there was no "excavating" required.

Manatee Springs

Visited Manatee Springs state park for a nature trail exploration and picnic. K and P saw:

• red-tailed hawk
• sea lettuce
• turtles
• black vultures
• yellow buttons (possible)

Copywork

Can't Stop Reading

Maypole

For K's BD, we researched a traditional maypole design and looked at examples in P's medieval knight and castle books. Cut and sewed together ribbons and tied them to a hoop around our sycamore tree, which the kids used to do several different rotations and styles of circling the tree.

Maslenitsa

The family attended Maslenitsa, a traditional Russian celebration of spring, hosted by the Russian studies program at the University of Florida. The children got to watch traditional dancing, singing and dancing.

International Year of Astronomy

K and P attended a presentation by the Astronomy Department and the Santa Fe Planetarium on Galileo and his discoveries.

Alliteration

"Purple people punch pineapple pies"

"Crazy Kangaroos kick kiwi cakes"

"Snakes slither soundlessly"

"Lucy licks LEGO lollipops"

"Angry alligators ate awesome apples"

"Elephants enjoy eating eggs"

"Fruit flies fly far for food"

Performing in Shalom

P performed today in the Shalom Chorus at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Horses and Butterflies

P and K visited the Mill Creek Horse Retirement Farm and Butterfly Museum today with Aunt Shelli.

Hoggetowne Medieval Faire

Visited the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire today. P and his dad participated in a fencing tournament, which P won. P and K rode the hobby horses and looked at dioramas of medieval life. We watched demonstrations of weaving, armor-making, using weaponry, and acrobatics.

Inauguration Potluck

Today was an exciting day -- we joined with people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, and socio-economical position to watch the Presidential Inauguration. P was very excited, and listened to the conversations about this being an important event in many respects, not the least of which was the election of our first African-American president.

Following the live broadcast, P and K helped break down the decorations and clean up the large areas that were used for both the potluck lunch beforehand and the broadcast afterwards. They also engaged in conversation with some of the attendees about the event.

P and the new President

P said today, when I told him that we were getting a new president today, and then told him it was Obama (he knows who he is), he said, "I hope he will be a President of peace and understanding and not war anymore." How cool is that coming from a 7 year old??

IEP: Individual Education Plan

Today we met with the SLP, the guidance counselor & an ESE specialist to determine the amount of services that P qualifies for. He will be attending group speech therapy sessions for 30 minutes twice a week.

NUU Years Eve

On New Years Eve, P and K participating in an arts, crafts, and activities evening. P played chess, and P and K took turns playing dress up. Crafts includes collages and making representations of themeselves by having someone draw their outlines on oversized sheets of paper which they then colored and decorated