What Causes Seasons?

To focus on the fourth day of Creation a little longer, the girls discovered why we have the four different seasons.  Very simply put, the four seasons exist because of the tilt of the earth on its axis and because of the earth's orbit around the sun.

Mac with the flashlight represented the sun and Izzie was the earth.

 

Demonstrating the earth orbiting the sun.

 To learn a little bit more about the seasons, we read The Reasons For Seasons.

 

Izzie wrote and drew about her favorite two seasons!

Spring

   

In the spring it rains.  There are flowers, insects, and big rainbows.  I like spring.

Summer

I love her picture of the beach! 

In the summer it is sunny.  I like to go surfing and build sand castles.  

What Causes Day and Night?

Since we have been talking about the fourth day of Creation (sun, moon, and stars), the girls learned about what causes day and night on Earth.  

First, they located where we live on planet Earth. 

 

 

 The girls discovered that the Earth rotates or spins on an axis, making a full rotation every 24 hours. 

In addition, they learned that different sides of the Earth are exposed to the sun during the course of these 24 hours, with half the planet being exposed to sun (day), while the other half is deprived of light (night).  This rotation of the Earth is what causes day and night.

Mac using the flashlight to demonstrate the sun, while observing the Earth's rotation.  They were super excited to find out that when it's day here at our home, it's night time in China.  

Here are a few books that we read to help explain and clarify the Earth's rotation. 

What Makes Day and Night?

 

Where Does The Sun Go At Night? 

 

Day and Night 

Science Sunday: Types of Consumers

This week, Izzie is learning about the three types of consumers...herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. To help her, I created this self-checking puzzle, which includes the name of consumer, example of food(s) eaten by the consumer, and pictures of examples of the type of consumer. Download graphics here.

While working on this activity, Izzie informed me that she was not an omnivore, she wanted to be a carnivore!

For more Science activities, please visit Adventures In Mommydom.

Math Links: Graphing

Recently, Izzie has been very interested in measuring objects around the house with her ruler. However, she refuses to allow me to show her how to properly use the ruler. So, I decided I would at least teach her the concept of measuring.

I found this fabulous book, Inch By Inch, which tells a story about a little inchworm, who was getting ready to be eaten by a bird, but was able to talk his way out of being lunch by showing the bird that he was important because he could measure things. The book then shows illustrations of 5 different animals that you can measure with any unit because it does not state the correct measurement.

I found these adorable inchworms (not truly an inch in measurement) that were labeled 1-10 for Izzie to use to measure the animals. As you can see in the above picture, the number 2 inchworm is missing..."she" is pink; therefore, Izzie had to hold her, the inchworm, the entire time!

I created an Inch By Inch Graph (Microsoft Word) for Izzie to record her data.

The completed graph. I liked Izzie being able to see the results in a bar graph. As we analyzed the data, she was quickly able to determine which measurement was the longest, shortest, the same length as another, etc.

I created another graph (Blank Graph), so she could measure various objects around the house and record the data. However, after the book, she was done "measuring" for the day...

Visit Joyful Learner for more math ideas!

Science Sunday: Biomes

This week, Izzie has been learning about the different biomes around the world. To introduce the vocabulary, I printed off pictures for each biome and laminated each onto construction paper. I added a color coordinated biome name. She enjoyed matching the name tag with the correct biome picture. We talked about the different features of each biome and she really liked telling everyone that we live in the Deciduous Forest biome with all the pretty leaves!

I found these two packs of flashcards at Target in the $1 section. They're really nice and heavy flashcards with a lot of information about each animal on the back.

I found five animals that live in the Tropical Rain Forest and five that live in the Savannah. Izzie was able to quickly determine which animals lived in which habitat.

We discussed why each animal lived in that particular habitat....introduced the term, adaptations.

To see more Science ideas, check out Adventures in Mommydom!

Naturally Curious Tots: Seasons

This week's theme for Naturally Curious Tots is Seasons.

I found these great Seasons Cards at Montessori For Everyone. I had Izzie match the clothing cards to the correct season in the pocket chart. A few of the cards were a little tricky for Izzie; several could be placed in a different season and work too.

To help and encourage Izzie to "self-correct", I added matching stickers to the cards that should be grouped together.

Winter: snowflakes
Spring: flowers
Summer: butterflies
Fall: leaves

To see more activities about seasons, visit Through The Eyes Of A Child.

Naturally Curious Tots: Animal Tracks and Homes

This week's theme for Naturally Curious Tots is Animal Tracks and Homes.

Izzie searching for animal tracks and homes...

We visited the VA Wildlife Center, a hospital for native animals.

I found these great animal track matching cards at Montessori For Everyone.

This activity was a bit challenging for Izzie. To help her self correct, I added matching stickers to the back of the matching cards. She enjoyed guessing which set of tracks belonged to the animal and checking to see if she was correct.

She also played with her Matching Animals With Their Homes puzzle. Similar puzzle found here.

To see more Naturally Curious Tots searching for animal tracks and homes, visit Mommies Wise Little Bookworms.

Tree Hugging Tots: Moon

This week's Tree Hugging Tots theme is Moon. Izzie loves observing the moon! She waits for it's arrival every night and is very disappointed when it does not make it's appearance. Last night was a full moon, which thrilled Izzie (she doesn't understand the phases of the moon, but liked that the moon was very big and visible in the night sky).

Full moon over our house.

To celebrate, Izzie created her own full moon.

To see more moon adventures, fly over to Mommies Wise Little Bookworms.