Pumpkin field trip

We went to Minnetrista today for a field trip on pumpkins.  The boys used their senses to explore the pumpkin - feel the smoothness of the outside, feel the sliminess of the inside, taste the pumpkin meat (raw and in a cookie), and taste the pumpkin seeds (raw and cooked).

We learned the life cycle of the pumpkin - seed, to leaf, to flower, to pumpkin.  They made a vine with pictures of each of these items glued to it and made a pumpkin bag to keep it in.

Then we learned the differences between a pumpkin and a squash and gourd.

Finally, we got to see a real pumpkin vine and the boys each picked a pumpkin to bring home.

Leah's Pony lapbook

The book Leah's Pony is about a girl's family who lived at the time of the depression in a dust bowl state.  It talks about the trials of a farmer at that time - dust storms, grasshoppers eating their crops, no money to pay the bank so they had to auction their belongings.  We checked out a book from the library about the dust bowl and it had pictures taken of some storms.  We really spent some time discussing the depression and being resourceful - re-using things that we might normally throw away.  Here are pictures of their lapbooks.

As you can see, we talked about grasshoppers, sacrifice, alliteration, plants, wind, and their copywork was a poem about wind.  I don't think you can read the poem, so here it is:

Who has seen the wind?  Neither I nor you.

But when the leaves hang trembling low, the wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?  Neither you nor I.

But when the trees bow down their heads, the wind is passing by.

Birds

For Zoology this week, we have been studying nests.  The experiment asked students to try building their own nest out of mud, grass, leaves, weeds, etc.  Then we would try to pick it up to see if it held together. 

If you look closely at the finished product, you will see an awful lot of mud.  The boys started with a glob of mud, then added in the grass, straw, leaves, etc.  When the nests dried, they held together, but, boy were they ever heavy for nests!!

Alex's nest above, and Nicolas's below.

I guess what matters most is that they had fun.  What boy doesn't have fun playing in the mud?

Leah's Pony & auction

We read Leah's Pony at co-op today about a girl and her family who, in order to pay the bank for a loan, went through an auction of all their property.  The girl sold her pony in order to buy her dad's tractor so he could continue to farm.  She bought it for $1.  Then their neighbors purchased other items from the farm for under $1 and gave the items back to the family.  We had an auctioneer visit with us who explained that this kind of thing still happens around here.  Each child brought in a toy to give away and we held our own auction with monopoly money.  Each child went home with something (or many things.)  If something was not getting a bid, the auctioneer did what he does at other auctions and added more things to gain a bid.  It was a fun learning experience for the kids.

Our auctioneer, Bob.

Mississinewa 1812 battle re-enactment

As part of our Indiana History field trip, we attended the Mississinewa battle re-enactment.  There is an Indian Camp, and British Military Camp an American Military camp, and fur traders and trappers along the river.  We listened to Soft Shell Turtle tell stories and sing songs.

We visited the Indian camp and went along the river to some of the fur traders tents.  Here is a picture of a beaver skin.

Then we sat to watch the battle re-enactment.

After the battle, we visited the British military camp where some soldiers explained to us how doctors treated wounds and showed us their guns and explained how they are loaded and shot.

Before we left for the day, we stopped at another French fur trader.  He explained that the French people became friends with the Indians in order to trade.  The French men also married Indian women - to help with trading.

He had many furs hanging behind him - bobcat, raccoon, squirrel, beaver, and deer.  We also in the course of walking around saw mink fur.

Central Indiana Ethanol Plant

We hadn't really planned this as a school field trip.  Our church planned a tour of the new ethanol plant in our area.  The boys went along.  Most of what they said was not presented in a kid friendly manner, but the boys picked up some of what is done at the plant.  Here are some pictures:

Nature Funny Faces

Thanks to my friend, Ami, the boys were able to keep busy constructively for a little while this afternoon after school.  We went on a little nature walk, picking up anything nature, without the boys knowing what we were going to do with them.  When we got back to the house, I had 2 chalk circles drawn on the sidewalk and told them to use their nature items to make a face.  After they what they were supposed to do, they went out into the yard to pick up other items to make their faces better. 

Here are the results:

Alex's faces

Nicolas's faces:

And Mom's face: