Week 6 - Ant Farm
May 13, 2010
Our class started with getting our materials together for the science fair. Each child was assigned a sentence to write or a picture to draw for each of the three experiments we did in the past weeks. It would've been too much to have each child write and draw everything, so it worked out very well. That evening, I put all of their work together on our board to present at the science fair on Friday.
Then we picked up right where we left off last week-- talking about ants. Each child was given their very own mini ant farm. Included in their ant farms was a magnifying glass and plastic stick. We removed the lids of the ant farms and used the stick to poke holes down into the gel to help get the ants started.
We went hunting for ants! Hmmmm, where do you find ants? The kids knew exactly where to go. We hunted and hunted and finally found some. They were teeny tiny ants so they were super hard to get into the ant farm. A couple were lost during transfer!
Each child was able to find at least one ant for their farm. The kids were especially excited about being able to take it home. We noticed later that the ants were small enough to climb out of the air holes, so some escaped! We'll have to find bigger ants next time!
Then we picked up right where we left off last week-- talking about ants. Each child was given their very own mini ant farm. Included in their ant farms was a magnifying glass and plastic stick. We removed the lids of the ant farms and used the stick to poke holes down into the gel to help get the ants started.
We went hunting for ants! Hmmmm, where do you find ants? The kids knew exactly where to go. We hunted and hunted and finally found some. They were teeny tiny ants so they were super hard to get into the ant farm. A couple were lost during transfer!
Each child was able to find at least one ant for their farm. The kids were especially excited about being able to take it home. We noticed later that the ants were small enough to climb out of the air holes, so some escaped! We'll have to find bigger ants next time!
Posted by Stacey Lloyd. Posted In : General
Last week, the children began picking apart owl pellets. They found many bones, but we had more to explore! The children found some very interesting bones and were able to identify them by using the bone chart. We found tail bones, skulls, arms, legs and teeth! It was so amazing to look at the bones closeup. You could see fur stuck on the bones -- cool!
This week, we learned about owls and their diet. I was surprised to hear how much the children knew about owls! Ask your child! What do owls eat? How do they capture prey? Why can they turn their heads completely around? Which is their favorite owl? What is owl puke? Why does an owl puke?
After our discussion, we donned gloves and each pair of partners dissected an owl pellet. Using forceps, the kids picked and poked through the fur and found many rodent bones. A couple kids found a skull in t... 
During our first class session, the children learned about the 