Elementary Homeschooling SCIENCE Archives

Re-potting Our 6 Tiny Potted Plants

June 1, 2008 By Laura 2 Comments

potting soil on garden shovel

If you’ve been visiting us here at our blog for awhile, you may remember when we planted these 6 tiny-potted plants, and later when we gave an update on their sprouts growth. Well the time came re-potting our 6 tiny potted plants.

We initially thought when that time came for transplanting, it would be outdoors into the ground, but we don’t think their quite ready for THAT yet. The thing is, they kind of seemed to stop growing pretty much after that growth update, and we decided they must be root-bound. So we bought some cheap (but pretty!) pots and got to work.

First, the kids gathered some rocks from the driveway and put them in the bottom of each pot, to ensure proper drainage when watering. Then they put in some potting soil, some plant food, and a little more soil. Then they transferred their plants from their tiny pots to their new pots.

tiny-potted-plants

Below, {O} transplants hers.

child re-potting plant

{J} transplants his.

boy re-potting plant

{A} shows {J} all of the roots bound up at the bottom of her plant.

kids-looking-at-plant-roots

{S} makes sure his plant is all snug and pressed down into the new soil, after the transfer.

boy re-potting-plant

(O} gets hers in there just right.

little girl re-potting plant

{A} had to 2 of hers to re-pot; one being not of the 6, but another she had from awhile ago.

older girl re-potting plant

Just a shot I had to take. : )

potting soil on garden shovel

Here they are all done! You can kind of tell they’ve just been through a bit of a traumatic journey, but we know they will settle in and thrive in their new pot homes, once they get comfortable and used to their new surroundings. We hope eventually they will be big and strong enough to go into the ground, but for now they are lined up along the windows of our kitchen sink.

re-potting-little-plants

Did you notice we transferred our initial letters too? Where competitions go, it’s never over until there is no hope of winning, and none of us lose hope very easily! We’ll let you know if they really start to grow and thrive, and be in need of being transplanted again. Who knows…they may just make it to God’s rich earth someday! At least we’re all hoping so.

Bullfrog Tadpoles Progress Report . . . . . . by {A}

May 30, 2008 By A 2 Comments

The other day, I cleaned the bullfrog-tadpoles habitat and added fresh pond water. They are continuing to grow and develop, although slowly, when you consider that their whole cycle takes 14 months. This big guy below has developed quite the pair of legs since I have had him.(Or her! I am not sure yet.) You can see the front leg bump too!

The picture below shows where the habitat is kept. It is in the window well that has a convenient observatory window from Mama’s studio. I’ve used it as a habitat to observe other reptiles and amphibians over the years, and once there was even a mole in there.

See all those papers? One of them I use to record their growth and behavior in the sun and shade. The rest are guides to caring for my tadpoles. I feed them boiled lettuce and tropical fish food.

This is one of the little ones I have. Doesn’t he camouflage in with the water very well? The water is a little more murky than usual, because the sediment was trying to settle after I changed the water. I have mud in the bottom of the habitat, because the tadpoles like to hide in mud when it is cold out.

I hope you enjoyed this tadpole report!!!

The REAL Science Field Trip – Mass Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary

May 19, 2008 By Laura 2 Comments

The kids finally had their real science field trip, to the Mass Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuary, on the RIGHT day. Michael and I were not as excited to go anymore, feeling like we’ve ‘been there, done that‘. But the point was to meet and experience a homeschool co-op that was having a day there, and the kids were all for going again. So we went, and were all really glad we did. I must say, the weather wasn’t quite as nice as the mistaken day, which was so warm and sunny. This time it was on the cool side, and pretty cloudy and grey out. Rain was expected later that day. (And it indeed started sprinkling before we left.)

But what a great field trip it was anyway! As I mentioned in the post about our accidental trip, the place consists of tons of conservation land, which includes various kinds of habitats: grass plains, marshland, and ponds. These habitats are home to all kinds of birds, animals, reptiles and amphibians. There were experts there from Mass Audubon, who took us in groups and taught us and showed us so much.

I didn’t really get any great photos. Again, I would have needed that big tele-photo lense for some really fascinating shots. But also, our kids were always in groups with other people who may have not wanted their photos taken, and it wouldn’t be right to post them on my blog with their faces showing, (without permission either)…..so my camera did a lot of resting. Although I did get a few simple photos, one of course of the boardwalk bridge, which I probably took one similar last time too.

boardwalk bridge

The first thing we did was go out on a tractor-pulled wagon hayride with a group, and a very nice and informative woman who was a wildlife expert, right out into the grasslands, where she taught us much about the birds that habitat there. The little ones enjoyed the ride, and learned quite a bit just listening to the talk. {A} brought along her notebook and sketchpad. Remember I told you {A} was ‘a bird expert as far as I could tell’? Well, she’s a bird expert as far as a bird expert can tell, too! lol. The woman had large laminated cards of various kinds of birds, not all the kind we see every day in our own yards. The woman often started with ‘Does anyone know what kind of bird this is?’, and {A} always did. She also knows more about their behaviors than I even knew she knew. The woman was impressed! Some of the birds we saw and/or learned all about were Osprey, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Swallows, Bluebirds, Flycatchers, Bobolinks, and Orioles, as well as red and grey fox, raccoons, and some rodent of which I forget the name of or what it really looks like. (Maybe on purpose. lol) ) We saw LOTS of Bobolinks darting around, there was an Osprey there as well, and we learned that Orioles fly all the way to and from South America every year! (Wow!). We have seen them in our yard several times in the past couple of weeks, and I just LOVE them. The woman said if we put a string out on our deck, the Orioles will take it to build a nest. If we put one out every day for them, they just may build there nest in your yard and stick around for the whole season! I definitely want to keep them around….so we did just what she said today. But it was still there last I checked.

When we got back from the hayride, we learned about bird-banding Tree Swallows. The woman explained how they catch the birds, how they harmlessly band them, measure their wing span, weigh them, record all of that info, where they send, and why. She had different strings of leg bands, as shown below, each of all the same size, but with different identification numbers on them. It was fascinating to hear the woman tell us how some years she would have birds she had banned the year before come back, or get notice in the mail from another sanctuary that a bird she had banned had been at their habitat thousands of miles away.

After that little information session, the kids moved on to learn more about bugs and insects. They even went into the tall grasses to catch some in fabric nets, put them in containers, and learn more about exactly what they caught. (You can bet I did a tick check after that little activity!) After {A} transferred what she had in her net, into a container, she discovered she caught syphrid flies, aphids, a spider, beetles, and ants. Did you know there is a difference between bugs and insects?

There were games to play, a bubble blowing table, and a little craft table as well. The kids made these dragonflies out of pipe-cleaners, beads and tinfoil. Pretty cute, huh? I don’t think they’ve much put them down since.

All in all it was a fantastic day. We all learned LOTS, had FUN doing it, and met so many wonderful people. There’s another co-op field trip coming up soon too…….a tide-pool study at the ocean, with more Mass Audubon experts there! We have a few of our own field trips planned as well, but I am sure we’ll be sure not to miss the co-op tide-pool study! The kids will really, really LOVE that, and so will us big kids! We love the beach and ocean, and feel so blessed to have a private beach within walking distance of our home.

The next day, {A} had a parish youth group activity planned. They were having a beach clean-up, and then gathering at the parish center for a cookout and some volleyball. It initially was cancelled that morning because it had been raining and was still drizzly. But some kids showed up anyway, so the leader called {A}, and she was happy to go and help. I did not take photos activity either, because I didn’t go. Michael took her. But I did some shots of her ready to go (one of which is below) with her own trash poker stick, and one to share. She had a really great time, despite how the weather was less than ideal at first. Of course she makes everything she does fun. The sun did break out once they were done cleaning up. As if God was pleased with their work. : )

The rest of our weekend was spent doing some work, some house-cleaning, and some shopping. You have no idea how excited our kids can get over bubble wands and water-shoes! Good golly. We are all knee-deep in enjoying this warm weather season, and still have so much exploring, learning, relaxing and FUN to look forward to.

Update on the 6 Tiny Potted Plants

April 26, 2008 By Laura 1 Comment

tiny potted plants

Here’s a quick little update on our 6 Tiny Potted Plants! As you can see above, the plants are coming along nicely! There is a labeled photo below for reference. The first to sprout were mine and {JM’s}, which would be the Hollyhock. Daddy and O’s Rudbeckia started to come up next, and then we had several days of nothing from {A’s} and {S’s} Delphinium. We started to worry a little, when finally we spotted some wee little sprouts.

I think what we have discovered is very consistent results between the alike species, in terms of growth rates. They have been really fun to watch grow these past several days. The next time I post about them again, it may be because it is time to transplant them outdoors in our flower beds. I can’t wait to see the colorful flowers among the greens.

tiny potted plants

The hostas (below) are coming up beautifully! Just look how tall and green they’ve become! They aren’t pathetic little nubs anymore! They are starting to open, and it won’t be long before they really start filling out those beds. We need to put some mulch out there, and some railroad ties will be going along the back there, behind them. But I am enjoying them as they are, already. I didn’t take photos of the tulips, because I didn’t get over to there, but the buds have sprung up from the center of the leaves.

hostas

Below are photos of the type of shrubs that are along the head of our driveway. For some reason, I thought they were called Junipers. It may be that the man we bought this house and property from years ago, told us that – because I surely would not have known what type of bush/ground cover they were all those years ago (or much cared back then!) But that is why I am posting them. Not too long ago, in the last couple of years anyway, when I referred to them as Junipers to someone, they informed me that that’s not what they are. (I think it may have been my mother-in-law?). But they weren’t sure what they were, exactly. So if anyone does know what they are, please e-mail me or comment. At some point at least some of them are going to need to be removed, and I would like to find out the best way to transplant elsewhere in the yard, if possible. But in researching that info, it would be helpful if I knew what they were! Don’t you think?

shrubbery

That’s all for now. We’ve got some fun crafty projects coming up, so I’m sure I’ll be posting again real soon.

6 Tiny Potted Plants

April 15, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

How cute are these tiny potted plants sitting on the window sill? Something about little sights like this just stir me somewhere inside, and make me smile.

We got the kids this little kit, to plant some flowers in these little starter potted plants, which we will later transplant into our flower beds outdoors. (They just LOVE stuff like this. All projects, really.)

The first thing they needed to do was put the peat pellets in a bowl, and add one cup of water. Then they had to wait FIVE MINUTES. You know…..eternity, for a kid. This photo below totally cracks me up, because of their expressions of waiting….and waiting….they look thrilled, don’t they?

Just staring at this bowl…..for FIVE MINUTES…..as they soil soaked up the water and expanded. After about 2 minutes, {S} couldn’t take it anymore, and went into the kitchen to stare at the set timer instead. : ) At least with the numbers counting down, he could see the end in sight.

FINALLY the timer went off, and it was time to mix it up good. They all took turns getting the job done well.

Then Daddy filled up the little pots to the top, while the kids chose the flower seeds of their choice, and counted out 10 seeds each. {A} and {S} chose Delphinium (Pacific Giant), {O} and I chose Rudbeckia (Gloriosa Daisy), and { J } and Daddy chose Hollyhock (Alcea Rosea). Then their little hands got to work, planting each seed about 1/4″ into the soil.

They were pretty happy with their little potted plants, and very excited to watch them grow. We put our initials on them to know whose is whose, and of course, to see whose is growing the best. Will some of us have a more skilled green thumb than others? Or do some species grow faster or slower than others? We’ll see! And I’m sure we’ll keep you posted.

Unfortunately, they have to be kept in this little ‘greenhouse’ to grow. So much for my happy little vision of them lined up on the window sill. But I’m gettin’ over it.

Let the growing begin!

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