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Denver Museum of Nature and Science – field trip

April 9, 2014Written by Joy

One of the joys of living next to a large city, is the many places that you can go on field trips. Denver has a multitude of museums that we can choose from. One of our favorite museums is the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We love it so much, we bought a membership for the family.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science has wonderful programs and Imax movies that they play. The one we saw yesterday was the Journey to the South Pacific. It is a beautiful story of a boy growing up in the islands of the South Pacific, discovering and learning all about the sea life that surrounds him. We are looking forward to seeing the other Imax movies they have showing at this time.

Kids at the Shuttle docking game.

Another favorite area of the museum, is the Space Odyssey section. This area covers anything and everything that you want to learn about Space. My kids love to sit at the Shuttle docking game and try to park the space shuttle. I also love the many workers and volunteers that talk with the kids and let them ask any question.

Sarah and Claire checking out the seals.

I think my favorite area is the Wildlife section. They have different animals from around the local area, to the whole United States and even animals from around the world. The kids can read about these animals, look at what their habitat looks like and see what all they eat.

Sarah and Samuel talking about the Walrus’.

While we haven’t seen some of these animals alive, like the walrus and sea lion,

Claire reading about the Bison.

in the area we live in, we have seen live bison,

Samuel reading about the Elk.

elk and deer. In fact, we see these often when we ride through the Rocky Mountains.

Kids reading about animal scat.

We enjoyed this little impromptu field trip. I love going places with the kids like this. There is so much hands on learning and it really does bring education and learning to life. If you ever do get out to Denver, CO, I highly recommend going to this museum.

2014, family, field trips, homeschooling Denver Museum of Nature and Science, field trip, history, homeschooling, science, Space, wildlife

Denver Aquarium ~ field trip

January 31, 2014Written by Joy

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Yesterday, they kids and I went to the Denver Aquarium with some others from our homeschool group. The Denver Aquarium held classes for 3 different age groups, for our kids. My younger kids went to the “Sensational Sharks” class and my oldest went to the class that took them behind the scenes of the Aquarium. They learned all about how the aquarium operates and how they take care of all the fish and animals that live there.

One of the reasons why I enjoyed this aquarium so much, is the way they have everything split up. They have several different exhibits split up into North America, In the Desert, Under the Sea, At the Wharf, The Rainforest, Coral Lagoon, Sunken Temple, Shipwrecked and At the Beach.

The kids and I had a wonderful time and can not wait to go back. I took almost 700 pictures. It was so hard to choose which ones to share with y’all. I hope you enjoy the ones I chose.

The snapping turtle they have, is one of the largest I have ever seen. He was HUGE. I loved watching him, as he swam in the tank.

snapping tutle

They also have soft shell turtles. This one just looked so peaceful as he swam. He just glided through the water.

soft shell turtle

Obviously, since it is an aquarium, they have an abundance of fish. The colors of some of the fish are so vibrant. They are just beautiful.

fish

I have always been fascinated with sea horses. They are very unique creatures.

sea horses

the aquarium also had a lot of different stingrays. They would swim up to the glass and it looked like they watched you as you walked by. We saw one that looked like he was smiling at us.

stingray

The tank with the starfish and sea cucumbers was pretty cool. I didn’t know that the starfish came in so many different colors.

starfish

It was fun to look around at all the different exhibits. Some of the fish liked to hide and keep sheltered by the plants and coral.

fish

My oldest daughter was fascinated with the ones that were hidden. She had fun trying to locate them in the exhibits.

Sarah looking at fish

The younger kids couldn’t get over that the piranha tank didn’t have a lid on it. They were certain that the piranha’s could jump put of the tank. They also noticed how thick the glass was for the tank. They were happy that the fish wouldn’t be jumping out.

Samuel and Claire looking at Piranhas

I think we were all surprised to see the tiger at the aquarium. They actually have several tigers on display, but we only saw one. He was just hanging out, watching everyone walk by.

tiger

Ever since the movie “Nemo”, my kids always enjoy looking for the Nemo and Dory fishes.

clown fish

A highlight of the was the shark tank. I was surprised by the amount of sharks they had AND the size of some of the sharks. They have a few sharks that are up to 10 feet long. The aquarium doesn’t look that big on the outside, but it is fairly large. We were able to watch them feed the sharks. You would think the sharks would have plenty to eat with all the other fish that are in the tanks, but they do feed the sharks with fish that they bring in.

shark

We enjoyed watching the sharks and watching all the other fish. It is really neat to see and learn about the different types of sharks and fish that live together and don’t bother each other.

shark

The jelly fish had tanks of their own. They were beautiful to watch, just floating around.

jelly fish

I am so glad that we were able to go to the Denver Aquarium. I am looking forward to going back again, soon. We have talked about getting a membership, so that we can go as often as we want to. My oldest daughter, also saw that she will be able to volunteer when she turns 17. She is counting down the days, until her next birthday. Yes, I do think this will be a place we will visit often, together, as a family.

Have you been to an aquarium before? What sea creature do you like the best?

2014, field trips, homeschooling aquarium, classes, Denver Aquarium, field trip, fish, homeschooling, science, sharks

Big Book of Earth & Sky review

May 24, 2013Written by Joy

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The Big Book of Earth and Sky is a 15ft chart book that is written by Bodie Hodge and Dr. Carolyn Reeves and published by New Leaf Publishing. This book shows and explains about the Earth and the Sky from the Outer Atmosphere all the way to the Inner Core of the Earth, from a creation point of view. The book is specified for ages 7-12. However, I think a younger child would enjoy it, if a parent was reading the information to the child. The illustrations are very colorful and draws you in to the book.

There are several ways you can use the Big Book of Earth and Sky. You can read it as a chart as you fold it out, panel by panel. You can use it is a resource tool. You can use it as a spring board (along with the Teacher’s Guide), to learn about different topics from the Earth’s Atmosphere to the layers of the Earth. This book would be a great start to use for a unit study, using the Teacher’s Guide.

The Big Book of Earth and Sky has detailed charts and graphs about the earth’s crust, caves and clouds. You can read all sorts of facts about the mountains and the weather. You can explore the oceans and read about deep-sea diving records. You can read about the water cycle, mountain zones and volcanoes. The amount of information packed into this book is amazing.

Our family is a science loving family. We love learning all about God’s creation, how things are made and how they work. This book does not let us down in any way. It talkes about many things of the Earth and Sky. It gives a lot of pictures showing different parts of the earth, explaining how things work and how things are formed. We have looked at this book almost daily since we have received it and have learned something new every time we have looked at it. We highly recommend this book! We think that Mr. Bodie Hodge and Dr. Carolyn Reeves did an amazing job putting together this book.

If you purchase the book online from New Leaf Publishing, you can also purchase the Teacher Resource Guide for $6.99 or you can download it for free! The teacher Resource Guide has questions, activities and discussions that you can do with your children.

Be sure to join Master Books on their Facebook Page for the Book and a Bite Party. It will be May 28th, 2013, beginning at 8pm CDT. The Big Book of Earth and Sky will be featured along with our Bite Sponsor Devo Olive Oil (http://devooliveoil.com/). They will even be giving away a prize! There will be other prizes at the party, including gift certificates. I hope to see you there!

disclaimer: I was given this book by New Leaf Publishing Group/Master Books in exchange for a review. All opinions stated are my own. No other compensation was given.

2013, homeschooling, review Big Book of Earth and Sky, Bodie Hodge, creation, Dr. Carolyn Reeves, earth, homeschooling, Master Books, New Leaf Publishing, science, sky

Chronicles of Dinosauria review

May 22, 2013Written by Joy

The Chronicles of Dinosauria is written by Dave Woetzel, illustrated by Richard Dobbs and published by New Leaf Publishing.

Chronicles of Dinosauria is this amazing book by Dave Woetzel that talks about the history of Dinosaurs and Man. In this beautifully illustrated book, Dave Woetzel covers the Creation and the Dinosaurs, the Flood and the Dinosaurs, Fossil Evidence , the Historical Evidence, Artistic Evidence, Cryptozoology Evidence and Biblical Evidence of Dinosaurs and Man.

In this book, the author addresses one of the big questions that a lot of people have. Did man and Dinosaur live at the same time? Mr. Woetzel does a wonderful job of explaining and giving scientific evidence how man and dinosaur lived together. (Yes, I believe that man and dinosaur lived together.)

How did Dave Woetzel come to this conclusion? He traveled around the world finding artifacts and talking to people. In this books, he shares his own personal pictures and other papers, drawings and information that he came across during the search.

Between all of the information that Mr. Woetzel used to write this book and the amazing drawings that Mr. Richard Dobbs created to go along with the work, this book is put together wonderfully and answers many questions that one might have regarding how man and dinosaur lived together and what happened to the dinosaurs.

My kids and I have really enjoyed reading this book. We definitely recommend it to others who want to learn more about man and dinosaurs living together.

Kids reading Chronicles of Dinosaura.

**Disclaimer: I was given this book by Master Books, a division of New Leaf publishing, in exchange for a review. All opinions in the review are my own. No other compensation was given.

2013, homeschooling, review Chronicles of Dinosauria, creation, Dave Woetzel, Dinosaurs, homeschooling, man, Master Books, New Leaf Publishing, review, Richard Cobbs, science

making a compass for Apologia Astronomy lesson

April 18, 2013Written by Joy

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making a compass for Apologia Astronomy lesson

The next project for our Apologia Astronomy lesson, was making a compass. It is the last project on our lesson about planet Earth and tied in with the last section that we read about, “Perfect Magnetosphere”. What is a “Magnetosphere”? A magnetosphere is a huge area of magnetic power that is around Earth.

The Earth has a huge magnetic field that is made in the outer core of the earth. This magnetic field pulls harmful particles away from the earth. The harmful particles is called a solar wind. Without this magnetic field, we wouldn’t be able to survive on Earth. Isn’t that amazing?

The magnetosphere that is around the earth actually blocks some of the solar winds that come from the sun. The solar winds that are able to get through are mostly around the North and South Poles. As they are traveling past the North and South Poles, they start running into gases in the earth’s atmosphere. This is where those beautiful lights that are called “auroras” come from!

Now on to the fun part of this lesson, the project of making a compass! The supplies for this project that you will need is a cork, permanent marker, a lid from a yogurt or sour cream container, a sewing needle and a magnet (needs to be a strong magnet).

What you do first is label the lid with (N)orth, (S)outh, (E)ast, (W)est. Then you run the needle over the top of the magnet several times, making sure that you move the needle in the same direction. Then you will cut off a little piece of cork and put it in the middle of the needle.

pouring water in the lid.

Then you will fill the lid to the very top with water. You will then put the cork and needle in the lid so that the needle is floating roughly parallel to the surface of the water. Then watch what happens! Turn the compass and you will notice that the needle continues pointing in the same direction.

Needle is pointing North.

Regardless of how you turn the compass, one end of the needle will always point to the north and the other end to the south. Yes, this really works!

Checking the direction the needle is pointing.

How does this work? Since you turned the needle into a magnet by running it over the magnet, it is affected by the Earth’s magnetic field!

My kids had a really fun time with this project. Well I have to admit, I did too! We can’t wait to begin the next lesson on the Moon!

I am linking up with The Homeschool Scientist and Apologia. Be sure to stop by Apologia and check out the other projects that have been linked up!

Have you done any neat science projects or activities? I would love for you to share them with us!

2013, homeschooling Apologia, Astronomy, compass, earth, homeschooling, Magnetosphere, science