Saturday, September 16, 2006 - Our Adventure With Gramma's Walk
These past two weeks we based our unit study out of the book Gramma's Walk by Anna Grossnickel Hines. We opted to study North Carolina with this book. Morgan was delighted to know that Tennessee touches North Carolina, but disappointed to know it would still be a long drive to get there. I was interested to learn that North Carolina is apparently one of the only places in America where the Venus fly trap grows wild!
We've read a bookshelf full of books about the ocean and things that grow and live there. Morgan decided to cling on to the hammerhead shark. I asked him if he'd like to see one, and his response was, "Well, do they eat people?"
"Only sometimes, but I think it's when they feel they have to."
"I'm a people, and I don't want to be eaten by a shark!"
"Don't worry, I don't think we'll be seeing any around here."
"Okay, then maybe I would like to see one, but only if it's not a mean one!"
We took the morning last Thursday and went to the "beach". Mind you, we don't have ocean here in Tennessee, but we do have a few lakes. We opted to go to Center Hill Lake. It's been ages since we've been there, and with school in session we figured it would be peaceful.
It was indeed peaceful, but I was shocked by how low the water level was. This didn't bother the boys who set about right away making a sand castle just like the one in our story. Then we wandered around looking for shells. We found many, some of which still had things living in them.. We watched a few boats come and go and the effects it had on the water.
Before we left we were sitting in the sand having a late morning snack when we heard a quack. Then within seconds there's a female mallard duck next to us and a Canadian Goose. I'm talking close enough you could have reached out and touched them!
We're not unfamiliar with ducks and geese, as we have both living right out front by the pond. However, the Canadian Geese are very protective of their young, and as they hatch out at least a half dozen goslings each spring we're lucky to see them without needing binoculars.
Jayden was so pleased that the Goose was this close he kept asking if he could pick it up. He's very into animals and wants to be very hands on with them. I advised against it and suggested we just toss them some of our crackers. The goose was very pleased with this and just as pleased with the apple chunks we shared.
Apparently geese do not like yogurt covered raisins. It attempted to eat one before walking off to the water. The duck stuck around for a few minutes before she flew off to catch up with her friend. I had to laugh because when she took flight her wings made a squeaking noise!
We rounded out our study of this book with more 5 senses experiments. This time we zoned in on Touching, Smelling, and Hearing. The boys had a blast hearing funny sounds on the computer and guessing what they were. Jayden was sure that every sound was either a lion or a train.
We had them sit at the kitchen table with their eyes closed while Daddy put their hands on something or put something under their noses. They really surprised me with their ability to guess what things were by touching them. They didn't do bad with sniffing either. All though they had a hard time identifying the soap. Morgan commented how it smelled like "home".
We've opted not feast on anything this week as seafood really isn't something we like around here. What a pity, I know, but...
