Life in Full Color

• Jun. 5, 2008 - experimenting

We put together a decomposition chamber today. Then I let the kids make terrariums. Emily had been asking questions about water which led to discussions about the water cycle. I thought it would be good for them to watch the water collect and "rain down". When I moved the soil bag to open it we found several snails.... this led to creating a snail habitat so Noah could keep his pet snails. Now Noah is conducting his own experiment. I guess you could say that he is discovering what dissolves in water and what doesn't. I asked him what he was doing. He said I am just making something. I asked him what he thought it would be. He said he was just waiting to see what it would turn into. I think he is fascinated in how things can change from one thing into another. When ever he builds things he creates things that transform from one thing to another. Now he asked me if what he has mixed together will turn into soil. I wonder how many ants it will attract before it turns into soil (he put candy in the mixture as well.)

The container on the left is our decompositions chamber and the jar on the right is the snail habitat.

Emily has been doing many experiments as well. Hers have consisted of building a habitat for a Turtle.... which ended up escaping its habitat, growing grass in the turtle's habitat that it never was able to enjoy since it went on to other pastures and digging up and transplanting little plants from my gardens that have sprouted up. Her favorite experiment was collecting bird seed that I had spilled on the deck and dumping it onto some soil that she put in a box for the turtle. She has really enjoyed watching those seeds sprout.

Here is a close up of the little plants. If you look carefully you can see drops of water that have transpired from the leaves. It was fun talking about the difference between transpiration and dew.