To continue on with the Autumn Series Challenges ~ we moved on to Oak Trees & Acorns.

We talked about the two classes of Oak Trees ~ the White Oak and the Black Oak classes; there are several Oaks in each class.

White Oak:

• leaves have rounded lobes
• leaves are rough & light colored
• bark light in color
• acorns have sweet kernels that mature in one year; which means no acorns are on the trees in winter

Black Oak:

• leaves end in sharp points/angular lobes
• leaves are smooth
• bark is dark
• acorns have bitter kernels that take two years to mature; which means there will be acorns on the trees in winter

We used Anna Comstock's book ~ of course!

my tree climber, Jayda, trying to find acorns

  pointed leaf lobes

 dark colored bark

lots of acorn caps

a double blessing! River found this, they are stuck together 

the tree has to be 20-50 years old before it can make acorns

They can be 200-400 years old! It is said there are Oaks that are alive from back when William the Conqueror reigned.

a few acorns still on the tree

So based on our finds, this is a Red Oak, which is in the Black Oak class.

 See River?

Here's a notebooking page from the Autumn Series Challenges.

We've taken a look at several of the trees in our yard over the last few years and have drawn them through the seasons.

The second challege in the Autumn Series is just that -- a seasonal tree study. Just taking a peek at a tree in autumn and recording what you see. Then of course you will want to revisit that same tree in each season and draw what you see. My children really enjoy this!

Kaden is using our Snow Thyme Crabapple ~ here is his notebooking page, once again, these pages are on the Autumn Series website.

We decided to jump start our fall nature study by using the Autumn Series Challenges.

The first challenge is Season Cattails. Although we have looked at them before and did a little study, HERE and HERE, it was in another season so this was a perfect spot to begin.

We learned by reading in 

The cattails will die if there is a flood ( or too much water ) as well if there is not enough. They can bascially drink themselves to death....odd thought, eh?!

Also, we found it neat how God made this plant's seeds to utilize the wind and the water to scatter their seeds.

 There is a notebooking page given as well

 There was quite the change from spring & summer til now for our beloved cattails.

They are pretty much on their way out til Spring.....sadly.

We've been using NaturExplorers e-books by my friend and fellow blogger, Melissa. We started with the Wildflower one, but she has a ton, do check them out! Click the above graphic and it will take you there.

We used the notebooking pages this past week and found out about our state flower.

 The white and lavender Columbine, or the scientific name Aquilegia caerules, was adopted as the official Colorado state flower on April 4, 1899.

We ventured out looking for wildflowers this week and came across these beautiful sunflowers. They are a Colorado wildflower and we have yet to study them, so we took the time to do so.

Take a peek at this pattern above. No matter if the sunflower is big or small, there are always two patterns that relate to one another in mathematical proportion. The exact proportion enables the most amount of seeds to fit in the flower! Isn't that awesome? Our God is so creative!!  I related this to the kids that if God would take care of this sunflower in such a special way, how does He care for us?!

Matthew 6:30 ~ Now if that is the way God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and thrown into an oven tomorrow, won't he clothe you much better-you who have little faith?

The sunflower is not just one flower, it's made up of MANY flowers. The outside petals are 'ray flowers' and the center part is called, 'disc flowers.' ~ it's in the composite family of flowers.

To our surprise, sunflowers do not follow the sun as their name would suggest or like other flowers. The flower heads face the morning sun, but once the plant matures and begins to bloom, it doesn't. Most of the time, it faces the East.

In the picture above, you can see some of the stages of the flower or floret. You can see the seeds in the picture below.

The flower will tell you when it's ready to be harvested. Their heads will start to bow to the ground, the backs of the flower will turn a light yellow color and the florets in the center of the head will start to shrivel and when you crack them open, the meaty seed will be there.  Cover the heads with a bag to catch the seeds.......

You can then soak them in a salty solution and then roast them!

The leaves are heart shaped or sometimes triangular. They are also slightly toothed around the edges.

Here, Taylor, drew the stages of the floret ( the center flower parts )

Using Anna Comstock's book, we took a peek at strawberry plants in our own backyard.

We looked at the petals, there are always 5 white ones. Taking a peek at the center we found the anthers ( the big yellow center, ) the pistils ( they are thin and stand up along the edges of the anther ) and stigmas ( they are on the tops of each pistil ).

We looked at the leaves.....there are always 3. They are oval shaped and have a jagged or 'toothed' edge.

If each stigma was pollenated, you will get a good strawberry, if not, you will get a not so good berry.

Here are a couple of the kids' journal entries for today's study.

 This morning, as I went out to cut off the dead flowers from our garden, I found a treasure!

 Well, to my children they are a treasure! I ran back inside and hollered for everyone to come out at once.

 Having grasshoppers visit our flowers is not unusual, however, having so many at one time is!

 They were everywhere; various colors & sizes.

 We spent some time observing them on the flowers, giggling at who was going to catch which one.

 Then the bug house came out and the kids caught at least a dozen or more!

 We brought them inside and we enjoyed them even more.

Though we studied insects a while back, the kids decided to journal about them anyway. Click here to re-visit our insect study.

We saw this neat guy last week and we had no idea what it was! My oldest was the first to spot it as it was making music in our garage. It then landed on our van and I opened a side door, hubby opened the other, and we were both in wide-eyed wonder of this magnificent creature!  We didn't know what it was; we'd never seen anything like it. I went to my handy-dandy computer to find out!

A Katydid! It's apparently named b/c the insect makes music sounding like 'Katydid this and Katydid that.' But I honestly don't hear that when I hear the various types. You can hear the sounds below.

 It also comes in this awesome shade of pink!

 Here are a few facts we learned today.

1. they are relatives of grasshoppers & crickets
2. male & females make sound, unlike grasshoppers & crickets
3. they rub their front wings together 'to sing' to each other
4. they hear each other with ears on their front legs
5. they grow over 2 in. and are leaf-green in color, except for that hot pink one up there
6. their oval shaped wings have lots of veins, just like leaves
7. they can fly short distances when threatened, but prefer to walk or climb
8. breeding season is late summer, early fall
9. they lay their eggs in straight lines, eggs don't hatch till the following spring
10. they eat leaves of deciduous trees, esp. Oaks

Nature Notebooks ~ drawings of Katydids

For the past month I've had daily visits from a friend. At first I didn't think much of her visits; I just gazed at her beauty and thanked God for His creativity. After several weeks of her daily visits, excitement grew within me as I began watching for her. I waited ever so patiently and she always came.  When the kids would see her they would yell, 'Mom, your butterfly!' or 'There's Mom's butterfly.' I would talk with the Lord as I watched her flutter about. Then we'd say good-bye until the following day. I believe it was the same butterfly because she was very small at first and the more times she came, the bigger she grew. I'm saddened knowing adult butterflies have a lifespan of a few days up to a few weeks. I'm praying the Lord sends another friend my way!

I had a desire to photograph her, but she wouldn't sit still long enough. I asked the Lord to keep her still so I could capture her beauty. Today was the day!

.....I'd like to introduce my friend to you all.....

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

I hope you all find her as lovely as I do.

We found this awesome Yellow Wooly Bear caterpillar ( Spilosoma Virginica ) in an odd sorta place; on my husband's foot!!

My eldest daughter, my husband and I were outside talking and my daughter says, 'Dad, what is on your foot?' He felt something but didnt think much of it.

Isn't he cute?!  It's the larva of the Virginia Tiger Moth or the Yellow Wooly Bear Moth. The moth itself is rather icky looking, but the caterpillar is cute!