Spirited Sons - Botany Day (Part Deux)

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Schooling two active boys has never been more... interesting. That's the word I'm looking for! I love my boys! God has given them the blessing of strong, active bodies and minds. We continually pray the first will remain intact, and the second will remain engaged with Him first, and then the school work. You'll meet my sweet sons, both entirely different, but both loving God to the best of their ability in the way He made them. I lovingly refer to them as my Bell Pepper Boy and my Habanero or Hambone. That should say it all! This blog is an eclectic mix. The events, conversations, and the thoughts behind it all will be in here. Every once in a while I'll try to capture something I don't want to forget. I hope you find things you enjoy. Please let me know if you do! Blessings!

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Mystery of History vol. 1
Saxon 5/4
Horizons Grade 2
A Beka Language
Spelling Power
Apologia Zoology 1

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The Bible
Adam and His Kin by Beechick
It by Groeschel

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Friday, February 22, 2008

Botany Day (Part Deux)

Posted in School Things

Okay, I survived! Let's all happy dance now! *giggle*

Some were asking if I could show pictures of my activities, and some I can show. So, here they are in all their botanic glory. *lol*

When we covered leaves, I had each student pick one of these three leaf shapes. They had two leaves of the same shape to cut out and color. These are my leaves, but you get the idea. The top leaf was colored in "summer" color. This is when the tree is making chlorophyll, so we see green in these leaves.

The second leaf of the same shape was colored in "summer" color. This is when the leaves are no longer receiving the same amount of water and sunlight, so the leaf shuts down production of chlorophyll. Because there is no chlorophyll being manufactured, we are going to see the colors in the leaves that are normally present, but don't show through the green of the chlorophyll during summer.

(Imagine these leaves hole-punched and connected by a single brad.)

On the back side of one of the leaves, the student drew a picture of the stomata (open and closed) that allow gases in and out and allow excess water to transpire. When the guard cells around the mouth (stoma) swell, it opens. When the cells shrink, it closes. (I'm sorry I'm not a better artist for all of you!)

This wasn't our first project. I'm doing them out of order because I was afraid people might flee my blog if they saw these next photos first. They just don't translate the same in the cup I used as when they are in test tubes. (Looks much more "science-y" instead of "doctor's office" in a test tube.) *lol*

Here is the coolest part of our day! We extracted DNA from split peas. Yes, it worked. Yes, it was easy. I loved it! These long strands came out of a pea! Who knew you could see DNA with a blender, some peas, a pinch of salt, some water, a little dishsoap, a bit of pineapple juice, and some rubbing alcohol? (Feel free to raise your hand and shout, "I did! I did!") ;')

These shots didn't come out wonderfully, but you get the idea.

Our other activities included:
*Dissecting one of my half dead house plants (Look at roots, stems and leaves.)
*Comparing the house plant stem to a woody stem sample (Firewood)
*Looking at "fruits" of plants (Carrot, onion, orange, squash)

Hope you enjoyed! It was a lot of fun, and I would do these things over again for sure. Nothing went terribly wrong.