Wasp, Bee, and Hornet

We want to know:
-how sharp hornet stingers are
-the first bee and wasp and hornet ever
-what their bones are
-why do they die when they sting you
-watch a video of one

We learned:
wasps
-they have sharp poison on their stinger
-they eat spiders and bugs
-they don't die after they sting you
hornets
-if you are allergic to them, you can die if they sting you
-they have head, thorax, and abdomens just like wasps and bees
bees
-they suck up nectar on flowers, they take the nectar to the beehive so they can make honey, when they're on the flower they get pollen on their feet, when they are flying to take the nectar back to the hive, the pollen falls on the plants which helps the plants grow.

Bees make honey
suck up nectar, get their tummies full with 100-1500 flower's nectar, back to the beehive, spread the nectar on the honey comb, it dries out and become syrupy, it is ready to be used

How bees make hives
the scout bees go out and find a new place often miles away, after they find it the return to the hive, the bees fill their stomachs with honey and fly to the new place, they barf up the honey and use it to build the hive

Bee Project
With paper we cut out flowers, nectar circles, pollen circles, honey circles, 2 beehives, a queen bee, a drone, honeycomb, eggs and a blue sky (by Ezra's request). We taped the nectar and pollen to the flowers.
We set it all up. The queen placed the eggs in the honeycomb. The drones helped. Livi and Ezra became the worker bees and flew out under the blue sky to collect nectar. They put circles with n's on the shirts, and circles with p's on their feet. They flew around and the p circles fell off onto the flowers and ground. The n circles they brought back to the hive and put it on the honeycomb turning it into honey circles. The beekeeper scraped off the honey. When the beehive started wearing out the kids became scout bees and flew to find a new place. They returned to the hive, ate honey, and all flew to the new hive. They chewed on the honey to build a new hive.

Waterfall

We want to know:
What is the biggest waterfall?
What is the tallest waterfall?
Are flowers on waterfalls?
Is the water dirty in waterfalls?
Is there a sprayer to spray the water out?

We are going to:
make a waterfall
learn about waterfalls
hike to a waterfall

We made a waterfall with styrofoam cups.

Livi
In the winter it snows and there is ice on top of the mountain. In the spring the sun comes and makes the ice turn to water and it falls down. Some of the ice goes with it. The water goes into the river, then into the lake, then into pipes of the ocean or up into the clouds. When it goes into the clouds it falls down again as rain. From the pipes they go into our house.

Ezra
Mom glued the cups together. We got one big cup and slammed it inside. We put water in it and made a winter and summer waterfall. In the winter it was ice and snow. In the spring there was lots of water because there was lots of snow. The sun melted. It went from the waterfall into a river, then into a lake, then into the pumps then we drink. Some of evaporates and goes up, it makes clouds. When the clouds get big it rains.

Bridal Veil Falls
We hiked to Bridal Veil Falls. We left at 7, so the weather was nice and cool. The hike was fun and beautiful. The kids made a lot of observations with the flow. They noticed the pipes going under the trail directing the water. Afterwards we went to eat donuts.

The kids made several waterfall systems outside with the hose, rocks, and holes. It was great to see them create their own waterfalls and understand the paths.

We made a word drawing with waterfalls. We wrote waterfall and made the letters look wet. We did the same thing with rocks, lake, and river. I don't know the term for that, but it was fun.

Teddy Bears

It was the build-a-bears birthday on the 15th. We read the story of Theodore Roosevelt and why teddy bears were named after him.

Anna was at our house for the week. The kids planned a party for the bears.
-Ezra was in charge of the food. He drew pictures of pizza, fruit, orange juice, and a beehive cake.
-Anna was in charge of the games. She drew pictures of musical chairs, a basket game, the train game, and the spiderman game.
-Livi wrote invitations and drew pictures on them.
The bears arrived and the kids took over. They explained the games to the bears and helped them play. They did a great job. It was really fun.

Tractors

We want to know:
how the battery is made
what they are used for
what the motor looks like
how they make them

We want to:
build a farm with blocks and tractors
do a tractor hunt

We learned that:
tractors pick up stuff
the tractor that was getting our weeds was a farmer tractor
there is a tractor that can get hay in big huge balls
they are so cool that someday I'm going to fall on the couch

Skunks

We want to know:
-where they live
-what they eat
-when they spray
-what they do and how active they are
-can they use their hands?
-how stinky is their smell
-why do they make holes to live in
-how do skunks use their paws to pick up stuff


We did:
-a smell test
-a coloring page with facts
-the kids were skunk detectives
-we wathced a video clip about skunks
-sang the skunk song
-said, "I 1 a skunk, I 2 a skunk, etc, up to I 8 a skunk. Ewww!"

We learned:
-the skunks ate snakes
-they spray when they feel threatened
-first they growl