Preschool Science- Figs

 

We have a huge fig tree in our back yard. I have told the kids repeatedly to not pick the figs. Today at lunch I noticed that my three year olds pants pocket was bulging out. Naturally I had him empty it onto the table, and this is what he had. I told him that the figs were not ready yet, and that he shouldn’t pick them. So my oldest son asks how they will know when they are ready. I decided to go ahead and make this a science lesson.

 

First, I pulled out my phone and found a photo of ripe Figs, so that they could see what they will look like. Then we talked about how a Fig is a fruit, and they asked how I know that a fig is a fruit. (yes they asked)

           

 So, we cut on open, and we read Genesis 1:11

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. ” And it was so.

So, how do you tell a fruit from a vegetable? Well, open it up and see. Are there seeds inside? If so, then it’s a fruit.

 

The next question was, “How big will they get?” So, I showed them. The fig should fill the gap between the fig and my hand.

Birds- Nests, Eggs, and Feathers

During our Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday, my Dad found two Robin’s nests. Both had eggs. We saw that a cat had ridded the one nest of it’s parents, so we extracted it for up close study, and we kept an eye on the other nest hoping to be able to see baby birds in the near future.

The kids watched daily as this little guy would come out of the tree, and guard the nest from the ground. We knew that the mother bird was in the tree because anytime I tried to see if the eggs had hatched she would try to attack me.

At one point I brought out the nest which had been extracted, and the kids got a close up look.

The kids really enjoyed seeing the nest up close and discussing how the birds made the nest. We talked about the blue color of the eggs, and about what might be in the nest that was still in the trees. I had already seen that the eggs had hatched, so I took them out one at a time, lifted them up, and let them see.

The day we saw inside the nest, it rained. The kids were so concerned about the baby birds getting wet. So I decided we would do a little experiment to show how the birds feathers remain dry. (oil) Each child had two feathers. They dipped one feather in the water and it was wet. they dipped the next feather in the oil before dipping it into the water. the water rolled off of the feather.

We then a painting using feathers. Messy, but oh so fun!

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After this project, we did a little “F” is for feather craft for Sammy.

Birds- Field Trips

We went on two fieldtrips while we were on our “staycation”. We went to a local science museum, and a State park. We did not realize how much we would be able to focus on our bird study, but were pleasantly surprised.

At the state park there were two Peacocks. A male and a female. They were beautiful. we talked to the kids about how you can tell the difference in the male and female. They already knew that a male bird usually has the brightest, and most show off like feathers to attract a mate. I asked them how the knew this and they said, “We learned it on Cat in the Hat, DUH!” LOL!

The park had a wild life rescue center, and the kids learned all kinds of things there. They observed baby bird feedings, and we discussed what baby birds eat. there were several books there about birds, and we read them all. there was a bird watching spot where we sat and watched several different types of birds come to the feeders. Hailey and Sammy loved the Giant bird book. I may try and find one for them. They learned about different types of birds nests, and different types of eggs. I was really impressed with how much they had there.

Next we went to the science museum, and we studied bird beaks. They had a few activities set up where the kids used different utensils (they represented different kids of beaks) to see witch ones worked best for, hunting for worms, getting water from smaller spaces, and scooping fish from the water.

 

They also had a two displays that the kids enjoyed looking at. They were able to see different bird eggs, and bird beaks.

Birds- Behavior Observations

 

I took the kids to “the duck park” for a feather hunt. This turned into so much more. Hailey decided that this would be a great place to observe bird behaviors. She was right! we were blessed to see several different types of birds, and Hailey logged their behaviors.

Duck Behaviors:

• Pecking Feathers
• Sleeping
• Swimming in a V
• Baby sticking close to the mother duck
• Dunking head under water
• Running from humans
• Eating bread
• Quacking
• Mating call is different from the quacking noise
• Flying

My favorite observation was how these ducks heads made a heart shape. My kids drew hearts, based off of this picture.

After we observed the ducks, we watched as different birds flew into these gourd bird houses. We talked a bit about different kids of bird houses.

 

While we were looking at these houses, we heard this crazy noise, and the saw a Crane fly over. The kids were so excited. And secretly I was too! Hailey started writing as fast as she could.

• CRAZY squawking noise
• Standing tall with a long neck
• Gliding through the sky
• Wide wingspan
• Using his beak to try and catch fish

The Lord really blessed this trip with a few other nature observations that have nothing to do with Birds. We really had a blast, and were so thankful for this opportunity.

Here is a great article about the importance of observing animal behaviors. http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/valueofa.htm