P.O.P. Nature Study: Watching and Waiting

Watching and Waiting {page 146}

Baby robins are now in their nest. The father robin feeds everyone.
Michael has had no success with job hunting.
Carol and the children are busy with hsing. Carol finds it takes her mind off the worry of her husband finding a job.


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The good weather has brought the scouting ants out of Carol's kitchen into the yard. The children watch as they dig their nest, reposition grains of dirt, plow an entrance to the nest, and gather an earthworm for food. Carol finds wild strawberries (the flowers anyway) growing in the grass. Carol tries explaining pollination to Emily and decides to find a book at the library on pollination for her.


The family's sunflower seeds have sprouted.

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Little black ant---Monomorium minumum

Strawberries---Fragaria

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Questions:
Ants can live in the cracks of the pavement as well as on a bare patch in your lawn. Take ample time to watch them wherever you find them.
Can you recognize the wild strawberry?

Nature Observations:

• We've finished with "school" for the year. We're "unschooling" over the summer.
• Tomorrow take the kids outside to hunt and observe ants. Great pasttime!
• Maybe place a piece of leftover watermelon, a cucumber and a tomato, and a splash of juice on the patio and see which one the ants go to first (oftener).
• Find any plants that have shot-up in your yard. Have children draw/color them in nature notebooks.
• Our strawberries have already come and gone but the kids are now finding blackberries in the woods. As have Alice's children. Must watch out for snakes though...which explains why Texans don't pick bluebonnets. Yikes!!!