Our Sweet Gum
We set out in our front yard to examine nature and find some real treasures to bring in a study more about. I told them to go look around our yard and find 3 things that you think look interesting and would like to learn more about. They came back with a Sweet Sum ball in our front yard, another little thing from the Sweet Gum tree and a little wild flower. We anxiously went inside to learn more about the little nature treasures. We found out that the Sweet Gum balls that are so fun to play with in the front yard but not so much when you step on one were actually the fruit of the tree. From it come little winged seeds. We immediately ran outside to find these little winged seeds and sure enough they were everywhere. We took a few inside and compared it with a huge one we found a few days ago outside.
They then found that these little winged seeds made good "spinners". When they are thrown into the air on their way down they spin making them "spinners" They had a blast.
We enjoyed learning about our Sweet Gum tree. This week we have had many wonderful encounters with nature that have been very exciting. I hope to share all of these later. We did not make a journal entry this time unfortunitly. Last week I made a little nature shelf to display our collections from nature, I am glad to say it is growing quickly. Find more Green Hour Challenges at Heart of Harmony.
6 comments:
I love your nature collection shelf! That is such a great idea and a great way to display your precious items.
We have those winged seeds in our yard and we call them "helicopter seeds". Lots of fun to drop from the deck railing. :)
Thanks for the link,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
wow.. I am so challenged yet encouraged by how you are educating your kids..I have a friend who just started homeschooling and I know she would love to converse with you.. cant wait to pass your blog along..
Praise God for your willingness to go counter culture in your children's education
grace to you
Sounds like you had lots of fun identifying things. I love your idea of the nature shelf!
I would love to know what book you are referring to in your photo? It looks so beautiful. We need a good tree identification book, so I was wondering what yours is.
Blessings on your nature adventures,
Melissa
In the Sparrow's Nest
www.homeschoolblogger.com/melissal89
I didn't know that sweet gums had little winged seeds, either. But, I know a lot about how painful they are step on! We had 2 trees in our backyard growing up. Ouch!
And, we called the "spinners", "helicopters", too! LOTS of fun to play with. :-)
I am not familiar with the sweet gum tree
There is so much to learn from other homeschool moms!
Wonderful post - we have similar "helicopters" on our sycamore and ash trees in the autumn, didn't know about this tree at all!
~Chrissy
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