This will be the last Outdoor Hour Challenge posted until January 9, 2009. Our family will be taking a two week break from school and I am going to give myself a two week break from organizing anything new for the challenges. I will be back and ready to go on January 9th with a whole series of new challenges on mammals.
I prepared a special podcast for you yesterday. I am anticipating the making of more podcasts for the Outdoor Hour Challenges in the future. I really like the format of speaking directly to you so you can hear my voice and understand better the ideas that I am trying to express.
This podcast is about ten minutes long but you can listen and pause or download to your computer or your iPod...whatever works for you. I hope you find some time to listen to it today! Sorry for all the microphone noise...still working on how to use the headset. :)
Outdoor Hour Challenge Podcast #1 December 19, 2008
For now the podcasts will be loaded on my Harmony Fine Arts podcast website but when my tech guru son has time, he will make a website just for the Outdoor Hour Challenge podcasts.
As we finish up our mini focus on flowerless plants, I need to say that I have personally learned more than I ever anticipated. I hope that you have learned something too or that you are better prepared to study flowerless plants as you will eventually come into contact with them in the near future. At the very least, I hope that you have gained confidence in knowing a few facts, gleaned from the Handbook of Nature Study.
Don't forget to send in your survey responses by December 23, 2008. I am already gaining lots of insight as I read through the surveys that have come in so far. Thank you to everyone who has responded, I highly value your words.
Edit to Add: Here is a link to another post with additional ideas to get you started with growing molds.
Additional Help with Challenge 43
Outdoor Hour Challenge #43 Molds, Puffballs, and Morels
1. Read pages 727-729 in the Handbook of Nature Study. Included in the reading are instructions for growing your own mold on bread so you will have some mold of your own to observe. I highly recommend this activity and your children will be amazed at the results. Although some might find mold repulsive, try to keep a positive outlook as you grow and then observe your very own mold.
2. Read pages 720-725 in the Handbook of Nature Study and learn about puffballs and bracket fungi. Read pages 726-727 in the Handbook of Nature Study about Morels. You can underline and highlight any sections you find in these pages that you find interesting. File away the facts until you come across some of these interesting subjects during your nature study.
3. Do your best to spend 10-15 minutes outdoors this week with your children. View this time as the opportunity to enjoy whatever you have available for nature study this week. If you find some mushrooms, ferns, moss, lichen, mold, bracket fungus, morels, or puffballs, you are equipped to observe these subjects more closely. If you have snow or ice to deal with, why not review challenge #39 on water forms and spend a few minutes talking about the water cycle?
If you need some fresh ideas for your outdoor time, your family might enjoy using the Winter Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt notebook page available at this link:
http://www.savefile.com/files/1274469
4. After your outdoor time, spend a few minutes reviewing your outdoor experience. This step will help you identify any additional interests your children have so you can answer any questions or help identify any objects they observed outdoors. Are they curious about clouds or a bird they saw? Did you find any flowerless plants at all during your outdoor time? Use this time to follow up with the Handbook of Nature Study and don’t forget that you can look things up in the index.
5. Give an opportunity for a nature journal entry or provide a notebook page to complete together. Remember that a nature journal should be the child’s expression of something they found interesting during their outdoor time. You are helping them make a memory.
6. Make your blog entry and then share your entry on Mr. Linky. Everyone is always interested in seeing how other families accomplish their Outdoor Hour Challenge. You will find all the challenges listed on the sidebar of the Handbook of Nature Study blog.
To print this challenge out in pdf format, see the free downloads section of my blog.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
