Today was the first day of our Australia study. Today the girls learned the location of Australia. We learned about the Aboriginal Culture and Aboriginal art. We also learned about the animals of Australia. Oh yeah, and we talked about the Outback and the Great Barrier Reef. We will be covering all of these subjects more in depth as the week goes by.
During the next 2 weeks we will also be learning about explorers of Australia, flag of Australia, Australian food, boomerangs, Australian Christmas traditions, Australian words and expressions, and the 7 states of Australia.
Sounds like I better get busy preparing for a fun couple of weeks. :)
Today we are going to be reviewing all that we have learned about the Arctic this past 2 weeks. Once again, I marvel at how fast these 2 weeks have flown by. When I first sat down with my mother-in-law to plan our units, I just knew that 2 weeks would be too long. Boy! was I wrong. There is so much to fit in to these units, I swear I could drag them on for months at a time. Unfortunately our time has came to finish up learning about the Arctic and next week we will be learning about Australia. Visit us next week as we dive into the land down under.
Here is a link list of all of our learning days about Antarctica and the Arctic.
I was born, raised and currently reside in Oklahoma. Oklahoma has my heart. Some people envision
growing up and leaving the place they call home, but not I. I could never
imagine wanting to pack up and move to any other place. Now travel! Oh yes, I
love to travel to unknown places and explore. I have actually visited many
states and have always enjoyed learning more about the places others call home.
Today I am going to be collaborating with Kendra Thornton (former Orbitz
Director of Communications). Kendra lives in the city of Chicago. She will be
sharing her favorite things to do in her home city. I will start with 5 things I
love about my home state, Oklahoma.
1)Oklahoma has beautiful state parks. As a
homeschool mother, I have enjoyed being able to pack up for a day and go explore
the parks with my children. Oklahoma offers 35 state parks to the public, each
with its own unique attractions and recreational opportunities. Visit the state
parks page to find a state park perfect for you!
2)Oklahoma is home to the largest driveable stretch
of Route 66 in the nation. How cool is that?
3)Oklahoma is a warm and friendly place with a
small town community feeling in all of the cities. Here you will find others
taking the time to say hello to passer byers and when you drive down the road,
most will flash you a wave. In the face of tragedy, we have bonded together. Many
examples of this are found at the OKC memorial in Oklahoma City, remembering the
bombing victims and celebrating life. Just recently, our state came together
and through all the pain emerged many blessings of help and love after the
recent Moore tornado.
4)Our state capital is pretty darn cool! Watch
this video to see why.
5)Oklahoma museums are fun and engaging. I love
taking my children to the museums to explore.
I know that I could literally write a book
of all the things I love about Oklahoma. That’s why I limited myself to 5
things. J I now want to introduce you to Kendra Thornton.
As a wife, mother of 3 children, travel advocate, TV spokesperson, businesswoman and the love for travel, I think you will
really enjoy getting to know Kendra Thornton’s favorite places and different
parts of Chicago. Follow her on twitter to get lots of information on traveling
trends and tips. You can also visit her website here.
I think that I can speak for most when
I say that we all have a love for our hometowns. Whether it’s a local coffee
shop in town that we enjoy our morning trip to, or a historic building that
embodies the spirit of the city, there is something special about every area.
My home is Chicago, and there is so much that I love about the place. Here a
some of my favorite places, along with the reasons behind them.
Music One of the great parts about being in a
big city is that there are tons of different attractions. For a person with
wide interests, this can be a great asset. The Symphony Center in Chicago is
one of my favorites. The Chicago Symphony
Orchestra is one of the best in the nation, and I am wowed every time I
attend. It is located on S. Michigan Avenue, and they have been playing for one
hundred years in Chicago. Wrigley Field Attending any sporting event in Chicago
is an incredible experience, but Wrigley Field is my personal favorite. When
one thinks about Chicago, Wrigley is one of the first places that always come
to mind. It doesn’t matter if the Chicago Cubs are the best or the worst team
in baseball, Wrigley will always be fun and upbeat! Catching an afternoon game
on the weekends is a great family experience! Where to Eat The city of Chicago has something to offer
for all tastes and interests. The food scene throughout the city varies from
your famous burgers and delicious pizza to some of the finest dining in the
country. If you ever visit Chicago, the site gogobot offers user reviews and great deals on hotels
and restaurants throughout Chicago. Outdoor Fun! If you’re looking to enjoy some fun
outside when visiting the Windy City, there are plenty of options for you!
Numerous parks offer a great place to relax and enjoy the sun, and (weather
permitting) the beaches on Lake Michigan are gorgeous! One of my favorite
places to bring my kids is the Lincoln Park Zoo.
This zoo has been a staple of Chicago since 1868, and is one of the oldest in
the United States. It is open all year long, free to all, and absolutely
beautiful.
I'd like to thank Kendra for her wonderful post and
thank you friends for taking the time to read about our favorite things in the state and town we love.
We learned today that the word tundra is believed to come from the Finnish word "tunturia"which refers to a treeless plain. We found that information HERE
I found a great video on the tundra, but
I was having trouble posting the video. Here is the link -
Well, just as I was about to start my day, when my mother-in-law dropped by with her cool brand new Nikon camera. I'm kinda a geek when it comes to cameras, pictures, editing, and the such. I was ecstatic to check this new toy out, and that I did. I played with that darn thing, until it dawned on me, that I had probably better get the girls and myself started with our morning..ahem...afternoon at this point.
We finally got around to starting our day and I'm pretty sure the girls had a ton of fun. We decided to make a salt dough map today.
Here is the site I visited to download the map flags and learn how to make the map.
We did some lapbooking today and used the resources found HERE
We also learned a little about the Inuit today. That was interesting, and I will probably touch more on that subject later in the week.
Who are the Inuit? Where do they live?
The Inuit are a tribe of American Indians which live all around the Arctic Circle, reaching from Alaska, across Canada, and over to Greenland. They originally made their home along the Alaskan coast, but migrated to other areas. Everything about the lives of the Inuit is influenced by the cold tundra climate in which they live.
The tundra was also pretty interesting to learn about. We will be touching more on this later in the week as well.
Today we learned about the North Pole, talked about arctic wolves, polar bears, the arctic tern, longitude and latitude, polar explorers, did an experiment and watched a few videos. I don't know about you friends, but I was tired, tired, tired today. I think I almost fell asleep watching the last video. Not because it wasn't good, because it was very interesting. I just knew I could close my eyes and still listen. Not! It seems I did drift off a couple times to dream land, only to return to my daughters voice telling me I had fallen asleep, oops! :) I'll try harder to get to bed earlier tonight I suppose. ;)
Below is a video about the Arctic Tern and how far they migrate. Very interesting! My mother-in-law shared this video with us, and I'm so glad she did. Those Arctic Terns are pretty darn cool!
I usually have a ton of resources to share, but not today friends. We will be learning about all these great things all week long and I do plan on sharing the resources.
Robert Falcon Scott (June 6, 1868 - March 29, 1912) was a British naval officer and Antarctic explorer. Scott led two expeditions to the South Pole, and died on the disastrous second trip, along with his crew. His expedition was the second to reach the South Pole (1910-1912); Roald Amundsen led the first.
James Weddell (1787 -1834) was an English explorer, naturalist, geographer, and sealer who sailed on three expeditions to the Antarctic.
Weddell joined the Navy when he was nine and was a Master by the age of 28. He joined the merchant service four years later and was given command of a 160-ton sealing brig to take on an expedition to the South Shetland Islands.
Captain Weddell sailed on the brig "Jane." On these sealing/scientific expeditions, Weddell discovered the Weddell Sea (near the South Pole) and the Weddell Seal, Leptonychotes weddelli in 1823.
James Weddell´s second expedition, depicting the brig "Jane" and the cutter "Beaufroy".
Captain Weddell also set an 80-year record for the farthest southern latitude reached (74°15'S, set February 20, 1823). Weddell wrote of his adventures in the book, "A Voyage Towards the South Pole in the Years 1822-24" (published in 1825).
Weddell died a young man. He was injured when a vessel of which he was master was shipwrecked in the Azores five years after his third voyage. Weakened by the experience, he died, relatively poor and with no family, at the age of 47.
January and February 2013 brought some unusual ice behavior in the Weddell Sea, east of the Antarctic Peninsula, as sea ice pushed northward toward warmer latitudes. On February 5, 2013, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reported that the ice edge was roughly 200 to 300 kilometers (100 to 200 miles) north of what is normal for this time of year.
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Today was the first day of our Australia study. Today the girls learned the location of Australia. We learned about the Aboriginal Culture and Aboriginal art. We also learned about the animals of Australia. Oh yeah, and we talked about the Outback and the Great Barrier Reef. We will be covering all of these subjects more in depth as the week goes by.
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1.jpg "Photo Credit: Wikipedia")
