Tahoe

This past week we spent in Tahoe with family.  The weather wasn't great for a lot of the outside activities, but we did get to see the salmon spawning at Taylor Creek.
If you are thinking of visiting South Lake Tahoe around October, this is something you really shouldn't miss.  They have a room underground where you can see a profile of the stream and some great trails that lead you through some local vegetation and by the river.  If you time it right, they have some beautiful Indian Paintbrush blooming.  Other than salmon, you have the chance to see various ducks, birds, and possibly even some bears getting ready for winter by stocking up on fish.  She read The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, The Legend of the Bluebonnet, and The Bird That Loved a Mountain to prepare for some of the fun sights she might see.

Genevieve took her grandparents and aunts and uncles to Bijou Community Park, which is a nice small community park with some playground equipment.  She enjoyed the swings and slides.  She also played at the park in Zephyr Cove, where we saw some horses and later spent some time checking out the tide pools on the beach.  She found some great shells to add to her nature collection and the exoskeleton of a crayfish to explore under her new microscope.  Tobias explored the textures of the rocks on the beach.  We found a nice little "cave" in the rocks, which reminded her of the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt.  She'd been looking for a bear all week.

She had lots of fun each night taking out her new telescope to try to look at the stars.  She would take it out on the porch during the day to look for bears, birds, and pine cones.  She had great fun dancing in her new tutu and putting on puppet shows and puppet parades with some handmade puppets from grandma.





One of the highlights of the week was when she got to carve a pumpkin with her aunt and uncle.  She had been planning this for awhile as this was her first carving.  She had a book with four patterns to choose from and some crazy eyes to put in the pumpkin.  They traced the patterns and then used the tools provided to carve a bat.

Genevieve really enjoyed checking out a local yarn shop with Grandmum and Grandy.  She has been practicing to knit with pretend needles and loves to help pull yarn out for both grandmothers.  She had to help host Grandmum's yarn podcast too.

Tobias has loved having all these guys around to play with.  Often he is stuck at home with mom and sister, so the opportunity to play with dad, Grandy and two uncles was great.

Post Birthday Fun

This week we've read more Halloween books, since she loves them.  Little Goblins Ten is a fun counting book with lots of different monsters getting ready for Trick-or-Treat.  Los Gatos Black on Halloween is mostly in English but introduces some interesting Spanish Halloween words like esqueletos, dedos, musica, momia, and tumbas.  Genevieve loves Daniel Tiger so she got a new flip book, Happy Halloween Daniel Tiger, where he and his friends create costumes that are right for them.  We read two bat books - Bats in the Band, which is part of a series of books that follows bats through different places and donates part of the proceeds to Bat Conservation International, and Littlebat's Halloween Story, where a young bat lives in the attic of a library and really wants to join storytime.  Bedtime for Monsters is a fun book which builds suspense as the monster comes to get you - to get a goodnight kiss.

Genevieve has been enjoying some of the games and toys from her party.  We built science kits for all her friends - including magnet wands, windchimes, a nature bag, magnifying glass, bubbles, glow-in-the-dark Playdoh and bouncy balls.  She's been creating items out of the Playdoh and seeing how it glows.  We've been blowing bubbles and decorating wind chimes.  She also has been trying out her new magnifying cup.  I made some different games based on PBS Kids shows for them to play at the party that she has also been playing.  I made a maze to drive the Mars rover Boop to some water.  I created a railroad for her to try to find the missing piece of track.  We created a box to help sort her nature items.

She's also been enjoying some of her presents.  She got a wooden railroad and has enjoyed putting it together.  A friend got her a singing Elsa doll, so she has been singing Let It Go everywhere.  She's been learning how to play some board games like Chutes and Ladders and Candyland.  We have a new animal for bedtime - a Margret doll from Daniel Tiger along with some Daniel books.  She got a toy I hadn't seen before as well.  It's like a peg board with nice large colorful pegs to create pictures.

We ended the week with some time with grandparents and another friend's birthday party at a farm.

Explorer's Week and the Number 3

We are still reading Halloween books this week.  We've enjoyed Halloween Colors, 5 Little Pumpkins, The Spooky Old Tree and two mummy books.  The mummy books aren't really Halloween themed but she enjoys them - The Surprise Party and Midnight in Memphis.  The Spooky Old Tree was nice to read this week because it is about three young bears exploring a spooky tree.  We are both learning about explorers and the number three this week.  Explorers because we don't celebrate Columbus Day and the number three to get ready for Genevieve's 3rd birthday.

We began the week with an urban hike, enjoying nature trails and playgrounds along this 3 mile walk.  There was a map to follow, which Genevieve investigated later.  We've pretended to be astronauts, jungle explorers and sailors.  We also read San Francisco ABC.

We read different versions of the Three Little Pigs - the original tale, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Pig Who Went Home on Sunday.  We read The Three Little Kittens and told the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  We also read the great book about being three, The Importance of Being Three.  We read an alphaprint book called 123.  We played tic-tac-toe, played with triangles and danced.  After reading the fingerprint book, we created some art with fingerprints and rolling pinecones and seed pods through paint.  We played a match three game and a 3 Little Pigs.

The Festival of Nine Nights and Rosh Hashanah

This week we've started reading Halloween books as Genevieve loves all the monsters and pumpkins. We read Spooky Pookie, The Perfect Pumpkin, Shake Dem Halloween Bones, Big Pumpkin, and The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin. Shake Dem Halloween Bones is fun, especially if you are willing to be a little silly and sing with it. It's a Halloween party for fairy tale friends with a fun beat. The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin was also fun. It's a very different read from Goodnight Moon, but by the same author.

We've also talked about some holidays that take place this week. The Festival of the Nine Nights or Navrati is from the 1-10 October this year. This holiday celebrates the motherhood aspect of god and gives thanks for the harvest. Nine different components are celebrated: love, justice, providence of basic necessities, ability to determine the difference between right and wrong, battle against evil, protection against evil, and the treasure of knowledge and mystic powers. During these nine nights of holiday, many people head to the temple to pray. They leave weapons with the image of the goddess so that she might use the weapons to continue to protect the earth. Small children are often introduced to the alphabet for the first time on this holiday.

As such, we have been practicing the alphabet a lot this week. We sang the alphabet song each day in the car and have practiced naming the starting letter of certain words.

This week began the Jewish New Year, with Rosh Hashanah beginning at sunset on October 2. The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are used to seek forgiveness from those you have wronged. Prayers tend to be longer during this time of year and a shofar, or a hollowed out ram's horn, is blown during ceremonies. This is also a time to celebrate the past. People visit water with fish in it to cast away their sins. They often eat apples dipped in honey. Yom Kippur is spent in fasting and in the synagogue.

We talked about how "I'm sorry" means we are going to try not to do it again. We played with paper trumpets and other instruments. We noticed how it is more difficult to play wind and brass instruments than it is to play percussion. We also had lots of apple fun. We fed apples and carrots to some rescue animals. We cut an apple open and noted the seeds inside the core. We used our apple halves to paint and noted apple starts with A. We also read The Apple Doll. The book ends with instructions on how to create your own apple doll. We peeled our apple and soaked it in a bowlful of lemon juice with some salt. After soaking for half an hour, we set it on our window sill to slowly dry. Genevieve also helped mom mix up an apple cake, which she has been enjoying.

Native America

This week we've celebrated Native Americans.  We read a number of non-fiction books about Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, Nez Perce, Ojibwa, Iroquois, and others.  One of the best was We Are the Many which profiled many prominent Native Americans from many different tribes and wasn't too difficult for Genevieve to tolerate the length of the stories.  Brother Eagle, Sister Sky places beautiful imagery behind the words of Chief Seattle.  We also read a number of legends.  The Tale of the Rabbit and Coyote is reminiscent of Briar Rabbit tales.  Sootface is an Ojibwa take on the Cinderella story.  The Legend of the Bluebonnet and the Legend of the Indian Paintbrush are both origin stories for flowers.  Arrow to the Sun is a brightly colored Pueblo tale.  Tasunka is a Lakota story of how they first discovered horses.  The Boy Who Lived with the Bears is a collection of Iroquois stories.  Magical Tales from Many Lands includes Feather Woman and Morning Star and Giants, Ghosts and Goblins includes the Cheyenne tale of the ghost with two faces.

We visited some farm animals and talked about how they are raised.  In the spirit of The Legend of the Bluebonnet, Genevieve collected some of her toys and clothes that she doesn't use anymore to donate to charity.  We also made some pottery, practicing coiling, and painted our finished products.  We also talked about some native foods like tomatoes and chocolate, and how cocao was used as money.  We had a dance and music party, playing all our instruments and most especially the drum.  We also enjoyed Sacagawea by Deedle Deedle Dees.


In other news, Genevieve is improving at dribbling the soccer ball.  She's taken to the Pout Pout Fish and The Surprise Party.  Tobias is standing on his own for longer periods of time.

Why Do Leaves Change Colors in the Fall

Why do leaves change colors in the fall

Leaves are an important part of any tree.  During the spring and summer, the chlorophyll inside them uses sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar in the form of glucose in a process called photosynthesis.  Like an animal preparing for hibernation, plants create extra glucose to help them through the winter.  As the shorter, colder days of fall begin, plants must consider what to do with their leaves.  Some plants, called evergreens, have leaves built specifically to survive the winter, either with minimal surface area or waxy coatings.  Other trees prepare to lose their leaves, but as they do they create a wonderful palette of color.

Greens, yellows, and orange

The green found naturally in leaves is created by chlorophyll.  Another chemical in leaves, called auxin, maintains a part of the leaf called the abscission layer.  As fall begins, the cooler days prevent the creation of more auxin.  The abscission layer grows and prevents the tree and leaf from sharing any more water or nutrients.  Without water, chlorophyll begins to fade, allowing other colors to show through.  Oranges and yellows are often already present in the leaves, in the form of carotene and xanthophyll.

Reds and purples

Some trees, like maples, use glucose trapped in the leaves to create a chemical called anthocyanin.  Some scientists have suggested anthocyanin may help a tree keep its leaves longer, as it lowers the freezing point of the leaves.  This may allow the tree to collect as much nutrition from the leaf as possible.

Browns

Brown colors in leaves are caused by a waster product named tannin.

Where to find the best colors

Weather plays a large role in color production.  In order to produce the best colors, the trees need to experience a warm and wet spring, followed by a temperate summer and an autumn with bright sunny days and cool nights.  The national forest service provides a hotline which offers information about the best color displays.  The scenic byways in thirty-one states have also been designed to best display the fall colors.

When looking for a particular color, keep in mind that colors are often characteristic of a species.  Oaks, high in tannins and anthocyanin, are often reds and browns.  Hickory leaves turn a golden bronze, while aspens are golden yellow.  Dogwoods can nearly be magenta, with their combination of purple and red.  Beech trees typically have tan leaves.  Black tupelo leaves are crimson red in the fall.  Maples vary by species.  Red maples, with their extra glucose, turn scarlet.  Sugar maples allow a little more of the carotene to shine through and are a fiery orange-red.  Black maples are a brilliant yellow and striped maples nearly lose all their color.

Not a leaf wasted

The abscission layer of the leaf eventually loosens the leaf enough that it will fall easily.  These leaves serve as food for all sorts of decomposers, which in turn help to restock the nutrients in the soil and help hold water.  Scientists have also proposed that chemicals like anthocyanin in leaves may help avert the growth of other species.

For those that love the fall colors, and would like some science experiments to accompany a leaf exploration, Science Made Simple has some great experiments.

http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/pubs/leaves/leaves.shtm

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/veg/trees/tresstruecolor.htm

http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/leaves/leaves.htm

Talk Like a Pirate and Welcome to Fall

We began the week celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day.  My husband was stationed in Hampton, Virginia before where I taught at the local history museum about Blackbeard and a Blackbeard Festival was held so we are well versed in pirates.   I also worked at the Duke Energy Children's Museum at the Cincinnati Museum Center while the Real Pirates exhibit came through.

Some interesting pirate facts to share.

• It was actually bad to be a well-known pirate, because that increased the number of people hunting you down unless you were a privateer like Sir Francis Drake who had the protection of the crown because he only attacked ships of political enemies of his home country.  
• There were some female pirates, but they often disguised themselves as men.  Anne Bonny and Mary Read both served with Calico Jack.  One night, their ship was attacked by the Navy and many of the men were too drunk or scared to fight but Anne and Mary tried to fight.  The men were hung for the crime of piracy, but the women were both pregnant so they were sent to prison.  No one knows what happened to them then.  
• X marks the spot comes from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
• There is no evidence of a pirate walking the plank.
• Life as a pirate was rough, but there was a pirate code that tried to keep things fair in the ship.  The treasure was divvied up by the quartermaster according to the rules.
• The Jolly Roger was not the only pirate flag.  Pirates often created their own flag to identify themselves to other pirates.  

We started with some pirate stories.  Pirate Princess is about a girl who wants nothing more than to give up being a princess to become a pirate.  She struggles at first with the hard work, but soon uses her skills at finding treasure to impress the crew.  Victricia Malicia, on the other hand, was born into a pirate family but didn't feel like she belonged.  All she wanted to do was read.  In Pirate Girl, a group of ferocious pirates capture a little girl at sea.  She tells them they will regret it, and they do, when her mother's band of pirates attack.  Roger the Jolly Pirate is a fun take on how the Jolly Roger came to be known as the pirate flag.  It's written and illustrated by the same guy who illustrated the Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Events.

We created our own island to bury treasures using a silicon ice cube tray.  First we added beads for treasure.  Then we buried them using a combination of baking soda and dyed sand to represent different parts of the island like sand and plants.  We used some watered down liquid water color to represent water.  The silicon tray made it easier to do the next part, where we created a map of our buried treasure.  The tray provided a nice grid for us to start from.  Then came the hard part, remembering where our treasure was buried so we could mark it on the map.  Then we took our island to the sink, where we used vinegar to wash away everything to reveal the treasure.  It's great to include mapping skills with pirate themes whenever you can.

We also created our own pirate flags.  I gave Genevieve the choice of dark felt or black paper.  She chose black paper and glitter glue, although we could have used chalk as well to get a nice image.  After Genevieve made her own flag, I had her talk me through things I should include on my pirate flag to let people know that I am coming.  We played her Jake and the Neverland Pirates matching game as well.

Other great pirate activities to do at home include creating treasure chests, playing pirate dice. or creating your own scrimshaw.  Pirate dice, or liar's dice, is the game played in Pirates of the Caribbean.  Each player should have a cup and 5 regular dice (6-sided).  Shake the cups, then place them upside down on the table.  Each player may look at their own dice.  Then the first player will use the number of ones in their cup to guess how many ones there are on the table.  The next player can increase the number of ones they think there are or guess the number of twos.  Once a player moves on to the next number, players may not go back to guess previous numbers.  At any time a player may call another player a liar if they believe they have overestimated the total of the current number.  Scrimshaw is beautiful carved artwork.  And although I wouldn't recommend carving into bones with your kids, you can carve soft white clay or create plaster medallions and cover them with wax that is easy to carve.

We also have been celebrating the start of fall.  We read Stellaluna, as well as Verdi and Pinduli by Janell Cannon.  Stellaluna is about a bat that spends some time living with birds.  We read 5 Little Pumpkins, The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin, and Ready for Pumpkins as Genevieve loves pumpkins.  On a similar vein, we read Sophie's Squash about a little girl who adopts a squash as a plaything.  We also enjoyed Storm is Coming and In the Leaves which is a great story where a boy explains some Chinese characters while on a trip to a farm with friends.

We did some great art and science experiments.  First Genevieve made a fall wreath and garland from a pumpkin cut out kit.  We decided to color some plants, so we split the bottom of a piece of celery with leaves and placed each side in a cup with different liquid watercolor.  We also placed a white carnation in red liquid watercolor.  All the watercolors were watered down.  We watched to see throughout the day how the plants might change.

We also did a little chromatography.  Ours didn't turn out because my lab assistant wanted to add a lot of water, but you might have better luck if you try.  First we tore up two groups of leaves - one that had changed to red and one that was still green.  You could also grind them up.  Add a bit of rubbing alcohol (use with care as it is flammable and not something you want anyone drinking).  Then we added a bit of water (warm water will help speed up the process).  Let that sit a bit, while you prepare a coffee filter by cutting it into strips.  When the water is colorful, dip the tip of the coffee filter into the liquid and you can watch the color travel up the strip.  Colored stripes should stop at different points along the filter.

We tried candy chromatography as well.  I'd recommend Skittles, but you can use M&Ms or gummies too.  We used a similar technique to the leaves, to which of course we added too much water.  Another option is to wet the candy a bit and use the liquid to draw about half way up the coffee filter strip.  Dip the tip in water and a little bit of rubbing alcohol and watch as the liquid separates the colors used to make the coating.

We did a little math first with the Skittles.  We opened the pack and sorted them by color into little cups.  We guessed which color had the most candies.  Then we drew a chart to see which color actually had the most candies.