Zoo's Home School

We've moved to a new homeschool blog

2011-02-02T00:20:00.000-05:00

This blog is old news. Zoo and Annod are now blogging at Zack's 4th Place Learning. Follow the intrepid Zoo in a virtual real-time middle school with a good healthy side serving of homeschool 2.0.

Ten-code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2010-09-12T19:50:00.000-04:00

Ten-code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birds at our chalet

2009-09-24T11:44:00.002-04:00

great blue heron (Ardeas hirodias): A big beautiful heron surprised on the road as we left our chalet for Toronto. We hear them, but see them less often. More here on this large wetlands bird.

Coral reef

2009-07-27T09:57:00.001-04:00

Decompression Sickness in Miskito Indian Lobster
Divers: Review of 229 Cases

Islam: Mecca and science

2009-07-27T09:18:00.009-04:00

Journey to Mecca. We saw the film story (dramatic documentary) of Ibn Battuta's (a 14th century Morrocan) first pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca (historical and cultural centre of Islam) on IMAX at the Science Centre. There sure was lots of dust! The timelapse scenes of contemporary pilgrims arriving at and visiting Mecca are astounding.

Educator's Guide: Lots of ideas including: comparison of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta; ancient cartography; timeline; concept of pilgrimage; vocabulary
The travels of Ibn Battuta from National Geographic
The travels of Ibn Battuta: a virtual tour

Sultans of Science: 1000 Years of Knowledge Rediscovered exhibition at the Science Centre focussing on math, science, and technology. VideoW

We concentrated on: applied hydrology; architecture (arches)

Educator's Guide

Classification

2009-07-13T10:29:00.003-04:00

Kittens Pounce Clumsily On Furry, Green Spiders (from Utah Education Network)

Beetles (Coleoptera) in our backyard

2009-07-12T15:52:00.007-04:00

-from the Greek: coleos=sheath + ptera=wings
-distinctive front wings called elytra, which are usually hard
-most can fly
-chewing mouthparts
-complete metamorphosis
-largest order with 300,000+ species
-common families = scarab, leaf, lady, and ground beetles

copper beetle: super family Buprestid (metallic wood-boring beetles) dicerca lurida. This may look like an ordinary nondescript beetle, but when you shine a light, it is a urprising luminous metallic copper-colour on its back, legs and antennae. He was discovered by Dad in an apple tree.
japanese beetle (popillia japonica): Found by mom on the roses!
lightening bug

True bugs (hemiptera) in our backyard

2009-07-12T11:44:00.013-04:00

dog day ciacada (tibicen canicularis): Found by The Beagle on our deck.
rhododendrum leaf hopper (graphocephala fennahi): Found by Zoo on a rose stem.
stilt bug (jalysus): The fourth (end) segment of the antennae was not enlarged on our bug.

Missing teen

2009-07-08T10:46:00.004-04:00

$50,000 reward for helping find of missing Ont. teen (Oct 24, 2008)
Search for missing teen will continue (Oct. 25, 2008)
Teens' video game habits part of larger issue: experts (Oct 25, 2008)
‘Mantracker’ joins hunt for missing Ontario teen (Oct. 25, 2008)
Video gamers high earners, athletic and dating: studies (Oct. 28, 2008)
Brandon Crisp apparently found dead, police say (Nov 5, 2008)
Hunters make tragic discovery in Brandon Crisp disappearance (Nov 5, 2008)

Moth (Lepidoptera) identification

2009-07-07T10:04:00.005-04:00

If you ever thought moths were just the poor second cousin of the butterfly, think again. Thanks to Zoo's keen eyes, the growing interest of his friends, brother, and dad, we are finding new ones almost daily. Identification is a little trickier, but mom is learning. Don't miss the amazing resources of moth macrophotography. There are some personal image collections that would put some hockey card collectors to shame. There are blogs that not only share images, but also observations and enthusiasm.

Butterflies and Moths of North America
The Mothman's blog (Toronto)
Moths of Canada from Government of Canada
Lyn Scott's Lepidoptera Images
MothGuide
Dave's Moth Index
Moth morphology interactive
John Dombroskie's Moth Photographs
Nelson Poirier's Moths of New Brunswick
Canadian National Collection
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

Moths (Lepidoptera) in our backyard

2009-06-25T15:57:00.048-04:00

We think we have found the following moths in our backyard:

pale matanema (matanema inatomaria): We have not come across other moths with these earthy colours that has a brown tip on the apex of the forewing, but not sure of this identification.
forest tent (Malacosoma disstria) There were two distinct brown bands and browner toward wing attachment, but not sure of this identification.
Another moth was quite pale with two tiny dots on the wings.
white-ribboned carpet moth (Mesoleuca ruficillata): This is a fancy moth with very distinct black and vanilla markings and longer wings. The identification seems certain.
Green Pug Moth--Larenthiinae/Eupitheciini/Pasiphila rectangulata: This is a green moth with shorter wider wings. The identification seems certain.
Pseudaletia unipuncta: Also known as an army worm, this is a non-descript little brown moth. But it could be any number of other little brown nondescript moths.
Pale Beauty Moth--Ennominae/Campaeini/Campaea perlata: This is a larger snow white moth with a delicate beige band running from the inner to costal margins about a third of the way up from the outer margin. The body is short and it has filiform antennae. The identification seems certain.
Eastern Tent Moth Malacosoma americanum
Melanolophia canadaria (Canadian Melanolophia)
Antheraea polyphemus: aka the giant silk moth. This is a HUGE moth!!! The motherload of moths! Zoo measured wingspan at 15 cm. It is way too large for a jar. It has short plumose antennae. There are large eyespots with a dark purple ring on the hind wings, named for Polyphemus in Greek mythology.
Blinded sphynx (Paonias excaecatus): Another amazing moth found just minutes after the giant silk moth. This moth is disguised as a dried up brown leaf. With his hidden forewing, it was more difficult to see the blush at the humeral angle. His shape is quite different from a classic moth.
Trichodezia albovittata: Zoo's friend found this black beauty, larger than an average moth, but smaller than the giant silk moth.
Plume moth (Sphenarches ontario): From the Pterophoridae family, this sleek flyer was spotted on the kitchen ceiling by Dad.
Dwarf tawny wave moth (Cyclophora nanaria) From the Geometridae family (Sterrhinae subfamily), this is a tough one... This is the best guess. Our little guy was browner with more orange yellow contrast.
White spring moth (Lomographa vestaliata): Another best guess. For one thing, it isn't spring anymore. This fellow had yellow femur, like the orange femur of the tiger moth, but it did not have the full plumose antennae (more pectinate), nor a hairy head.
Dogbane tiger moth (Cycnia tenera): Finally an easy ID!
Clover hayworm moth (Hypsopygia costalis): This little one had the shape of a Pyralidae, but couldn't ID him until he opened his wings and we could see his entire gold fringe.
Morning glory plume moth: (Emmelina monodactyla)
Beautiful wood-nymph (Eudryas grata): A fungus-like beauty wearing large hairy white boots on its front legs and sporting yellow hindwings.
small phoenix moth female (Ecliptopera silaceata)
Rose plume moth (Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla)
Small magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata): Another difficult one to track down, this one has a pleasing cream-coloured background, a brown fringe and markings, and sports a sunny yellow cape around his shoulders.
Greater black letter dart (Xestia dolosa) northern variable dart
Maple basswood leafroller (Cenopis pettitana): This yellow moth was a tougher ID, but sure of ID when we found the little orange dots.
Waved sphinx (Ceratomia undulosa): Dad found this one on the upper deck. It is much bigger than the average sized moth and was an easy ID.
Genista broom moth (Uresiphita reversalis): This one surprised us in our living room while we were sitting around waiting for the moth trap to fill up! The picture shown has less of a distinct brown fringe on the orange hindwing than this one did. The following morning we found another owlet moth with orange hind wings and patternings and further investigation suggests that they are all
Lesser yellow underwing (Noctua pronuba)
Eastern tent caterpillar moth (Malacosoma americanum)
Boxwood leaftier (Galasa nigrinodis): Dad found this one on the patio. A hard ID, but sure of this one now from the paler trimming on the outside mid wing that gives the appearance of a waist, the clumps and white stripes on the legs, the two shiny copper circles on the shoulder, and the discheveled appearance! This one looks like he was put together with parts from the bottom of the box.
Oak leafshredder ()
Horned spanworm moth (Nematocampa resistaria)
(Lacinipolia meditata)
Cloaked marvel moth (Chytonix palliatricula) This is another yellow underwing owlet moth. This one has amazing double stripe orange.
Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)

Structural Engineering

2009-06-25T12:28:00.004-04:00

Structural Engineering from Wikipedia
Building Big from PBS
Structurae ("works of structural engineering, architecture or construction through time, history and from around the world")

Medieval arts and crafts

2009-06-25T12:12:00.001-04:00

Medieval printable coloring pages from The Coloring Spot

Drawing birds

2009-06-25T12:07:00.003-04:00

Bird species printable coloring pages from The Coloring Spot (arctic tern, blue jay, canary, cardinal, chickadee, cockatiel, cuckoo, dodo, eagle, falcon, flamingo, goldfinch, great blue heron, hawk, hummingbird, kingfisher, mockingbird, oriole, ostrich, owl, parakeet, parrot, pelican, pheasant)

TNT

2009-06-24T10:11:00.003-04:00

Poetry

2009-06-24T09:36:00.001-04:00

PoemHunter.com

Bird identification by sound

2009-06-24T06:20:00.003-04:00

Who's Calling? interactive from Nature.ca
A Discerning Ear interactive from Nature.ca
Onomatopoeia Challenge interactive from Nature.ca (French songs too)

Bird identification by shape

2009-06-24T06:08:00.003-04:00

Bird silhouette identification quiz form Nature.ca

Beagles

2009-06-23T21:15:00.003-04:00

Beagle coloring page from The Coloring Spot

French Grammar

2009-06-22T21:19:00.003-04:00

Guide to basic French grammar from ProjectHappyChild

Drawing

2009-06-22T17:33:00.005-04:00

Drawing lessons from ArtyFactory.com

drawing a dog (by Zoo at right)

Toniditerlizzi's Imaginopolos Blog (Spiderwick artist)

Tale of Despereaux

2009-06-15T13:29:00.009-04:00

Being the tale of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread
by Kate DiCamillo, official website
Newberry medal recipient (2003)
Has also read: The Tiger Rising (2001), The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006)

Bunnicula series

2009-06-15T13:29:00.008-04:00

by Deborah and James Howe
from Wikipedia
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery

James and the giant peach

2009-06-15T13:23:00.002-04:00

by Raold Dahl
listened to on Overdrive Books
Also read: The BFG, The Twits

Roblox

2009-06-15T13:08:00.005-04:00

Free Games. Check out what I have been building lately!

Some ideas for Roblox Gear (copywrited to Zoo)

Chemistry

2009-06-15T10:57:00.002-04:00

Chem4Kids

Sugars

2009-06-15T10:48:00.003-04:00

sugar chemistry from Food-Info
sugar from Wikipedia
Chemistry4Kids
Carbohydrates from Scientific Psychic

Reading Ideas

2009-06-15T09:26:00.005-04:00

Reading aloud: Don't be fooled: even older kids like this special time at bedtime. You can also sneak in some reading while kids are eating dinner or working on a craft. The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease is the premier guide. For short reads, try this new collection by Harold Bloom, editor, Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children at Bedtime.
Talking Book: Our local library offers free 3-week downloads of talking books (ebooks too) through OverDrive Books. The Overdrive collection contains many Newberry books and other highly regarded books. It is also terrific for long multi-volume collections and there are many to choose from. Listen to books while your child is busy with other things like arts and crafts and you're trying to get dinner on.
Reading aloud together: buy double (even triple) copies and alternate paragraphs while reading aloud (2x Trumpet of the Swan; 3x Call it Courage; 2x Seabird)
Reading Roles: some terrific reading role ideas from Mrs. Kubler's 4th Grade Reading Group Wiki for Bud, Not Buddy
Silent Reading:

Bud, not Buddy

2009-06-14T10:16:00.004-04:00

Christopher Paul Curtis (official website) (Wikipedia)

Interview with Curtis which ran on Minnesota Public Radio May 16, 2003.

Bud, Not Buddy from Wikipedia

Resources:

workbook

Flint, Michigan

Jazz

Vocabulary

2009-06-14T10:08:00.003-04:00

We did Worldly Wise C (grade 4)
Wordly Wise 3000, 2nd edition
I am thinking about Vocabulary from Classical Roots instead of continuing with the Wordly Wise series. Any comments?
The ABCs of Effective Vocabulary Instruction from Susan Ebbers from Reading Way

Drawing Insects

2009-06-11T17:54:00.005-04:00

Drawing a beetle with colored pencils from ArtyFactory.com

(beetle by Zoo at right)

My New Insect from Let's Talk About Insects (interactive)

Arthropods in our backyard

2009-06-11T16:54:00.016-04:00

Here's a list of the arthropods we've managed to get a look at up close:
house centipede (in the kitchen drawer at breakfast!) (Scutigera coleoptrata)
firefly (on the patio in the afternoon) (Coleoptera Lampyridae)
pill bug (in the sink in the afternoon) (Armadillidium vulgare)
earwig (on the counter in the morning) (Forficula auricularia)
housefly (Musca domestica)
house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum)
mosquito (outside at dusk) (Culiseta longiareolata)
carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus)
gypsy moth ( Lymantria dispar)
red ant (Solenopsis invicta)

Links
Most frequently requested IDs from BugGuide
Common Household Bugs from BugGuide
Potentially Dangerous Arachnids and Insects from BugGuide
Key to Common Insect Orders

Joey Pigza Series

2009-06-11T12:45:00.009-04:00

The Joey Pigza Series from Wikipedia

by Jack Gantos (Wikipedia)
Jack Gantos Official Site

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (1998) (listened to on OverDrive Books)
Joey Pigza Loses Control (2000) Newberry Honor Book 2001 (listening)
What Would Joey Do? (2003)
I am not Joey Pigza (2007)

How does an egg yolk stay intact even when you move it around?

2009-06-10T10:30:00.003-04:00

Arthropods-External Morphology

2009-06-10T09:51:00.009-04:00

Insect Morphology from entomology.unm)
Taxonomy at BugGuide
Antenna Types from Bug.bio
Entomology (from University of Sidney Australia)
Insect orders by morphology from Discover Life

Insect wings

Phylum Arthropods

2009-06-10T09:39:00.012-04:00

What are phylums? How many are there?
What are Arthropods?
How are arthropods different from the living things in other phylums?
How big is the phylum arthropod compared to other phylums in terms of species diversity and population?
What are the five main classes of arthropods?
How can you tell these classes apart?
more arthropod questions

BugGuide
Biology Corner (with a taxonomy diagram of the phylum)
InsectImages.org
All Living Things: Insecta
All Living Things: Arachnida
Introduction to the Arthropoda from Berkley
Tree of Life web project (world wide, collaborative)
Insects from BrandonSD

Baby spiders

2009-06-09T15:39:00.005-04:00

We found a freshly hatched nest teaming with spiderlings.
hatching spiders at YouTube
baby spider hatchlings at YouTube
yellow garden spider
yellow spiderlings from BugGuide

Shiloh

2009-06-09T15:27:00.003-04:00

by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Here we go with Beagle Book 2

questions and vocabulary by Gay Miller

Cricket in Times Square

2009-06-09T13:33:00.004-04:00

by George Selden

We listened to this Newberry Honor (1961) book on Overdrive Books.

at Wikipedia
questions

On My Honor

2009-06-09T13:31:00.004-04:00

by Marion Dane Bauer
from Wikipedia
Newberry Honor 1987
questions

The Whipping Boy

2009-06-09T12:21:00.008-04:00

by Sid Fleischman (1987), Newberry medal winner (1987)
author's official website

from Chapters

from Wikipedia

Resources

Terrific questions and vocuabulary by Gay Miller (more reading units for some very good books (-Magic Tree House series) by Miller et al.)

Art

2009-06-08T21:48:00.003-04:00

Art Edventures
ConceptArt (web community of artists helping each other)

Imagine if we had no ears....

2009-06-08T14:12:00.002-04:00

How adrenalin work, what does it do,and what does it feel like?

2009-06-08T13:57:00.002-04:00

Adrenaline: fight or flight

Brain Teasers

2009-06-08T11:37:00.000-04:00

Brain Teasers from SharpBrains

Sound

2009-06-06T12:55:00.005-04:00

"materials may transmit, absorb, or reﬂect light sound carries energy
loud sounds carry more energy
forms of sound can be either audible and inaudible
sound is caused by vibrations in a medium
sound can travel through many substances (e.g., air, water, metal)
the shaking (oscillation) of objects is called vibrating
vibrations are measured in the number of oscillations per time (called the frequency)
higher (faster) the frequency corresponds to higher pitch sounds
lower (slower) the frequency corresponds to lower pitch sounds
materials may transmit, reﬂect, or absorb sound (an echo is reﬂected sound)
sound travels through gas, liquid, and solids"
Vocabulary: vibration, vocal cords, pitch, frequency, loudness, sound waves, reflect, absorb, transmit, echo
Sources: Mission Hill Elementary School
Changing Sounds interactive from BBC
The World of Science (children's reference book) from Parragon (section 4, page 109)

Light

2009-06-06T12:54:00.006-04:00

"light carries energy
brighter light carries more energy
forms of light can be either visible or invisible
natural and artiﬁcial light have measurable properties (e.g., colour, wavelength, brightness)
light can travel in a straight path (rays) light rays change direction (bend, refract) as they pass from one medium to another"
vocabulary: reflect, refract, absorb, transmit, natural, artificial, light beam, transparent, translucent, opaque, spectrum
sources: Mission Hill Elementary School
How we see things interactive from BBC
The World of Science (children's reference book) from Parragon (section 4, page 109)
"The Amber Spyglass: How to see invisible light and the way scientists work" in The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials (part of this chapter is available through Google Books)

Fractions

2009-06-05T13:06:00.005-04:00

fraction generator
match the fraction from Math Fun
Who wants pizza? by Cynthia Lanius (instruction and quizzes)
Exploring Fractions from LearnAlberta
Fractions from Funbrain
Fractions from Mrs. Thonus' Third Grade Stars!

Geography-general

2009-06-05T10:44:00.004-04:00

National Geographic
Royal Geographic Society Picture Library

Canadian geography

2009-06-05T10:42:00.003-04:00

Canadian Geographic
Google Map Canada
Natural Resources Canada, Map of Canada

Homeschooling

2009-06-04T17:07:00.001-04:00

A to Z Home's Cool

Diagramming

2009-06-04T16:06:00.002-04:00

As an older timer, diagramming is a new approach to grammatical structure. When I went to school, the nuns had has write out sentence and identify every single part of speech and its specific function within each sentence. Since Zoo is a master builder, I thought the construction approach might appeal to him.
English Grammar Revolution

The workbook needs to be used with companion materials to review parts of speech prior to each lesson. The workbook deals only with the position of a part of speech and does not define directly nor provide examples. It gives practice on positioning a part of speech within a sentence and on identifying which words are grouped together. The subject and predicate are clearly dilineated. The hierarchical diagram illustrates clearly the relative importance of words revealing the guts of the sentence.
Better Sentence Structure through diagramming

Parts of speech

2009-06-04T15:08:00.005-04:00

Powerpoint presentation
The Grammar Revolution
Parts of Speech games
CMS Grammar
EZ School Grammar (links on the bottom of the page)

Scratch

2009-06-04T12:25:00.002-04:00

Scratch

Timelines

2009-06-03T10:04:00.004-04:00

HyperHistory Online
Technology Timeline
Marks in the evolution of western thinking about nature from ScienceTimeline.org

Why is metal so hot or so cold?

2009-06-02T20:07:00.002-04:00

How do ants defend, attack, and gather?

2009-06-02T20:06:00.008-04:00

Ants from Wikipedia
ants from Nature.ca
Ants exposition at the Smithsonian
ant cartoons from Off The Mark
ants at Pest World For Kids (has Fire Ants)
play Archibald's Adventure
L'organisation secrete des fourmis from Nature's Secret Power Ant video (en francais)
ant colony video from Nature's Secret Power (get out the kleenex) ants.avi video from Nature's Secret Power (the full documentary)

What do dreams mean?

2009-06-02T20:06:00.007-04:00

How many volts of electricity does it take to kill a man?

2009-06-02T20:05:00.005-04:00

What extremely represents something besides a heart?

2009-06-02T20:05:00.004-04:00

What is the sand that you find in your eyes in the morning made of?

2009-06-02T20:04:00.001-04:00

Logic puzzles

2009-06-02T19:18:00.002-04:00

Bridge crossing from Coolmath,com

Multiplication

2009-06-02T19:00:00.007-04:00

http://jumpmath.org/program/basic-number-sense/TipSheet_Times.Tables-01.pdf
Math 3 Deluxe Edition with Multiplication & Division 3-4 (School Zone)
Multiplication and Division, Grades 3-4 (Golden Edition)
Multiplication Facts, Grade 3 (Homework Helpers)
Interactive Games from Multiplication.com
Games from Aplusmath.com
Math lines 12 x-factor

Spelling Bee

2009-06-02T15:09:00.002-04:00

Interactives Spelling Bee

The Periodic Table

2009-06-02T15:05:00.003-04:00

Interactives The Periodic Table

Middle Ages

2009-06-02T14:47:00.004-04:00

Interactive Middle Ages
Make a coat of arms from edhelper
elibrary
Knight's Edge (catalogue of medievel replicas)

Graphic organizers

2009-06-02T14:11:00.006-04:00

create a venn diagram
Edhelper.com
Educational Oasis
Education Place

Carolinian Forest

2009-06-01T16:21:00.002-04:00

Carolinean Canada
Trees of the Carolinian Forest Region

Types of Government

2009-06-01T15:59:00.002-04:00

CIA World Fact Book
LessonSnips

Boreal Forest

2009-06-01T14:34:00.003-04:00

Hinterland Who's Who Factsheet
Natural Resources Canada
Hinterland Who's Who Mammals and Birds
BorealForest.org
CPAWS
Environment Canada
Boreal Songbird Initiative

Endangered Species

2009-06-01T14:29:00.004-04:00

Nature Canada
Hinterland Who's Who
Species at Risk Public Registry, Government of Canada
Some of the animals I am most concerned about are:
Vocabulary: extinct, extirpated, endangered, threatened, special concern

Lego trivia and history

2009-06-01T14:06:00.003-04:00

10 neatest Lego facts and links
History of Lego from Wikipedia
LegoTimeline from Lego
The Great Idea Finder
Best Lego Sets in History

Graph

2009-06-01T14:02:00.004-04:00

Create a graph from KidsZone
InspireData from Inspiration Software (30-day free download)
Data analysis from Internet4Classrooms

Black Hawk

2009-05-28T13:34:00.007-04:00

The True Story of the Black Hawk Down narrated by Mark Bowden who wrote the book Black Hawk Down (1999) based on Battle of Mogadishu
Where: Mogadishu, Somalia
When: October 3-4, 1993
What: The Black Hawks crashing
Context: Civil war with Somalian warlords fighting for control and the US trying to help Somalians
Who: The Americans, The Somalians, The Pakistanians
Why: Because the Americans killed some Somalians while trying to find *** and enraged the Somalians
How: The Somalians kept shooting their RPG and they got two Black Hawks to crash by hitting the tail router. Then the Somalians went to the crash site immediately to murder them. The Americans launched a rescue operation to save the soldiers.
Outcome: The Americans won the battle but lost the war. It gave nothing the outcome was just dying soldiers and more Somalian malitia.

vocabulary: famine, international aid, civil war, anarchy, warlords, foreign policy, United Nations (UN), Mogadishu, Operation Gothic Serpent, Churchill speech
resources: Places that don't exist: Somaliland

Countries of the world

2009-05-27T10:42:00.004-04:00

Learn your geography with Yakko

Common spelling errors

2009-05-27T09:28:00.004-04:00

Zoo is very strong in spelling so we do not do traditional spelling exercises. We get at spelling through reading and vocabulary development (greek and latin affixes). We used some lists of commonly mispelled words to raise his awareness of mispellings.
The University of Hull
50 Common Errors
Writing Tutorial Service
Common Errors in English
Common contextual errors are trickier for Zoo.
White Smoke
Practicing homophones
We also look at variations between Canadian, British and American spellings.
http://www.clcplus.cstdi.gov.hk/images/upload/ENet/Common%20Errors%20and%20Guidelines%20for%20Spelling.htm

Finding angles with a compass

2009-05-26T15:52:00.002-04:00

Curasco Compass for Dummies

Geodesic dome

2009-05-26T15:40:00.003-04:00

Construct a geodesic dome

Animal tracks in winter

2009-05-26T08:35:00.003-04:00

Sources:
Bear Trackers Animal Track Den
Wildwood Tracking

2-d shapes

2009-05-21T14:00:00.005-04:00

Greek numerical prefixes
More on Greek prefixes
polygons at MathLeagues

How to train a Beagle pup

2009-05-21T13:46:00.002-04:00

Hound at the Hospital

2009-05-20T17:05:00.005-04:00

Since we got our new Beagle, we're reading everything about these dogs. The cover of this book was very compelling for Beagle lovers so Zoo gave it a try. Hound at the Hospital is number 36 from the Animal Ark series, but unfortunately it was a bust.

Latin

2009-05-20T14:59:00.002-04:00

Latin Derivatives
Search page for information about English words
Latin Dictionary from Babylon

Birds in our backyard

2009-05-20T13:24:00.011-04:00

Here are some of the birds we have seen:
hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) hummingbird: These tiny wonderful birds were in our apple trees at blossom time.
ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) warbler. This little one crashed into our big picture window and died.
robin (Turdus migratorius) thrush
cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) cardinal: We have lots of these all year round, especially in the spruce tree out back.
red tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis): This surprising bird alerted us through its distinctive cry. At first we thought it was squirrels fighting, but then saw it sitting on a railing. Its size is shocking!
chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina): This little bird surprised us by flying through our open sliding patio doors and attracting the attention of the beagle. This little one is quite tame and charming.
black-throated green warbler (Dendroica virens): This little bird was lying on the patio bricks and then suddenly my naughty little beagle sniffed at the bird and looked at me (Zoo) all confused (luckily he didn't eat it alive). The bird allowed me to pick him up and we brought it inside, identified it, and took care of it. The call is Zoo-Zee, Zoo-Zoo-Zee.
gray-cheeked thrush (Catharus minimus): The Beagle alerted Zoo to this little bird who was easily taken in hand. At first view, we thought it an Ovenbird, but clearly a thrush, although at first we thought it a Swainson's thrush, but the bird lacked the warm orangey-yellow plumage on the neck and upper chest. The eye ring was distinctive, but it must be less so than the Swainson's.

Links:
Checklist of the birds of Toronto
All about birds from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Books:
Birds of Toronto and Vicinity from Lone Publishing
Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds from Little Brown (taxonomy by colour)
Eastern Birds, Peterson Field Guides. This is the "Birder’s Bible" using the"Peterson System". It has been replaced by a newer volume which includes central North America.
Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds. This guide has photographs rather than sketches and comes with a formidable DVD featuring 5.5 hours of vocalizations in 587 MP3 files, each embedded with an image.Guide des Oiseaux de l’Amerique du Nord. Guide d’identification sur le terrain (Marcel Broquet, Quebec, 1983) [out of print]

Birds in danger

2009-05-20T13:19:00.008-04:00

These silouhettes are available from Ernest-Charles.

We got ours from Yule-Hyde.

City of Toronto Bird Friendly Development Guidelines

Hummingbird

2009-05-20T13:18:00.002-04:00

The Trumpet of the Swan

2009-05-20T10:34:00.007-04:00

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

We read this book aloud alternating paragraphs.

Other stories by E.B. White:
Charlotte's Web
Stuart Little

Resources:
Trumpeter swan mating display (introduce after Chapter 1)
Trumpeter swan dads
New York Times Review

author profile by his stepson from The New Yorker

Tent Caterpillar

2009-05-20T10:33:00.002-04:00

His Dark Materials

2009-05-20T10:05:00.010-04:00

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass (10:33)

The Subtle Knife (8:55)

The Amber Spyglass (14:53)

We listen to this trilogy on OverDrive Books from our local library. This free service allows us to download talking books (and ebooks) to our computer for three weeks. After that, they are re-absorbed into cyberspace.

Quote from Philip Pullman: "I have maintained a passionate interest in education, which leads me occasionally to make foolish and ill-considered remarks alleging that not everything is well in our schools. My main concern is that an over-emphasis on testing and league tables has led to a lack of time and freedom for a true, imaginative and humane engagement with literature." (P. Pulman's website)

Vocabulary: dust, intercision, alethiometer, intention craft, telescope, lodestone resonator

Resources:

The Science of Philip Pulman's "His Dark Materials"

Races and Creatures in His Dark Materials

Characters of His Dark Materials

Encyclopedia from Bridge to the Stars (lots more resources including maps on this fan site)

TeachIt.co.uk (10 printable exercises including "Scientific prefixes and suffixes"

Oven bird

2009-05-19T16:32:00.004-04:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovenbird

Greek Mythology

2009-05-19T11:55:00.003-04:00

Sources:
ClipArt Etc
Ancient Greece. A Guide to The Golden Age of Greece

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

2009-05-04T21:27:00.003-04:00

Waltzes

2009-05-04T21:20:00.005-04:00

The Great Vienna Waltzes (Mediaphon)
Johann Strauss's Tales from the Vienna Woods, Emperor’s Waltz, and The Blue Danube

Frederic Chopin's Minute Waltz

Josef Strauss (son of Johann)

Josef Lanner

Emil Waldteufel

My mystery of the tic

2009-05-04T21:14:00.003-04:00

I was working on my math and then I moved my leg, looked at it, and I saw a little black dot on my thigh. Right away I thought it was a tick and I was worried. My mom said it was a scab.
We decided to figure out what it was the scientific way. So my mom went to the garage and brought something that she forgot about, but thought about the other day. It was a magnifying kit with a microscope and a handheld magnifier.

To conduct our investigation, first we extracted the "tick" using tweezers and put it on a slide. I looked in a science book for a picture of a tick to have an idea of what it might look like. Then we looked at it under the microscope at 75X. We just saw a little oval shape with clearly defined edges. At 300X we could barely see it. Then I took the hand-held microscope and looked at it. It looked like dried blood. We determined that the "tick" was a scab.

After that we decided to look at a fly under the hand-held microscope. I observed that the fly looked really nasty. There were luminous blue flecks and streaks. The eye is big and oval and you can see tiny diamonds.

There is so much more to the world when you have a hand-held magnifier (14X). You can see so much. If you look on your floor, you will find that there are little equal holes. If you look on your wall, you will find patterns. If you look on some cardboard boxes, you will find that it is hairy, but you will find that others have little tiny holes, like the one of the floor. It is a really nice world and it is really cool.

Thoughts on perfection by Zoo

2009-05-04T20:59:00.000-04:00

You’re perfect if you think you’re perfect. Only you can decide if you are perfect or not. Perfection is something that you think you are. If you don’t think you’re perfect, you’ll never be perfect. But if you think you’re perfect, you’ll be perfect for the rest of your life. But this isn’t like a curse; this is good. Unless you don’t want to be perfect then it’s a curse.

Pic a bois (woodpecker)

2009-05-01T10:30:00.013-04:00

We were in the forest when we heard "tap-tap-tap". This is the distinctive sound of a woodpecker. Quietly, we tried to locate the woodpecker. We expected it be on the trunk of a tree up higher than us. It didn’t take us long to find him perched on a fallen tree pecking at the bark. He was not aware of us. We took pictures from as many angles as possible. Zoo tried to crawl in off the path in the deep snow to get a closer shot, but the bird noticed and flew up to a nearby tree. When we came home, we uploaded our images to take a look. We took a bird book and we went to the woodpecker section. We decided that it was the Downy Woodpecker (Pic Mineur), but then we realized that it was the Hairy Woodpecker (Pic Chevelu) because it is a bigger bird with a longer beak, but otherwise is identical. The Hairy Woodpecker is bigger than a robin and smaller than a pigeon. The tummy and the middle of the back are white. The wings are black with a white stripe. The head has black and white bands and the male has a spot of red right on top of the head. With Photoshop, we were able to zoom into the image to examine the beak.

Resources: Eastern Birds, Peterson Field Guides. This is the "Birder’s Bible" using the"Peterson System". It has been replaced by a newer volume which includes central North America.
Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds. This guide has photographs rather than sketches and comes with a formidable DVD featuring 5.5 hours of vocalizations in 587 MP3 files, each embedded with an image.
Guide des Oiseaux de l’Amerique du Nord. Guide d’identification sur le terrain (Marcel Broquet, Quebec, 1983) [out of print]
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Subnivean

2009-05-01T10:30:00.010-04:00

Resources:

Lievre (hare), lepis american

2009-05-01T10:18:00.003-04:00

When are you most likely to see a hare?
What does a hare look like in winter?
What do hare tracks look like?
How can I tell if it is a hare or a rabbit?
What does a hare eat?
Who are its predators?

Resources: Walking with Ghosts from the Nature of Things with David Suzuki

Lynx

2009-05-01T10:16:00.002-04:00

Canada has three native cat species:

Les animaux en hiver

2009-04-30T23:02:00.005-04:00

Qui Hiberne, Qui hiverne: une aventure animale au Quebec par Serge Gagnier (Joey Cornu, 2002, 127 pp). This is a gem oozing with enthusiasm. Strong efforts were made to involve kids in an understanding of winter life for animals. Kid-centered yet sophisticated. Lots of questions generated by kids including "Est-ce que l’ours va a la toilette pendant son hibernation?" Numerous activities suggested.
Hibernation par John Stidworthy et Stephane Passereau (Gamma, 1993, 32 pp). Each 2-page section is headed by a large-font summary, has about 4 images (photos, sketches, charts) with descriptions, and 1-3 subtopics with good use of topic-specific vocabulary. Note that the glossary is sparse while the text is rich.
Encyclopedia Decouverte benjamin. La vie des animaux en hiver, no 13 (Gallimard Larousse). A good place to start with some beautiful classic illustrations that sensitize to animal life under the trees, earth, and water.
Les Tamis et le suisse. Je decouvre le monde mervelleux des animaux. Meredith Switzer (Grolier Limitee, 1986)
Le Castor. Je decouvre le monde mervelleux des animaux. Meredith Switzer (Grolier Limitee, 1986)
Le Lynx. Je decouvre le monde mervelleux des animaux. Meredith Switzer (Grolier Limitee, 1986)
Le Renard Roux. Je decouvre le monde mervelleux des animaux. Meredith Switzer (Grolier Limitee)
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/animal-planet/28077-natural-world-bear-hibernation-video.htm