Home Connection

Do you know what your parents do all day while you are at school? Are they at work? Have you ever thought about what they might be doing at work? Ask your mom, dad, or another adult if you can interview them about their career. Here are a few questions you might want to ask them: How did you decide that you wanted to work at this job? Did you have to go to college to be able to do your job? What is your favorite thing about the job? After interviewing the person, think about what you might want to do when you grow up. Why are you interested in that particular job? Back

Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling are great ways to conserve. How do these work? Keeping things and reusing them eliminates the need for more landfills, saves energy, and helps conserve our world’s natural resources. Does your community have a recycling program? If not, think about how you can reuse or recycle many of the items you throw away everyday. How can you get your neighborhood or community involved in recycling? Many materials, such as glass, newspapers, motor oil and aluminum, are already being recycled in communities worldwide. Many items can be put to other uses instead of being thrown away, for example a car tire used as a backyard swing or milk jug turned into a planter! Back

Do you ever wonder how scientists prepare the trees that they will plant to help reforest an area? One way to grow a new plant is to grow it from a cutting . In order to do this you will need a few things; a jar filled with water, scissors, another house plant, such as ivy. It will take just three easy steps to get your new plant started. First, cut off one stem of the plant making sure that it has leaves on it. Second, place the cutting (stem end first) in the jar that you have filled with water. Third, observe the bottom of the stem for several day, when you see tiny roots beginning to grow move your plant to another pot filled with soil. Back

Start by building a container in a sunny part of your backyard. You can use chicken wire wrapped around four stakes to create an enclosure. You might use bricks or wood if you want something a little fancier. Next stack a layer of twigs on the bottom so air can circulate underneath, then place layers of different plant materials; include items like fruit and vegetable peels, eggs shells, grass clippings, coffee grounds, saw dust, newspapers, and dead plants, avoiding meat and fat scraps. Leaving some space between each layer will help air circulate. Nitrogen is added by piling on a layer of animal manure, meal or some greenery, and will generate the heat that is necessary for the pile to rot. Wet the pile with water and cover the container with an old tarp. Turn the pile periodically to help air circulate through the pile. In a few weeks your pile will decompose and be ready to be use as part of your gardening or planting soil! Back

Observation is an important part of the scientific process. Scientists must develop their observation skills so they will be able to note the details of a particular object. One of the main activities that a person takes part in on a nature trail is observing the world around them. In order to do this activity you will need to look around your house and gather the following materials: paints, paintbrushes, crayons, paper clip, pencils, drawing paper, cardboard or any kind of thick paper and string. Next visit a local nature trail or take a walk through your neighborhood or back yard observing the different plants that you see. Try several ways of looking at plants more closely; with paints and brushes, paint a picture of a tree or flower using just twelve brush strokes, draw or paint leaves or flower petals while looking at them very closely, using a pencil, draw a silhouette of a plant, color an entire piece of paper with a black crayon, then scratch a picture of a tree, flower or plant with a straightened out paper clip. Think of other ways that you can paint, draw and design plant, flower and tree art. Next gather your art work and punch or cut holes in the sides in order to make your own nature album. Cut two pieces of cardboard or heavy paper that will act as the front and back covers and decorate. Place the pages in any order. Using string or yarn, tie your pages together. Congratulations you have created your very own Nature Album! Back

Students from the Center for Field Studies recently spent their mid-semester break visiting various parts of Australia. Australia has often been described as a land "full of surprises, and adventures." For this activity look around your house for some crayons or markers and drawing paper. Create a brochure for Australia that would encourage people to visit this wonderful country. In your brochure you should include information like the capital city, population, language spoken, religions, currency used, and things you can do while visiting. Try to think of other interesting things you can add to your brochure; for example who founded Australia and animals that are common in Australia. To locate the facts try looking in an encyclopedia or searching the World Wide Web for sites with interesting tid-bits about Australia. Here are two sites that are packed with Australian information: http://www.csu.edu.au/education/australia.html (by Charles Sturt University) and http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/aust/aus.htm. You might also try a few of these books: Australia Today by Caroline Arnold, and Down Under by Jan Reynolds. Back

To start the activity have a discussion with your parents or brothers and sisters about different physical features of animals that might be found in the rainforest. Think about what helps the animal when they are finding food, moving or simply trying to survive. Think of each of these characteristics as adaptations. Make a list of the animals that you discussed, along with their special adaptations. To better understand how adaptations work, design an animal that might live in a pond with green water and that eats worms. What does this animal look like? How big is it? What color is it? How are its mouth and body part specialized for catching and eating its food? How does it move around? How does it hide from its predators? Draw a picture of your animal. Think of other animals that might live in unusual habitats. For example: What would an animal look like that lives on a bookshelf and eats pizza and chocolate cake. What about an animal that lives in the refrigerator and eats macaroni and cheese? The more unusual the habitat the more fun it will be! Back

All living things can be organized within a food web. We can classify things as producers, consumers and decomposers. Start out by defining a producer, consumer and decomposer and give an example for each classification. Next, locate several pictures for each classification from magazines, newspapers, or the Internet. Understanding that a food web is a series of interconnecting food chains, create a diagram using the pictures you have collected. Label each picture according to its classification, then connect the pictures with arrows to create a food web. Back

Start your own campaign to save an endangered plant or animal. Choose a plant or animal and research the following things: Where does it live? What does it look like? Why is it endangered? What is the animal/plant’s scientific name? Are there any efforts being made to save it? What steps could be taken to save this species? Make up a catchy phrase to use as a campaign slogan. Create an informative poster with your slogan on it, include a picture or drawing of the plant or animal with the details you researched. Find a place in your community to proudly display your poster. For a second activity consider creating a postcard to send to an organization that is helping to save endangered species. Back

Try recycling at home by making creative cards with used papers, old cards, magazine clippings and postage stamps. Collect these items and keep them handy in an old shoe box. Create cards and envelopes from construction paper or a decorative paper of your choice. Decorate by cutting and pasting different pieces of the items you have collected. Give your creation a special touch by using scissors with decorative edges and colored markers. Back

Go through your home looking for things that might have been produced using rainforest products. Make a list of the items you found. Things on your list might include woods, houseplants, spices, fruits, vegetables, fibers, medicines, oils, gums, and resins. Do you use any of these items on a daily basis? Are there any of these items that you might be able to substitute with another item? Discuss the importance and uniqueness of the items along with thoughts on the possibility of other undiscovered products in the rainforest. Back

Make a list of animals that might be found in the Queensland Rainforest. Discuss what you think the animals might look like. Make a drawing or two without looking up pictures of the animals--imagining how each animal will look. Next plan a trip to your local zoo or wildlife park. See how many of the rainforest animals you listed are kept there. How did they look in comparison with what you thought and what you drew? Take the activity one step further by locating the animals in an encyclopedia. Discuss the information that you find. Back

You and your family can host neighborhood creatures in your backyard by building homes for them. Beastly Abodes (Bobbe Needham, Sterling Publishers, 1995) holds a treasure trove for the nature lover. This book is filled with the how to’s of building homes for many of nature’s most beautiful creatures. One activity that is sure to be of interest is the toad house. The house is built using a simple clay flowerpot and your imagination. Back