FALL 2018 FIELD TRIPS: Apple Orchard & Monk's Mound

Our first field trip this Fall was on September 26th, our annual trip to a nearby apple orchard.

It was wet and muddy out there this year, but still a nice day to enjoy being outside.
 

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Last May, you may remember we visited Cahokia Mounds. Here is the blog post I wrote about it:

MAY 2018 FIELD TRIP to CAHOKIA MOUNDS

On that trip, we wanted to climb the biggest mound, Monk's Mound, but it was too hot that day. So, we finally got the chance to go back in cooler weather. Here are a few photos we took when we went on October 20th. It was a windy day, but it was nice to have the sun shining.

There were 2 sets of stairs. Here is JJ on his way up the first set.

A view of the second set of stairs.

David's legs were hurting after climbing the first set of stairs, so he took a break. You can see him sitting on the bench.

JJ and I met David as he finally reached the top.

A view of the parking lot from the top of the mound. My mom and EL were waiting there.

I zoomed in a bit, and you can see Mom standing next to the van. We waved at her. 

A good view of St. Louis from the top of the mound.

David and me, sitting on a bench at the top. St. Louis is in the background.

The wind was really bothering my ears, so I went back down before the guys did.

 

Back at the van, I could see the guys standing at the top of the mound. You can barely see them in this picture. There are two dots to the left of the big tree.

 

I zoomed in again, and was able to see them better.

It was a fun little adventure, and definitely good exercise!

BIOLOGY 101: Plant Life

For High School Biology, we are using the Biology 101 DVD curriculum as our core. It is a 4-DVD set which covers biology (a.k.a. the study of life) using the 6 days of Biblical creation as an outline. Each segment (a total of 9) runs from 20-45 minutes each, and include plant life, aquatic (water) creatures, avian (flying) creatures, land animals, mankind, and genetics. On the 4th disc, there is also a printable guidebook (reading material), quizzes, answer key, and an accreditation booklet (lesson plan.

This curriculum can be used in a variety of different ways, depending on your needs. I know of a couple families who watched the DVD segments, and then used them as a starting point for further research on a topic of interest. Others only use the DVD as a supplement to a textbook.

As for us, I have made my own lesson plans and we are doing the following:

1. Watching each of the DVD segments (sometimes twice)
2. Reading the included Guidebook (2-3 pages at a time)
3. Taking the Quizzes (but doing them open-book)
4. Using some of the recommended Labs in the lesson plans
5. Additional Science kits (Labs) from The Young Scientists Club
6. A frog dissection kit (coming in the mail from Home Science Tools)
7. Watching videos on You Tube about topics mentioned on the DVD
8. Doing some additional light reading from books on each topic

So far, it is going well. This week, we finished learning about Plant life and we worked on a plant lab about seeds, fruits, and other plant parts (Kit #28 from Set 10 of The Young Scientists Series)

We made a small "terrarium" with charcoal, soil, seeds, and water.

  

A few days later, you can see the condensation forming which waters the growing seeds.

We put celery stalks in water with food coloring.

A couple days later, you can see how the "veins" in the celery absorbed the colored water.

We put a garlic clove in a glass with wet cotton balls and observed it for a week. After several days, it started to grow little white roots.

 

A couple days after that, a green root was sprouting on the other end.

We also learned that cucumbers are not a vegetable, but a fruit. If it has seeds, it is a fruit. So, tomatoes and pumpkins are also fruits. A vegetable is a part of a plant that can be eaten, such as a stem (celery), leaves (lettuce), or roots (carrots).

Now that we are done with the PLANTS section, we are moving on to Aquatic animals.