chasing butterflies

Today while driving, I noticed something yellow caught on my anteanna.
I  realized it was a Swallow Tail Butterfly.
So I stopped, I picked it up off the ground seeing that most of it's abdomen was missing so it wouldn't be flying home, but I carried it back to the truck anyway to let me son hold it.

This is what I want my kids to learn
an understanding and appreciation of the natural world
have a sense of awe when they see a big butterfly fluttering by in the back yard
and to never be in such a hurry that they can't stop to admire the little things in the world.

Photostory: Yellowstone trip

Back in May my husband and I celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary by going to Yellowstone National Park.  Here are the highlights of our trip created in iMovie.

Youtube Playlist

For your learning enjoyment I have compiled a few of my favorite science videos from Youtube.
When I first started teaching science I was given two cds by a man named Michael Offut, a chemistry teacher who wrote some of the funniest songs about science I had ever heard.  I shared these songs with my students who were not near as enthusiastic as I was. But now I can share videos based on his songs along with a couple of really great songs about lab safety and nanotechnology. 

Now imagine you are a reporter for an entertainment show on Nickelodeon.  As the reporter your assignment is to watch one of these videos and write a review to share with the class.  Your report can be written or oral.   Just remember to cover the five W's: who, what, when, where, why.  And then rate the video you reviewed based on a 5 star rating system with one being the worst and 5 being the best.

Go here to check out my play list.

The last hatchling

Today all that remained of finch nest no. 1 was an empty nest and one hatchling
getting ready to fly out of the nest.

Change is inevitable
All things must grow
And to truly grow you have to leave what you know

 empty robin nest

baby robins

Enjoying home, watching all of our baby birds grow, seeing the momma birds feeding their young, teaching my kids to always be looking for nature's wonders.

Lupine

A member of the Fabaceae family (aka legumes).  Tall, purple spike flowers, leaves are palmate shaped, blooms early summer, each flower produces a "bean" type pod with a few seeds.  As part of the legume family these plants are able to fix nitrogen in the soil and are an important part of the natural succession. 
If left alone, these will re-seed and spread year after year just like these in my neighbor's yard.

Nesting House Finches

On our front porch I have hung our bird feeder. The location is perfect because there is birch tree by the porch that provides shelter and perches for the birds, and it’s right in front of the windows over the kitchen sink. After buying new seed from a local garden shop I have found we are getting much more bird traffic than before. And since the neighbor’s roaming feline has since passed onto the kitty heaven, there are fewer predators skulking about. I have noticed for the last few weeks a lot of action in the two hanging plant baskets on the front porch. So on Monday I got a chair and peeked into the basket on the north side of the house. I turned it all around until I found this tiny, tightly woven nest.

 I looked into the other basket but couldn’t see anything. I left the other nest alone and observed the mama bird coming and going from the nest. But on Thursday I noticed more noise and lots of traffic out of the other basket, so I grabbed a chair and camera and really looked into the basket and found another nest with at least 4 nestlings. But they were so snuggled down that it was hard to tell.

The kids and I have really gotten into watching our birds, and we have been onling learning more about them.  Here are a couple of good sites about finches.
Celebrate Urban Birds
All About Birds

Welcome!

I am a wife, mother of boy/girl twins, science teacher, nature explorer, artist, and all-around creative person. My preferred grade level is middle and high school which I have 6 years experience in teaching. I plan on completing my Masters in Education from Northwest Nazarene University in the spring of 2012.

Growing up on my family's farm in Eastern Idaho gave me an appreciation for the natural world and hard work. I grew up feeding cows,riding horses, driving tractors, participating in 4-H and FFA, and raising a small sheep herd that paid for my first year of college. When I'm not teaching, I'm chasing my 4 year old twins, Jack and Clara, working in my garden, working on my latest painting or mixed media collage, scrap booking, or jeeping and camping with my family.

I am also a tech person, I love technology and as of 5 years ago, a convert to all things Mac. Just to prove how much of a "techie" I am ask me how many blogs I maintain? Three. Plus I have a couple of wiki sites I'm working on too!

My teaching style is a mix of structured lessons and stand up performer. When I am teaching I feel that I am on a stage engaging my student "audience", using my knowledge and sense of humor to get my students involved and interested in science. I know that I have done my job well when I see and hear students expressing an interest in how the world around them works.

Whenever possible, I use technology to bring the real world into the classroom. If we are studying volcanoes, I like to take my students here, to see the live web cam at Mount St. Helen's observatory. Or to help students visualize different lava flows we can go here to view real time videos at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.