New England States 4/28-5/9/08

New England States



Here is a quick overview of what the kids learned about when we studied the New England States:



1. We mapped out the states for Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island.



2. We learned about whales. I had the kids use a tape measure and mark off how many feet an actual whale is. They were amazed. We also watched some quick videos on YouTube about whale Harpooning in Finland.



3. The life cycles of a cranberry. I had the kids create a comic strip as if they were the cranberry growing.


4. We ate clam chowder for lunch with sour dough. The sour dough isn't quite a New England idea. It's more of a San Francisco one but once you eaten a Clam chowder bowl you can never eat just an ordinary plain bowl of chowder again.


5. The life cycles of a lobster. We even dissected a cray fish on our Science laboratory table (yes, our kitchen table). It didn't turn my dancing daughter away from wanting to eat lobster or crabs again.














6. The clam life cycle too. We watched a National Geographic video online that I came across about clams. They are real
bizarre creatures. Similar to snails in that they too use a large foot to move dig themselves underground. They were a lot harder to dissect. I got grossed out just by all the dirt and debris inside their shell. Once inside the shell, the shell's pearl color could be seen.

7. Learned how maple syrup is harvested. No wonder maple syrup is so expensive it tales 40 gallons of maple sap to equal just one gallon of maple syrup. My kids are spoiled we stitched over to the real maple syrup a few years ago. I am still trying to add whole foods to my kids diet.

8. The importance and significance of lighthouses near the coast.

After we completed our New England State Study we took a trip to the local beach here to explore the Tide Pools. My Cowboy was learning about hermit crabs. He was making a lapbook on ocean life so what better way to learn about sea creatures than a trip to the Tide Pools. Here is a few snippets of our Tide Pool Discovery Day

It was a perfect day for the beach. We saw numerous creature there. Lots of hermit crabs, other crabs, ocean spiders, anemones ( green mushroom types in the pictures), the purple spiky things are sea urchins, fish, giant starfish and many other living things as well. Cowboy was a little afraid of the crabs because they were everywhere. The colors were beautiful. It was too tempting we wanted to touch everything but were warned by the tide pool patrols that we would be fined. The whole trip was free of charge except for the traveling money down there and back.

The books we read for this region were:

- Animals without bones: Lobsters - Jason Cooper

- Oceans Alive Lobsters- Marthan Rustad

- Finestkind O' Day: Lobstering in Maine- Bruce Mc Millian

- One Morning in Amine- Robert Mc Closky

- Cranberries Fruit of the Bogs- Diane L. Burns

- A House for Hermit Crab - Eric Carle

N is for NUtmeg: A Conneticut Alphabet - Elissa Gordin

- Shells - Jennifer Coldrey

- G is for Granite: A New HAmpshire Alphabet - Marie Harris

- Sugar Snow- Wilder

- M is for MAple Syrup: A Vermont Alphabet - Cynthis Furlong Reynolds

- The Big Tree- Bruce Hiscock

- Sugar on Snow - Nan Parson