No Internet and A Red Shouldered Hawk

This morning I woke up to no internet service. The whole area was out. So, I was going to go to the library, but they were out too. Grr. McDonald's has free Wifi, but it stinks, and I would feel obligated to buy something. Since I didn't want to do that, and almost all of our school is online in one way or another, I decided to do some different educating. We went for a 2 mile walk, usually we do a mile. Then we cleaned the garage, cleared out a bunch of junk, and did some yard work. But, I love it when a Science topic drops right in my lap. While doing yard work a Hawk appeared, in a yard where no one is living. It sat there for a while, and then we saw it swoop into another yard and grab something to eat. While we couldn't see what it was, I am assuming it was a lizard because of where it picked it up. Anyway, it let us get close enough to get a pretty good picture, before it flew away. After we did some research and found out it is a Red Shouldered Hawk. This will be a research and writing topic for the near future.

What Science can you find right in your own neighborhood?

Science In Your Own Backyard Zebra Longwing Butterflies

I have been saying for year, especially for elementary aged children, you don't need a fancy curriculum to teach Science. You just need a yard, observation, camera, and a way to do some research. I have posted before about our Milkweed and the Monarchs that have laid eggs, hatched, fed, then morphed into Monarchs. Two years ago, I bought what I thought was Bleeding Hearts. I planted them, and they did nothing. Last Fall I decided to move them, thinking they were getting too much of something, and not enough of something else. I placed them in different spots. Early this Spring I noticed them starting to grow, but the leaves didn't quite look right. Then, I started to notice that the Zebra Longwing butterflies really liked this stuff. So, I looked up Passion Vine, and sure enough I was not sold Bleeding Hearts, but Passion Vine instead. The flowers are just starting to bud, and we noticed Zebra Longwing caterpillars on the vines, two days ago. Now, if we pay attention we will find a chrysallis, and hopefully get to see them hatch into a beautiful butterfly.