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Earlier today LD, DD and I went out to collect some fossils for some cyber-friends. As LD reached under a rock he got stung by something pretty terrible. I know there are scorpions in Missouri as hubby once stepped on one here in Grams and Gramps’ house. We don’t know what it was exactly that got LD today, but cold ice compresses and benadryl spray seemed to alleviate most of...
We walk Boomer around Grams and Gramps’ neighborhood several times a day. Now that we know there are fossils around we keep our eye out for new discoveries. This morning, ED wanted to jump off a big, flat boulder. I leaned down to have a closer look and noticed these delicate fossil impressions. The rock face was a different consistency than rocks in which the crinoids (see the posts below)...
We have had a wonderful time with Grams and Gramps. One afternoon we went to the lake for the day. The water was beautiful and we all enjoyed our swim. Afterward we had a lovely time at the edge of the lake feeding the birds, turtles and fish and playing at the shady playground. We’ve also thoroughly enjoyed the local attractions near Grams and Gramps. We’ve been to a number...
Grams uses rocks from the area to decorate her garden. As LD was exploring and looking around he noticed a brachiopod fossil embedded in one of the rocks. The more we looked around, the more amazing fossils we found in the rocks around their house!
We all walked up the hill from Grams and Gramps’ house and looked around at the rocks in the field there. LD found an amazingly well preserved, complete brachiopod fossil! It’s about two inches across. From what I can tell, this fossil and the others we found are well over 300 million years old. I find that simply astounding.
A few days later while we were walking around Grams and Gramps’ neighborhood we saw an outcropping of rocks. Upon closer inspection, we saw that the ENTIRE rock section was covered with fossils. Most of the fossils and fossil bits are crinoids (ancient sea lilies). Many of them were loose on the ground, thousands are embedded in the rocks and they vary in size from just barely visible to as...
Above you can see a brachiopod embedded in the rock along with lots of crinoid pieces. Look how long this crinoid stem is! We brought a fossil book out with us and LD spent along time reading through the book and comparing our finds to the illustrations and photos in the book. That’s learning at its best, right?!
When we were at the La Brea Tar Pits in California last month, I took this photo of a painting depicting ancient sea life. In the painting you can see crinoids (sea lilies) in the background, trilobites (towards the bottom of the painting), ammonites (which look like snail shells) and more.
I was browsing through Montessori Spanish’s blog this morning and she shared a wonderful resource:Goldmark Montessori. This Montessori teacher has shared some of the cards and activities that she has made for her classroom. I checked it out and was impressed by her 3-part nocturnal animal cards. I can’t wait to move to a new home and resume the regular routine of homeschooling. We’re still in limbo (we’re staying with...
More or less as long as I can remember, I’ve loved being outdoors and exploring nature. As a youngster, I used to take my miniature poodle and go for long walks along the trails of the local park (there was a pond, a stream and rumors that an “electric eel” lived in the water hole!!). Later I became a camp counselor, hiked sections of the Appalachian trail with friends, did...
I’m not a flower expert, but I think the yellow wildflowers that we’ve seen abundantly all around at the sides of the roads (the top two pictures below) are not Black-Eyed Susans, but Yellow Coneflowers. I think the third picture below is a Black-Eyed Susan (it’s growing in Grams’ garden). If you know a lot about wildflowers, I’d love to hear what you think!!
