That Agape Family

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Month: August 2017

Solar Eclipse 2017

August 26, 2017 / / 0 Comments

On August 21, we here in Southern Ontario had the opportunity to witness a solar eclipse, like most of North America. Well, part of one at least – we received 67% coverage. Not one to shy away from an experience such as this, we did not hide inside for the day. We spoke about the risks of looking at the sun early that morning, and we created a viewer using a piece of cardboard (everywhere was sold out of eclipse viewing glasses, plus I’m pretty thrifty. i.e. cheap). We simply took a piece of cardboard, and poked a hole in the middle of it. I realized quickly that we needed a solid colour surface in order to see anything, so I grabbed a shelf my parents had inside, and used that.

Little Miss watching the moon partially cover the sun

It was really neat watching the sun’s crescent grow smaller. We didn’t experience darkness, per se, but the best I could describe it is the world looked a brown/tan colour at its peak.

A few minutes prior to its peak.

 

The peak of the eclipse – 67% coverage

We did notice a brief drop in temperature (maybe 2-3 degrees Celcius), as well as increased winds. Little Miss did not look up at the sun, even though she knew what was going on. Truthfully, she wasn’t incredibly interested for more than a short period of time. Earlier that morning, we watched a brief video (about a minute or 2) about what happens when there is a solar eclipse. Interestingly, she inquired as to why there was pink around the moon. This was a great opportunity to discuss solar flares, which we expanded on. Another friend’s daughter asked about sun spots when they discussed the eclipse, and yet another friend’s family investigated why the eye’s pupil dilates, and how that is affected during an eclipse. All of these children are between 3-6 years old. I love how curiosity can take many different forms, and lead you down such varying paths.

Then this happened:

Can you make your broom stand on end?

While I was scrolling through Facebook that afternoon, I came across a post that read:

“Do you have a broom? When you get a chance try standing a broom up in the middle of the room. Only on eclipse day will a broom stand straight on its own perfectly straight. Let me know if it works for you…”

Well, naturally, I grabbed my broom, and lo and behold, it stood!

Fortunately for you, you don’t have to wait for the next solar eclipse, nor the next equinox (August 21st was the vernal equinox, so that was another explanation proposed). It actually has nothing to do with planetary alignment. Rather, it’s due to the broom’s mass distribution. But, give it a go none the less. It’s fun to leave a broom standing on end for the next person to find 😉

Blessings!

Snap Chat Continued…

August 24, 2017 / / 0 Comments

**Edit: This is not a Snapdragon. It is Himalayan Balsam. Please read my follow up post here.**

A couple of days ago, I posted about our snapdragon experience. I shared some photos of orange snapdragons, and their explosive fun. Well, we went back down to the ravine yesterday, and came across these pink and purple snapdragons:

Pink Snapdragons

You’ll notice that the seed pod (the green “bean” in the top middle of the photo) is significantly different from the orange snap dragon, being larger and shiny. The leaves are also quite different (jagged, as opposed to the smooth edges of the orange variety). The large pods are also harder to pop, and you really need to wait until they are quite engorged. But, when they’re ready, brace yourself, because there is also a much larger “pop”! So much fun!

Another significant difference was the seeds:

Snapdragon Seeds

Can you guess which seeds belong to which plant? The orange snapdragon had 2-4 seeds, on average, per pod, whereas the pink and purple snapdragons had 10+! It was a really neat experience to note the differences among the species of plant, as well as practice our math skills of counting and addition. Learning happens everywhere!

Blessings!

P.S. The seed answer is: Left, pink and purple. Right, orange. We collected the seeds and will be planting them in the spring. I really hope they come up in our backyard.

The Cicada Scene

August 22, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Ah, cicadas. The sound of summer. There’s nothing quite like the remarkably loud buzz of the cicada to remind you of summers past. But man, are those things creepy! It kind of throws you off, when you’re walking down the street, and you see a massive bug on the sidewalk, or an exoskeleton hanging off a tree, no?

Well, we had a great time learning about cicadas this last week. It all started in a park… The Littles and I were meeting up with some fellow homeschooling families. Little Miss C (3.5) was playing around on the playground, and we noticed that there were some wasps buzzing around something on the ground. Upon closer inspection, we found that it was a partially eaten cicada:

Neat! We’re always up for exploring dead bugs, so we checked it out, and put it back down for the wasps’ dinner. As we went back to join our friends, we discovered that they were spending their time collecting cicada exoskeletons:

They also realized that there were many small holes around the trees, where the cicadas had come out of hibernation. Did you know cicadas can hibernate for as long as 13-17 years? Cool!

Here is Little Miss C exploring a cicada hole. She was curious as to how deep it was:

Here is a recently emerged cicada, however likely not long for this world, as it has an underdeveloped wing – an excellent opportunity to discuss the life cycle of the cicada. I love the bright colours.

And here is a cicada mid-emergence! This was a very neat experience. The cicada was vibrating its body, I believe to help stretch out its wings to allow them to dry off.

What are your favourite sounds of summer?

To listen to the cicada’s buzz, click here.

Snapdragon Fun

August 21, 2017 / / 0 Comments

**Edit: This is not a Snapdragon. It is jewelweed. Please read my follow up post here.**

I love nature. I love God’s creation, and I think it’s beautiful, marvelous, and I often stand, or sit, in awe of it. And sometimes (often) I interact with it. Since I was a child, one of my favourite flowers has been the snapdragon. If you’ve never experienced snapdragons, you don’t know what you’re missing! These flowers begin to bloom in the month of August. In our neighbourhood, we they are scattered along the walkway in our ravine. Each year, I anxiously await their emergence.

What, you might ask, makes these flowers so special? They are TONS of fun! Fun? How can flowers be fun? Well, because they “pop”! Take a look at the three photos below:

Snapdragon Flower

Snapdragon Seed Pod

Popped Snapdragon Seed Pod

The first photo is of the snapdragon flower itself. It’s a brilliant orange, with specks of red. The second photo shows a seed pod. It looks kind of like a bean. A ripe seed pod is longer, and rather plump. These are the ideal pods. The third photo shows a popped seed pod. That is where the magic happens!

Once you find a ripe pod, very gently squeeze it. I can’t emphasize “gently” enough. Once you give it a gentle squeeze – POP! If they are particularly ready, even just brushing it with your hand will cause the pod to explode.

It’s a little alarming at first, but it is a LOT of fun 🙂 I promise!

Do you have a different name for snapdragons?

Elephant & Piggie

August 1, 2017 / / 0 Comments

I promised in my last post that I would come back to our beloved Mo Willems.  Former writer and animator for Sesame Street, Willems has gone on to write and illustrate the AMAZING Elephant & Piggie series, as well as the Knuffle Bunny series, to name a few.

Little Miss (3.5) has loved these books so much, for about the last year (since 2.5). The books are simply, funny, and engaging. In fact, the above pictured book, Can I Play Too?  has left me laughing out loud. Whenever someone asks for a book recommendation for a preschooler, Willems’ stories are my first recommendation.

We also all got attached to Trixie and her Knuffle Bunny (Kuh-Nuffle). So much so that I can rarely read Knuffle Bunny Free without tearing up. (To be fair, my first time reading it, I was pregnant, so I will happily blame pregnancy hormones on my teary eyes, which were so bad that my husband still teases me about it).

I cannot more highly recommend these books for preschoolers and early readers. Elephant & Piggie are perfect for those who are just learning to read, and you as a parent won’t mind reading through them again and again.

Which is your favourite Elephant & Piggie book?

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