Science Experiments

We are loving springtime! 

Every year around this time, when I was teaching, I had certain science experiments I loved to do with my students. Of course, I'm not teaching this year, but I just had to keep the experiments going. So here's what we've been up to . . .

Soil Ingredients:

Potting soil on the left. Our garden soil on the right. Notice a disparity?

Grassy Egg-Heads:  *official name :)

I've done lots of different ways to grow grass seed with my students in the past, but I LOVE this particular project for Porter. When the grass gets tall enough, I let him give them a haircut (the photo above was taken right after their first haircut). That way, he's working on his fine motor skills as well as learning about seeds & plants! Lucy helped too-- notice the empty spot on the left? Lucy did that one!

Butterflies:

I mistakenly told Porter that we were going to order our butterflies a couple weeks before I was actually planning to order them. So for 2-3 weeks, he asked every day if his butterflies were coming yet. His smile in the picture above is genuine. He had a permanent smile on his face the moment the box arrived! That means there was no bribing necessary to get a smile for these photos! The package arrived a week ago and Porter has loved watching his caterpillars grow and grow.

I won't burden you with any of the caterpillars' later photos. They're home isn't quite so clean anymore. Ick! I did butterflies with most of my classes while I taught and I think this is the 2nd or 3rd year I've done them with Porter. It's a great experience when you look at the big picture-- but I hate all the little details that come along with it. We'll just say that the process of growing and changing isn't all rainbows & butterflies. :)  It's messy and gross and a little creepy to me. But I love these kids and they love butterflies, so we do it!