Terrific Tigers Unit Study

Tiger Unit Study
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A cute tiger craft.

We started this unit study ages ago and finally finished this week. The main thing the girls would say about this unit was that they LOVED the videos of the tigers, especially the baby tigers and swimming tigers.

Tiger Unit Study
Here are the girls watching some of the tiger videos.

As with the other Amanda Bennett Unit Studies, it was broken up into 5 days.

What is a Tiger?

Getting to know Tigers.

Where are the Tigers?

The Science of Tigers.

Cool Things about Tigers.

Tiger Unit Study
“Spider Bat” completed this part of the Tiger Unit. Ha ha!

Tiger Unit Study

Even though this unit took us much longer than usual, we did have a great time. Amelie thought that tigers with webbed toes for swimming were the best. Nadia thought the Siberian Tigers who lived in the cold were the coolest.

The Leaf Experiment

Leaf Experiment
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So Mike was telling Nadia about a science experiment from junior high and she was all excited to try one of her own. Mike did a little research to see how to attempt it at home and they set everything up. First they had to pick a leaf and Nadia chose one from our Texas Red Oak. The goal here was to remove the green (chlorophyll)  from the leaf to show it’s true color before photosynthesis occurs.

Leaf experiment

Required supplies: leaf, rubbing alcohol, glass, pot to heat the water in.

Leaf experiment

Nadia putting water in the pot.

Leaf experiment

Nadia putting alcohol in the glass.

Leaf experiment

The leaf in the boiling water.

Leaf experiment

Putting the leaf in the alcohol.

Leaf experiment

Once the leaf was in the glass, she put the glass back into the pot of hot water. She should have seen results in just a few minutes.

And guess what? It didn’t work. After some more reading Mike found that this experiment really works better on something like a spinach leaf, not a thick and hearty Texas Red Oak. It was a delight for me to watch Nadia have so much fun with Mike while attempting this. We will try again and report back.
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Alice in Wonderland Unit Study

I was very excited to do our first Classic Literature Unit study from Erica over at Confessions of a Homeschooler and we decided to do “Alice in Wonderland.” Nadia is doing a great job strengthening her reading skills, but she still loves for us to read to her so this was a great way to build on our regular daily reading.

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The basic layout of this unit is to do a beginning worksheet where the child answers questions and then start reading the book. After each chapter we went to see what the activity was for the lapbook.

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Nadia showing Amelie her completed lapbook.

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Nadia really enjoyed this and by the end I knew that she was going to remember this book for a long time. Stopping after each chapter to complete the lapbook activity really reinforced the story for her. It also opened up some good discussions about how wild and sometimes confusing this book can be.

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I am looking forward to the next classic book unit study on our list!

Flower arranging/wreath making

Wreath Making 2012

Before we went on our vacation Michael’s had a really big sale on all their fall decorating items. Nadia had been asking me for quite a while to teach her how to make a “fancy wreath”, so we bought everything and I told her that after our trip we would do it. I also picked out flowers and rocks so she could do a basic flower arrangement for the kitchen table with the really cool vase Mike got me for Mother’s Day.

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Everyone should make wreaths in pirate shirts.
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And wear their hair in 1980's ponies.

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I explained to her that you should mix up the colors and textures. I also had her place everything before we started to attach the items permanently.

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After the placement came Nadia’s favorite part of the whole lesson – she got to use the GLUE GUN!!!

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My little cutie with her finished work on the door.
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