What you’ll need for this Chocolate Chip Cookie Science Project:

• Prepared Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, 36 oz Tub
• Round Cookie Sheet or Pizza Bake Sheet, 14 in.
• Frosting
• White Fondant, 24 oz
• Food coloring

How to make this Edible Cell Project:

1. Start with pre-made cookie dough and flaten the dough out on round baking sheet to make one big pizza size cookie. Follow instructions for baking on tub.

2. Cool and remove from sheet. It’s a good ideas to place your big cookie on heavy cardboard or plastic surface that isn’t flimsy so it can be moved around easily. The easiest way is probably to turn over onto the board or flat plate and gently let the cookie slide out when you lift the baking sheet.

3. Frost the cookie with your choice of colored frosting. The frosting represents the cytosol of the cell.

4.You can buy colored fondant or color the white fondant with fool coloring. Just add the desired drops of food color for desired shade of color and work into fondant till fully mixed.

5. Sculpt the organelles listed below out of the fondant.

Items to sculpt for your animal (or plant) edible cell:

1. Nucleus
2. Golgi body
3. Mitochondria
4. Ribosomes
5. Rough ER ( Endoplasmic Reticulum )
6. Smooth ER
7. Chromatin
8. Plasma Membrane
9. Cytoplasm
10. Lysosomes
11. Centrioles
12. Cell Wall ( if plant cell)
13. Vacuole
14.  Nuclear Membrane

6. Once all the parts of the cell are made add them to the cell. To complete the cell membrane a strip of fondant was rolled out and put around the edge.

7. Add details and final touches to organelles if desired with frosting.

What other types of edible science models have you made? Cells seem to be favorite, but I’m wondering what others could be made.

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What We See on The Konza Prairie Nature Trails

Wildlife:

We always see wildlife- every time. To name just a few, we have been able to view snakes, toads, birds, turtles, insects, plus lots of white tailed deer and even elk.  We have also often heard turkeys and coyotes! We usually just follow the trails on our own. But you can use a KonzaPraire Nature Trail PDF Guide for extra guidance with your observations.

And I just need to mention that there are also Bison being raised and maintained on the Konza Praire -in their own area of course, not on the trail.

Plants:

This year we have just been loosly exploring  the trail and getting to know the routes. And it’s been a family fun way to bring some hands on science into the mix! In the fall we may begin to study trees. What has impressed me so much this summer has been the beautiful colors I see in the wildflowers. They fascinate me. I got a few field guides on wildflowers and have taken lots of pictures. And the idea came to me to create some design color palates from the colors the prairie inspires!  This is how the upcoming wildflower series was born. Watch for:

Also coming in July-

Don’t live in Kansas? Starting July1st, I’m joining homeschoolers across the nation to help bring you resources for all 50 states, plus a HUGE Homeschooling Giveaway with over $800 in prizes! We’ll each cover the laws, communities and field trips in our states. And if you’re a blogger just stop in and link up your state specific posts!

Make sure you’re subscribed by email so you don’t miss it!

See my list of  Science, Nature and Geology Field Trips for Kansas!

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1. Read. Begin your study by reading and learning about John James Audubon. Born April 26th, 1785, he has an interesting life having come to America from England to learn about business. But instead he became one of the most well known naturalist artists! He is most known for his paintings of birds. But he is equally as much a scientist as an artist and is credited with being the first to “band” birds. Painting, left, is John James Audubon. Oil on Canvas 1826 by John Syme.

I recommend this wonderful book on John James Audubon:

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon

This book is totally amazing. It tells the story of Audubon’s  life in an engaging and educational way. Great  for kindergarten on up. Here is an example of nature study style pages that are interwoven throughout:

 2. Explore. Going outdoors to explore is the best way to nature study. It doesn’t have to be daunting. It can be your backyard if you like! But finding a park, lake, hiking trails, or another natural place nearby that you can frequent is most ideal. Visiting the same place over time allows you to see how the seasonal changes effect wildlife in your area. 3. Discover.Occasionally something will come your way or you’ll be lucky enough to have the birds come to you. Providing the natural environments, offering food, water, and places to live will attract them. Here is my daughter’s charcoal drawing of the nest:4. Observe. Spend a little time. Be quiet and just observe.
5. Record.There are so many different reasons and ways you can record what you see! Pencil, watercolor, colored pencils, charcoals, photography, and more! My minimum requirement for my children was for them to date their nature journal entries. This way you can have a record and track behaviors and changes in your environment. Here is an excerpt of my daughter’s nature notebook on the Northern Cardinal:

Can you do nature study with your kids even if you think you’re not particularly artistic?

Yes! I have both types of children. My oldest children have an incredible aptitude for art, the artistic type. But I also have a child that is more gifted mechanically. His strength is not art. But I am happy to say we have still studied birds together in other ways which I still consider nature study. After all, birds are a part of nature and we studied them!

Different ways to do bird studies for the artistically hopeless:

{or at least those who think they are}

Study birds by region.

A great way to study birds is by regions. Do country or state reports focusing on birds. You can have your child research various countries, or continents for younger children, and study what birds are in them. Or even better, study the U.S. by the birds that each state has selected as their state birds. This is a fun way to sneak Geography in without your young naturalist knowing. You may like to use my Free State Notebook Pages and add a page for drawing the bird. With my non-artistic type we began a study of the united states in Second Grade in which we used most of the books from My Father’s World – Adventures in Us History that included learning about birds!

Make a field trip to a place known for birds.

We had the opportunity to visit San Juan Capistrano when we were PCS’ing  (making a permanent change of station). It is known for the swallows that come and go every year. Where do they go and why? Making a similar trip to a place known for birds might be a great way to study the migration habits of a particular type of bird.

While living in Virginia we had the unique experience of observing Tundra Swans every winter. They came every winter and went back north each summer. It was a neat way to learn about migration also!

Here is Audubon’s painting of the Tundra Swan:

This is one of my favorite pages from Nature Lover’s ( my daughter’s) Notebook! She used water color. The splash was made using a tooth brush. See my Hokusai art lesson for explanation.

Visit an Aviary.

If you can’t get out in nature you can always go to a zoo with an aviary! Bring your notebooks and spend the day observing and sketching.

How we studied Birds this year:

We used Apologia: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day for our science this year. We used it with our co-op! So naturally, having an art unit on Audubon was perfection! While looking at his works we also studied American Birds and their behaviors. Audubon didn’t just draw birds he showed them in action! Here’s a sample from mechanical man’s notebook:

You can get nature study going with other activities as well. These were part of our Apologia curriculum. I’ll be sharing more on that as we go but I’d like to share this photo of the bird house he made and a bunch of nest materials we put out to see if any birds would use them for making their nests. As I said, he is my mechanical man. So while he doesn’t get into to drawing after drawing of birds, he did thoroughly enjoy the chance to make a bird house. And loves watching birds too!

Art Links and Nature Study Resources:

Nature Study on Birds from Cindy @ Our Journey Westward
Birds- Handbook of Nature Study
Birdwatching 101: Attracting Birds to Your Yard from Barb @ Handbook of Nature Study. She also has these great Bird Freebies:
Bird Life List Printable
Bird Study Nature Table Printable ( Very Montessori)
and an Owl Study Notebooking Page
Nature Study Tips from iHomeschool Network- A Google+ Hangout!

Birds of the World Notebooking Pages ( free) from Debra @ NotebookingPages.com

Also Linked up with: Teaching Stars, 

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