Birds Lesson Plan: FLIGHT: The Genius of Birds {Review & Giveaway}

Quotes of the Day:

"Let Birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens". Genesis 1:20

"They and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature". Genesis 7:14

"And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest". Psalm 55:6

VoCaBulary:
torpor— a deep sleep to conserve energy.
fledglings-- baby hummingbirds are learning to fly

DVD Suggestions: FLIGHT:  The Genius of Birds marks the launch of Illustra Media’s new documentary series The Design of Life documentary series.  Each episode explores a different realm of the animal kingdom and the remarkable biological systems that make life on Earth possible.

Long before the modern phenomenon of flash mobs, nature as been exhibiting spectacular choreographed acrobatic flight dances that titillate us with a wondrous awe. FLIGHT:  The Genius of Birds portrays many a avian phenomenon's and offers additional profound  evidence that displays unmistakable imprint of an intelligent designer.

Filmed in North America, England, Peru, Greenland, and Antarctica, FLIGHT probes the mysteries and mechanisms of a bird’s anatomy, instinct, and embryology to reveal stunning provisions essential for life in the skies.

You’ll marvel at a hummingbird’s unique skeletal, muscular and metabolic systems—all vital to its spectacular aerial acrobatics…

An Arctic tern will migrate from pole to pole each year.The endurance and navigational abilities of an Arctic tern as it travels from pole to pole during the longest migration on the planet…

The instinctive strategies that enable a flock of 300,000 European starlings to evade predators at break-neck speeds… while marveling at the joy of flight, the biological equivalent of an Aurora Borealis.

The elaborate network of a million component parts that make a feather an aerodynamic masterpiece.  And much more.

The poet William Blake wrote that to see an eagle in the air is to observe  “a portion of genius.”   In FLIGHT the ingenuity of a bird’s behavior and biology showcase unmistakable evidence for design, purpose, and plan.  They are displays of genius best explained by intelligence and mind.

Official trailer

FLIGHT: THE GENIUS OF BIRDS is the first episode in Illustra Media’s new series THE DESIGN OF LIFE. This remarkable documentary explores the evidence for intelligent design as revealed through the biological systems and mechanisms that make avian flight possible. Photographed in North America, England, Peru, Greenland, and Antarctica FLIGHT celebrates birds and the miracle of life in the skies.

Embryonic development

In this sequence from Illustra Media’s newest documentary FLIGHT: THE GENIUS OF BIRDS you will enter a fertilized egg to witness a bird’s embryonic development. Spectacular animation and live action footage document the extraordinary 21-day process of organization and growth from a few cells into a chicken

My Thoughts: What an incredible DVD! I supplemented my bird lesson plans I had created for my children and utilized this wonderful DVD. Illustra Media has produced this film (and others like it) that help define the scientific case for design and the limitations of processes like Darwinian evolution. This film will stir your heart and mind. The Flight: The Genius of Birds DVD is a must see if you are a Christian homeschooling mom. This is one of the best supplements I have ever used when teaching a lesson plan. Your children will be mesmerized and you will be utilizing this DVD time and time again. I actually will be placing an order for other DVDs produced by Illustra Media to utilize in our lessons for 2013-2014.

Website Suggestions:

Flight

Metamorphosis

The Case for a Creator

Darwin's Dilemma

The Privileged Planet

Unlocking the Mystery of Life

Where does the Evidence Lead

Book Suggestions:

Hummingbirds by Zoobooks
Hummingbirds in the Garden by Roma Gans (Let’s read and find out Science)
The Hungry Hummingbird by April Pulley Sayre
Hummingbird by David M. Schwartz
Hummingbird Nest by Kristine O' Connell

Birds Lesson Plan: 

Five days after God said let there be light, there were handsome creatures speckling the sky with their majesty and declaring the glory of God with their amazing ability to fly. Today, these creatures remind us how wonderful God is to have made such beautiful, astonishing animals. All birds have feathers. Feathers have many uses. Feathers are very light weight and help the bird fly. They also keep the bird warm.

We see birds flying, gliding, soaring, and sailing through the air with ease. How do they do it? How come we can’t just flap our arms really fast and join them in the air? Well, God designed these creatures with wings, which we don’t have, and a very key ingredient for flight is the shape of those wings. The shape of its wings is what gives a creature the ability to lift off the ground. The flight terms lift and drag explain why a bird can fly with its wings and why we can’t fly with our arms.

God’s invisible creations of air enable birds to fly. When air flows across a bird’s wing, the air that travels above the wing moves more quickly than the air that travels below the wing. This causes more pressure on the bottom of the wing than on the top, which lifts the wing, making the bird fly.

God created the wing and the air to work together. The shape of the bird’s wing is why it experiences lift. As the bird’s wing moves through the air, some air goes above and some air goes below the wing. Because the wing is curved, the air moving over the top of the wing has to go farther than the air moving underneath the wing. As the bird speeds up, the air travels over the wing even faster. As the air travels faster and faster over the wing, less and less pressure is placed upon the top part of the wing.

This gives the wing more and more lift, causing the bird to go higher and higher. That is why birds flap their wings – to move faster so that the air travels faster over their wings. Speed is very important in making lift. When a bird flaps its wings, the wings provide a force that makes the bird go faster. Scientists call this force thrust. The more thrust that the wings give the bird, the faster the bird goes, and the greater the lift on its wings.

God created each bird with a body shape that is aerodynamic.

Bird characteristics
1. They have feathers-- which are remarkably light for their strength
2. Hollow Bones -- again, making it easier to fly
3. Instead of teeth, birds have a beak which is lighter
4. Oviparous (lay eggs)  allowing them to leave them in a nest while flying instead of having to carry their embryos wherever they go

Discovering Birds:

Why did God make birds?

What helps a bird to fly?

What makes a bird a bird?

What are hummingbirds?  Hummingbirds are a family of birds that contain the smallest birds in the world. There all 400 known kinds of hummingbirds, but 19 of them live in the United States. Hummingbirds get their name from the humming sound their wings make as they fly, not because they hum or sing.

Where in the United States do hummingbirds live?  Hummingbirds live only in the Western Hemisphere.  The ruby-throated hummingbird lives east of the Mississippi River. The Allen’s, Anna’s black-chinned, calliope, rufous hummingbirds live in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The Black-chinned and broad tailed hummingbirds live in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah and Colorado.  The Rufous hummingbird lives in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri. Oklahoma and Arkansas. Black-chinned, ruby-throated, magnificent hummingbirds live in Texas and Louisiana.

What do hummingbirds eat? Hummingbirds find food in the nectar of flowers. They like tubular shaped flowers like honeysuckle, fuchsias, hibiscus and trumpet vine. Also the color red seems to attract hummingbirds. It probes its long thin bill into the flower and sucks up the nectar which is high energy food. A hummingbird can lap up nectar  like a kitten lapping milk. It can flick its tongue 13 times in one second. How fast can you? Hummingbirds also need to eat insects for protein, minerals and vitamins. You can also put out a hummingbird feeder to help supply the sweet nectar they need. Dissolve 1 cup of sugar in 4 cups of warm water and let it cool then put it in the feeder. You should replace the sugar water at least once a week, because it can get rancid.

What is a hummingbirds lifecycle? The females build the nest themselves. They use spider silk and bits of plants and cover it with lichens. It is very tiny and nothing bigger than a penny fits inside! She then choose a male and the mate in midair. She will lay two eggs in her nest; they are about the size of peas. She will sit on her nest for 2-3 weeks to keep her eggs warm. The tiny hummingbirds hatch, they are born blind and naked. These tiny birds must eat 2-3 times and hour. The mother feeds them regurgitated nectar and insects that she found. She is a very busy mama the next couple weeks feeding her babies and also herself. After about 3 weeks the babies are ready to fly.

Try This:

Hatching Chicken Eggs. We do this each spring and it is a lovely way to teach your children about the process of life.

Giveaway: I have ONE (1) FLIGHT: The Genius of Birds DVD to giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was given a DVD for review purposes only. I have not been compsensated for this post. My opinions are my own.

Celebrate National Library Week April 14-20, 2013 at your Library! #CleverTeachers #NLW13

As a homeshcooling mom of three, I am always looking for creative ways to keep my children engaged and motivated 'at school'. Since school is literally 10 steps from our kitchen table, it is not always easy to transition from breakfast to school in our home. I was fortunate to come across an amazing website that aides me in my quest to be the best teacher. TeachHUB is a website where I can locate the latest resources available to improve my children's education.

Since I am surrounded by other homeschooling moms I want to share my knowledge and discoveries.I was more than happy to pass along that TeachHUB.com provides the latest in education technology, news and tools. It's a great free resource for all K-12 teachers, including homeschoolers.

As a homeschooling mom, I really depend on my local library for my resources. I can not simply just order what I want from a book store and place it on a school account or walk down the hall and borrow any related materials I may need from another teacher. I need my local library and I am there every single week or two gathering up the needed resources and books for our scheduled week.

Since I utilize my local library so much and I know my fellow homeschooling moms do as well, I wanted to include some of my fellow homeschool moms in gathering some information from our children who attend our homeschool co-op. I enlisted the help from three homeschooling moms who teach at the co-op with me and we gave a survey supplied by TeachHUB to the children in our classes. The survey included questions about how they locate information at a library.

I have to say that students in the 2013 have a much easier go at locating books and resources at the library than I did growing up. I was explaining to my class (and my own children) the steps I would need to follow in order to gather information from a library when I was a child.There was a lot of confusion.

Little did I know that my students (my children included) did not even know what a card catalog was! Most children were able to distinguish what an image of 'save file' was, but they were unable to articulate what it actually was, unless it was my older students who write more papers on laptops and computers. Happily, all the children could easily tell me their favorite books, authors and what they wanted to be when they grew up!

I was happy to hear that most of the enrichment classes that we cover in c-op are all the classes that students want more of. I think we are doing something right at co-op as well as at home, giving our homeschooled children a well rounded curriculum. I think most of the children agreed that Math was the least favorite subject. Why is that? I loved Math growing up! We need to figure out a way to teach Math to our children that makes them love numbers.

I'm not sure the younger children are even aware that when you visit your local library, there are major sections. I decided after I conducted the survey I was going to complete a unit study on Introducing Main Parts of the Library. I made cards out of construction paper, labeling the different sections of the library. Under each section, we discussed what could be found there and how the information would be arranged in the sections.

I even created a small card catalog out of an old shoe box with index card as the author, title and subject cards. This created a great visual for the children. I explained how the cards used to be arranged and indexed at a library. We learned what the Dewey Decimal System is and how a call number is part of this system. All the children were able to take turns looking up a book in the card catalog and searching for it in a section I had created. Since all the libraries in my local area only utilize a computerized card catalog, this was a great unit study and the children had so much fun discovering new ways {well, really old school was} of locating books in libraries.

According to the teachers at TeachHUB.com success in education starts with curiosity, and curiosity starts at home. For National Library Week (April 14-20), encourage your kids to explore a topic they're interested in learning more about. Sit down at a library and read together – and ask them what they learned! I think you will be surprised that you will be learning right along with your children.

TeachHUB.com is a free resource for teachers and parents who want the latest in education news and technology. You can see the latest articles from TeachHUB by subscribing to their Facebook page or following them on Twitter.

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, and content and opinions expressed here are all my own. To learn more about the TeachHUB.com, visit their website. #CleverTeachers #NLW13

Earth Day: Under the Sea Exploration Lessons | April 22 | Planet Ocean DVD

Quotes of the Day:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1 

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. Genesis 1:9

 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. Ecclesiastes 11:3

VoCaBulary:

Antarctic - the south polar region.

Arctic - the north polar region.

endangered - threatened with extinction by human-made or natural changes in the environment.

marine mammal - a mammal adapted to live in the marine environment and dependent on the ocean for food.

EUPHOTIC ZONE - From the surface to about 50 meters below Has enough light for photosynthesis to take place Plankton and seaweed are only found here

DYSPHOTIC ZONE -  From about 50 to 1000 meters below the surface Enough light for vision but not enough for photosynthesis Amount of light decreases with depth

APHOTIC ZONE -  More than 1000 meters under the surface No light Animal life is rare and produces own

 light through bioluminescence

abyssal zone — deepest part of the seafloor, below 2,000 meters.

aphotic — depths of the ocean below which no light penetrates.

bathyal zone — region of the seafloor from the shelf edge (200m) to the start of the abyssal zone (2,000m).

continental shelf — the shallow bottom just offshore of most continents between water's edge and a sharp dropoff where the bottom plunges steeply.

DVD Suggestions: Planet Ocean

Directed by highly acclaimed photographer, filmmaker and environmentalist Yann Arthus-Bertrand (Home) and narrated by actor Josh Duhamel (Transformers, Life As We Know It), Planet Ocean is a cinematic adventure that invites viewers of all ages to change the way they look at the ocean and appreciate its greatest natural mystery.  Planet Ocean will be available on Blu-ray™ and DVD on April 9, 2013 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. 

Through dazzling aerial and underwater imagery captured in extreme geographical conditions worldwide, Planet Ocean delivers an unprecedented journey into the least known regions of our planet. The stunning documentary aims to captivate as well as provide understanding of humankind's relationship to the ocean and stress the urgency of making sustainable change.  Brought to life with dynamic and relatable narration, this groundbreaking film can be enjoyed by the entire family.

Planet Ocean will be available on Blu-ray™ and DVD.

• Blu-ray™ disc unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound. 
• DVD offers the flexibility and convenience of playing the movie in more places, both at home and while away.

BONUS FEATURES (BLU-RAY™ and DVD):

THE MAKING OF PLANET OCEAN

• IN THE SKIES ABOVE RIO:  Breathtaking images of Rio de Janeiro's magnificent shores will inspire you with wonder and delight.
• UNDERWATER:  Uncover the natural mysteries of marine life with Planet Ocean's team of underwater cinematographers.  
• SHANGHAI:  Extraordinary aerial photography of Shanghai's busy harbor underscores the significance of ocean commerce.

Website Suggestions: 

Ocean Surface Topography from Space-Education
NOAA’s National Ocean Service has Discovery Kits

Whales teacher guide (grades 4-8)

Ocean Planet - Smithsonian Exhibition

Discovery Channel Oceans Lesson Plans

Sea World - Educational Resources

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Book Suggestions:

The Underwater Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta

The Seashore by Gallimard Jeunesse and Elisobeth Cohat

The Deep by Tim Winton

The Seashore (a Scholastic First Discovery book)

Waters Under the Sea (Usborne Beginners) by Fiona Patchett

First Encyclopedia of Seas and Oceans (Usborne)

The Underwater Alphabet by Jerry Pallotta

The Kids Earth Handbook By Sandra Markie

The Lorax by Dr Seuss

Earth Day:

What can we do to take care of the Earth?

On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was held. The day was set aside for everyone to think about way to take care of our Earth and its resources.

What are the three R’s:

Reduce – cut down on garbage before you buy something
Reuse-save things that would usually be thrown out and use them over again
Recycle – reuse the materials that things are made of by using the material in a new way

The Ocean:

Oceans cover about 70% of the Earth's surface. The oceans contain roughly 97% of the Earth's water supply. The oceans of Earth are unique in our Solar System. No other planet in our Solar System has liquid water. Life on Earth originated in the seas, and the oceans continue to be home to an incredibly diverse web of life.

The oceans of Earth serve many functions, especially affecting the weather and temperature. They moderate the Earth's temperature by absorbing incoming solar radiation. The always moving ocean currents distribute this heat energy around the globe. This heats the land and air during the winter months and cools it during the summer months.

THE OCEANS The Earth's oceans are all connected to one another. Until the year 2000, there were four recognized oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic. In the Spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization delimited a new ocean, the Southern Ocean.

WHY ARE THE OCEANS SALTY? As water flows in rivers, it picks up small amounts of mineral salts from the rocks and soil of the river beds. This very-slightly salty water flows into the oceans and seas. The water in the oceans only leaves by evaporating, but the salt remains dissolved in the ocean. So the remaining water gets saltier and saltier as time passes.

SALINITY  The salt content of ocean water varies. The oceans are about 3.5% salt. The saltiest water is in the Red Sea and in the Persian Gulf. The least salty seas are in the polar regions, where both melting polar ice and a lot of rain dilute the salt.

WHAT CAUSES THE TIDES? Tides are periodic rises and falls of large bodies of water. Tides are caused by the gravitational interaction between the Earth and the Moon. The gravitational pull of the moon causes the oceans to bulge out in the direction of the moon. Another bulge occurs on the opposite side, since the Earth is also being pulled toward the moon. Since the earth is rotating while this is happening, two tides occur each day. Isaac Newton was the first person to explain tides.

WHY IS THE OCEAN BLUE? Sunlight is made up of all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Some of the sunlight is reflected off the surface of the water, reflecting the color of the sky. Some of the sunlight penetrates the water and is scattered by ripples and particles in the water.

Water absorbs more of the red light in sunlight; the water also enhances the scattering of blue light. Sir Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman (an Indian physicist) won the Nobel prize in 1930 for his work on light.

Some Oddly-Colored Seas:

The Red Sea often looks red because of red algae that live in this sea.

The Black Sea looks almost black because it has a high concentration of hydrogen sulfide (which appears black).

Try This:

Wave bottle -  Fill a small water bottle with a little more than half water and add two or three drops of blue food coloring. Mix well and then fill the rest with mineral oil all the way to the top. Put the lid on tightly hot gluing it in place. When the bottle is held sideways and tipped back and forth it will form “waves”. If desired, add a small amount of sand, shells, and sequins before adding the oil and water.

Edible Aquarium - Make blue Jell-O following the directions on the box. Pour the Jell-O into clear plastic cups and let them partially set – approximately one hour. Then use gummy fish, Swedish fish-Aqua Life, or fruit snack sharks to push into the Jell-O. Refrigerate for the remaining time and then enjoy!

Bible – Teach the days of creation by reading the creation story to your child. Talk about when oceans were created (day 2), the beach (day 3).

Spy Jar – Fill a 2 liter empty plastic bottle with sand. Drop small objects in the bottle that relate to the ocean/beach. Glue the lid on the bottle. The child will be able to see different objects as he/she turns the bottle. Have the child name the objects that he/she sees or give clues for a certain object and have the child find it. You could make up a check-off sheet for the child to check as the find the items. For children not reading, put a picture clue next to each word on the check-off list.

Sea Scented Play-doh Recipe:

            3 cups of flour

            1.5 ounces cream of tartar

         ¾ cup salt

            3 tbsp. cooking oil

            3 cups water

          1 tbsp. coconut extract

            Yellow food coloring

            Gold glitter

Combine the first five ingredients in a large pot. Whisk together until free of lumps. Stir in the coconut extract and yellow food coloring. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat until it pulls away from the sides of the pot and forms a large ball. Knead the ball lightly on a flour board until the dough is smooth. (Be careful it is hot.) Knead in the desired amount of glitter. After cooled, store in airtight container.

Discovering The Ocean:

Locate and name the six oceans on this planet.
Describe three groups of plants and animals in the ocean.
Identify the parts of the ocean floor.

Trace the route water follows to get to the ocean. 

Compare the amount of light at different ocean zones.  

Why are there waves?

Why can fish live in water, but people can't?

How clean is the air we breathe?

How about the water we drink?

How can we use the Earth’s resources wisely?

What can we do to protect Earth’s resources?

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Happy 10th Birthday to Mo Willems' Pigeon!

Disney Publishing Worldwide is pleased to celebrate the 10th birthday of Mo Willems’ avian hero, Pigeon!

This month, fans can take a drive down memory lane with three classic Pigeon titles at a smaller trim size with the It’s a Busload of Pigeon Books! box set, featuring an original poster illustrated by Mo Willems.

In addition, Don't Pigeonhole Me!: Two Decades of the Mo Willems Sketchbook, will be available on June 18, giving adults a rare glimpse at Willems’ early self-published Pigeon illustrations, along with two decades’ worth of cartoons and sketches. Elephant and Piggie, Willems’ New York Times best-selling duo, will also have a new book, titled A Big Guy Took My Ball!, publishing on May 21.

Here is some additional information about upcoming titles by Mo Willems:

· It’s a Busload of Pigeon Books! (Pub Date: April 2), $24.99—Climb on board for super fun reading with three picture books starring the famous bird! The boxed set includes three favorites: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, along with an original poster illustrated by Mo Willems with activities on the reverse side.

· Don’t Pigeonhole Me! Two Decades of the Mo Willems Sketchbook (Pub Date: June 18), $40.00—Young readers first met the Pigeon in 2003. But Pigeon was born many years earlier in the pages of a Willems’ sketchbook. This new adult coffee table book is a 20-year compilation of characters, scribbles, and ideas. These sketches have always been the well from which Willems draws ideas and inspiration. Featuring a foreword by Eric Carle and an introduction by Willems, this volume includes all twenty sketchbooks from the last two decades.

· A Big Guy Took My Ball! (An Elephant & Piggie Book) (Pub Date: May 21), $8.99—Elephant and Piggie, Willems’ Geisel Award-winning duo, will also have a new tale of their own. Gerald and Piggie, a curious pair, are best friends. Piggie is devastated when a big guy takes her ball. Gerald is big, too . . . but is he big enough to help his best friend?

One Night With The King Blu-ray DVD {Review}

A visually beautiful film, ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING depicts the biblical tale of a Jewish peasant, Hadassah (Tiffany Dupont), and her journey to become the legendary Queen Esther. Her parents were murdered when she was a young girl and she was taken in by her uncle, Mordecai (John Rhys-Davies); he raised her in Susa, a city of the ancient empire of Persia. Hadassah--beautiful, intelligent and passionate--was summoned among many of the kingdom's virtuous young women to be groomed as a possible new queen for the powerful and handsome King Xerxes (Luke Goss). Hadassah hides her Jewish heritage under advisement from her uncle, and changes her name to Esther. She impresses the King. He falls in love with her and chooses her to be his bride, and she becomes Queen of Persia. Soon after, Hamen the Agagite (James Callis), the King's Prime Minster, proclaims his goal of wiping out all the Jews of Persia, and he convinces the King to approve the plan. It is up to Queen Esther to announce her Jewish heritage and come to the rescue of her people.

Peppered with many religious references, ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING conveys the message of divine destiny as it tells the story of a queen who continues to be an inspiring figure. Although the result of Queen Esther's intervention is well known, the filmmakers and actors do a superb job of building up the suspense and the desperation felt by all involved. The film includes a brief cameo by Peter O'Toole as the biblical figure Samuel, and Omar Sharif appears as Prince Memucan.

My Thoughts: I really enjoy biblical epic movies. I want to pass along this joy to my children and I thought One Night With The King would be another great addition to our every growing collection of biblical movies. I was also able to incorporate One Night With The King into our studies since I am their teacher. One Night with the King tells the story of Esther, a young Jewish woman who changes her name to Hadassah. She marries the king of Persia and reveals her heritage to save her people. This was the point of the story and it was made well and my children could understand the story a bit beter witht he visual aide of this movie.