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NORTHERN WISCONSIN / NORTHWOODS JULY KIDS ACTIVITY CALENDAR |
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|| KIDS PAGES -- JULY ACTIVITY CALENDAR! JULY Kids Activity Calendar Hot July Brings Cooling Showers, Apricots and Gillyflowers July 1 Find the Oceans on a Map Can you name the four major oceans of the world? In descending order of size, they are the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic. (some people even add a fifth, the Antarctic.) Now look on a map or globe and trace with your finger where they lie. Do you see how these oceans are really one continuous body of water? The oceans (along with smaller connected bodies of salt water that we call seas, the four largest of which are the South China, Caribbean, Mediterranean and Bering) cover approximately 71% of the earthâs surface, which is substantial, to say the least. Weâve come to know quite a bit about the oceans and life beneath the waves, especially in recent years. We take advantage of the seas in many ways, and it is expected that we will come to depend on the oceans even more in the future. We can no longer regard the vast waters as dumping grounds, however, nor can be continue to carelessly pollute and over-fish the seas. Do you think it might help us to protect the oceans by remembering that the first forms of life on earth actually had their start in the oceans? You might be happy just playing in the sand, eating fried clams, and taking an occasional dip in the water. But, if you get the chance, go out on a boat to get another perspective of the ocean. Book passage on a ferry boat that island hops, or go for a sail. You might even be able to get a few seats on one of those boats that head out in search of whales. (Whale watches are generally organized from May until October.) Even if you donât spot any whales, these trips are a lot of fun. You can get information about whale watches when you are down at the shore, or call a local nature center or science museum. Many sponsor trips throughout the summer, and you can book seats ahead of time. Getting that close to these big marine mammals is a thrill that canât be beat! July 2 Make a Marine Mural Weâve come a long way since life began in the season thousands of millions of years ago! But the seas continue to be home to all sorts of interesting plants and animals. You can get a clear idea of how life functions and adapts below the ocean surface by making a mural. A long piece of newsprint cut from a roll-end works well (or piece together smaller sheets of paper). Divide the mural horizontally into several sections, using cut or torn strips of paper, or paint, to show the shore (tan), shallow water at landâs edge (pale blue), and deeper water (dark blue.) Paste down pictures that you have cut from magazines, or sketched yourself. You might want to make a comparative mural, showing the forms of life found on a sandy beach versus those found on a rocky shore. Or if you are interested in the creatures of the deep, mark the paper off in 4,000 foot increments and make a mural that shows the great ocean depths, and what can be found where. You could also use the mural to record what you have actually found on the beach. A mural like this makes a dandy souvenir of a visit to the shore. July 3 Taste Some Water From the Ocean You donât need to actually drink some ocean water to taste it. Just roll a spoonful or so around in your mouth and spit it out. How is that for salty? The saltiness of the oceans differs from place to place, but on the average about 3 1/2% of seawater is dissolved mineral salts. Our own table salt, sodium chloride, is the most common ocean mineral. And there are some bodies of water that are salty, and are not even oceans! The largest salt LAKE in the world is the Caspian Sea in Eurasia. The saltiest (ten times saltier than average ocean water) is Lake Assal in East Africa. And many of you probably know that we have a large salt lake in the United States. Where? You guessed it. Itâs located at Salt Lake City, Utah! The salt in ocean water is something that you can even smell and feel. When you drive down to the beach, can you notice a salty odor even before you spot the shore? After a swim in the ocean, see how your skin feels. Does it feel dry and tight, like you are covered with a fine layer of salt? Lick your skin and you can have another taste of the sea. A simple experiment demonstrates that there is salt in the water. Pour a cupful of sea water in a clear bowl and leave it where it will not be disturbed. After several days, the water in the bowl will have evaporated leaving only the minerals. A taste test will confirm that there are salts among them. Do you think people will ever drink ocean water? By the way, most streams and oceans in the United States, west of the Continental Divide join other rivers that empty into the Pacific Ocean. Those rivers on the other side of the Divide drain into the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. July 4 Name the Ways that People Use the Oceans If youâve ever spent a day at the beach, you might put fun and recreation at the top of the list of ways that people use the oceans. Nothing draws people to an area like a beach does. some people say they love the water, so cooling during the hot summer months; others just like to on the beach or play in the sand. What is your favorite thing to do at the beach? We certainly do make good use of the oceansâ offerings. If you were to make a list of the gifts from the seas, it might include recreation (from sailing to scuba diving), food (you might like tuna fish sandwiches, but the Japanese are partial to seaweed), medicines (cod liver oil is rich in vitamins A and D) and such varied items as jewelry (pearls come from oysters) and sponges (skeletons of another sea creature). Some minerals are extracted from sea water, and as more efficient methods are developed, there may be even more of this in the future. Currently petroleum is brought up from the ocean floor, and while it is just a coincidence that this valuable commodity is located there, you might say petroleum is one of the oceansâ offerings, as well. Can you think of any other ways we use the oceans? July 5 Read a Story or Poem About the Ocean When you think of the ocean, what comes to mind? Is it the smell of the salt air, or the feel of sand between your toes? Beach Party Joanne Ryder (story) Down to the Beach Mary Garelick (story) Driving to the Beach Joanna Cole (poem) maggie and milly and molly and may e.e. cummings (poem) The Paint-Box Sea Doris Herold Lund (story) The Sandpiper Frances Frost (poem) The Sea Anonymous (poem) Sea Shell Amy Lowell (poem) Until I saw the Sea Lilian Moore (poem) July 6 Mark the High and Low Tides Ancient peoples thought the rhythmic movement of the tides, causing high water and lower water, was created by a monster at the bottom of the seas, breathing in and out. You can see how they might have thought that! We know now that the tides are created by gravitational pull from the moon, and to a lesser extent, the sun. The high and low tides at beaches vary considerably throughout the world. The Bay of Fundy, in eastern Canada, holds the record for the greatest difference between high and low tide -- an unbelievable 53 feet! By comparison, the Mediterranean Sea barely has a tide at all. Find out how your beach figures by looking for the signs of both and low tides and measuring the difference. A tide table of your region will tell you when the two low and two high tides will take place each day. Look for a wharf jutting out into the water, and measure where the water comes to at both low and high tides. Are you surprised at the difference? Look, too, for signs of the shore life that must adapt to the twice daily changes in water level. Certain seaweeds need constant contact with water; other life forms make due at the ãsplash zone,ä the dry end of the shore. Look for the strand lines along flat, sandy beaches which mark the high tides and are an abundant source of treasures, especially after a storm. July 7 Make a Wave Bottle The waves in your wave bottle wonât knock you off your feet like real waves can, but you can get an idea how waves crest and break with this simple set-up. Fill a bottle, such as a clear screw-top soda bottle, one-third full with salad oil. Fill the rest of the bottle ( and it must be full to the top) with water. Add several drops of blue food coloring, if you want the ãwaterä to be blue. Screw the top on tight, and gently rock the bottle back and forth on its side. Do you see how the small waves form and break? Real waves are caused mostly by wind. The average ocean wave is 10 to 12 feet high (measured from the trough, or low point, to the crest, or high point.) Twenty foot waves are considered big. Some waves, however, are caused by movement under the water, such as earthquakes and landslides. These waves, and occasionally those that accompany storms at sea, can be huge. You may have heard of tsunamis, giant waves that tower as high as 200 feet! These waves, set off by earthquakes, are capable of traveling up to 500 miles per hour, and often batter shores thousands of miles from their origin. July 8 Look for Plants Growing by the Shores The plants you will find growing along coastal areas may look similar to plants growing farther inland. Thereâs a major difference, however. Whether they are rooted in dry sand or in a coastal wetland, these plants must be able to tolerate salt, for both the soil and the air are heavy with it. These plants must also be able to withstand the winds coming off the water, which are sometimes harsh, especially when the occasional storm buffets the shores. Can you find any plants that remind you of garden varieties? The beach pea is closely related to the sweet pea, a fragrant flowering plant. Did you know there is even goldenrod that grows down by the ocean (itâs called seaside goldenrod)? There are beach heathers, sea oats, and seaside gerardias, all related to plants with similar names that grow elsewhere. And there are plenty of grasses, too, adapted to life at waterâs edge. Because conditions along coasts impose such hardships, and because people crowding onto beaches make it still more difficult for plants to survive, do not pick any seaside plants (even if they seem plentiful.) Sketch them, or photograph them, but leave them be. These flowers and grasses may save your favorite beach from eroding and eventually disappearing forever. July 9 Watch for Birds that live Near the Ocean Youâll notice that birds along seashores have special adaptations, too, for life near the water. Can you see how many have bills that are designed for scooping food from the water, or for spearing it? Many of the birds have webbed feet, which are useful for paddling when the birds are afloat. While many seaside birds eat fish, others wait for the tide to go out and hunt for creatures that are buried just below the surface in the sand. You can search for the same clues that these birds rely on. Look for casts on the sandâs surface made by marine worms. Do you see the tiny air holes dotting the beach? These are made by shelled creatures that burrow beneath the sand. Try digging in the sand to catch one of these animals. You will almost certainly not be able to keep up with these crafty creatures, as they continue to bury themselves deeper still a t lightning speed. A note: Many shore birds seen in northern areas this time of year can be found in the southern regions of the United States during the colder months. July 10 Make a Seaweed Collection On rocky shores there is usually an abundance of plants growing in the water. Seaweeds, as they are loosely known, grow right on the rocks. How do they do that? Seaweeds are algae, and instead of roots they have suctionlike anchors that hold them fast to rocks and other solid objects. Not surprisingly, these are called holdfasts! Pry one off carefully with a knife or sharp shell to examine it. Closest to shores are the green seaweeds, followed by those that are brown, and lastly, those that are red. All seaweeds need sunlight to grow, so they are found in relatively shallow waters (less than 100 feet deep generally.) Some, such as sea lettuce, are found on both coasts of the United States; others such as chenille weed (this seaweed looks just like strands of chenille) grow only along the Atlantic seaboard. Rockweed, found in the northeast, has bubble-like bladders along its stems, which are fun to pop when the seaweed is dry. Seaweeds can either by hung to dry or pressed. Because they are so bulky and wet, youâll need to use plenty of folded newspapers, changed frequently, to dry them. Weight the newspapers with something heavy. Often seaweed will stick to paper as it dries. Why not take advantage of this tendency and compose some pictures with wet seaweed? Your arrangements will be naturally ãgluedä in place. July 11 Sample Some Seaweed Are you kidding? You can eat seaweed; in fact you already do eat a lot of seaweed if you like ice cream, chocolate milk, pudding and toothpaste (well, you donât eat toothpaste.) Thatâs because Irish moss (which is not a moss at all but a plentiful seaweed also known as carrageen) has a substance extracted from it that is used in all of these foods. Other seaweeds that are eaten worldwide include dulse, laver, and various kelps. Sample some seaweeds yourself. Look for the bright green sea lettuce to add to a garden salad. itâs a bit tough and chewy, but it does add a festive touch to a land-based salad. Or make some Irish moss pudding. Carefully wash one cup of fresh Irish moss; add it to three cups of milk in the top of a double boiler and cook over simmering water for about 25 minutes. Discard the seaweed. Stir in a third of a cup of sugar and one teaspoon vanilla. Pour the pudding into individual dishes and chill until firm (a couple of hours). Serve either plain or with a topping of berries, perhaps some you may have gathered yourself. Be careful when you are climbing in and out of tide pools. Seaweed is slippery! Wear sneakers on rough beaches to protect your feet from sharp rocks and shells. Watch out for jellyfish (some will give you a rash) and crabs. Crabs have powerful jaws. July 12 Search for Seashells The best searching time is when the tide is going out. Youâll have to be quick, however, and beat the birds to any of the whole shells. Have you ever watched gulls dropping shells onto rocks, or even roads? That is how the birds break open the shells to get to the creatures that live inside. With a swoop, the birds gobble up the tasty morsels. Seashells come in all shapes and size, and many have descriptive names. Have you ever seen a slipper shell (the underside of this shell looks just like an open-backed slipper) or coffee-bean trivias (these look like whole coffee beans)? Some have musical names like periwinkle, wentletrap, and wavy turban. Some are satiny-smooth, others are rough and rugged looking. Any whole shells you find should be dropped in boiling water (have your parents help you with this) and then picked clean once the shells have cooled. If you canât get all the little pieces of animal debris out of the shells, put them outside on the soil where scavenger insects will finish the job for you. Display your shells in shoe box tops (gluing them in place) or in a clear vase filled with water (this brings out their colors nicely). A little mineral oil rubbed into the shells also improves their luster. July 13 Create Some Seashell Art There are all sorts of things you can do with shells besides display them. (There are even ways to use broken shells, so donât despair if you havenât found any whole specimens yet.) What have you ever seen made from shells that you would like to make yourself? If you would like to wear your shells, you can string them on thread and make a necklace. Some, such as the thin-shelled jingle shells, can be tapped gently with a hammer and a small nail to make the holes for stringing. Or glue a safety pin to the back of a large shell to make a brooch. If you would rather hear your shells, string lots of them on strong thread and hang several strands together to make a wind chime. Large shells (plain or decorated with smaller shells) make dandy candy dishes, spoon rests, paper clip holders, and trinket boxes. If you have found some lovely fragments of shells that you would like to use, make a hanging ornament. Glue the shell pieces (and even small bits of beach glass) onto a clear coffee-can cover with epoxy (have your parents show you how to use this strong glue.) This makes a pretty sun-catcher to hang in a sunny window. July 14 Make a Mobile from Beach Treasures On your walks along sandy beaches, and in and out of tide pools, youâll find all sorts of things besides shells. Look for pieces of driftwood and beach glass; search for empty crab shells, and horseshoe crab shells (which arenât really crabs, but more closely related to spiders!). See if you can find skate egg-cases (popularly known as ãmermaidâs pursesä), and barnacle-encrusted bits of shell and stones. If you comb the beaches in warmer areas you might find coral (some types can be found as far north as Massachusetts), or sea urchins and sand dollars. What can you do with all these treasures? Make a mobile and hang some of your finds together as a memento of your seaside ventures. Use the driftwood as the supports and hang the smaller items with white thread. It takes some practice to balance all the elements, both artistically as well as physically, but this is a good rainy day project, when spending time on the beach is not possible. You can also enjoy the wonders of the deep without ever setting foot off of dry land, by visiting an aquarium. Many cities (especially coastal ones) have aquariums, although many towns with science museums (and sometimes childrenâs museums) have tanks with marine creature, even hands-on areas where you can actually stroke a starfish or shake hands with a crab. Visit an aquarium as a prelude to a visit to the shore, or stop by one to get some ideas for setting up your own aquarium at home. You can create a salt-water habitat and populate it with sea creatures and plants, or set up a freshwater aquarium. This could be as simple as a couple of goldfish in a bowl to a complex filtered system that houses dozens of tropical species. Youâll have to do some homework to see what would work best for you. Fish and other water creatures donât require daily exercise like a dog does, but you still need to provide food and clean living conditions for your aquarium animals. July 15 Examine Rocks from a Pebbly Beach The constant tumbling of the waves smoothes the edges of rocks found along coastlines. Depending on the predominant type of rock in the region, you may find round rocks, or you may find flat slices of rock that are good for skipping over the water. How many times can you make a flat stone skip? Collect some rocks and smaller pebbles and display them with your shells or on their own . A little mineral oil will bring out their color. Or arrange them in a water-filled container which will do the same. Small round rocks can be used in flower arranging. Place a handful of pebbles in a clear vase to separate and anchor the stems of flowers. Besides being useful, they add visual interest to arrangements. Larger rocks can be simply displayed, or put to good use, too. they make good paperweights and doorstops. July 16 Collect Sand from Different Beaches Did you know that most of the sand found on beaches actually came from inland areas, and was washed down to the shores, often by rivers and streams? Some coastal sand is full of tiny bits of broken shells and other marine debris, but most is made up of minute particles of rock that have settled along coastlines. Ocean waves and currents spread and shift the sands where water and land meet. The color of sand differs from beach to beach, depending, of course, on the kind of rock that predominates in a particular area. Much of the sand in the United States is grayish in color, but you can find white coral sands in Florida, and Hawaii boasts blackish-green sands (these are mostly volcanic rock particles.) Collect small amounts of sand at different beaches. Self-locking plastic bags work well. Be sure to label the sands you collect (you may want to remember where and when you them.) Look at some sand closely with a magnifying glass. Are the different grains of sand all the same color? Can you guess what types of rocks the particles are from? Seashores arenât the only places youâll find sand, of course. Remember where most coastal sand comes from? From places inland! So look for sand along rivers, and along lake shores. If you still canât find any, bring the sand to you. check at a local sand and gravel pit, where natural sand is screened for size and cleaned. Although this sand is primarily for the building trade, you can usually purchase a small truckload of sand for your sandbox. You can also find salt water far from the ocean breezes. There are many salt lakes throughout the world. The best known in this country is the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Its water is eight times saltier than average ocean water, and is getting saltier by the year. Today the lake is only one-twentieth its original size. As the water evaporates, the lake shrinks, and the mineral salts become even more concentrated, resulting in a very salty bath. July 17 Test Black Sand for Magnetism On Hawaiian beaches, black sand is mostly finely particled lava. In other places, however, the dark color may indicate minute bits of iron in the sand. You can test this by passing a magnet over the sand and seeing what it attracts. The tiny iron particles will be picked right up and cling to the magnet. What other colors does sand come in? Check the following chart. Color Composition Black Lava, iron particles Gray Granite, feldspar Light brown Granite, quartz Yellow Quartz Gold Mica Red Garnet Pink Feldspar White Coral, seashells, quartz Glass is made from sand, which when combined with soda and lime (and other ingredients for special kinds of glass)and heated to melting point can be blown or molded into many shapes for varied uses. July 18 Make a Sand Bottle Fill a bottle with layers of different sands (they can be from different areas of the same beach) for a lasting memento of seaside ventures. Even if you only have two types of sand (or sand and small pebbles), you can alternate layers in a pattern of stripes. Choose a clear, straight-sided container, and carefully funnel the sand into it, tipping the container slightly to create undulating (wavy) layers, if you like. Be sure to fill your container to the very top, and seal it with a cork or screw-top, so that the sands wonât move around and mix together. Do you want to remember where you found each type of sand? Make simple labels noting where and when the sands were collected. July 19 Make Some Sand Castings Sand has long been used as a way of molding shapes that are then filled with ãliquidsä such as molten metals or melted wax. Youâll be using plaster of Paris mixed with salt water to fill your sand molds. Hereâs a craft project you can do right on the beach! Make a shallow hole in the sand and line it with treasures you have picked up along the beach. Arrange shells and pebbles in interesting designs, or just group them randomly. Pour in the plaster and let it harden. Dig it up when it has set, letting it dry several more hours before you clear away all the traces of the sand. Or pour some plaster into a small hole, allowing the plaster to harden only slightly before lifting it out of the sand. With a skewer or other thin stick, poke lots of holes into the rounded dome of your casting. You can use this as a container for dried flower arrangements. Donât forget that your own footprints in sand make ideal subjects to cast. Just remember that when you are done, you must clean up after yourself, leaving no trace of the activity on the beach. July 20 Paint a Sand Painting In the United States, the most famous sand painters are the Navajo Indians (although they learned the art from the Pueblo Indians, who are thought to have learned it from the Spanish.) The Navajos use colored sands as well as crushed charcoal, cornmeal, mineral ores and pollen for their elaborate paintings. They (and other cultures throughout the world) use sand paintings for healing and ceremonial purposes. The paintings are always nonpermanent, and are left to blow away with the breezes, or are intentionally destroyed. You can make your own permanent sand paintings using different colored sand. On heavy cardboard, paint shapes with slightly watered-down white glue. While the glue is still wet, sprinkle sand over the painted area, tipping away the excess after the glue has had time to set. Repeat with different sands, making abstract designs, or elements of nature, as the Navajos do. July 21 Make Some Castles in the Sand Actually sand castles are only a beginning. If youâve ever seen some of the truly fantastic sand sculptures that have been made during sand sculpting competitions, you know what an amazing material sand is to work with. And all that work and time goes into making something that will disappear forever with the tide! Maybe sculpting in sand is a healing pastime not unlike painting with sand. See if your community will be sponsoring any sand-sculpting competitions. Then spend some enjoyable hours ãpracticingä! Search the beach for shells, rocks, and other treasures to adorn your sculptures. Take a spray bottle to the beach with you to mist the sand. An assortment of tools will come in handy, too. Good luck! Protect yourself from the elements when you are down at the beach . The sun, reflecting off light-colored sand and water, produces a quick burn, so take along a brimmed hat to shade your eyes, sunscreen, and a sweatshirt or jacket if you are there early in the morning or once the sun goes down. July 22 Harvest some Herbs for Cooking and Crafts Can you believe how much your herbs have grown? This is a good time to harvest leaves and flowers for crafting and cooking. Pick the herbs in the morning, after the dew has dried, but before the hot sun brings out the aromatic oils. You probably have been pinching back plants all along (this encourages them to branch out.) Now you can cut back many plants almost to the ground. (The plants will grow almost as high again by autumn.) The long stems can be hung to dry, or the leaves can be stripped off and placed on a screen. Herbs that donât dry well can be preserved in other ways. Chives (always cut right down to the ground) can be cut in 1/4ä lengths with scissors and frozen. Basil leaves can be packed in oil, or made into pesto (check a cookbook for the recipe.) You might want to press some herbs; you might to dry others for potpourri. The herbs that you are growing for their seeds (such as dill, coriander, and fennel) may not be ready to harvest yet. When the seeds start to turn brown, cut the stems from the plants and place them upside-down in a paper bag. Let them dry for a week or so. The bag will catch the seeds as they fall from the stems. July 23 Press Some Leaves and Flowers Many annual flowers are in bloom now and the best blossoms can be pressed flat for pressed flower pictures. You can press foliage and flowers in fat books (use protective paper so that you wonât soil the page) or in the plant press you made. Donât worry about getting all the petals of flowers to fan out perfectly, and donât fret if leaves donât lie flat. Instead, let the blossoms and leaves curl naturally and even overlap. These casually curved stems are easier to work with because they are very natural looking (you can, of course, press some individual leaves and blossoms to add to your pictures.) Youâll find that some flower compositions just ãmake themselvesä! Most plant material will be ready to use in 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the thickness of the leaves and blooms, and somewhat on the weather, too. You may want to store your pressed plants in a shoe box or other sturdy container, to free up your press (or that book you were reading!). July 24 Dry Some Flowers in Sand What do you do with those flowers that are so fat they canât be pressed flat? You can dry them in sand. Drying flowers in sand is a centuries-old technique. Only the sturdiest blossoms work well, so check your zinnias for perfect blooms and ransack the roses for some beautiful buds. First you need to clean your sand. Put it in a pail, fill the pail with water and stir. When the sand has settled, skim the water for floating debris. Do this several times. Dry the sand in a warm oven for several hours. Then put a layer of sand in a container that can be made airtight (a cookie tin or a shoe box will do). Place your blossoms on the sand, petals up, and sift sand over them, tipping the box and using a toothpick to push sand into any crevices. Cover the flowers with another inch of sand; seal the box with tape, mark the contents and the date and put the box in a warm, dry place. After two weeks, check a blossom. Itâs ready if the petals feel dry and crisp like paper. If the blossoms need more time, re-cover them for another week or so. When they are Îdone,ä take the blossoms out and dust them clean with a small paintbrush. Brush the petals with a little oil to add sheen. Wire them with floristâs wire and they are ready to be used in all sorts of arrangements. July 25 Preserve Some Leaves in Glycerin You may have heard of glycerin. Itâs an old-fashioned ingredient in hand lotions (rosewater and glycerin). You can still buy small bottles of it at drug stores. You can preserve all sorts of foliage with it (from oak leaves to ferns) and even a few flowers, notably hydrangeas. The plants turn color somewhat, but these are usually pleasing shades. Prepare your foliage by stripping the bark from the thick lower stems (or mashing them slightly). Dilute the glycerin with water -- one part glycerin to two parts water. Bring the solution almost to a boil (have your parents help you here) and pour 4-6 inches of it into a container tall enough to support the foliage. Place your greenery in the solution and leave it in a cool, dark place until the leaves being to turn color. Check the plants regularly to see that there is enough solution in the container and to monitor how the conversion is going. If plants are left too long in glycerin, mildew might set in. The leaves should feel slightly greasy, but there shouldnât be oil beads on the surface of the leaves. If the tops of your branches droop, hang the plants upside down to let the glycerin soak down to the very tips of the leaves. Wipe the leaves with a tissue and arrange them in a vase. Lovely! July 26 Search for Edible Wild Plants What do you think people ate before there were supermarkets? Go even farther back in time: What do you think before they learned how to farm? Early peoples did very nicely foraging for their food (and hunting game, too, of course). And we can do very nicely today doing the same thing. There are wonderful edibles out in the wilds free for the taking. All you have to know is how to positively identify any food you would like to taste. Do you like strawberries? Then youâll love wild strawberries, tiny morsels that are even better than the kind you find in markets. Do you like a little bite in your salad? Then hunt for some watercress and toss a few leaves in with the lettuce. Have you heard that almost all of a cattail is edible? Itâs true. You wouldnât go hungry if you could find only cattails to eat. You might want to start out with some plants you already know, like dandelions (the young leaves are good in salad and the roots make a nice tea), or wild mint (the minty smell is unmistakable). Use a clear field guide (and your parentsâ help) so youâll know what is what (and what look-alikes to avoid). Enjoy your gourmet gathering! July 27 Make a Daisy Chain There are all sorts of things you can do with daisies (remember, ãHe loves me, he loves me notä) but none prettier than a daisy chain. Start your chain by crossing two stems at right angles. See how the vertical stem lies over the horizontal one and loops behind it, making it lie alongside the horizontal stem. This method prevents tying any knots in the stems which would fray them. Now add another vertical stem over the two horizontal ones and loop it as shown . Continue in this way until your chain is as long as you would like it. finish it off by weaving any loose strands in among the others for a neat look. Dandelions also make good chains. First snap the flowers off the stems, and then make links by inserting the smaller end of the stem into the larger. Stems with flowers can later be woven into the chain to add some color. And speaking of colors. . . Colors are commonly given descriptive names, and many are the names of plants. Just think of grass green, lemon yellow or tomato red. Some colors are the names of the fruits themselves, such as orange or peach. In and out of fashion come such shades as avocado, aubergine (or egg-plant), and apricot, to name a few. Think of the many shades of green, yellow, orange, red, and purple with plants as part of their names. What about blue? Well, thereâs robinâs egg blue, and sky blue, for instance, but you wonât come up with too many plant names that are blue. Unless you think of blueberry blue, but then, arenât blueberries really more purple than blue. July 28 Dye Some Yarn with Plants Dyeing with natural dyes is fun and easy to do. Wool takes dyes more readily than cotton or other fibers, so why not dye some yarn that you (or your mother) can make into something? Knit up a handsome scarf, or some mittens. Stitch a needlepoint pillow or a wallhanging for your room. You need to boil up some leaves, bark, or nutshells to extract your dye. (In general, you need two pounds of fresh materials, and one pound of nutshells, barks, or berries in order to dye a pound of yarn). Strain the eye and put it into a large kettle filled with enough water to cover the wool. (Your wool should be sitting in a mordant bath, made the previous day from 4 ounces of alum mixed with one ounce of cream of tartar in a kettle of water. Add your wool and bring it to a boil. Cook for one hour, then let sit overnight). Add the mordanted wool and place this kettle on the store (have your parents help whenever you use the stove). Poke the wool gently with a spoon as the water gets hot, and the wool takes on the color you want (remember it will be light when itâs dry). Let the wool cool in the kettle. Rinse it with cool water until the rinse water runs clear. Gently squeeze the water from the wool and hang the yarn to dry in a shaded spot. Now get out your knitting needles! Goldenrod flowers will turn your wool yellow-brown. Bark from a maple tree will yield a rosy-tan dye. Onion skins will dye wool a burnt-orange color. July 29 Show How the Sun Makes Day and Night Despite the fact that we say the sun rises and sets, the sun does not move at all! Itâs our earth, turning on its axis, that provides the movement, giving the illusion that the sun makes its way across the sky each day. Do you remember how you used a globe to show how the sun tilted in relation to the sun, to explain the seasons? You can use that same globe to show how the earth makes one complete revolution every twenty-four hours, to explain night and day. Or you can demonstrate night and day with just you and a light source. When you are facing the light, it is day (pretend the United States is situated on the tip of your nose). Turn around slowly. When your back is facing the light, it is night. and so on. Q: What is dark made from light? A: A shadow. July 30 Name Some of the Ways the Sun Affects Nature Scientists think the sun is 5 billion years old. ancient peoples worshipped the sun, and no wonder! Without the sun there would be no life on earth. The sun provides our planet with the necessary ingredients -- heat and sunlight -- for plants to grow, and the plants, in turn, feed all the animals on earth, ourselves included. But did you know that the sun does even more? The sun is responsible for wind, created when warm air rises and cooler air moves in to take its place; the warmth from the sun also causes evaporation, which sends moisture into the air to later return to earth as precipitation (a fancy word for rain and snow). The sun also plays a part in certain rhythms, such as movements of tides (it shares this job with the moon) and the changing of the seasons. The sun is even responsible for all the colors we see when looking for a rainbow. Did you ever wonder why everything looks black at night? Our sun may just be a medium-sized star (one of more than 200 million in our galaxy alone!) but seeing how itâs in the right place at the right time, we owe a lot to this life-giving sphere. July 31 Read a Story or a Poem About the Sun We may no longer worship the sun, but we continue to be spellbound by this fiery ball in the sky. Does a sunny day put you in a sunny mood? Let some of these stories and poems light up your day! Crayons Marchette Chute (poem) Spider in the Sky adapted by Anne Rose (story) Sun After Rain Norma Farber (poem) Sun Grumble Claudia Fregosi (story) The Sunâs Asleep Behind the Hill Mirra Ginsburg (story) |
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