Categories
Earth Science

Common Landforms: how they form, definitions, and examples

Many forces work together to shape the landscape. Plate tectonics, volcanic activity, erosion, and deposition work slowly over time to form and change our earth’s surface. All these forces working together create some pretty unique and cool landforms! In this post, we’ll take a closer look at 12 common landforms – what they look like, […]

Categories
Activity ideas Botany

Trigonometry in Action: tree height measurement step-by-step guide

I don’t know about you, but I think math is more interesting when we can apply it to real-world situations! If you’re teaching trigonometry, right triangles, or angles in your classroom or homeschool, you and your students will love this tree-height applied math activity! In this simple learning activity, students will learn how to make […]

Categories
Amazing Wildlife

Alphabet of North American Animals

For a recent project, I illustrated North American Animals from A to Z (you can find those illustrations here)! During this project, I reviewed many incredible critters that I studied while earning my degree in Wildlife Biology! I wanted to share more about these cool creatures with you! You may already know and love some […]

Categories
Ecology

Food Chains vs Food Webs: definitions, differences explained, and examples

A food chain is just one of the many paths that allow energy to flow through an ecosystem. But ecosystems are more complicated than a single food chain: every ecosystem includes many food chains that overlap and connect.

Categories
Amazing Wildlife Sustainability and Conservation

Aquatic Insects: identification, examples, and use as bioindicators

If you flip over a few rocks in the shallow water at any healthy pond or stream, you’re sure to see a few aquatic insects! Many aquatic insects are the larvae or nymphs of well-known flying insects, like dragonflies and mayflies! They begin their lives in the water, then emerge from the surface of the […]

Categories
Activity ideas Botany

Tree Rings: why they form and what scientists learn from them – plus a free classroom activity!

You may have noticed the unique rings that appear on tree stumps – and you might even know that you can figure out a tree’s age by counting the rings! But did you know that scientists can use tree growth rings to learn about our past climate and even estimate the date of historic volcanic eruptions?

Categories
Earth Science

Mountains and the Water Cycle: the rain shadow effect explained

A short bonus post here! After writing two posts about the water cycle (how it works and how humans effect it), I still felt like there was more to write. I owed it to the wonderful mountains where I live, to touch on the important role of mountains in the water cycle. In this mini […]

Categories
Earth Science

How Humans Affect the Water Cycle, a Complete Guide

In a rush? Skip directly to download the learning activity for this post! In part one of this two-part post on the water cycle, we learned how the water cycle makes life possible for land-dwelling plants and animals, including humans. The water cycle provides the constant source of freshwater that we need to survive. The […]

Categories
Sustainability and Conservation

Aquatic Ecosystems: How to tell if a pond, stream, or wetland is healthy

This is part 2 of a two-part post on aquatic ecosystems. If you haven’t already, check out part 1! In a rush? Click here to go straight to the printable scavenger hunt! In my last post, I shared my experience working as a science technician studying aquatic ecosystems like streams, ponds, and wetlands. These water […]

Categories
Ecology

The Heart of an Ecosystem: Healthy ponds, streams, and wetlands

In a rush? Click here to go straight to the printable journaling page for kids! This week, my students and I took a field trip to a local creek. Getting outside to make observations in nature is one of my favorite hands-on ways to learn about science and the natural world! Ponds, creeks, and wetlands […]

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