We have had a lot of rain so far this fall! Which is great for filling up the aquifers, but not so great for the colors of our leaves as I shared in last week’s InstaScience on fall leaves. Rain forms when warm, moist air rises and condenses to form a cloud of water vapor, the micro-droplets collect together to form bigger droplets which fall to the ground because of gravity. In other words, … [Read more...]
How to Dissect Acorns
Our yard is littered with acorns – both complete and crushed. The squirrels like to chuck these oak tree fruits from a high tree branch to break them up and get to the soft inside. One of our children couldn’t understand why the squirrels would do that. So, we decided to grab a couple of complete ones to dissect and today I am sharing the process with you all! How to Dissect an … [Read more...]
Fall Leaves {InstaScience}
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. That’s pretty much what we hear as we walk through the woods around this time of year – our feet crunching up the dead leaves that have fallen from the trees. Each fall deciduous trees shed their leaves in preparation for winter. The tree seals off the leaf with a bit of cork that forms at the base of the leaf. This prevents water and nutrients from flowing into the … [Read more...]
Pumpkins {InstaScience}
When one thinks of fall, we almost immediately envision pumpkins! Big, fat, orange pumpkins. But there are lots of different varieties of pumpkins – some are big and orange, some are brownish with long necks, and some are blue! Inside, pumpkins all have a yellowish-orange flesh. Did you know that pumpkins are fruits? And that pumpkins are most closely related to cucumbers, squashes, and … [Read more...]
Acorns {InstaScience}
I love acorns! And my absolute favorite is this one from the Burr Oak tree. Isn’t it gorgeous? Acorns are the seeds of oak trees. Each one has a cap, which is attached to the tree, a hard shell, which protect the seed inside when it falls from the tree. And the seed, which will develop into a new oak tree the next year that is if the blue jays, chipmunks, and squirrels don’t eat first! Oak … [Read more...]
Bull Thistle {InstaScience}
Bull Thistle is one of those "weeds" that almost all of us are familiar with! Its characteristic purple flowers are easy to spot as they adorn the top of the stem. Plus, its spiky stem acts like a sentinel on the border of vacant fields and along trails. This weed definitely prefers wide, open, sunny areas! But did you know that the flowering stems you see are actually the second year … [Read more...]
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