Snake Data Graphs

As part of our study of When I Was Young in the Mountains, I used the data chart from Homeschool Share to help the kids analyze the different lengths of snakes in comparison with our own heights. Though we were studying snakes at the time, I took the opportunity to turn this into a nice math lesson. I also encouraged them to find the length of a favorite snake or at least one of their own choice.

I used the cm graph paper from the Cuisenaire Rod Idea Book. I cut it down because it has unnecessary information in the margins and we glued it to a larger white piece of paper so the kids would not have a problem labeling it.

I also tweaked the data chart and made my own adding on our heights and leaving room for snakes of choice. Sorry about the turned picture.

We talked about proper graph labeling and titles- particularly how to set up the scale for the numbering. We had a good discussion on how to determine the scale for the graph based on the range of numbers. A common mistake kids make is to switch it up as they see how far they need to go. Start with 2s and then switch to 5s or 10s. That will make a mess of a graph. I used to see it all the time as a 6th grade teacher.

Two of the finished graphs- minus titles

As I have mentioned before, we are no longer doing Horizons Math. So, we often take something that might be minor from our unit studies and make it a big math lesson. Things are going very well. I really should post about it. I'll put that on a sticky note.

TOS Crew Review: Journey through Learning

I had a good time working with the Reptiles lapbook from Journey through Learning. They actually sent us five lapbooks to have and review.

• Reptiles
• Amphibians
• Autumn
• Desert
• Parable of A King
  

I took a look at the Reptile one in detail and I'm anxious to use the autumn one next. I used the Reptiles lapbook with our study of When I Was Young in the Mountains for FIAR- just because I thought it would be a great way to study snakes and reptiles in general. I was not disapointed!


There are many lap book publishers out there and I can honestly say the Journey through Learning templates are easy to use and just a pleasure to work with. What makes them stand out?

• easy to follow directions on what to do with each element
• pages with easily readable text on each topic relating to the lap book elements
• there is one element per page and the there is a picture map showing you where it belongs in the lap book.
• they include colorful photos

Cost:

• electronic download $13.00
• CD $14.00
• printed version $21.00
  

Our fashionable start to our reptile lap book

This was a great element allowing even I7 to read through the characteristics and marking out the ones that did not apply. The rest he cut out and glued in place in this book.

The text is marked very clearly for the element it belongs to- this is one key for me. So many others I've used do not have this feature.

See the directions and the map of where the element goes? How cool is that?

Again, great directions on how to use the element

If you check out their website, you will see many other units and categories of lap books. Though I have only used the Reptile unit so far, I can see that the others are patterned the same way. They can be used as an addition to a unit you are doing or better yet they can stand on their own as complete units. I'm looking forward to using the autumn unit and the amphibian unit will be a great addition to our unit on frogs in the spring.

Lap books are an individual thing sometimes, but I think the writers here have done a great job at making it easy for the beginner and versatile for the more advanced lap book student. I enjoyed working with them and I think you will too.

When I Was Young in the Mountains

The past two weeks we've been working on the book When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant. This is a fun tale about what it was like growing up in rural West Virginia.


Bobwhite call- E11 looked up the bobwhite call mentioned in the book.

We did a map of West Virginia noting the capital and where my mom and dad live. We also made a map to note where the Appalachian Mountains are located.

We did several lessons on weights and measures. The kids made a simple data chart and measured various items using our kitchen scale in ounces. It was interesting to note that the ounces measure in fractional parts while the grams measures in decimals. I thought that was interesting.

The X-Wing was in the line up. It weighed less than the V19 Torrent.

We've also been working on learning about snakes (among other things- these are the highlights) and I'll show you the reptile lapbook in a separate post because I'll tell you a secret. I'm reviewing it for the TOS Crew!