This Week on the Farm

 

Jumping Off Rock & Sassafras Mountain

This week for "Fun Friday" as Holly puts it, we took off for Jumping Off Rock and Sassafras Mountain.  

I don't think she and the kids, or Eleanor Woofsevelt were prepared for what we would find!

We made our way through rugged mountains in my trusty Honda Element.  We saw mostly 4 wheelers, 4 wheel drive trucks, and one older lady driving alone in a Lincoln Continental!!  

How weird was that?  

But hey, who drives through 10 miles of dirt and treacherous ridges?  A crazy science teacher and home school mom with two fun kids and a dog, thats who!

If you like a nice clean car don't take this road.

Words simply cannot describe the view when you finally arrive at Jumping Off Rock.  Stunning, spectacular, glorious, lofty, ethereal...  Pictures can not capture it either.  You simply have to go.  The road is open from September 15-January 1st and again in the spring from March 20 to May 10th. The road is closed in summer to give wildlife populations like black bears and migratory songbirds a break from humans.  We, quite by accident, picked the peak fall color week to visit the overlook.  

A pair of peregrine falcons have nested there for several years now.  You can be sure we will be back in the spring to look for them.  We have listed this on our "Fun Friday" bucket list!  

After we got back to Hwy 178, we headed to Sassafras Mountain.  It is a short drive off the 178 up to a windy mountain range and where the Foothills Trail wanders up and through it.  Sassafras Mountain is the highest point in South Carolina.  You can view four states from here:  Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.  The Geological Survey puts it at 3533 feet above sea level.  From the top of this mountain you can see 6000 or more mountains in the distance.  It sits along the Eastern Continental Divide and follows the ridge of the Eastern US mountains.  All the precipitation that falls on this mountain either flows into the Atlantic Ocean or to the Gulf of Mexico.  The flow to the Gulf of Mexico will travel through nine states and 2,000 miles.  Some of the water will go to underground aquifers and who knows where that winds up?  

See you next time we take off for our "Fun Friday" adventure!

Fun Things To Do in the Snow

Today we had the biggest snowstorm that South Carolina has had in the past ten years! GSP airport was closed. Schools are closed (yeah!). Stores are closed. But my alpaca farm is NOT closed.Alpacas, chickens and dogs still need to eat so we trudged out to the barn and gave everybody food and water.
If your kids need something meaningful to do at home and need to get warm inside for a while here are some things you can do.

Take pictures of snowflakes. Click here to find out how.

Make snow ice-cream! Click here for a yummy recipe.

Perform some interesting snow experiments. Click here

Have fun taking pictures, eating ice-cream, and blowing up your house with these exciting experiments! (just kidding)
And don't forget to feed the birds.

Look Up My Child

We adults get so burdened and burned out with our lives, our responsibilities, the bills, the broken cars, and appliances, etc. etc... Our heads hang down and we look down at the ground too much. This month I encouraged the children to look up!

We had a contest to win the Space Age Ant Farm. Students had to draw a picture of the current moon phase or else email/call me with their findings. It's really quite surprising how we overlook such beauty.

Here are some pictures that the students submitted to me. They are all precious to me so I decided to show you a few of them.
Nathan pulled one name out of the hat.

Cody was the winner!!

It's That Time of Year Again!

What's black, white, and yellow all over?

Tuesday, while I was at school snooping around in the butterfly garden I found some freshly layed butterfly eggs.

Pretty soon they will emerge and look like this.As they grow they will change into this...And finally, they will metamorphize into this! I love butterflies :)

While I was looking around I found a female Monarch butterfly laying eggs on the milkweed. Here are some wings of a male Monarch (top photo) and a female Monarch (bottom photo). Hopefully, I can find the eggs and photograph them under the microscope. Never a dull moment in the garden.

Explore Lab Highlights

September Lab

We had a wonderful time together in our first September "After School Labs". To start things off, I introduced three of the lab animals to the students.

Some of the students were brave enough to catch some crickets for Spikey Jr.

Lauren helped me get the animals and of course, we had to bring out Sammy who is by far the best guinea pig ever. One of our classes got to give him a bath. I will rotate this duty among the three after school classes so that everyone gets a chance to participate.

We took turns feeding Sammy celery and counting to 10. Sammy seems to never get enough.



African Pygmy Hedgehogs

I decided to call our new African Pygmy Hedgehog "Hedgie" instead of Sonic. I just think he looks more like a "Hedgie"...

We tried to feed him a few mealworms but he was not interested. Next month we will take turns giving him a bath. This is done in a shallow pan with warm water and a toothbrush.


This is the gold spot on the Monarch chrysalis 60x
We had a few examples of butterflies but not much. It seems as though the season is coming in late this year. Fortunately, I was able to secure some Monarch's, Swallowtails, Gulf Fritillaries, and others from friends. Helen Ellis who is a big part of Roper Mountain Science Center, Clarence (a retired Science teacher in Michigan), and Lisa Wells. Thanks to all who helped me get samples for the lab!

This is Helen working in her massive garden at Roper Mountain Science Center.


This is a Giant Swallowtail 10x

A Wolly Bear Caterpillar 10x

Eastern Black Swallowtail Egg 60x

Pupa of a moth from Clarence

Here are some students peering into an aquarium with butterflies.

We went outside in the Butterfly Garden to look for eggs and caterpillars.

We found worms and lots of interesting insects.


Students started a garden with collard greens to help feed Sammy and Spikey.

We came in and made symmetrical butterfly cookies.

Everyone got a net and a Petosky Stone. Get ready for next month. I am already planning!