Maine Earth Science Field Day

This week our 4H Club visited the Maine State Museum in Augusta exploring the museums annual Maine Earth Science Day presentations. There were 13 different exhibits to visit, each offering excellent demonstrations and information for us to enjoy.

Steven Haynes from Rocky Coast Rock Shop, was a presenter we enjoyed listening to. He was energetic, very informative, and engaging! A mariner first introduced Mr. Haynes to the granite industry when he was 11 years old! Mr. Haynes has since become a very productive contributor within the granite and history of the granite industry. Mr. Haynes taught us about the Granite Quarrying industry in Maine and the Maine Granite Museum. We viewed tools, samples, photographs of quarries and quarry workers, and resources relating to the granite industry.

http://www.mainegraniteindustry.org/

Other exhibits we visited:

Maine Geological Survey Activites, U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources, Enviroscape by Poland Spring Bottling Co., Cool it! by Ferry Beach Ecology School, Geology Adventure by Tony Sohns, The Rock & Art Shop, Maine's Quarry Industry by Pike Industries, Elecitricity from the Sun & Wind by Maine Energy Education Assocition, Manufacturing Portland Cement by Dragon Products Co., Extreme Weather by WMTW-TV Meteoroligist Roger Griswold, It's Found Underground by Maine Department of Enviromental Protection, Ice Age Finds In Maine & Maine State Museum Archaeology by the Maine State Museum.

After the presentations we continued exploring the Museum which offers an abundant source of EXCELLENT education. The Museum offers free workshops that are available to individual families as well as small groups. Click here to view the free programs available to you! http://www.maine.gov/museum/programs/groups.html

The time passed very quickly, as usual! There was so much to see and do at the Museum, we look forward to future visits!

Photos ~ Maine Earth Science Field Day

Click here to view pictures from our 10/21/09 field day at the Maine State Museum exploring Maine Earth Science Day.

The pictures shown here are of just a few club members who attended. There was so much going on, individual families separated out to explore what most interested them. If others have pictures and would like to share them with the group, please feel free to add them!

Reminder; when you are finished viewing the pictures and would like to return to the blog, click - LINKS - in the left hand side bar & choose RETURN TO BLOG.

Exploring Trees

At our hike on October 14th we had a nice fall day exploring the woods and the trees that surround the trail at Pettengill Park. If any of you would like to study trees more indepth here are numerous resources to get you started.

4-H Earth Connections Adopt-A-Tree
http://www.umaine.edu/umext/earthconnections/activities/16.htm

Mainefoliage.com Has a Kid's Page and also has a neat video about how the leaves change color.

Tree Leave Identification
http://www.discoverscience.rutgers.edu/extras/trees/treephotos.html

Maine Tree Club...Tree Fact Sheets

http://www.extension.umaine.edu/mainetreeclub/MTC.htm

GreenHour Discovery Journal and Activity--Leaves
http://greenhour.org/content/activity/detail/8559#activity

Photos ~ Pettengill Woods Trail Field Day

Click here to view pictures from our 10/14/09 field day hike at Pettengill Woods Trail.

Reminder; when you are finished viewing the pictures and would like to return to the blog, click - LINKS - in the left hand side bar & choose RETURN TO BLOG.

How Old Is That Tree? Pettengill Woods Trail Field Day

Did you know that trees are the largest plants on earth? Some trees can grow to be thousands of years old and hundreds of feet high. You don't have to chop down a tree and count the rings to estimate its age. All you need is a calculator and measuring tape!

1. From the base of the tree measure 4 1/2 feet up the trunk. At the 4 1/2 foot mark, measure the distance around the trunk (the circumference). Write down the circumference in inches.

Circumference =

2. Use this formula to determine the diameter, (distance through the trunk) also called the Diameter at Breast Height, or DBH. Then write the DBH down in inches.

Circumference divided by 3.14 = DBH
DBH =

3. Get the growth rate of your tree from the list below. Then multiply your tree's diameter by its growth rate. The result is the approximate age of your tree!

Diameter x growth rate = age
Approximate Age =


Here's your formula!

Circumference=
Circumference divided by 3.14 = DBH (diameter)
DBH (diameter) =
DBH (diameter) x growth rate (below) = age
Approximate Age =


Tree Growth Rate Chart

Most trees grow an average of one inch in diameter each year. Some trees, like the ones below, grow more slowly. For example, mature American Elms take about four years to grow one inch in diameter. To estimate the age of a tree, find the tree in the list below and use the number shown in step 3. If you don't see your tree below, use a growth rate factor of one.

American Elm 4
Ash 4
Aspen 2
Basswood 3
Black Cherry 5
Black Walnut 4.5
Cottonwood 2
Dogwood 7
Ironwood 7
Pin Oak 3
Red Oak 4
Redbud 7
Red Maple 4.5
River Birch 3.5
Shagbark Hickory 7.5
Silver Maple 3
Sugar Maple 5
White Birch 5
White Oak 5

How Tall Is That Tree? Pettengill Woods Trail Field Day

You don't have to climb to the top of a tree with your measuring tape to find out the approximate height of it! All you need is a pencil (you can use a stick if you don't have a pencil), a partner to help you, and a long measuring tape.

1. Stand far away from the tree facing it. Hold your arm straight out and your pencil straight up and walk toward the tree until it looks like it is the same size as your pencil.

2. Keeping your arm straight out in front of you, turn your pencil to a horizontal position so that one end appears to be touching the base of the tree.

3. Have your partner stand alongside the tree far enough away from the tree so that they appear to be standing on the other end of the pencil.

4. Mark where your partner is standing. Measure the distance from there to the base of the tree with your measuring tape. That measurement will be the tree's height.

The Tree Carbon Calculator

Can you imagine a world without trees? Trees are important to our environment for many reasons.

Trees help us breathe. They remove carbon dioxide from the air, trees give back oxygen. Some trees can produce five pounds of oxygen per day!

Trees provide food. Many of our fruits and nuts come from trees, such as apples, oranges, and pears. Many trees have berries and flowers that are an important food source for birds and other animals.

Trees provide shelter. Trees are "home" to many creatures. Evergreens are particularly important to birds and other animals in cold winter months because they provide a protected area to rest or sleep.

Trees reduce soil erosion. The roots of a tree help keep soil in place. When hard rains come, the roots help to keep the soil from washing away.

Trees provide materials. We use materials made from trees to make paper, lumber, furniture, tools, and even boats.

Trees reduce energy needs. Trees in your yard can provide shade in the summer to help keep your house cool. If they lose their leaves in winter, they let the sun shine through, which helps to keep your home warm. Evergreens can protect your house from wind and provide shelter for birds year round.

As you can see, trees are very important. Earlier we said that trees remove carbon dioxide from the air. Carbon dioxide is a natural result of energy being used by your car, your home, and even your body! If trees were not here to remove carbon dioxide from the air, earth would be a planet that people could not live on.

Are you wondering how you can help protect our planet and every living thing on it? That's easy! Protect the trees around you, plant new trees whenever you can, and when you are visiting the forest leave only your footprints!

If you are wondering how hard the trees around you are working at removing carbon dioxide from the air or if you are wondering how many trees it will take to clean the carbon dioxide from the air that your car creates here is the best site I have found to answer those questions!

CLICK HERE TO USE THE TREE CARBON CALCULATOR

What is this? Challenge #6 Pettengill Woods Trail

We spotted this tree on our

Pettengill Woods Trail field day.
It is a broadleaf tree with giant leaves.
The bark texture is smooth with

markings that look like stripes.

Do you know what the name of this tree is?
It can also be called ________ or _________ !

What is this? Challenge #5 Pettengill Woods Trail

We spotted this growing next to a fallen tree.

Can you tell what it is?

What type of _______ is it?

What is This? Challenge #4: Fall Spottings Challenge

This is a shrub or small tree that grows throughout most of the state. They are commonly seen on roadsides and in old fields. The fruit ripens as a spire of showy, red, velvety berries.

These purple and sometimes white flowers seem to be growing everywhere lately. These were spotted on a banking next to the Multipurpose Center in Lewiston.

These are fun to find and produce a substance. The first picture is what is taken off the plant and the bottom is a picture of the plant itself.

The Future is Green Guidebook

Stonyfield Farms teamed up with Body & Soul Magazine to bring us this free download. It's the ultimate guidebook on green living. Discover 350+ small eco changes that can make a big difference!

Click here to download your free Going Greener Guidebook!

Photos ~ Harvest Theme Activities

Click here to view pictures from our 10/7/09 Harvest Theme Activity Day in Lisbon.

Reminder; when you are finished viewing the pictures and would like to return to the blog, click - LINKS - in the left hand side bar & choose RETURN TO BLOG.

Chloes Masterpiece!

This is a radish that NKOA member Chloe turned into a masterpiece!

While celebrating our Harvest Theme, Chloe was busy painting with vegetables. She focused on this radish and decided to gently dip it into different colors. She whirled it in paint and then around in her hands, she skipped right over finger painting on paper and just used her hands! :)

After a couple of minutes she called our attention to her work and said "look at my egg!" We were incredibly impressed with what she had created. It did look exactly like an egg with a perfect set of swirls in a pattern of colors that was breathtaking, just sitting there in her tiny hands!

It was awesome to see the twinkle in her eye, which was just as amazing as her art piece!

Thanks so much for sharing Chloe!

Scrape Art!

This week while continuing with our Harvest Theme we painted with fruits and vegetables. We all had a great time, creating beautiful pieces of art that are hanging in our meeting room!

NKOA members Ari, Bryar, and Talazen naturally progressed into finger painting and enjoyed rubbing the paint all over their papers. Talazen picked up a slice of green pepper and SCRAPED the excess paint off her paper. A simple thing to do but what was discovered has now been coined Scrape Art!

After scraping off the excess paint, the paper underneath had absorbed different colors in different spots to create an amazing tie dyed look. Ari's eyes popped open when she saw Talazen's paper, she then scraped her paper with a mushroom, then Bryar took notice of Ari's work and did the same thing using a string bean! They were very joyous and proud of their creations, each being different from the next because of their color choices!

Scrape Art can be used to create stationary that has your own flair!

Here is how they did it & how it looked:

~Use white, acid free, card stock paper.

~Finger paint or brush on lots of different colors onto the paper, cover the entire surface and use enough so that there is a thin layer of paint floating around on the sheet. (we used Tempera paints)

~Use any object with an edge to gently scrape the excess paint off...be ready for a great surprise each time!

~Let the paper dry.

Enjoy!

Thanks to Ari, Bryar & Talazen! :)

4-H Achievement Night!

You are invited to 4-H Achievement Night!

November 20th, 2009

6 pm- 8:30 pm

Marion T Morse Rec Center, 18 School St, Lisbon (Corner of Main St and School ST)

NKOA 4-H has been invited to come celebrate the achievements of the 2008-2009

4-H members. There will be a potluck, presentations, an auction, and an opportunity to meet other 4-H members. This is a great opportunity for NKOA to make a presence and shake things up...we are the only nature-based group in Androcoggin or Sagadahoc county!

All the different 4-H groups will be donating items for the auction. NKOA has been asked to provide some nature items for the auction (specifically, "Items like the bark crowns.") We are already making an impression! Way to go NKOA 4-H!!

Soon we will be given a list of potluck items needed and will let you all know when we hear!

How exciting! Hope that you can bring your families!

Rainbows

Monday evening while working in the garden I was awe struck by this beautiful rainbow. I hope that you saw it too!

To Learn about Rainbows Visit the following weblinks:

Fun Facts About Rainbows

Rainbow Unit Study

On October 7, 2009, 4-H National Youth Science Day will give young people nationwide the opportunity to join leading scientists in experimenting with biofuels to discover which ones will lead us to a sustainable future. Be part of this opportunity to explore, learn - and have a blast - with the Biofuel Blast National Science Experiment.

Autumn Fun

The Pumpkin (a fingerplay)

by Maude M. Grant

Here is a long and trailing vine, (Hands trailing through air.)

Watch it and see the green stems twine, (Hands twine in and out)

This is a pretty yellow flower.(Hands curved to form flower.)

That blossomed one day in a sunny hour.

When one by one the petals fall, (Hands drop to sides.)

And now we see a small green ball. (Hands curved to form ball.)

The big sun shone so warm and bright, (Arms curved to form sun.)

That the ball grew bigger and yellow, quite,

And yellow, and yellower still it grew,

Until under Autumn skies so blue,

It lay so still on the sun-warmed ground,

And lo! it was a pumpkin round! (Hands and arms curved to form a large pumpkin.)

And then one frosty Autumn day,

The pumpkin was taken quite away,

'Twas cut by a knife from the shelf so high,

And mother made a pumpkin pie! (Forefingers and thumbs curved to form pie.)

Cornhusk Dolls

from Little Acorn Learning

**This activity can be difficult for small children - be sure to work with them closely and allow them to be 'helpers' during the more difficult parts.

In some Native American traditions, making cornhusk dolls and doing corn dances were a way to give thanks and celebrate harvest time.

Supplies Needed:

Cornhusks - You can buy these in bags at craft stores or ask the produce department of your local grocery store if you can take some.

String or Yarn

Scissors

Pail of Water

Hot Glue

Have the children place the cornhusks in the pail of water until they are very soft and easy to bend. Separate the husks. (Each doll requires 10-15 husks to complete.)

Begin with four husks approximately the same size and lay them on top of one another. With your yarn, help the children tie the pointy ends of the husks together to close the top and bottom. This is the body of your doll.Take two husks in each hand and fold them over the yarn so the string is inside. The fold is the top of the doll's head. Pull a string around the husks and tie to make the head.

Take another husk and smooth it flat, cut the pointed end straight with a scissor. Roll the husk into a tight tube to make the arm. Do this again for the other arm. Tie each end of the arm tube with string. Put the tube between the body right below the head. Tie a piece of string around the body right below the arms to hold them in place. Wrap another husk around the back of the neck and criss-cross it around the chest to make shoulders. Tie it around the waist to stay on the doll. To make legs, separate the body husks into two equal parts below the waist... tie each section at the ankle to complete.

These dolls are meant to have no face. Hair for your doll can be made with additional husks, yarn, silk or twine and added with hot glue.

Full Harvest Moon

This morning at 2:11a.m. the Full Harvest Moon hung in the sky. The Harvest Moon is the full Moon nearest the autumnal equinox and is so named because it is often bright enough to allow finishing all the harvest chores. At this time, crops such as corn, pumpkins, squash, and wild rice are ready for gathering. Most years the Full Harvest Moon falls in September.

Did you know...

When moths fly at night they are attracted to light. When they get close to the light it appears stronger in one eye. The moth turns in the direction of the light, this is why moths fly in circles.

Slugs have 4 noses.

Mosquitoes have 47 teeth.

A cow's only sweat glands are in its nose.

A group of 12 or more cows is called a flink.

Dolphins sleep with one eye open.

When a dolphin is sick or injured, it cries out a distress call. Other dolphins will then come to the aid of the sick dolphin and help it to the surface so it can breath.

A northern pike has been known to eat baby ducklings.


The nuthatch is a unique bird, which can walk headfirst down a tree.


The weasel has a brown coat in summer but changes to white in the winter. This helps it blend in with its surroundings.

Androscoggin-Sagadahoc 4-H Bake Sale Tomorrow!

There is a 4-H bake sale tomorrow afternoon from 3-6 at the New Tractor Supply Store on Lisbon Street (196) in Lewiston. This is a Community Celebration where the 4-H Leaders Association will be presented with a $200.00 check to support 4-H!

Baked goods are still needed! You can drop things off until 2pm tomorrow at the Cooperative Extension in Lisbon Falls or drop them off at Tractor Supply during the sale. The bake sale raises money that will go into a fund which benefits all clubs in our area. FMI: Kristy Ouellette, Extension Educator kmeisner@umext.maine.edu or call the Extension office at
207-353-5550 or toll free 1-800-287-1458

What is this? Challenge #3: Lots to Gardens

Do you know what this is?
Where can it be found?
How does it affect it's habitat?

We noticed lots of this growing in the empty soil beds at our Lots to Garden Field Day.

What is This? Challenge #2: Lots to Gardens

Do you know what this is?

Where does it live?

How does it affect its habitat?

We spotted this while working at our

Lots to Gardens Field Day.

More Lots to Gardens Field Day Photos!

The link below will bring you to our yahoo group photo album page...to view the pictures there without having to click through each one, choose the slideshow option.

When you are finished viewing the photo albums click on ~ LINKS ~ located in the right hand sidebar, choose ~ Return to Blog.

Click here...
Lots to Gardens Field Day Pictures

Gardening with Children

Despite Wednesday's drizzly weather NKOA had a great visit to Lots To Gardens Wood St Service Garden. Both parents and children got a chance to play in the dirt and plant garlic cloves. The children were mesmerized by the growth happening in the greenhouse; and spent quite a bit of time touching and observing all the worms in the wet soil. We will definitely be visiting Lots to Gardens again...hopefully next Spring so that we can see all the garlic that we planted!

To see more photos visit the NKOA Lots to Garden Visit Album

For anyone who would like to know more about the Lots to Gardens program here is a video about their efforts in the local area:

Another great way to learn more about locally grown vegetables is to visit your local farmer's market. Lots to Gardens is a large contributer to the Lewiston Farmer's Market.

Here is an additional resource if you would like to learn more about gardening with children:

http://www.kidsgardening.org/family.asp

The Virtual 4-H Filmmaking Studio & Workshop

If your child is interested in learning filmmaking, visit 'The Virtual 4-H Filmmaking Studio & Workshop', located at

www.4-H.org/curriculum/filmmaking. The Filmmaking Studio and Workshop is the online space to find tools and resources about video production and “how to make your own film”. On the home page of the site, you’ll find the main Filmmaking Workshop—an 11 module “virtual workshop”, geared toward youth interested in making Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) films. The workshop discusses SET as a primary topic area and delivery mode, but the learning modes and principles apply across mission mandate areas—SET, Healthy Living, and Citizenship.

Make It With Wool Contest

4-Hers in Maine are invited to enter the Make It With Wool Contest, a national competition sponsored by the American Sheep Industry Association.
The state-level contest will be held on October 10, 2009 at the Page Farm Museum at the University of Maine in Orono. Contestants may enter garments made with wool that are sewn, knit, crocheted or felted. For more information and rules for the contest visit the following website: www.umext.maine.edu/4h/events/other/wool.htm or you can contact Michaele Bailey at 1-800-287-0274 for more information.

Take a Hike

On September 16th NKOA went on a nature hike at Thorncrag in Lewiston. The children collected items as part of a scavenger hunt; and we worked on sticking to a trail by following the color blazes on the trees and worked on map reading skills. It was a lot of fun!

Hiking is fun in and of itself but if you are looking for ways to step up your hikes here are some neat ideas from the 4-H in Waldo County.

Theme Hikes - focus on a particular theme - such as colors, shadows, seeds, insects, rocks, or whatever you and the group decide.

Sense Hikes - explore the senses, what smells, sights, sounds, etc. do you encounter on the walk.

Weather Hikes - focus on whatever weather is occurring, check out the sky, wind, or rain that might be going on at the time of the hike.

Search-for-life Hikes - look for all types of life that is present in the air, nests in the trees, tracks, burrow holes, etc.

Intellectual Hikes - focus on processing or gaining new information, change in seasons, path directions with a compass (North, South, East, and West).

Clean-the-environment-Hikes - clean up nature. Take along trash bags and plastic gloves. Talk about how pollution can be a problem.

If you are looking for places to hike with your children visit L/A Trails website to find an extensive list of trails in our area.