Seed Bombs with Mel and Gerdy!

  

I'm out of town and feel super lucky because several of my bloggy friends agreed to guest post for me! Thank you Mel and Gerdy, Always Nerdy for sharing your super fun science ideas! T and I will be doing this for sure!  

As Gerdy and I were preparing for several marketing ventures this summer, we ended up with an excessive, and I MEAN EXCESSIVE amount of scrap paper.  We wrote this lesson around it in the hopes that we would be able to use it in the classroom with our students and recycle most of the leftover paper.  Alas, state testing and the final days of school crept up on us and we were unable to complete the lesson with our students.  Still left with TONS of paper, we decided to make the best of it and use it with our own little ones... we're so excited to get the Nugget and the two Bears outside and getting their hands dirty making paper pulp and molding them into fun shapes.  Afterward, we're gonna take them outside and teach them all about planting, germination and how plants are an important part of our ecosystem.  

Spring and summer are great times of the year to get outside and observe nature at its best. Many trees, shrubs and flowers are in bloom and it’s so cool to watch them grow from seed to flower. This is also the time of year to plant a garden and what better way to get excited about gardening than to plant your seeds by throwing “bombs!”

In this lab, students create a seed bomb by using recycled paper, water and native seeds. Then they will plant their bombs and keep a journal of their bomb's progress. Students will observe the environment, weather and growth of their seeds. This lesson is great for teaching students about the needs of plants, how germination occurs, for getting kids outdoors during the spring and summer and to get them thinking about SCIENCE!

So head on over to our store and check out this lesson to make your own seed bombs!  It's a great way to get your kids reducing, reusing and recycling, not to mention outside and thinking about science - in the SUMMER! 

Always nerdy, 
Mel and Gerdy

Mel and Gerdy are Melissa Zaher and Gretchen Vikingson, two Atlanta-based science teachers with 17 years of middle school teaching experience.  We love science.  We love science so much, we decided to teach it... and we're darn good at it.  weebly.gettingnerdy.com 

Math with Irma!

I'm out of town and feel super lucky because several of my bloggy friends agreed to guest post for me! Thank you Irma for sharing your math ideas! 

My name is Irma and I am the founder of G-Iron Tutor. I am a professional tutor teaching K-12-Undergraduate college courses. I also teach English at my church with my loving husband. I have a puppy named Lasagna and LOVE spinach! Most importantly, I am loved by Jesus Christ. View my business site at: www.G-IronTutor.com or go straight to my blog on G-IronTutor.blogspot.com! 

I am always on the go from one student's house to a college library to an elementary school and back to another student's house. Since I have to travel with my classroom in my briefcase, I love classic games that I can tailor to the age and subject of my students. My latest craze: a deck of cards. 

Education.com has a huge and great list of fun math games with a deck of cards like Subtraction War and Ten-Twenty-Thirty. The best thing about these games is how they get the creative juices flowing! I played War with my 3rd grader and then used the same deck of cards to practice fractions and mixed numbers with my 7th grader. Before I knew it, my kids were coming up with math games all by themselves.

War adapted on the spot to practice mixed and improper fractions!

Here is the link to some second grade math games (but all of these can be tailored to ANY age group or subject!) I did multiplication drills in Spanish with one of my middle schoolers to keep her on her toes. I hope you enjoy the games!

Let us know what you tried with your deck of cards and your students in the comments! I love getting new ideas! :)

What We're Reading Sunday

We are on a summer hiatus from our weekly posts! Instead we are participating in Donalyn Miller's #Bookaday! 

Here are this week's reads from the library! (We are becoming regulars!)

T chose a couple of books about Native Americans because, "Mommy, that is just something I want to know more about. I have questions." (swoon)

He also picked up a book about North America, Lego Robots,  and another about dogs. We also grabbed Wave and a Fit Kids video. He loved it but "not as much as the Magic School Bus about volcanoes." 

What are you reading?

Planes Fire and Rescue

Disney Planes, Fire & Rescue opens in theaters Friday, July 18th! My guy is super excited! I'm hoping it is good, as we really liked the first one! 

Disney has teamed up with Smokey Bear to talk fire safety! Click on any of the pics to download the FREE educational activity book! 

T and I read the tips together. I do not think we will be building a campfire any time soon, but the information is great and I feel like we can never talk enough about fire safety!

After all, only YOU can prevent forrest fires! 

Are you planning on seeing Planes, Fire & Rescue?