Riley's Apple Farm Field Trip

We love a good field trip and this one was made for our study of early colonial times. We learned about all the chores that had to done on a farm. We made some music with a washboard, spoons, and a metal triangle. The kids had lessons in panning for gold, archery, cider -pressing, apple tree farming, etc.

   The big boys, Jack, Everett, and Kibru donning aprons for some old- fashioned farm chores.

Mackenzie and Harper coring apples to slice

Sawing logs..........

 to build a log cabin, of course.

Pounding coffee  - she enjoyed this a little too much

Pressing apples for cider

Finally, picking some ripe ones to take home.

Owl pellets anyone?

I ordered the owl pellets here when we started our lessons on birds in the animal kingdom.
We invited our fellow homeschoolers, Olivia and Bella, to join in the fun too!

Patience and a gentle  hand are the keys to success here. It took tiny tweezers to get all the hair and yuck off the skeletons but we discovered a lot about what owls consume.  We also dissected a a perch fish. We had to do this one outside because the fish were preserved and oh so stinky!  The kids were able to identify the swim bladder, gills, stomach, intestines and even took apart the fish eyes.........Brave scientists.

Total tally:  4 mouse skeletons
1 shrew
1 bird


Getting prepped with gloves and tools.

 Mackenzie holds a skull of a mouse from her pellet.

 Everett had the pellet with the bird skeleton.

 We mounted them on paper to save them in our science folders.