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Geography Based

Texas Native American History Quick Unit Study (Middle School)

November 15, 2017 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I’m sharing a few links for a Texas Native American history unit study. Also, look at my page Homeschool Middle School for more fun tips. Also, look at my Native American Unit Study to learn about other Native Americans.

Since the time my kids were little we’ve always incorporated some of our Texas heritage and history.

Studying Texas history has so many topics to choose from.

Texas Native American History Quick Unit Study (Middle School)

However, studying about Native Americans will help to keep Texas history in a manageable chunk.

First, look at ten of the tribes native to Texas.

I’ve tried to hone in on these in this roundup so this topic doesn’t become overwhelming.

10 Tribes Native to Texas.

  • Apache
  • Atakapa
  • Caddo
  • Coahuiltecan Region
  • Comanche
  • Jumano
  • Karankawa
  • Kiowa
  • Tonkawa
  • Wichita

Glancing at the geography of Texas will help your kids to understand how each group adjusted to their surroundings.

Geography of Texas

The Geography of Texas.
Learn about the plant and animal life.

Texas Native American History Lesson Plans/Guides/Resources/

Download these lesson plans for activities and background information.
Download this 17 page free guide for background information about Texas Native Americans: The Texas Revolution: Exactly Who Where the Texans.
Brief overview of the major tribes that existed at the time of the first European exploration.

Fascinating background information about the Karankawa. A free 10 page download.

Heads up: You’ll want to look this over and glean the points you want to teach your child because it addresses all issues the Karankawa faced including very intimate ones.

And no, there are no pictures, just text. But I’ve listed it because it is so comprehensive in helping us to understand their every day life and one of the better resources I found.

Even though it’s says it’s a fourth grade lesson plan, it really is helpful for comparing tribes.

Texas Native American History Quick Unit Study (Middle School). Click here to grab it!

Understand the importance of the buffalo to the Comanche. Grab this free curriculum guide.
Learn about smoke signals like the Karankawa used.

Free Native Tribes of Texas 26 page download with facts and pictures.
Texas Indians: Southeastern and Gulf Cultures.
Background information on Jumano, Caddo, Karankawa, and Comanche.

Texas Native American Hands-on Ideas

Make a grinding tool from a flat rock.
Cook corn soup like the Caddo.
Make teepee cupcakes like the Comanche and Apache (okay maybe not cupcakes)
If you’re real adventurous make this wiki-up like the semi-permanent homes of the Coahuiltecans and Karankawa.
Paint on pebbles.
Make a Caddo circle book.
Make a pipecleaner wigwam.
Eat prickly pear like the Coahuiltecans.
The Comanche dominated the Plains of Texas and were great warriors and horsemen. Grab this free horse lapbook.

Also, grab my free Plains Indians unit study and lapbook.

▼ Exploring to Revolution - Plains Indians lapbook and HUGE homeschool unit study.

Karankawa YouTube
Comanche YouTube
Apache YouTube

Texas Beyond History – Virtual Museum of Texas’ Cultural Heritage. From an interactive map, to games to lesson plans to history, this site is one of the ones we have enjoyed most and spent hours on. Prepare to stay here on this site for days.

From the website: Texas Beyond History covers not only the prehistory and history of Texas’ true native peoples, but also much of the early history of the Spanish, French, Mexican, and Anglo explorers, missionaries, soldiers, miners, traders, and settlers who lived and often died in Texas. And later history, too—that of German farmers, Black freedmen, and Mexican-American laborers among many others.

Caddo. Be sure to click through to learn their history and how they live today. Also, click on the games page and download this printable free board game.

Language Arts

Plains Indians Free Writing Prompts. For Elementary, Middle and High School Homeschooled Kids

Books

  • Indians Who Lived in Texas – A beautiful story of the 10 native tribes of Texas.
  • A History of Texas and the Texans – An outstanding history of Texas for a serious budding Texas history buff.
  • Legend of the Bluebonnet.

Texas Field Trips

The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.
San Jacinto Museum. Also grab the HUGE 449 page free Educator’s Guide with lesson plans, pictures, and activity ideas.
Washington on the Brazos Historic Site. We’ve been many times because it’s a great place to visit. It is the final home of the last president of the Republic of Texas along with a hands on history room and museum. Be sure to download the educator’s guides at the bottom of the page.

Also, you may love to use my 10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages! You know the quality of my work here and I don’t use baby-ish clip art. The coloring pages are suitable for middle school even in high school.

Here is what the 10 page download contains. I put a few key words to explain each picture on the page. This way you can use the coloring pages as title pages too.

Page 3:  Native American on horseback,
4: Lewis and Clark Trek,
5: Lewis and Clark and The Piegan,
6: Lewis and Clark Exploring Rivers,
7: The Plains Indians,
8: Pioneer Life,
9: Moving West,
10: Westward Ho,
11: Settlers, and
12: Fur Trappers and Mountainmen

You can grab them below!

  • 0. Westward Expansion History Fun 10 Coloring Pages

    0. Westward Expansion History Fun 10 Coloring Pages

    $1.75
    Add to cart
Texas Native American History Quick Unit Study (Middle School). Your middle school kids will love this free AWESOME unit study to learn about the first Native Americans of Texas. Click here to grab it!

You may also love these hands-on ideas that can bring this unit study alive!

  • How to Build the Alamo: Day 5 Hands-on Learning (Free Texas Unit Study)
  • Exploring Edible Cactus: Day 4 Hands-on Learning (The Desert) – Eat cactus like the Coahuiltecan
  • Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing (Hands-on History)

This is suppose to be a quick unit study but we love studying about Texas history. So I hope you’ll find a few of these resources inspiring and helpful.

Hugs and love ya,

1 CommentFiled Under: Geography Based, History Based, My Unit Studies {Free Printables & Hands-on Ideas} Tagged With: american history, early American history, hands on history, hands-on activities, Native Americans, nativeamerican, Plains Indians, Texas, texasunit

6 Unit Study Resources: Mountain Men – Explorers of the West

September 16, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Whether you’re studying about the American Frontier, fur trade or mountain living, you’ll bring history alive through studying the tough life of mountain men.

Today, I rounded up six unit study resources to grab for a mountain men unit study. Besides explorers and fur traders, they were some of America’s first trail blazers.

Whether you're studying about the American Frontier, fur trade or mountain living, you'll bring history alive through studying the tough life of mountain men.

Mountain Men Trailblazers

This 3 page teacher’s guide has vocabulary words like ploo and rendezvous along with teaching skills of self-sufficiency and hardiness. I also like that it incorporates learning about the importance of rivers to mountain men. So, you can add a bit of geography, history, and science.

Next, this super helpful free teacher’s guide and lessons about the beaver is chock full of information.

It has a unit on fur trade, mountain men lifestyle, and legends of the mountain men.

And even though it mentions items in a trunk, it’s really helpful in understanding artifacts and every day items used by mountain men.

Read about the items they used and a few them look like they could be easily made.

This next fun guide talks about the importance of being able to identify animal tracks along with the animal tracks labeled. Click here for Tracking” Down the Secret Code / North American Animal “Who am I”

It has a handwritten letter which is a primary source and a lesson about beavers.

Hands-on History and Geography

More units like the Language of a Trapper, Rendezvous, Mountain Man Tales, and Indian Wives of the Mountain Men are a few of the fun and interesting units in this expansive unit.

This is an interesting read for your middle or high school kid. While it doesn’t have pictures, it’s the diary of Jedediah Strong Smith, a mountain men. It describes the perils he faced each day.

Lastly, this website Mountain Men: Pathfinders of the West has a lot of background information about the fur trade and the ways of the mountain men.

Download them and add to them a unit study about geography or use them for a mini unit study.

Also, you’ll like my posts:

  • 30 Fun Resources for Learning About Daniel Boone
  • Westward Ho! Lapbook {Time period we covered 1803 to 1890}
  • 100 Oregon Trail Homeschool History Resources
Whether you're studying about the American Frontier, fur trade or mountain living, you'll bring history alive through studying the tough life of mountain men. Click here to grab these fun and free 6 resources!

Hugs and love ya,

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Geography, Geography Based, Hands-On Activities, History Based, History Resources Tagged With: explorers, frontier, geography, hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, history, history resources, homeschoolgeography, mountain men, unit studies, westward expansion, westwardho

Day 4. Ancient Greece (Hands-on Science) 3 EASY Activities

July 8, 2017 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

These activities are geared for middle school, but a high school student that has a science aversion would be engaged too. While studying the ancient civilizations, grab these ideas for an Ancient Greece hands-on science unit study. Click here to add these ideas to your unit study!I have a secret I’ve been keeping. You already know my love for living books, unit studies, history, and hands-on activities. But you may not know that we’ve been using Beautiful Feet’s History of Science this year. Besides the excellent literature they cull through so that I don’t have to, we love the easy hands-on science activities.

These activities are geared for middle school, but a high school student that has a science aversion would be engaged too. While studying the ancient civilizations, grab these ideas for an Ancient Greece hands-on science unit study.

We have been learning how far ahead of their time the Greeks really were when it came to science. We loved reading about Archimedes. I had already studied about Archimedes with my first two sons before I had discovered Beautiful Feet literature. So I was really tickled that I have it for Tiny.

Even though it is written for a middle school level, a living book is written like a story and draws in a reader of any age.

To engage your kids, look at these questions to ask and have your kids write in their notebooks.

►Who was Archimedes?
►What elements did the Ancient Greeks believed that made up the universe?
►What do we know today about the elements that make up our universe?
►What is surface tension?

Ancient Greeks and their Perception of Matter

Next, grab these simple things that you probably have lying around your house because these activities are so quick and easy that you want to include all of your kids.

  • tall glass bottle
  • gauze pad
  • rubber band
  • bowl or glass with water
  • steel paper clip
  • dishwashing liquid
  • food dye
  • a couple of droppers
  • milk at room temperature
  • shallow pan

Then move on to each activity.

ONE/ Understand what is surface tension. Then do this simple activity.

Place a steel paper clip in a glass or bowl. (Yes, I can do that.)

Why does it float? Which is more dense, the water or paper clip?

How to Teach Hands-on  Science Through Living Books

TWO/ Why is the gauze leakproof?

Fill a glass bottle with water. We added food coloring so it could be easier to be seen if it spilled.

Add the gauze over the top and secure with a rubber band. Turn it upside and see what happens.

Why won’t water pour out through a gauze enclosed top? It is held inside by the surface tension of the water.

THREE/ How to break surface tension? Understand that certain substances can break down surface tension.

This next one is a great activity to include the little ones because it has an instant ewwww and awwww moment. Grab a shallow glass pan.

Add room temperature milk.

Choose two food color dyes, get two eye droppers and some dishwashing liquid in a small container.

Then use one dropper to add two food coloring choices. You notice it stays in a circle or really doesn’t break the surface.

Then use the second dropper to add dishwashing liquid and you get immediate action. The colors start to swirl and move.

The colors spread around because the stronger surface tension around the edge of the dish pulls the milk and food coloring outward.

Try a few different colors. It really is an engaging activity. You’ll want to try it again and again.

These easy hands-on activities are a simple way to look at how scientist of the past looked at ancient discovery. Also, we have done plenty of lapbooks on Greece and we’ve added some too from Home School in the Woods that we love.

We have a few more things we have been doing with our History of Science and I can’t wait to show you more.

I’m doing an Ancient Civilizations hands-on history series and you’ll want to look at these other ideas:

Day 1. Ancient Egypt Civilization (Hands-on History): Narmer Crown.
Day 2. Ancient Mesopotamia (Hands-on History): Cook Sebetu Rolls.
Day 3. Ancient Rome (Hands-on History): Paint a Jester.

And look at these other ways we’ve used Beautiful Feet literature.

When We Used Beautiful Feet Books as our History Spine, Medieval History for Homeschool Middle School, and Medieval Chemistry and Homeschool History – Fun Hands-On Activity.

Hugs and love ya,

 

1 CommentFiled Under: Ancient Civilizations, Geography Based, Hands-On Activities, History Based, History Resources Tagged With: geography, hands on history, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, livingbooks, science, sciencecurriculum, unit studies

John Muir Spring Unit Study (and Hands-on Geography Ideas)

February 27, 2017 | 7 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a fun John Muir spring unit study. Too, look at my pages Best Homeschool Unit Studies and Homeschool Geography for hands-on and simple ideas and tips.

No matter the age, most children still have a love for picture books. Recently, we read John Muir, America’s First Environmentalist and loved that book.

It looks like you could use it for about middle school down to elementary. It’s just a great book no matter which ages you use it for. Not only are the pictures beautiful but a short biography read gives us a needed break in our day.

John Muir Spring Homeschool Unit Study. Include all of your children by doing this free hands-on spring homeschool unit study to kick off spring while learning about John Muir's love for the great outdoors. Click here to grab it! | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Today, I decided to do a quick John Muir spring unit study as a way to celebrate spring and our love of reading picture books.

Look at this roundup and ideas for a multi-age unit study. Don’t you love including all of your children?

John Muir  – the Inventor, Environmentalist and Explorer

Muir and his inventions @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus. A machine which helps you to rise from bed.

After reading the short biography, you find out that John Muir was not only an adventurer and nature lover, but an inventor. What a great way for a young person to spend his time.

Download this 2 page pdf to learn about a few of his inventions.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Grab some quotes for this 2 page pdf for copywork or write a persuasive essay about John Muir’s stance on preserving nature for generations.

SCIENCE

Nature Journals

John Muir had a love for nature journaling! See some ideas @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

For the younger kids, about first or second grade, grab this free 3 page pdf John Muir Made a Difference with a free printable to jump start their nature journal.

Also, look at this hub page by my friend Barb for nature journal ideas and tips. You’ll love this round up.

And if you haven’t already downloaded this free WHOPPING 968 pages of Anna Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study, it’s a must have for studying about science and nature.

Muir's dream of Yosemite becoming a national park comes true | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

For your high school kids grab this free 8 page pdf lesson about Campsite Conversation which teaches about different points of view regarding how the environment should be cared for.

Glaciers

This is a helpful one page worksheet with questions and answers for key to learn about glaciers.

GEOGRAPHY

In California

For about third or fourth grade, grab this free 4 page pdf John Muir in California to study about California landmarks.

For your high school kids, grab this free 6 page pdf John Muir’s Vision Lives On which is about land issues and how to preserve the natural beauty and issues surrounding that.

Muir off to explore Florida @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Around the World

You’ll love this free printable board game for learning about the places John Muir traveled.  Around the World in 76 Years.

Backpacking and hiking

The reason John Muir knew that the wilderness needed to be preserved was not only because he spent time outdoors, but he spent time hiking and exploring.

Grab this free 245 page unit study about backpacking and hiking.

Muir had a love for ice, the mountains and exploring glaciers. Look at some hands-on ideas @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Hands-on Activities and Ideas

Learn about the power of ice.

John Muir had a love for snow and blizzards and soon his obsession turned to glaciers. Look at this easy hands-on idea of how ice shapes mountains.

Make an easy sand clock.

Also, he loved his inventions and was interested locks, water wheels and clocks. Look at this easy hands-on sand clock.

►Make a yummy metamorphic edible rock recipe.

Spending much of his time outdoors as he investigated mountains and cliffs, look at this easy Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages.

More John Muir Unit Study Activities

  • California Landmarks With Naturalist John Muir | How To Make A Poppy Craft
  • 7 John Muir Environmentalist Facts and Fun Teaching Ideas

Muir Unit Study

►Make a simple compass out of things around the house.

And then learn how to make an easy homemade compass.

►Do this easy hands on activity with an egg to see how a plant digests their prey.

Also, Muir had a love for plants. Look at this easy hands-on activity to see how carnivorous plants digest their prey and grab the free notebooking pages.

►Make an easy pendulum clock.

Muir made a machine that helped him to rise from bed because he was focused on time. Make this easy pendulum clock.

I know all your kids will love this short picture book. Be sure to add  John Muir, America’s First Environmentalist to your collection and use it for a fun nature unit study.

Are you still in a spring sort of mood?

I have a couple more free unit studies you can do which have lapbooks.

Click here to grab my North American Robin Unit Study and Lapbook, then strawberries are the very first spring fruit, so grab my Free Strawberry Unit Study and Lapbook and if that is still not enough, grab this Toads and Amphibians Lapbook and Unit Study.

Happy Spring!

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This blog hop is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutual beneficial projects.

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7 CommentsFiled Under: Geography, Geography Based, Hands-On Activities, Science, Science Based Tagged With: art, geography, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, John Muir, middleschool, nature journaling, science, spring

Exploring Edible Cactus: Hands-on Learning (The Desert)

January 14, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

First, we found a few sites and pictures to learn about cactus.

Look at this page that shows anatomy of a cactus from the Cactus Museum which is a good overview.

Because we are learning about life in Texas during the time of the Alamo and we have an upcoming desert unit study, we took time today to read about cactus.

Exploring Edible Cactus. Learning about the desert. @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Exploring edible cactus was the next step because we have never tasted it and if anything involves food we are in.

Edible Cactus

Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) one of the prominent plants in the Sonoran Desert.

(pic attribution)

Then we focused on the saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) because it is one of the prominent plants in the Sonoran Desert.

Here are some of the things we learned and some things we already knew:

►It’s the world’s largest cactus.
► Cacti don’t have leaves; they have prickly spines.
►It can live up to 200 years.
►One of the coolest things is that it is a habitat in itself. It provides food, water, and shelter to many different animals.
► The saguaro cactus saves and stores huge quantities of water in its roots and stems.
► In spring time, white flowers grow on the saguaro.
►The term tree is used to describe how high it can get, which can be up to 60 feet tall.
►They are found only in the Sonoran Desert.

Books About the Desert for Kids

Look at these books where we got a lot of helpful information.

18 Desert Books & Resources for Kids Who Love Reading and Being Read To

Add some of these living books and references books about the desert to your library.

The Seed & the Giant Saguaro

Children's reader on the subject of deserts and what lives there Large book with very large kid friendly illustrations

Cactus Hotel (Rise and Shine)

It is another hot day in the desert. Birds and other animals scurry about looking for food. When they get tired they stop to rest at a giant cactus. It is their hotel in the desert!Many different animals live in the cactus hotel. It protects them; and they protect it, by eating the pests that could harm the cactus.The cactus grows larger and larger and will live for about two hundred years. When one animal moves out, another moves in. There is never a vacancy in the cactus hotel.This story--about a desert, a giant cactus, and the animals who live in it--is one that even the youngest child will understand and enjoy.

Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus

A venerable saguaro cactus stands like a statue in the hot desert landscape, its armlike branches reaching fifty feet into the air. From a distance it appears to be completely still and solitary--but appearances can be deceptive. In fact, this giant tree of the desert is alive with activity. Its spiny trunk and branches are home to a surprising number of animals, and its flowers and fruit feed many desert dwellers. Gila woodpeckers and miniature elf owls make their homes inside the saguaro's trunk. Long-nosed bats and fluttering white doves drink the nectar from its showy white flowers. People also play a role in the saguaro's story: each year the Tohono O'odham Indians gather its sweet fruit in a centuries-old harvest ritual.

Where Is the Sahara Desert?

Imagine over three million square miles of sand dunes that are as tall as a ten-story building. That place is real -- it's the Sahara Desert! Vast, yes! And home to fascinating creatures such as ostriches and fennec foxes as well as amazing plant life. The shallow roots of the mesquite tree can grow almost 200 feet across to absorb water. Readers will also learn about the famous trade routes of the past with caravans of up to 10,000 camels, European explorers to the region (some very unlucky ones), and native populations like the Berber and Tuareg, the faces of the men are blue from the dye in the veils they always wear.

Where Is Antarctica?

Antarctica, the earth's southernmost continent, was virtually untouched by humans until the nineteenth century. Many famous explorers journeyed (and often died) there in the hope of discovering a land that
always seemed out of reach. This book introduces readers to this
desert--yes, desert!--continent that holds about 90 percent of the
world's ice; showcases some of the 200 species that call Antarctica
home, including the emperor penguin; and discusses environmental dangers to the continent, underscoring how what happens to Antarctica affects the entire world.

A Desert Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk in the Sonoran Desert

In the early morning hours, an artist stirs. Gathering her paints and notebook, she heads into the Arizona Sonoran Desert to explore its treasures. Sketching, painting, and writing, she records all that she sees and as night falls, she spreads out her pictures to make this scrapbook of her day, from dawn to dusk.

This Place Is Dry: Arizona's Sonoran Desert

Surveys the living conditions in Arizona's Sonora Desert for the people and unusual animals that live there. Also describes the engineering accomplishment of Hoover Dam.

Desert Solitaire

In Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey recounts his many escapades, adventures, and epiphanies as an Arches National Park ranger outside Moab, Utah. Brimming with arresting insights, impassioned arguments for wilderness conservation, and a raconteur’s wit, it is one of Abbey’s most critically acclaimed works.   Through stories and philosophical musings, Abbey reflects on the condition of our remaining wilderness, the future of a civilization, and his own internal struggle with morality. As the world continues its rapid development, Abbey’s cry to maintain the natural beauty of the West remains just as relevant today as when this book first appeared in 1968.

Coyote Raid In Cactus Canyon

While the rest of the animals hide from view from a group of rambunctious coyotes, the fearless gang takes full advantage of the open space of Cactus Canyon and participates with great zeal in an array of nighttime activities, but an unexpected encounter with a rattlesnake quickly puts an end to the coyotes fun as they are sent running for cover, too!

Roxaboxen

Marian called it Roxaboxen. There across the road, it looked like any rocky hill—nothing but sand and rocks, and some old wooden boxes. But it was a special place. And all children needed to go there was a long stick and a soaring imagination.

Why Oh Why Are Deserts Dry? All About Deserts

n this latest installation of the Cat in the Hat's Learning Library, the Cat takes Sally and Dick to explore different kinds of deserts around the world,  from the hot, dry Sonoran and Mojavi to the bitter cold Gobi and Antarctica. Young readers learn why deserts are dry, and how plants and animals—including cactus, kangaroos, camels, penguins, roadrunners, and many others—have adapted to survive the unforgiving climate. Also included: how sand dunes are formed; the reason we see mirages, and how shallow water beneath the surface of the ground can create an oasis. Fans of the new PBS preschool science show The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! (which is based on the Learning Library series) won't want to miss this hot new addition to the series!

One Day in the Desert

‘A wounded mountain lion moves from his mountain habitat to a Papago Indian hut in Arizona’s Sonoran desert during a record-breaking July day. All creation adapts to the blistering heat until a cloudburst causes a flash flood. With a measured yet vivid style, this introduction to desert ecology makes a memorable impact."

Deserts

This intriguing yet simple description will captivate young readers who have an interest in the unfamiliar.

A Walk in the Desert (Biomes of North America)

Take a walk through the desert. This hot, dry biome of the southwest is full of life. How do plants and animals of the desert live? As you wander through the desert, discover how each and every plant and animal relies on the others to live and grow.

Wildlife of the Southwest Deserts

Learn about the fascinating creatures of the desert Southwest including: Venomous Animals Insects and Arthropods Rattlesnakes, Lizards, Desert Tortoise The Roadrunner and other Birds Bighorn Sheep, Kit Fox, Coyote.

Indian Uses of Desert Plants

Now in its fourth edition, this is a beautiful book with both historical and contemporary images showing the most important plants used by Native Americans. Medicinal, food resources, tools and shelter are just some of the uses discussed. Plants shown and described are among the most widespread plants in the desert Southwest.

Desert Snakes

Learn all about desert snakes with the beautiful book by James W. Cornett.

The Namib Desert

An excellent introduction to the natural history of the Namib Desert of southwest Africa. At its heart, second only to the Atacama Desert of Chile and Peru as the driest place on Earth. Also, it is the oldest desert on our planet and the only desert with a megafauna including elephant, giraffe, and rhinoceros. The lofty orange dunes, highest in the world, are also shown and discussed.




Next, we picked up some cactus at the grocery store because Tiny has never tasted cactus.

Looking around the kitchen to see what we could cook with we used just a few ingredients.

First, we started by scraping the edges of the cactus with a sharp knife.

Exploring Edible Cactus: Hands-on Learning (The Desert)

We also used a vegetable peeler to be sure we got all the spikes off and cut off the edge and dark spots. I rinsed it several times.

Exploring Edible Cactus: Hands-on Learning (The Desert)

Learning About the Desert for Kids

Then we sliced it into pieces.

Exploring Edible Cactus: Hands-on Learning (The Desert)

We boiled it in some red onion, fresh garlic and salt and pepper for about 20 minutes or so until it didn’t look slimy any longer.

Instead of eating it by itself, we think anything tastes better with guacamole and we’re almost sure they had guacamole when the soldiers were in the Alamo (just kidding).

We grabbed some fresh avocado, salt and pepper and tomatoes to make an easy guacamole.

Exploring Edible Cactus: Hands-on Learning (The Desert)

After we boiled it, it came time to the taste test.

Exploring Edible Cactus: Hands-on Learning (The Desert)

Uhmm, Tiny’s face says it all.

He didn’t really care for it.

I never really have liked the flavor.

It’s a texture thing for me, but we always don’t mind trying new things.

Tiny said it’s not as bad as he thought and adding spices to it really helps. It does taste like a mild green bean.

Exploring Edible Cactus: Hands-on Learning (The Desert)

We put it in some great tasting guacamole with chips and had a few more bites.

We had a fun morning reading about cactus and trying a bite or two of it.

Then, I found this wonderful illustration, which has pictures of several different cactus. How many can you name?

Look at this link to see the names of them.

Exploring Edible Cactus: Hands-on Learning (The Desert)

We are loving our hands-on learning on different topics.

Look at these other ones we have done.

  • Make a Hair Hygrometer,
  • Desert Sand Art,
  • Make Zopf (Swiss Style Bread)
  • and 365 Days Hands-On Homeschool Activities – One for EVERY Day of the Year

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Geography Based, Hands-On Activities, Science, Science Based Tagged With: desert, earthscience, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, homeschool, science, sciencecurriculum

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