science

Field Work Friday – Lumpy’s Ice Cream Lab

July 18, 2014 by Amy

This week we took the most amazing field trip – to Lumpy’s Ice Cream Lab in Wake Forest, NC!

Lumpy’s is run by Buck, a chef from Vermont and now ice cream expert. He planned Lumpy’s around solid business practices, with lots of food experience, and with good stewardship in mind.

I must post a disclaimer here: Normally, I would not be willing to drive over an hour to learn about ice cream. I get the science behind the basic process, and we’ve been making it over and over using different methods during our current ice cream study.

But Lumpy’s – and Buck – is unique. Not only does he sell ice cream, because anybody can do that, but he creates his very own flavors on site. From local, fresh, as organic-and-natural-as-possible.

Yes, lots of people do that, too. But Buck has over 300 flavors in his repertoire. That’s NOT common. Those flavors happen to have names as creative as the flavors, which change whenever Buck feels like making something new.

All of that reminded me of Ebenezer Bleezer, one of my favorite Jack Prelutsky poems. Which we had to read during this unit. Though Buck’s flavors sound much, much better than Bleezer’s.

He’s also mission-minded, having recently pledged to raise $5 MILLION dollars for the North Carolina Children’s Home over the next five years. That’s the kind of business I want to support.

So what happened when we ventured out to Lumpy’s?

We began inside at the main counter of the store. Buck taught us about the basic ingredients of ice cream and talked to us about the ways that he has incorporated good stewardship principles into his business. This made a big impression on my Big Helper, who has started several of her own businesses over the past few years. Buck also explained his personal work history and showed us just how hard he’s worked and how long he has prepared to be an entrepreneur.

When we got home, and I asked the kids what they learned, the first thing that my Big Helper said was, “Mr. Buck worked for 23 years to be ready to start his ice cream business. If I want to have a business, I can’t give up.”

Lesson learned.

Next we went outside to see the blast freezer, specially “imported” from Indiana and designed to be very energy efficient. The kids were excited to see just how cold 25 degrees below 0 really was!

The restaurant was filled with quirky signs like this one. It had a friendly appearance and made everyone smile each time they read a new sign – proving Lumpy’s logo to be true: you really are just a scoop away from a smile when there.

Just before our tour ended, Buck ran a batch of Ande’s Candies ice cream through his churn and gave everyone samples. It was SO GOOD that we all immediately got in line to buy more. My Little Man chose a scoop of butter pecan, and my Big Helper picked a candy-free Almond Joy flavor that was out of this world. Even the cone was homemade – and neither was happy at having to wait for the camera before being allowed to eat.

In the end, we hung out and bothered Buck for several hours. Our kids ate up the information, and we all devoured delicious ice cream. My Big Helper spent hours talking about and designing a “newspaper” around the information that she learned from Buck that morning.

Making the drive to Lumpy’s definitely proved to be worth it to us. Buck encouraged and inspired our kids just as his ice cream did to our taste buds.

Guess we’ll just have to go back – and I can’t wait to see what new flavors will be on the menu then!

Field Work Friday – How Old Is That Tree?

July 18, 2014 by Amy

We’re a part of a botany co-op this year, and we’ve begun to study trees – their parts, what they do, and their part in our natural world.

We decided that this would be the perfect time to take a field trip back to see Park Ranger Mike DiFabio at Little River Regional Park. He’s wonderful with our kids and always fascinates them with great information and field-specific tools, and he was certainly on the ball this time.

Photo by Susan B.

He began by reviewing the parts of a tree with them – the crown, trunk, and roots, as well as the xylum, phloem, cambium, etc. – and what each part does. Mike got the kids talking about photosynthesis and the giving off of oxygen, and they were excited to share what they knew. Then they moved on to aging trees. The kids were excited to share that they knew about tree rings, and they were even happier when Mike showed them this tree ‘cookie.’

They weren’t sure how to find out the age of a tree without hurting the tree, however, until Mike showed them this special bore – and immediately found a tree to try it out.

Mike had the kids line up and let each one take a turn extracting a sample from the center of the tree out.

He showed them how to count the rings to determine the age of the tree, and also what the varying distances between the rings might mean.

After that the group returned to the pavilion, where Mike gave the children their own tree “cooky” so they could count the rings themselves. It’s definitely harder to do as the wood ages!

Mike outdid himself, as usual. His lesson meshed perfectly with our studies and provided hands-on experience that we couldn’t give our children. They were fascinated with the tools of his trade and excited to share about the new things that they’ve learned. Thanks, Mike!

Field Work Friday – Scavenger Hunts at Duke Gardens

July 18, 2014 by Amy

This week we ventured to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, part of Duke University. I planned several scavenger hunt sheets so that our children, who usually range in age from 1 to 8, could all participate in some way.

Because the temperature was supposed to get into the mid-90s, we met at 9 AM. After arranging our meeting places and picking up maps, we headed out into the 50+ acre garden.

While I was excited about searching out different items with My Little Man and then discussing them with the group as a whole over a picnic lunch, I was very excited to introduce my friend Noelle to our group.

Noelle has been honing her photography skills for years and agreed to take pictures of our children while we hunted throughout the garden. Because this particular garden is so diverse and has so many fountains and special features, it makes the perfect place for special pictures.

(If you would live in our neck of the woods and would like fabulous pictures of your children or next event, you can check out Noelle’s blog. Contact her for more information!)

We’ll have Noelle’s pictures back soon, but you can see some of the topics for the various scavenger hunts. We didn’t do all of these, but we found pieces of them all ….

For those of us doing the number hunt, we found a plant with ONE main base.

For those people doing the color search, we found an animal with RED wings.

We found a rock that could be used like a chair, just as Jessie did in The Boxcar Children, for those people doing the literature hunt.

We found SPHERICAL flowers, a shape needed on the shape hunt.

Of course, all that hunting made us very hot and thirsty ..

It was tempting to just step right off those stones …

but we stuck to our water bottles, instead.

If you would like to take these scavenger hunts outside yourself, you can find copies of them here.

Have you done an old-fashioned scavenger hunt lately? What interesting things can you find in your backyard or local park?

Field Work Friday – Dental Hygiene

July 18, 2014 by Amy

This week we were visited by Pat, a dental hygienist for a local pediatric dentist. That might not sound too exciting, but Pat brought along Ally the Alligator and shared lots of good tips for caring for your teeth.

Pat talked to us about how important it was to brush our teeth each morning and before bedtime, and that taking care of our gums is crucial. She told us that dentists recommend that children spend 6 minutes each evening on dental hygiene, both brushing and flossing, and that parents should be involved until age 10. Pat also showed us how to brush in small circles, not scrubbing, on each tooth, and then brushing downwards three times while singing, “Wiggle, jiggle, wiggle, jiggle, 1, 2, 3” and then moving on to the next one. She let each child practice on Ally – though Luke was a big shy of her big smile.

After Pat left we concluded a science project to demonstrate just how important it is to brush.

Start with a jar (I’d recommend a wide-mouth one), an egg, a tube of toothpaste, and some vinegar. I’ve used both cider and white for this – both work fine.

Squeeze out the tube of toothpaste into the jar. Try not to get any on the sides. I realize that this seems like a lot, but it takes a lot for this to work – and it’s a very visual demo of why brushing and toothpaste is important.

Next, nestle the egg into the toothpaste nest at the bottom. Bury half of the egg in the toothpaste and let the other half sticking out, hopefully toothpaste-free (this is why a wide-mouth jar is important – my hand didn’t fit in there well!).

Using the egg as a target so that none of the toothpaste washes away, slowly pour vinegar into the jar on top of the egg. Fill the jar to about an inch past the top of the egg.

Let the jar sit for 2-5 days. I wouldn’t wait much longer than that, but it will take a few days for the magic to happen. When the egg is ready, you should see that lovely cloud of bubbles at the top of the egg. Again, be sure to wait a few days! Just set it on a shelf somewhere and watch what happens while the vinegar works.

When it’s time, pour out the vinegar and rescue the egg. Holding it carefully, wipe away or wash under a gentle spray of water to remove excess toothpaste.

Your egg will now look like this! The vinegar, an acid, has eaten away at the shell of the egg, which is made of protein.

If you consider the eggshell to be like the enamel on your teeth, you can see what plague will do to the finish of your teeth. Be sure to carefully tap your fingernail on the white shell – see how hard and firm it still is? Didn’t the toothpaste do a great job of protecting it from the tough plague germs?

Then try to tap the soft brown top. The shell is gone, leaving only the outer membrane. Pushing gently, you can actually push into the egg – it’s that soft. Who wants a tooth that looks like this?!! I think I’ll brush!

Disclaimer: As this entire project is done with a raw egg, dispose of egg carefully when finished. I’ve never broken one in nearly 10 years of doing this project, so the eggs are tougher than they look – but I’m sure it’s still possible, and I know they won’t smell pretty if they break. 🙂

Field Work Friday – The Conservators’ Center

July 18, 2014 by Amy

Yesterday our group visited The Conservators’ Center, a non-profit rescue organization that helps animals in need. They are located in outside Mebane, North Carolina, and have an absolutely wonderful website.

Upon arrival, head animal keeper Janine began our tour.

First we saw servals. These cats are originally from the African grasslands and were fascinating to watch.

I must admit, I can’t remember the name of this cat. She just kept pacing and pacing throughout part of her cage as we stood, watching, and learning about her. I felt so bad for making her nervous that I missed hearing anything else!

I’ve never heard of a binturong before. These Asian animals are banana crazy and imperative for keeping the rainforest alive and well. This one in particular showed off for us by climbing all over his habitat, including showing us how to climb down a tree head first!

Everyone seemed fascinated with the wolves, and this arctic-timber wolf in particular stayed right near us for quite some time.

We didn’t faze this tiger. He just hung out in the corner of his pen and watched us all. He was one cool cucumber!

Some of the lions and tigers were born around the same time and have been raised together. There was something awesome about watching these two species of cats play together.

They rested atop this towering play structure in their area, too. I’d love to know what they’re thinking!

My most favorite animal, however, was Arthur, the white tiger. He may be part snow tiger, or his coloring may be due to the abuse he suffered as a baby; but either way, his stripes are very faint and are most prominent on his tail.

We didn’t seem to bother Arthur, either, and were able to catch him playing hide-and-seek with his friend …

and then, amazingly, he went seeking while we were still there! I’ve only seen these types of animals in the zoo, before, when the most action you can hope for is a lazy tail flick as they sleep. To see such strong and mighty animals roughhousing only a few feet away was incredible.

The kids took their own kiddie cameras along and took hundreds of pictures – literally – so we’ll be editing those tomorrow. They were both fascinated with the animals, but also with the new friends that they’ve made today. Isn’t it funny how experiencing something amazing with someone else draws you together?

After a picnic lunch in the Conservators’ Center’s new pavilion, we headed home, full of stories of lions and tigers and … bobcats and lemurs and wolves and all sorts of wonderful animals.

If you’ve never been to The Conservators’ Center and you live in the area, be sure to check it out. It’s definitely worth a visit. If you live far away, be sure to check out what kind of animal resources are in your backyard. You won’t be sorry.