Thursday, March 29, 2012

Snails



Moonshine and I have been working on some human and animal studies this month.  Right now we're having fun with snails... it took us quite a bit of poking around to find some that the birds hadn't already eaten in our garden.  Every morning there is a scattering of broken shells all over the place.  The birds must be having quite an early morning feast.  If I were a snail, I would be hiding, too!

One thing I could thank the birds for was that they made it quite easy to examine the inner spiral of the shells.  So perfect!  They reminded us of a spiral ceiling we saw in Barcelona this past summer.

After digging around a bit in the garden, we unearthed a couple of live snails to investigate.  Then we made good with some empty shells and modeling beeswax to make some snails for the nature table.  Moonshine was so pleased with how they came out -- a mama and a baby!  So precious together!




Moonshine was hungering for some lovely stories this week, so we read the snail stories included in Jacob Streit's Animal Stories.  I've been looking for a copy of this in English for years, and I finally found one a couple of months ago.  It would have been perfect for Grade 2, but we're happy to have it at all.  I think it's just as applicable to the Grade 4 study anyway.  Perhaps I chanced upon our copy at the right time after all.


Just by luck I came across an interesting BBC video about the sounds tiny insects make, including snails.  Fascinating stuff!

Moonshine and I have also been talking about crafting some animals for our study.  I found the cutest pattern for crocheted snails here.  At first glance it looks to be a bit complex for my mediocre crocheting skills, so we may just end up making it up.  I'm thinking it will be fun to try.

But not this week.  This week I have undertaken a HUGE project which is eating up all of my extra bits of time.  Not that I have many extra bits, but you know what I mean.  Hopefully, I'll be able to show you that huge undertaking tomorrow.

13 comments:

  1. How fun! We don't have many snails here in Western Oregon, but we have TONS of slugs :) That crocheted snail is adorable... I have faith that you two can plough through those directions and make a wonderful snail friend. I'm so glad you are posting again, it is so fun to read about your kiddos and all the great stuff you guys do together.

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  2. Thanks for your sweet comment, Alyss! How interesting that you don't have many snails there. I remember we even had a few in the desert when I was growing up... which seems very strange, now that I think about it. No slugs though... I haven't seen any here yet, either, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

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  3. Awesome you found that book in English! We loved reading that in German for 2nd grade. :-)

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  4. I'm curious if you had snails where you lived in the States. Here in NY are almost no snails, only slugs. All my German picture books have lots of snails with houses in them, but I can't really show my children a snail with a house outside.

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  5. Hi Eva. Yes, we did have snails everywhere we have lived in the US-- in several states and different regions. In some places they were more prolific than others, but we've always had them. I wish I could share some with you!

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  6. Cari, I remember when you bought your copy during one of our shopping sprees at the Goetheanum. What a fun day that was!

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  7. What a wonderful post. I enjoyed it so much...I love the snails! Thanks.

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  8. I miss the Goetheanum. I miss Switzerland.

    Whoa. Did I just say that? :-P

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  9. Thanks, Aputsiaq!

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  10. Oh Cari, the grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it? :)

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  11. Maybe you could mail one with a hedgehog and a blackbird. I also miss those :).

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  12. We have had a plethora of snails this spring. Our front yard glistens with their sparkly trails every morning. FaerieFe spent a day gathering them all up from the road, driveways, and sidewalks for fear of them being smashed - and deposited them all under a tree in our yard. The next day, the snails had climbed up all over the tree...some making more progress than others. So, now we have a snail tree in our yard;-)

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    Replies
    1. A snail tree! I'm happy to know the snails of Texas have someone looking out for them. :)

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