Page 451 of 562

Seed of the Week: Filaree

Are you ready to find out what those twisty seed pods were from?

filaree-flower

Would you believe this delicate, lovely flower produced them? This plant is called filaree, or sometimes heron’s bill or stork’s bill (Genus Erodium).

Why heron’s bill?

filaree-seedpods

Don’t the developing fruit look like bird beaks?

filaree-seedpod-dried

As the seed structures dry, they twist and drill the seed into the ground.

You can actually get the filaree to drive itself into bread (check Kaweah Oaks Preserve for how to do this fun activity).

We discovered another species while we were in California.

california-filaree

The fruit of this kind are shorter.

According to one source I read, these plants were brought over from Europe by the early Spanish explorers.

Do you have filaree where you live?

Monday Morning Mash-up

April is a big month for science-related events and activities, so it’s time to pull out those planners.srvr

April 24, 2010 is International Astronomy Day (Astronomy Week: April 19-25) . For more information, check The Astronomical League website. You also might want to look for local events at your regional astronomy organizations, such as the Canadian Astronomical Society. Many clubs will have their telescopes out for public viewing sometime that weekend.

National Environmental Education Week is April 11-17, 2010. Spend some time at this website. Activities range from a photo blog contest to Nature and Water Bee Quizzes.

EEWeek_banner_ad_square

Then from April 17 through 25, 2010 are the Earth Day celebrations, with Earth Day being April 22. This year is the 40th anniversary. The website seems to be a bit unorganized, for example the Earth Day events listed under the programs tab are for 2009 events.  2010 events can be found in the left sidebar.

Arbor Day is April 30, 2010 or the last Friday in April. Some states celebrate on a different date if that is a better season to plant trees for that area. For example, we celebrate Arbor Day in March in Arizona. Check the clickable map of the US for dates of Arbor Day celebrations in your state. The map also gives your state tree. The site also has an interactive book about the history of Arbor Day.

familyPlantConifer

Finally, if you children are interested in wildlife and nature, take a look at these cool Wild Times magazines available free in .pdf format. They are beautifully done.

More Citizen Science

If you live in the San Francisco area and are interested in ants, take a look at this post on my Wild About Ants blog about a citizen science project that’s being run by the California Academy of Sciences. It’s definitely kid friendly.

sf6

Yes, we were in San Francisco last week. We got to see a lot of interesting new things.

Let us know if you decide to participate in the ant study. We’d love to hear what you find out.

« Older posts Newer posts »