Rainforest Journey ~ A Review

Over the past few weeks we've been reviewing Rainforest Journey, a fun online science program from EdTechLens as part of my 2nd grader's school day.

We were provided with a one year subscription to Rainforest Journey in order to write this review.

What is Rainforest Journey

Rainforest Journey is the the first interactive digital learning program released by EdTechLens. This product is aimed at children in grades K - 5. The thoughts behind it is to deliver an aesthetically pleasing program that you would normally only see delivered in the higher education levels but for the elementary aged child. The concept is that of a photo book, filled with video clips, photographs and audio that the children can easily interact with. Each level covers the same concepts, however they increase in complexity as the grade level increases.

First Impressions

The EdTechLens website is bright and fresh with stunning photographic images on the home screen. These create a sense of what is to come for the user and you know already from the home page that a great deal of passion has been put into this site.

The site is laid out in an easy to navigate fashion, with all of the regular links  across the top that one would expect to see within a website such as this. After clicking on the programs link you can read in more detail all about Rainforest Journey, including access to a few free sample lessons across the various grade levels. Be sure to watch the introductory video found on the bottom of that page.

How We Used Rainforest Journey

We used Rainforest Journey exactly as detailed within the program. At this stage we haven't added any extra's as for us right now this is a nice little bonus learning opportunity.

My son logs in using the user name supplied to him by EdTechLens and he is taken directly to the first lesson. From then each time he logs in the first screen he sees is exactly where he is up to in the program.

There is a course outline link to the left where you can move back to review complete lessons and see what is coming up.

The lessons in the grade 2 level include a couple of stunning photograph's of either the rainforest itself or of some of the animals found within a rainforest. From time to time there are also short videos to watch.

With each image there is a small snippet of information that can either be read or the option to hear the details being read aloud is also there right on the screen.

There is a brief enrichment section, which contains just that little bit extra information about the topic being discussed right there alongside the lesson too.

So far we have looked at all the layers of the rainforest, some of the many animals that reside within those layers and various types of rainforests

At the end of each lesson there is a printable PDF of review materials. For the grade 2 option he has been asked to draw what he is learning about the layers and to describe each layer with several words. This is simple enough for him to complete and does help him to listen closely to the audio as knows he needs to come up with some describing words at the end of the lesson.

Each unit finishes with assessment quizzes. There are 5 units with a total of 34 lessons. Each lesson only takes around 10 - 20 minutes to complete, with end of lesson hands on activities as an extra.

We have also been using the Grade 5 level and it covers the same lesson concepts just at a higher level, with each lesson, being slightly longer and with more reading material. It still includes that audio link though which is a huge plus for me as so many programs remove that option for older children. The Grade 5 level also expects short paragraphs in terms of lesson review output as compared to just a few short words that is required in the Grade 2 level.

What We Didn't Like

At first logging in and getting ourselves all set up with user names for each student was a little confusing, but I contacted EdTechLens straight away and they were more than helpful in getting us all ready to go.

With each lovely photograph there is a piece of information that can either be read or listened to, however the links for the audio aren't aligned right there on the screen, so I found myself scrolling up and down a bit so that we could listen and look at the pictures at the same time. I'd love to see the audio button right there alongside the image.

Being an online program, if like me, you don't have fabulous internet, can make things a little tricky at times. This is just something to be aware with your own situation.

What We Did Like

The stunning large pictures and the audio voice overs is what makes this program so unique. We can listen to the audio and sit and discuss the images included. At times choosing to go and find more information than what is provided.

I really liked that this can be used exactly as is, as an easy supplement to your current science program. Or if you choose it can be fleshed out into one entire year long theme of study, that adds an element of audio visual, video's, photographs and voice overs to the unit.

Looking Ahead

This has been so easy to add into our week that we will most definitely continue along with the remainder of the Rainforest Journey.

I'm very interested in seeing what other 'journey's' EdTechLens may be working on. This is a great way to add supplemental information to a larger theme that you may be studying.

Details & Pricing

A 1 year license for the Rainforest Journey program for 1 child is $50.

To see more from EdTechLens visit them via your favourite social media outlet.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/edtechlens
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edtechlens
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/edtechlens/
Google +: https://plus.google.com/+Edtechlens
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/edtechlens

I hope you found this review helpful. If you would like to see further reviews of Rainforest Journey from members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, please visit this link.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

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Swan Nesting

This is such an exciting piece of nature study for us!

Seriously I have never seen anything quite like it. We are so blessed, not only have we been able to witness the nesting of a pair of Black Swans, we've also met a lovely new to homeschooling family to study them with! And even better still their children are nearly the same ages as our younger two, don't you love that :-)

Anyway, back to the swans. Here they in full public view having built their nest at the far side of a large pond situated at the back of a park and playground area. So it certainly isn't a quiet spot for them that's for sure!

Everyone was mesmerized for quite some time just watching the swan protecting those eggs like her life depended on it. We were all quite surprised as to how close we were allowed to get to the nest. And the size of the nest, did you see it, it's huge!

They appear to have ripped up several clumping grass/reeds, as you can see in the background of this image and used those to build up the nest. Adding pieces of newspaper and other odds and ends as they find them no doubt.

On this particular day we only caught a very brief glimpse of the eggs, but just the other day our friends saw them in all their glory and there are a total of six. Let's hope that all six hatch and thrive.

We will be checking on these gorgeous creatures regularly and are itching to see some babies, hopefully very soon.

Community Gardens

I've been trying to make a conscious effort to get out and about and explore what our amazing community has to offer. Many of things available have been around for awhile, but we've just never made it along to them.

Our local Community Gardens is one such place. I have watched this area transform over the past few years and every time we drive past I make a mental note to stop by there and have a look.

It took meeting a new homeschooling mum that attends the garden activities regularly to give me that nudge I needed :-) 

The volunteers that participate here have been really putting in huge amounts of effort over the years. The gardens are flourishing and brimming with a wide variety of produce.

When we visited, the regular kids fun time was happening. This week, they helped to transplant seedlings to be sold at an upcoming community fair, they mulched a newly planted garden bed and helped to dig out another new garden bed.

They even got the opportunity to do a little harvesting and tasting. This Kohlrabi, new to all of us, was most definitely enjoyed though. For me it's a cross between an apple and a radish.

We are all looking forward to our next visit to the Community Gardens. If you are nearby, stop by and have a look!

Do you participate in your local community garden area? Let me know if you do, I'd love to hear more about it.

Ponding - Tuesday's Treasures

Ponding by Wilhelmina Wallis is great little book packed full of hands on activities for children to do near and about your local pond.

I mentioned that we are using this book as part of our Year Long Pond Study and I wanted to share more of it with you.

A quick glance over the contents page of this book and you will quickly notice that there is an abundance of activities and information to be found inside, covering all manner of subject areas.

The pages are black and white but with lovely well drawn illustrations.

 

Every activity is very clearly laid out and if a check sheet or data record sheet is required that is also supplied for you to copy.

This book really does cover so many areas of a pond ecosystem.

You can purchase a copy of Ponding from the Gould League website.

I have purchased this copy myself and have not been compensated in any way for this post. I simply wanted to share this fabulous resource with all of you.

I am linking this to Tuesday's Treasures, over at Every Bed of Roses
 

Year Long Pond Study: Week 1

I've mentioned a few times now my desire to build more nature study into our time. Getting outside isn't a problem, it never has been, but when it comes to actually taking the time to stop and observe nature, that is what I'm talking about.

I had begun to plan a series of nature study trips when I stumbled across Angelic Scalliwags, who have recently begun a year long study of their local pond.

Bingo!!! Brilliant idea. That, my friends is absolutely perfect for our nature study time too. We jumped on it and chose the closest pond (that I knew had a fair amount of wildlife) near us. It's a rather large pond and may even come close to being a lake but this is where we will be spending a considerable amount of our time over the year to come.

Angelic Scallywags are visiting their pond weekly, however I knew this would be a challenge for us. We have to drive a good 10 minutes to our pond, which I know isn't far but in amongst our already busy schedules I was concerned that weekly would simply become overwhelming. I opted for roughly fortnightly visits, knowing that monthly (just 12 visits in a year) was no where near enough.

I will also put to use some of the ideas shared over at Angelic Scallywags and I have found a few really nice guides to help us navigate our way around our pond.

And so we begin our "Year Long Pond Study" friends.

Finding a visual marker that we could use to watch the water level was tricky indeed. It took us quite awhile and some discussion until we settled on this concrete.....not even sure what it is. I guess it has a purpose, we will have to investigate.

I know that we will never be short on wildlife around this pond. Taking a closer look at the reeds and the far bank may be a challenge though, again another spot of investigating on a future visit.

For our first trip to the pond, it was simply a time of getting acquainted with the area, the wildlife both on and around the pond and the vegetation growing nearby.

 

We have taken note of several areas of interest where we can focus our study time across the visits we will make during the year. Various fungi species can be found along the banks of the pond.

I asked the children to choose a tree, one tree that would be our focus for the year. We will look more closely at all of the vegetation in the area, but this tree in particular will have more of a focus. They all easily agreed on this. It was so easy to identify also, the fruit growing on it gave it away very quickly. A Mulberry tree! I'm thinking silkworms here.......

Moss covers areas of the bank near the waters edge. The children think these are animal tracks of some description....I'm not so sure ;-)

Whilst quite hard to see in this image, one area of the bank is covered in tiny little red growth of some description. Very fascinating and we will take a closer look at this down the track.

No doubt a weed, but very pretty purple flowers regardless.

Plenty more moss here.

I'm guessing another weed, we will attempt to identify all of these as we go along.

The berries from this large tree covered the ground underneath.

Looking back across the pond.

Ducks in a row, sunning themselves before they jumped back in.

I have a feeling these are Magpie Geese, but need to get a closer look with our field guide in hand.


After spending time getting to know the pond area we settled at a picnic table to draw and paint images of the pond.

Just as we were getting ready to pack up an enormous flock of cockatoo's came screeching across overhead.

Back and forth, back and forth they flew, a noisy but impressive sight that's for sure.

This simple guide to Australian Pond Life will get a great deal of use I'm sure.

I love the Wildlife Guide to Greater Brisbane, contains most everything a local nature observer needs.

My dear friend was lucky enough to spot this fabulous bird field guide at our recent Lifeline Bookfest. We've already put it to good use.

 

If you haven't visited the Gould League website yet, be sure to take a look. They have some treasures for us Aussies. Ponding, is full of activities and ideas to use to explore your local pond.

Whilst I want our time at the pond to be fun, relaxed and enjoyable I do also have some plans and so to keep us on track I put together this simple one page idea list for our first pond visit, which as you saw from the images above was all about getting acquainted with our pond.

I will share a pdf version of this shortly, for now though this is jpeg and you should be able to click on it to see a larger image.

I hope to continue sharing our visits to the pond!

This posted is linked at:

Outdoor Hour: Fungi & Printable Note Book Pages

The Outdoor Hour challenge this month was Lichen, Moss & Fungi. With all of the rain we've had here this year we didn't even need to leave our yard to hunt down and discover an array of fungi.

Once we started looking I couldn't believe my eyes with all of the different varieties right here in our own back yard. The kids were pretty excited running here, there and everywhere looking for fungi. I could here shouts, "I've found a different one over here!"

I wanted a record of our time spent looking more closely at the fungi but didn't want to turn this into a chore, so I put together a very simple notebooking page for the kids to illustrate the fungi of their choice.

Everyone agreed on water colours for this exercise. Lego Lover (11) chose a single stand alone specimen.

From the Fairy Princess, 8.

Little Surfer Dude, 4.

We also completed a second page with the all of the photographs taken during the backyard fungi hunt.

After Fungi we were on a bit of a roll and notebooked some of our backyard flowers and birds. I'm sharing these simple notebook pages over at my box storage.

Download the note book pages by clicking here.

I'm linking this post up to the Outdoor hour Challenge over at Handbook of Nature Study.