The Magnifying Glass

Winter Solstice

We have been keeping a keen eye on the sun... without looking right at it of course. 

Winter Solstice is coming and we have been watching the path of the sun and observing the long shadows. Waiting for the days to begin stretching out with more light.

 

I added a couple of links below if you would like more information on the solstice:

EarthSky: Everything you need to know about the winter solstice of 2011

National Geographic article about the history of solstice celebrations

 

Do you do anything special to celebrate the return of the sun? We would love to hear about what you do.

And you in the southern hemishere... Are you doing anything to celebrate your summer solstice?

~Dawn

 

 

Geode Giveaway Winner

{geode exam}

The randomly picked winner of the geodes is Carla who said:

i loved your first post about this and almost made them myself. my house is inundated with pinecones at the moment so anything else would be a nice change :)

Congrats Carla! Send me an e-mail with your address at [email protected] and I will mail those out to you this week.

Thanks to all who commented about your late fall nature tidbits. It is always fun to read about what others are finding out there in the natural world.

~Dawn

Geminid Meteor Shower

As I recently mentioned, in the Earthshine post, we have been watching the night sky lately. This is exciting in many ways but even more so because I know one little lady who is going to wake to a telescope on a special morning coming up soon. 

We are especially excitied this week because the Geminid Meteor Shower is almost here. It will peek on Tuesday, December 13th and Wednesday, December 14th. This year the moon will make viewing a little less spectacular but there are many reports of meteor sighting even in the bright moon light. 

Many meteor showers don't start putting on a good display until after midnight, but this shower can be viewed starting around 9 pm to 10 pm. That is a good thing for those of us with little ones who have eyes on the stars.

In our house the special deal is that I will check on the night sky and if I start seeing a meteor display I will wake my little astronomer so she can bundle up and head out into the night for the show... with some hot coco waiting to ease her back into the warmth of bed. 

Here are some links about the shower and some tips for viewing:

EarthSkys Meteor Shower Guide for 2011

EarthSky Ten Tips for Watching the Geminid Meteor Shower

 

There are lots of astronomy books we love. I listed some of them here. The one pictured above is The Kids Book of the Night Sky. It is a fun resource with nighttime activities for all the seasons.

Annie also did a wonderful book review last winter for A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky.

 

Astronomy is a subject that we tend to revisit often. A few years ago while we were first learning about meteors and meteorites we made up a fun little poem to remember the difference. I thought I would share it with you here.

 

Is it a Meteor or a Meteorite?

 Meteors fly across the sky

And make it shine so bright.

The one that makes it to the

Earth is called a meteorite.

                                                                                 by Fionna

 

Have you ever watched a meteor shower?

Please let us know if you head out to view the Geminid shower. We would love to hear about it.

~Dawn

International Mountain Day

Sunday, December 11th is International Mountain Day. 

Coming from California, where we were surrounded by mountains daily, to Nova Scotia, where we are surrounded by ocean but without a mountain in sight, was a bit of a shock.  It made us realize how much we took mountains and all they provided for granted.

Mountains provided everything from grand views, to beautiful hikes, to ski slopes a few hours away from the sunny beach. Beyond the beauty and recreational benefits of the mountains, they also provided many practical things such the replenishment of the watershed, a sanctuary for wildlife, and acted as a barrier for pollution... good or bad depending on your side of the mountain, we were on the good side in that respect.  

We have to travel far to get up high now but when we do my son always exclaims, "Look at the great view!" Indeed, it is something to stop and take notice of.

Do have a love for mountains too? What do they mean to you? 

~Dawn

Geodes Giveaway

When Annie saw my post about geodes, then told me she made eggshell geodes with her daughter and wanted to share it here, the idea was hatched for a geode giveaway. Yay!

We are fotunate enough to have not only a wonderful Museum of Natural History here in Halifax, but also a pass that allows us to attend whenever we like (a wonderful gift option by the way). We picked up a few extra geodes on our last trip and would love to share them with one of you. I will share how to enter at the end of this post.

Even if you don't win, geodes are wonderful to explore. 

To learn more about how they are formed this link has a great short explanation.

HearthSong also offers a Break Your Own Geodes Kit. I have not ordered this one but I have ordered fromHearthSong in the past and have had good experience with them.

If you do decide to purchase geodes over the web be sure to read reviews. It is always hard to know just what you will get with geodes, some are more spectacular than others, but reviews will help you know if your money will be well spent. 

How do you enter?

• Leave a comment on this post telling us about what nature tidbits you have been finding lately. 
• For an extra entry you can share this post on Facebook then return here to let us know you did that.

The winner will be announced Wednesday, December 14th. 

~Dawn