Butterflies!

This week we're talking hatching caterpillars and feeding butterflies!


Imagine that when you were born you ate so much that you grew a 1,000 times bigger in a few weeks. That means you would weigh as much as three fully grown adults by the time you were 6 weeks old!

So after you've finished being a giant monster baby, you decide that you would like to be able to fly so you build yourself a cocoon from silk that comes out of your bum, then you melt down into giant baby soup and re-build yourself as a beautiful flying adult. Lovely.

We know that humans don't really do that, but butterflies do. Butterflies undergo something called complete metamorphosis. Butterflies have four life stages; egg, caterpillar, pupa, and adult. But why go to all the trouble of growing into a giant monster baby, melting into monster baby soup and changing into an adult? It's actually a really great strategy. Complete metamorphosis makes sure that the babies and the adults of the same insect don't need to compete for food. Caterpillars eat leaves and butterflies eat nectar meaning they never have to fight each other for food. Neat!

You can watch the whole cycle at home, all you need are some caterpillar eggs, (I found these ones on a cabbage in my garden) and a plant that will be a good source of food, usually the plant that the eggs are found on. Then you can place these in a tank at home and watch them grow! Just make sure you release the fully grown adult butterflies.

Sometimes butterflies need an extra nectar top-up. You can help butterflies at home by planting native wildflower seeds or by making a butterfly feeder for your garden, here's how:

You Will Need:

• Cardboard
• Paint, felt tips or pencils
• Scissors
• Sticky tape
• A stick
• A milk bottle top
• Sugar
• Water
• Cotton wool balls

First, draw or paint a big, beautiful flower on the cardboard. Some research suggests that butterflies like red flowers best but you can use any colours you like. You could even make some in different colours and create an experiment to see which one the butterflies like best!

Next you need to cut out your flower using the scissors and tape your stick to the back of the flower

Using the glue, stick the milk bottle top to the center of your flower, this is where the nectar would usually be found on a real flower.

Now we need to make the nectar! Take your water and stir in some sugar. Keep adding sugar and stirring until no more sugar will dissolve this will create a saturated solution.

Next, dip a cotton wool ball into the sugar solution and let it soak up as much liquid as possible.

Finally, carefully place your cotton wool ball into the milk bottle top in the center of the flower and sink the stick into a plant pot or directly into the garden

 You're all done! Now any hungry butterflies visiting your garden have a tasty snack.

If  you enjoyed this tutorial, you can check out my other tutorials on my blog, or I have some handy mobile versions on my Facebook. You can also get in touch with me on Twitter if you have any questions, I also love getting pictures of your wildlife makes at home!

Have a great summer!

Sarah 😎

States of Matter, Non-Newtonian Fluids, and Ultra violet absorption - Oh My!

This week we explored states of matter, how we describe them, how we can change states and made GLOWING Oobleck!

First off we experimented with states of matter using chocolate! We took solid chocolate and investigated its properties, does it flow? can I hold it in my hand? what happens when I apply force to it? i.e. bite it.
We then added energy, in the form of heat to see what happened...
Of course, the chocolate melted giving us a liquid. We then investigated the properties of the liquid chocolate (Let the chocolate cool a little first!).
We then compared the two states of chocolate, how they were different and why we think this is. We also compared the chocolate to the air around us and tried to create rules for what makes a solid, a liquid or a gas.

Next, we made some glowing Oobleck!
Oobleck is  a non-Newtonian fluid, because it doesn't conform to Newton's Laws of viscosity. Oobleck is a fluid that acts as a liquid when at rest but when you apply pressure to it, acts as a solid! For an extra glowing surprise, you'll need to use tonic water with quinine and a UV torch (more about that later!).

Warning! This will get MESSY. Best to do this outdoors in old clothes!

You'll need:

• A measuring cup
• Cornflour/ Cornstarch
• A mixing bowl
• Water
• A spoon or something to stir with
• Food colouring (if you're feeling fancy)

First you need to measure a cup of the cornflour and pour this into your mixing bowl. 

Next slowly add in the water (or tonic water if using), and a few drops of food colouring, stirring as you go until you reach a consistency resembling thick custard. 

The mixture will become very hard to stir but keep going! We found that the most effective way was using our hands, this is also a great way to experience the unique texture of the Oobleck.

Once the cornflour and water are combined you can play with your Oobleck! Can you create rules for how Oobleck behaves? How is this different or similar to solids or liquids?

Get set, GLOW

Now it's time to see if the Oobleck glows, this will only work if you made the Oobleck using tonic water with quinine, and if you've used food colouring this can effect the intensity of the glow. 

Shine your UV torch (These are available on Amazon for less than £5) over the Oobleck in a darkened room to see it glow! The tonic water on its own will also glow. 

Why does this work?

The quinine in the tonic water absorbs UV light, which is invisible to us, and emits visible light. We perceive the visible light emitted as the 'glow' we see. 

Have your kids got a burning science question that can't wait until they go back to school? Let me know! I'll try my best to answer them. 

Get in touch with me on Facebook and Twitter for more science experiments and tutorials! 

Also check out the Slow Mo Guys on YouTube, they have some great Oobleck videos! 

Insect Camouflage

This week I'm talking about insect camouflage. Camouflage is a strategy used by many animals, definitely not just insects, but I think insect camouflage is fascinating. Insects use a wide variety of techniques to camouflage themselves from both predators and prey and even use different camouflage techniques throughout their life cycles.

One of my favorite examples of insect camouflage is the caddisfly and at the end of this blog, I'll show you how to make your very own cardboard caddisfly larvae!

Caddisflies lay their eggs on vegetation just above a body of water and the larvae emerge and fall into the water.
The larvae build themselves a cocoon from silk and submerged detritus (underwater rubbish such as stones or wood) around themselves, This cocoon protects the larvae from predators. The larvae can carry around their cocoon while they feed on algae like a little portable home! This Cocoon also provides amazing camouflage and makes the caddis fly larvae really hard to spot against a background of the same materials.

The caddisfly then undergoes metamorphosis and turns into an adult, just like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, emerging as a winged adult. The adult caddisfly lives on land and also has amazing camouflage, blending in perfectly with its surroundings to evade predators while they feed on nectar.

Next time you visit a pond, lake or stream have a look under rocks to see if you can spot any caddisfly cases!

Making a cardboard caddisfly!

You will need:

• A cardboard tube
• Sticks, leaves or other natural materials
• A gift tag or small rectangle of card
• A drinking straw or a thin stick
• googly eyes! (you could also draw eyes on)
• Glue
• Sticky tape

First, we're going to make the caddisfly case by gluing sticks and leaves all over the outside of the cardboard tube. Try and match the caddisfly's case to the habitat you want it to live in to help it blend in!

Use some sticky tape to attach your drinking straw or stick to the back of your gift tag. This with be your caddisfly larvae!

Add some googly eyes and decorate your caddisfly larvae however you like! Real life caddisfly larvae have 3 pairs of legs at the front of their body and scraping mouthparts to help them collect algae off of underwater surfaces. Think about where your caddisfly will live and what you think it would eat, can you add decorations to help your caddisfly to move and feed in its environment?

You're all done!
For more nature craft ideas and outdoor activities check out my Facebook, follow me on Twitter or drop me an email!

Sarah xx

Making Hydroponic Planters!

This week we're making hydroponic planters as part of a vertical vegetable garden we're creating!
These planters can be attached to almost any wall or fence and can be planted with anything you like (we've used peas here).
These planters water themselves, are an affordable way to utilize vertical surfaces in the garden and are a great way to help nature by up-cycling!






For this project you will need:

• A plastic bottle
• Garden twine
• Scissors
• Strong glue
• Soil
• Seeds

First, punch a hole in the lid of the bottle. You could use a drill for this, I softened the plastic by heating it and pushed through a pencil.

Next cut the bottle in half using the scissors and make two holes in the lower half of the bottle about 5cm from the top. 

Next, cut two pieces of twine about 30cm long. Thread one piece of twine through the hole you have made in the lid of the bottle. Secure the twine in place by tying a few knots on the inside of the lid. 

Take the second piece of twine and thread it through the holes you made in the lower half of the bottle. This twine is what we will use to attach the planter to the fence. To secure the string in place and to ensure the lower half of the planter is water tight, add a few blobs of glue to seal the holes. 

Now it's time to flip over the top half of the bottle, add some glue to the top edge of the bottom half of the bottle and fit the two together. Make sure that your twine falls inside of the lower half of the bottle and that you leave this to dry for a little bit before moving on the the next step!

Finally, you can fill the top half of your planter with soil and plant your seed!

When you water your planter, the water will collect in the lower half of the bottle, the string you added will allow the water to travel up into the soil keeping the soil moist and making sure the plant gets enough water. 

This is the same process that plants use to move water from their roots to their leaves and is called evapotranspiration.

This activity is a lot of fun and works especially well in both gardens and schools without much green space. 

For more information about Eco-Explore Education's School sessions and for more ideas for activities and outdoor fun like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or drop us an email.

Autumn fun

Autumn is a great time to get outside. There are some amazing nature spectacles to see such as the colours of autumn foliage, deer rutting season, plentiful fungi and starling murmurations. From a sensory standpoint: autumn has a lot to offer. Not are there spectacular things to see in autumn but there are new smells and sounds too and plenty of new textures.

This weekend we got out to a local park to play in all of the leaves. This activity is great as it combines the novel texture of leaves with the auditory stimulation of them crunching underfoot and is a lot of fun. It can also stimulate discussion of why leaves fall from the trees, why they change colour or about the seasons.

Pumpkin news
After Halloween we were left with 2 fairly large pumpkins, in an attempt to reduce our waste and use the pumpkins I made pumpkin pie, pumpkin cannelloni and many other pumpkin based food stuffs. I can now officially confirm that the boy does not like pumpkin.


Bonfire night
I hope everyone had a great bonfire night! We watched the fireworks at Caerphilly Castle this year and were blown away! The crowds and loud noise can often present a challenge and Robbie often doesn't like wearing ear defenders in public. My hack is to put a bobble hat on him under a hoodie under a coat - If he could even hear any of the fireworks under those layers i'm impressed :')

 Not to say there were no meltdowns involved... There were definitely some of those from both of us :') the change in routine, being out late, the excitement and the crowds are a lot to cope with but we stuck it out and had a great time.
Bonfire night can be a nightmare for some children on the spectrum especially public displays because of the loud noises and unfamiliar sensory environments, so many parents choose to do something more simple like sparklers in the back garden or watching the fireworks inside from a quiet space - however you chose to spend your bonfire night I hope you had a great time <3

Children In Need 2016

Hi everyone!

This year myself and my family have decided as a family to take on a challenge for Children in Need! Children in Need is one of my favorite charities because of the amazing work that they do for children in the UK including funding many great activities and support groups for children with autism and their parents such as Contact a Family, Chapter (Cardiff), and Conwy Monkeys Climbing Club to name just a few.

This year we are planning a hike up the tallest peak in South Wales on the 12th of November! We're really excited to take on this challenge and to take in the amazing views around the Brecon Beacons, be sure to check back with us for progress updates and for live Instagram posts on the day!
If you would like to sponsor us you can donate online or give us a shout out on social media :)

About me

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog! I want to start out by explaining a bit about who I am and why I have created this blog about a new project that I am excited to be starting called Eco-Explore Education. This project will be focused on providing scientific and environmental engagement activities to schools in South Wales with a particular focus on working with children on the autistic spectrum.

I'll try and keep it short and sweet!

I'm Sarah :)

The story behind this project starts in 2011 when I began my degree in biology. During university my lectures were a gateway to a brand new world, I learnt about places, people, animals and organisms that I never knew existed. I would travel home everyday bursting with excitement to share the incredible things I had learned with my young son. We were equally fascinated by the natural world and could spend hours in front of nature documentaries. Story time every night would be interspersed with drawing giant siphonophores or running around flapping our arms and screaming to imagine what it must be like to be a bat using echolocation. At five years old my son couldn't tie his shoelaces but could tell you what a tardigrade is.

In 2014 my son was diagnosed with high functioning autism. Overnight my entire world changed. I had no idea what autism was, what it meant or how it would affect our future and I dedicated any time I had  to finding out as much about autism as I could. At a time when I was struggling to understand my son, his needs and  his moods the one thing that we could always share was our love of nature and our passion for adventure. We have been on so many adventures and aim to get outdoors and have new ones as often as possible. Autism can mean that new experiences and new environments can be difficult to cope with and that travelling is always a challenge but with every adventure no matter how big or small we learn more about ourselves and each other.
The most important thing that these experiences have taught me is that children have unlimited potential and that they will always surprise you and surpass every expectation you have.

Often children with autism are left out of nature activities in schools, it may be that the schools don't have the resources to deal with the added safety concern of taking a child with additional needs out on a trip with a classroom of children. Sometimes trips outside in the middle of the school day can present a huge challenge to a child with autism, they have to cope with an unexpected change in their routine, perhaps an unfamiliar sensory environment and very different expectations than what they are used to in the classroom - But this doesn't need to be a barrier. What I want to do is tailor these types of activities to the needs of these children and not the other way around. Engagement with nature is incredibly beneficial for children from an educational standpoint and for their health and well-being. There is no reason why any child should be left out from this amazing journey of discovery just for being who they are.