new unit study - Hawaii!!

Now that we're back from spring break we're making the leap from studying Alaska to studying Hawaii! We're headed there in about three weeks so I thought this would be a fun way to prepare for our trip.

Here's the book we read today to get an overview of the state (and for me to see which subjects caught their eye for further study)...
A is for Aloha
Thankfully, what caught their eye was exactly what I thought would... marine life and volcanoes. I had planned on those subjects for our science for the next few weeks.

After reading the book, we made a map. This time (unlike our map of Alaska), I turned the creation of the map over to the kids. We weren't marking out an exact trail like we were for the Iditarod course so if it wasn't perfect, it would be okay.

So here, the discussions begin...
after everything was drawn and labeled... they moved on to coloring...
The finished map...
I thought it turned our really nice! They worked so seriously on it for most of the afternoon.

The map they copied from came from the Hawaii State Quarter Lesson Plan for Grades K-1 on the U.S. Mint Kids site. We're not actually going to be using that lesson plan since it is more about transportation instead of the State of Hawaii. We'll be using the Grades 2-3 lesson plan instead.

Then this afternoon I went to the library and went a little crazy. I really should NOT bring Clara's big tote bag when I go the library because I tend to fill it. And although it seems reasonable enough to carry out of the library... a couple blocks later on our trek home, the weight really begins to become quite noticeable! LOL! I can't wait to go through the books tomorrow... we have books on sea turtles (something the kids picked up from the book we read today), coral reefs, sharks, dolphins, whales and volcanoes! Fun stuff!