Prairie: Week 2 Notes

This week’s reading schedule will take us through to chapter 13. Here are the great notes shared at We Love The Prairie Primer blog for this week.

Monday: Chapter 7…with branches in studying the physical traits of mules vs horses, studying about wolves and their habitat, social structure, character and feeding habits, learning about malaria as a disease,  and selecting an Indian biography to read along with this book.
Tuesday: Chapters 8-9…added lessons like building the door Pa created (using popsicle sticks, string and toothpicks), studying mosquitoes and the role they play in transmitting disease, learning about goldenrod and it’s medicinal uses, safe vs unsafe practices for heating an area and the effects of smoke inhalation, poisonous snakes in your area, how they live and hunt, how they use their venom, etc.
Wednesday: Chapters 10-11…lessons such as making a sunbonnet, learning about the Sun in relation to our planet and seasons, exposure to and the process and treatment of sunburns, studying the sensory organs a snake uses (eyes, pits, and the Jacobson’s organ), practice splitting wood and straightening nails, Learn about various Indian dress, community and lifestyle.
Thursday: Chapters 12-13…learn about old fashioned ways vs modern methods for well digging, get information about putting in a well in your area and figure up the cost in terms of how many days your family would have to work to earn that much money, learn about aquifers, artesian wells, natural springs, and the water table in your area, discuss the naturally occurring gases derived from geological formations in the earth’s crust, practice rope climbing hand-over-hand like Pa did, discuss foolish acts (like Mr Scott and the well digging).
Vocabulary to look at this week: windlass, quicksand and scalawag