Truman's Aunt Farm
When Truman sends away the coupon for an ant farm given as a birthday gift by his Aunt Fran, he gets more than he bargained for when aunts start showing up and he must train them all.
Author page
Other books by Jama Kim Rattigan
Illustrator Page
Other books by G. Brian Karas
Go-Alongs:
Online Units and Resources for Truman's Aunt Farm
GeoSafari Cards
Geosafari and vocabulary Laptop games by Educational Insights to go with Five in a Row lessons and other topics. (Y.M)
Our Five in a Row Adventures vol. 3
Highlights and suggestions from a mother who has used FIAR vol 3 in her homeschooling adventure. (Y)
Insect or Not
Worksheet identifying insects or other animals. (Y)
Ants Anatomy
Worksheet - One page. Identfying parts of an ant (Y)
Supplemental Book List
from the FIAR Message Board Archive (T)
Truman's Aunt Farm - Mr. Fargan's Reading Pages
Grade 3 (Y)
Go-alongs about Insects
Do Crickets Get Thirsty - A controlled experiment using crickets (includes tips on keeping crickets as pets in the classroom) (Y,M)
Explor-a-pond - a pond ecology site (Y M O)
Honey Unit Study - This unit includes recommended reading as well as the history, science, and home economics of honey and bees. (Y, M)
Insect Crafts - "These crafts projects are for preschool, kindergarten and elementary school children. The crafts use materials found around the house, like egg cartons, cardboard, paper, boxes, string, crayons, paint, glue, etc." (Y)
Myrm's Ant Nest - Life cycles, origins, anatomy, ant jelly, how do ants communicate… if you need ant answers, this is the place! (Y, M, O, T)
Go-alongs about Astronomy
A Solar System Coloring Book--Beginner - The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). (Y)
A Trip Through the Solar System - Here's a way to understand the differences between planets without trying to comprehend millions and millions of miles. Suppose you were ten years old and you decided to travel the whole solar system. You jump into a very fine, fast spaceship, and you start your journey, leaving from the sun. (Y)
Amazing Space - Web-based space activities for classroom use. This site is full of excellent lesson plans and activities, but be aware this site does present the Big Bang Theory in an understated way. (Y, M, O, T)
Apollo 11 Story - On July 20, 1969, the human race accomplished its single greatest technological achievement of all time when a human first set foot on another celestial body. Get the Apollo 11 story from launch to splashdown. (Y,M)
Astronomy Picture of the Day - Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. (Y, M, O, T)
Astronomy Picture of the Day - Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
(Y, M, O, T)
Auroras - Find out more about the mysterious phenomenon also called the Northern Lights. Beautiful photography and a teacher's guide with a few ideas for using the site in the classroom.
(Y, M, O, T)
Blast Off Boutique - The Space Shuttle EMU (extravehicular mobility unit) is like a space ship for one person! It is made up of nineteen separate parts. Each part has a special job to do in keeping astronauts safe and healthy while they work outside their spacecraft. Can you match the description with the correct EMU part? Once you have made your decision, type the letter from the picture next to the clue which you think best describes the part. (Y)
Blast off! Explore the solar system online - Look through telescopes to see what's happening in space (Y, M, O, T)
Exploring Planets in the Classroom - This hands on activity guide will use concrete examples to introduce scientific concepts involving space. "More than 25 hands-on science activities are provided in classroom-ready pages for both teachers and students for exploring Earth, the planets, geology and space sciences. (Y, M, O, T)
Google Earth - Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips. (Y, M, O, T)
Interplanetary Virtual Tour - This is an awesome collection of almost 100 pages of photos and information that can be explored systematically through the tour or overviewed through the "Express Tour". The images of the planets and their satellites will entertain the youngest students (Y, M, O, T)
Journey Through the Solar System - Welcome to our ThinkQuest Junior project. Sit back and relax as we show you incredible pictures from around our solar system. We also have interviews from two highly respected sources. Dr. Kevin Baines, astronomer from NASA/JPL, and Dr. Eleanor Helin, astronomer from NASA/JPL. She is a member of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking Team. (Y)
Make a comet tail - Activity for space unit. (Y,M) (Y,M)
Maps of the Solar System - from NASA, select your planetary system of choice and download maps, or browse the surface features of your favorite planet or satellite! (Y, M, O, T)
Nasa News for Kids - Science fun, Games, Art & Stories, Activities and Kids club. (Y, M, O, T)
Nasa Quest - Connection K-12 classrooms with people, research and science through mission based interactions and activities. (Y, M, O, T)
National Science Foundation - NSF - Where discoveries begin. (Y, M, O, T)
OLogy - OLogy means "the study of." And here on the American Museum of Natural History's OLogy Web site, you can study and explore many cool OLogies. What's your favorite OLogy? If you're fascinated by spiders, then you're into ARACHNOLOGY. If you erupt with joy for volcanoes, then VOLCANOLOGY is your thing. If you're completely wowed by planets and stars, then you love ASTRONOMY. (Y M)
Outer Space Crafts - Great hands on crafts for younger students studying space. (Y,M)
Soaring Through Our Solar System - Reading Comprehension worksheets for solar system unit. (Grades 2-4) (Y)
Solar System Simulator - From NASA, select from the options to have the simulator create a color image of your favorite planet or satellite! (Y, M, O, T)
Solar System Wordsearch - Solar System Wordsearch - Printable wordsearch. (Y)
(Note: to print this item without TheHomeSchoolMom frames, right click on the link & choose Open Link in New Window)
(Y, M, O, T)
Space Kids - Space science for kids! (Y M)
Space Science Institute - The Space Science Institute (SSI) is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation formed in 1992. Our purpose is to create and maintain an environment where scientific research and education programs can flourish in an integrated fashion. (Y, M, O, T)
Space Shuttle Launch Simulation - From NASA; this simulation requires students to complete pre-launch steps in order to actually launch the space shuttle. If an error message occurs, the all systems will shut down and the student must restart the launch process. Good practice for real life. (Y, M, O, T)
Space Weather Center - With games, Activities and E-Cards. (Y, M, O, T)
Star Journey - This site from National Geographic contains star charts, start attractions, and views from the Hubble telescope. (Y, M, O, T)
StarChild - Developed by two middle school science teachers for NASA, StarChild is a learning center for young astronomers with information, movies, and songs about astronomy. The site has two levels, one for elementary and one for middle school grades. It has sections for our solar system and the universe as well as a space stuff area where students can find information about astronauts, telescopes, space travel history, and more. (Y M)
Styrofoam Planets - You guessed it: make styrofoam planets. (Y,M)
The Aurora Page - A source for Information, links and images about the "Northern Lights" on-line since the Web began (Y, M, O, T)
The Space Place - Come on in and check out our games, animations, projects, and fun facts about Earth, space and technology. (Y)
Websites for Blast Off Program - here are lots of fascinating, fun ways to explore space through cyberspace! Take a look at some of these stellar web sites! Some are just fun games to play. Some help you learn more about space. (Y)
Zoom Astronomy - a comprehensive on-line site about space and astronomy (Y)