Blooming Broccoli

I am interested in broccoli today because yesterday we were eating broccoli when me, Micah and Joey asked, "Are broccolis really trees?"

Mom said, "No, they're flowers."

Then we were all like "Cuckoo!"

Today I did some research (mostly here) and learned that broccolis really are flowers, not trees. And they actually turn out to be pretty. They are green with yellow petals.I learned that even after the broccoli flowers, it still tastes good. And if you cut the main head off of it when it's a flower and eat it, it grows a new one only not as big. It tastes just as good. (Or bad, if your opinion about broccoli is bad.)

Basil leaves keep away cabbage worms, because cabbage worms don't only eat cabbage. They eat broccoli and I think spinach. One of the reaons they eat broccoli is because I learned that broccoli is actually a type of cabbage. (I learned that just now from Mom.)

My opinion about broccoli is bad. (Unless it has Ranch on it!)

Groovy Grasshoppers

I was catching grasshoppers today and yesterday, and I wanted to see what kind they were.But they weren't in my bug book so these are some other facts I learned.

• Grasshoppers like baby elm trees



• Grasshoppers are good at hide and seek



• Grasshoppers don't pee on you, they spit on you
  

Exo-Explosion!!!

I learned that exoskeletons are kinda like shells on turtles and tortoises. A bunch of bugs have exoskeletons, even dragonflies! They have exoskeletons because, if they're strong enough, they can protect them from explosions!

If someone is inside a robot, they are inside an exoskeleton, which protects them. Suits of armor on knights and soldiers and all sorts of army people have exoskeletons on.

What I Learned at the Zoo Today

I went to the zoo today. And I went to the reptile house. There were two zookeepers. One was telling people about the crocodile and one was telling people about the python. The crocodile and and the python were both the same size - 15 1/2 feet long. The python was from Asia and the crocodile was from Australia. The crocodile's name is Salty and I decided the snake's name should be Slimey. Salty weighs 1500 pounds and is about 55 years old and Slimey weighs 125 pounds and about 25 years old.I also learned that tarantulas shed their skin just lizards and frogs do. The zookeeper called that dead skin a "molt" and I got to touch it. It felt really soft like a cat.I got a compass from Vacation Bible School last night and brought it with me to the zoo today. I learned that the way to work a compass is to turn the compass and wait until the red arrow is lined up with the "N." "N" is north, "W" is west, "E" is east, and "S" is south. Whichever one is at the top is the way you're going.

Coreidae

BooBoo sent me an email yesterday that said that squash bugs are invading her squash plants. But she didn't know what the real name for a squash bug was.

So today I learned that the scientific name for squash bug is coreidae. They look kind of like aphids but not green, and much bigger. They invade squash plants, and they are brown.I also learned that wikipedia is kind of like google. But you shouldn't mess around with it without a parent if you're a kid. You can learn about lots of cool stuff there though - like coreidae!

Flour Mites

Flour mites live in flour. And you don't want to eat them because, well, they're bugs! You know when flour mites are in your flour because your flour is bumpy and you might even see a little figure crawling through your flour.


I checked our flour out today with a magnifying glass (that I got at the Fort Worth Chilren's Museum yesterday!) because you can only see them with a magnifying glass. Flour mites are brownish-yellow. I did not see any in our flour. But Micah did.
This is what my book says they look like:
You should check your flour, too!