I know this story reported on by the eastsider web site, is a bit Los Angeles centric but the fact that a gas station owner has decorated his station so beautifully with mosaic art needs to be shared. Let’s encourage more of this kind of thinking. There are mermaids and other sea life adorning the United Gas Station in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Since we’re about to have a vote about lifting the mural ban at the City Council tomorrow, it’s nice that the beautification of businesses is already in full motion. The owner of this station is known for decorating his stations but I have to say, having driven by this place as it was being adorned, I am certainly looking forward to buying gas there as well as going inside to get the necessary refreshments. Check it out if you’re in the Echo Park area.
Have you read?
Moss and Lichen Unit Study
I guess moss and lichen are more things that you see in the spring than in the summer, but there are some deep shady parts of our yard that stay mossy all year, and summer is a fine time to look for plants that like to live in shady, wet areas.
Raising Up Wild Things has a really pretty set of printables to use for a moss and lichen unit study.
And just in case you’re like me and don’t really know the difference, moss is a plant that grows in damp wooded areas, while lichen is a combination of fungus and algae that live together. Lichen can live in different environments but are often found in places where you would find moss, too.
The printable includes drawings of some common moss such as sphagnum moss and wood moss, as well as common lichen shapes (crusty, leafy and shrubby). There are good sized images you can print out and laminate to use to compare to specimens you find when you are exploring nature.
There’s also a forest floor coloring page and a printable journaling page where kids can write or draw their observations and there are a few questions older kids can answer.
You can use these when you go on a walk in the woods (or the back yard) to talk about what you are seeing, or combine them with other resources to talk about things that live in the forest. Check them out at Raising Up Wild Things.
This PDF from the Morton Arboretum has a bunch of pictures of different kinds of moss and where to find them, which could also be helpful in your studies. Learn more about lichen, including what they are and what they are not, in this article from the US Forest Service.
[Photo: Raising Up Wild Things]