How big is the biggest spider in the world?

Brayden has been wondering if there is a spider that is bigger than people. So he decided to research how large the biggest spider in the world is. Here is what he learned.

The biggest spider in the world is called a Giant Huntsman spider. Guess how big it is?

It has a leg span of approximately 12 inches. That's pretty big, but definitely not bigger than people. Phew!

Image credit: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/huntsman_aegean_islands.jpg

All About Sea Turtles

Today, Brayden got to go on a special trip to the aquarium! He was sooooo excited to go. He remembered going to the aquarium this summer with his Grandma and Grandpa Blumel, and he couldn't wait to see the fish again.

The aquarium workers were talking about sea turtles today. Brayden learned lots of things! Here are a few fun sea turtle facts he knows now:

• They have eggs (a mother sea turtle lays over 100 eggs in her lifetime!)
• A turtle shell feels hard and smooth.
• Sea turtles grow to weigh around 300 pounds!
• Sea turtles can hold their breath under water for up to 7 hours. Daddy said he could do that but Brayden didn't believe him.

Brayden also wants you to know he saw: starfish, jellyfish, alligators, sting rays, lion fish, clown fish, blue fish, dark fish, and cool red ones wrapped all in a circle.

And here is Brayden's artwork from the aquarium! It was a very fun day.

How does water come out of the sink?

Brayden was curious about water today. He wanted to know where the water in the sink comes from.

Here is what he learned:

• Under the sink, we have 2 pipes: 1 for clean water, and 1 for the "not clean" water.
• The clean water comes from rivers, lakes, and streams and some places get their water from a well. {Brayden mentioned that some wells are far far away with a lot of rocks around them and grass on the ground, and you can throw a penny in and make a wish.}
• The clean water comes up into our house through pipes that have a lot of pressure. When we turn the faucet, the pressure goes away and it makes the water come out!
• We have a special thing called a water heater that warms some of the water up so that we can take warm baths and showers.

And this is Brayden exploring under our sink and finding our 2 sets of pipes!

Source: http://www.whyzz.com/how-does-water-come-out-of-the-faucet

How do ants build ant hills?

Brayden has been wondering about ants. Today, he wanted to know how they build their ant hills.

Here is what he learned:

• The ants that do the digging are all females. (Mom's question for tomorrow = what the heck to the boy ants do while the girl ants are so busy??)
• The way the hill is formed is the ants grab little bits of dirt and carry them outside the opening of their tunnel. They dig and dig and never give up, and slowly the dirt pile gets higher and higher!
• It takes 3 MONTHS to build one ant hill. That's a long time!

 Here is the picture he chose for this post:

 Sources:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_long_does_it_take_for_an_ant_to_build_a_ant_hill#

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4614712_ant-anthill.html

Image:  http://6legs2many.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/twig-ant-pseudomyrmex-group-workers-carry-food.jpg