Science: Day 6

Yesterday we finished reading our book, One Beetle Too Many, about Charles Darwin's life. The kids really enjoyed it and now want to read Origin of the Species. So I guess we will.

We also decided to join the Homeschool Science Club at the HMS Beagle Science Store in Parkville. Grandma and Papa love that store, and my kids love anything science-related. It's only $20 for the year, so it seems pretty worth it. We go on January 21st for a program about electricity. Should be fun.

We also bought a paleontology kit from Hobby Lobby yesterday so that we can excavate a mini-triceratops from a plaster block. The kids started it this morning. Photos to come when it completely emerges.

Our Weekend & Science Days: 4 & 5

Playing "Ninja Warrior" obstacle course with the bunny. Thankfully, she really liked it.

Winnie working on her new floor puzzle that Grandma and Grandpa gave her.

Science: Day 4 -- Baking Soda & Vinegar Volcano

Everybody LOVED this Science Day.

Helping mom and dad work on the basement remodel. Say good bye to disgusting 70s paneling. Say, hello, to someday having a finished basement with two more bedrooms and an art/school room.

Daddy's new table saw. Thank you, Grandma and Papa!

Science: Day 5
(and 6 and 7 -- she really likes it a lot!)

Fun with Fire

Zhara is big into Science Experiments involving candles. This makes daddy very nervous, but we have put some limitations on burning things. Thus far, she has caught nothing on fire, has learned a lot about fire and oxygen, and has hurt no one. Cross your fingers that this continues.

Science: Day 3

Bunnies and Invisible Ink

...and adorable kids in goggles for no good reason!

Today's science experiment came from another book that Grandma and Papa gave us for Christmas.

This one, in fact:

We made invisible ink, out of water and lemon juice.


Then we wrote and drew on plain white paper with toothpicks and Q-tips dipped in the mixture.


This is what it looked like before:

We were supposed to learn that there is carbon in lemon juice and that it activates and turns brown when exposed to heat. We exposed the paper to heat after it dried. We used a candle. We were careful to keep it the right distance from the flame. We exposed the correct side. Sadly, it looked about the same as this when we finished, except for some charred parts. Perhaps our lemon juice wasn't fresh enough. Who knows. Regardless, we gave it a try.

The other cool science thing for today... we got a bunny. A science "class pet." Her name is Patches. She came to us free, off of freecycle, from a girl who was headed to college and needed to find a good home for her bunny. The kids are in love. Cleaning and caring for Patches is their responsibility. Hopefully they will be able to do it. We'll see. She is very friendly. Just what we needed, right, one more pet! :)

Back to the Library

Yep, it's Reading Hour time again for Winnie. She was, as always, in hog heaven, with Ms. Debbie-ness. We read books about snow and sang songs. That's Winnie, in red, as close as humanly possible to Ms. Debbie.

Typing

Adam suggested to Zhara the other day that it might be even more fun for her on the computer if she was better at typing. She agreed, so yesterday I looked up and found a cool typing program put out by the BBC. It's here. She's been working at it some today and has already gotten up to Level 2. Zhara is not the Queen of Motivation, so I am proud of her for even making it that far. Hopefully she will continue to like it, and keep working at it. There is music involved, so that does bode well, at least more so than some programs.

Science: Day 2

Of Dinosaurs and Chemistry

We actually did two sciencey things today. First, we went to Homeschool Preschool Power Pals and did all kinds of dinosaur things. Angus could teach a class on dinos, so I wouldn't say he "learned" a lot, but he had fun basking in the fun of all things dinosaurs, and his sisters also enjoyed doing lots of crafts.

According to Angus, this is what he will look like when he is a "real paleontologist."

Then after lunch, we did our science experiment for the day. Today we decided to christen the new chemistry kit that Grandma and Papa gave us for Christmas. We did two experiments, both involving sodium carbonate. The first time we mixed it with vinegar, and it hissed, foamed, then bubbled. The second time we mixed sodium carbonate first with citric acid. Nothing happened. Then we mixed that combination with water and we got a similar reaction as the first experiment.

We learned that some reactions require the addition of a liquid to start it. We also learned that sometimes a reaction can be something turning from a solid to a gas when a liquid is added.

Hey Ya

Okay, mama is kind of sick of the bitter cold and feet and feet of snow. Honestly, I am starting to feel like Papa trapped in the snow bank of Little House in the Prairie fame. We're chapped and crunchy despite tubs of my lotion. It's just plain blizzardy.