Science Time

I have this science book and L.O.V.E. it!!!

James is really into chemistry right now. And this book does a really good job in breaking down the Periodic Table. There are fun poems that help the boys remember what things do.

There are experiments for each element group and most of them I have everything I need {ie: no extra trips to the store}

All of the science experiments are done on a basic level, but there are suggestion if you want to amp it up for a science fair project.

There is a lot of humor in the book and so on days that we don't do experiments the boys still like it when I read it to them.

You can find this book at Amazon for about $11.00.

If you are wanting something for basic Chemistry this is it. It's a great intro to a subject that can seem boring on the top but is really quite exciting when you throw in some experiments that make the elements make sense.

{all opinions are my own. I actually bought this book and use it and love it. I have not received any compensation for my review of this book}

Pennies and Science

I love Homeschool Creations!! I'm sure many have been over there and learned a lot from Jolanthe. Honestly I'm more of a stalker at her blog than anything else.... but I can't pass up reading about the fun things that she does, and all her ideas that she freely posts and the worksheets that you are able to download. Anyway.... she has posted some fun easy science projects and here is one that we did.

We gathered up all the dirty pennies that we around the house... and surprise, surprise Tommy knew where most of them where.... probably because he hid them there :)

And then we gathered all the things we would need.

Vinegar

Salt

Water

Dirty Pennies

Cups or Bowls

Paper Towels

Tablespoons

Spoons

We made some predictions. We did things a little different than Homeschool Creations. We made predictions about what would make the pennies the cleanest. Would it be just plain water? Or maybe just salt. How about salt and water... or water and vinegar. We made predictions about each combination.

Then we tried them all and laid them out to dry. We found that a combinations on salt and vinegar resulted in the cleanest pennies.

Here is the reason....Pennies become dull looking because the oxygen atoms in the air combine with the copper atoms on the pennies. When we mixed the salt with the vinegar, a chemical reaction took place. Together the two different items formed a new chemical called hydrochloric acid. When hydrochloric acid meets oxygen atoms on the surface of the pennies, it makes them shiny and looking new.

After that we counted all the pennies and made sure the boys had the same amount and they got to put them in their piggy bank.

He was listening.

Tommy was listening as we talked about our bodies! Sometimes you don't realize it until later. I cut out these little guys as we talked about our family. Tommy took it in a little different direction.

The first guy is showing the skin.

The second guy... the nervous system

The third guy.... the muscles

The fourth guy... the bones

And the last guy... the digestive system

I know you can't really see it well, but he did a really good job with it and when you look at it you can see all the parts that he put.

I like seeing these little things. It makes me happy to know that they are listening... even sometimes when I don't think they are.

We are animals

We learned about cells... animal and plant cells and we looked at them and how they are the same. I am using R.E.A.L. Science, and I really like the curriculum. They have some great ideas about how to teach the lessons and some really great hands on activities.

Ass you can see there are two different kinds of cells. Animal cells are round, and plant cells are rectangle and have chloroplast.

We used orange jello to be our cell, and then green grapes for chloroplast, and a strawberry for the nucleus. The boys had a great time and it was easy to see the difference in the types of cells.

And the great thing is that it was really good to eat after. Science can be really yummy!!!

A couple days after doing this the boys were being really crazy and wild. I asked them why they were acting like animals. I guess they really got what the lesson was about, here is our conversations....

Me: Boys.... why are you acting like animals??!!!

Tommy: But mom... we are animals!

James: Yeah, our cells are round

Tommy: And we don't have chloroplast like plants do.

What do you say to that??? Nothing really... so I gave them apples and sent my little animals outside to play.

Quiet Learning

There is something to be said about just letting kids observe what they see. {in case you can't see it Tommy is looking at caterpillar on the table} I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I love how intense he is watching the caterpillar, and his expression says so much.

Science with Pumpkins

Since we had the pumpkins anyway I thought it would be a good idea to do some science projects with them. this was a lot of fun. I filled up a plastic tote outside. {yes it was warm enouh to use water outside.... and better a mess in the backyard than a lake in the bathroom}

And then we made our predictions.... James thought it would sink, Tommy though it would float and Tim... well he was just excited for the water.

The results....

they float!

James tried to make it sink, but to no avale.

Then we cut them open and cut them open to scoop them out {the longest job during carving, I though we would get it taken care of early} Once again we made predictions about what would be inside. James thought goop, Tommy said it would be empty, and Tim wanted to eat it.

The results....

It was full and there was goop, and seeds!

We talked about how pumpkins are a kind of squash, and how they are the same as other squashes,and how they are different. {we just looked at pictures, but next year I'll buy some other squashes and open them up so we can look and touch them}

October 5-9

First off I want to say congratulations and good luck to the husband for starting Grad school. In three years he is going to be a Chiropractor. I'm so proud of you Sweetie!

Ok, this week....we carried a lot of things over from last week, spelling and vocabulary.

James worked on lessons 5 and 6 in math. James is moving really quickly through the book, and right now doing two chapters a week. At first we were working out of random workbooks, and James did okay. Once we switched to Math-U-See James has really taken off. I have been very pleased with this program.

Tommy works on worksheets now and then but he is so much more hands on, and we are working on sequencing. So I wrote the numbers from 0-10 on note cards and then let Tommy put them in order. He really like this.

You can't really see it, but James is practicing his spelling. I let him write on the sliding glass door with eh dry erase markers. Tommy is drawing pictures to the words that I put on for him. {Tim.... lost privileges because he was using the markers on himself.... he'll get to try again next time.}

We continued with Christopher Columbus.... And "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue" Even Tim says it now. It's really cute to hear him say it. We made ships and talked about them sailing west.

We also learned that the men on board weren't able to bring a lot of personal things so I got a tote the size of a shoe box and had them get 10 "important" things to see if they would fit.

Tommy decided that his talking race cars were very important. They were all small so he could take them all. {there was a cup and utensils that I also put in there so they could eat on the boat}

James had to narrow his down quite a bit to make it fit. In the end, he brought one car and two stuffed animals.

We learned a little about sinking and floating, and talking race cars sink, raisin boxes... they float.

I also had them draw a picture of what they saw. We also graphed how many things sunk and how many floated. Up next for this.... WHY.... helping them understand why things sink and float.

At the Library I found a puzzle of Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. We put the puzzle together, and then drew some pictures using crayons, markers, and oil pastels. After I found a slide show on the internet of some of some of Vincent's art. The boys really liked all the colors.

Last up.....

A field trip to St. Augustine. We went during a homeschool day, and got to see some really cool things. This is a picture of a 500 year old rudder to a ship. We saw the equipment that the divers use to bring this stuff up, and James got to climb the light house. {Tommy and Tim were to short... maybe next year}

It was a really good... very productive week!!! {I like that feeling}

Spelling {from last week}

Vocabulary {from last week}

Next week..... I'll update you soon