'17/18 Week 6

The magic of books. After every visit to the library, the backseat is so peaceful and quiet.

      I am amazed how resilient children are. After the hustle and bustle of this week, they rebounded and had so much energy to play outside while I was trying to resuscitate my weary brain with coffee.   

      It was an amazingly busy week. As I looked over the photos that I took and remembered all the other things we did that did not get photographed, I am amazed how much we accomplished in one week. 

      Andrew found himself in the kitchen more than usual. One of his science assignments was to  bake a cake as an example of how different substances react when heat is applied. Who wouldn't like this kind of science? Both kids and their friend who sampled the brownies loved this experiment. Andrew was also enjoying his other science experiment a few days later. This time he had to test different solutions and solids for acidity or alkalinity. We chose only eight different things to test, but he was having too much fun to stop, so we kept going until we ran out of ideas what to test next. Some of the results surprised us both, like sugar being neither base nor acid. 

      Saara's big moment this week was her first volleyball game. The team lost, but Saara got an honorable token for the best defense player on her team. Go girl! Go Bears!

The best players sit on the bench.

Science. Cake baking is a matter of serious science.

How about some science fiction in a science class? The brownie recipe came from a Star Wars cookbook.

Science. Saara was learning about static electricity and, obviously, sticking balloons on the walls as an example.

Chasing away brother's balloon with a same electrical charge.

One way to get the static going.

A brief respite and a rare afternoon at home had to be spent tending the garden.

There's God's promise. A good encouragement for the rest of the hectic week.

We figured out how thunder and lightning happen.

Instead of a lesson, Saara was required to build a puzzle in her science class. 

Inside view. Some of the holes were connected and some were not. The task was to discover which holes made a circuit.

Taekwondo. The children are half-way through learning their first form.

Volleyball. Last practice before the game.

8:00 am. Saturday morning. 

Science. All ready for testing some household items for acidity or alkalinity. 

Two different indicators produced two different acidic reactions. 

The same two different indicators caused bases to turn different colors.

The blue cabbage water turned bases blue and acids pink. The yellow turmeric-alcohol solution turned bases red and acids yellow.

Window cleaners are alkaline.

Sugar and salt are neutral.

'17/18 Week 5

 

      I believe, the hightlight of this week's school time was Andrew's 'crystal growing' experiment. He has been learning about ionic bonds in chemistry, and that they can be broken apart. We mixed baking soda with water making the baking soda dissolve or break apart in the water. As the solution was a mixture rather than a compound, we wanted to restore the baking soda and separate it from water. For that, we hung a string between jars of soda solutions and just waited for the soda-rich water to soak the string and evaporate leaving behind the soda crystals. It was fascinating to watch the crystals appear and grow from day to day. 
      Saara had her hands-on project in science as well this week. We finished reading Diary of an Early American Boy by Eric Sloane. The story line in the book revolved around seasons. I asked Saara to choose her favorite season and make a picture collage. Although Christmas is not part of the traditional four seasons, she chose to make her board about Christmas season. The collage turned out really beautiful and made us all long for the holidays.
   

Science. All ready for some home-grown crystals.

After a few days.

Science. Laying out pictures for her Christmas collage.

LA. Never too old to have a simple spelling activity.

Taekwondo. Working toward that white belt.

Science. A TOPS activity had us searching for items around the house for testing conductivity.

Volleyball. She is loving the game and making new friends in the process.

Math and a snack always go together.

Weekend warriors. Andrew and Saara used all sorts of scrap materials to build a 'scout tower' and a ladder to it. 

Gettisburg. The Battle Fields.

We drove through almost all the battle fields in Gettisburg. Many corn fields and meadows spread before us, and it was not hard to imagine that a similar scene lay before the eyes of the soldiers in 1863. Only our fields were not dotted with so many fallen. Walking or driving around where the actual battles took place, we all were in awe of the hollowed ground beneath us. It was an eye-opening experience.