'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.