Turns out she was right. It's our first House Gecko we've seen since we've been living in the Sunshine State! Mr. Gecko stayed with us overnight for observation before being released.
For our literature/geography study (from Creek Edge Press) we went over the Mid-Atlantic states with my 9 year old, "took in"the fabulous sights of New York City and began the book, Miracles on Maple Hill.
Coloring pages for Mid-Atlantic States
Miracles on Maple Hill
Who would have thought a piece of great literature would be a jumping off point for a study of Botony? It was a lot of fun to look up these plants that were mentioned in the book: Bloodroot, Hepaticas, Trillium, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Dogtooth Violet, Cowslips, Marsh Marigold to name a few!We also had quite the week for science experiments. From Lesson 6 of our Apologia Flying Creatures science book we tackled (or at least attempted) these 'Eggs Experiments'.
First one - Raw or cooked?
"In this experiment, you will learn how to tell a cooked egg from a raw egg. First, get a hard-boiled egg and a raw egg. See if you can tell which is which just by studying the eggs. Then, spin each egg on a flat surface (like a table). After the eggs have been spinning a bit, stop them by placing your finger on top of them. The hard-boiled egg will stop spinning, while the raw egg will continue to spin. This is because the raw egg contains liquid, which continues to move inside the egg even when you stop."
Spinning a raw and hard boiled egg .... which is which?
Next, Pressure on Eggs. This one tests how easy eggs are to break under pressure. Take 6 eggs and crack the end off of each egg and empty the insides. Wash the shells, dry and cover the holes with masking tape. Stand the eggs up on their taped ends in two rows. Take 4-6 heavy books - but before you stack them one at a time on top of the eggs, make a hypothesis about how many book the eggs will hold before they break.
Cracking the ends off of eggs and draining them.
Attempt #1 with 6 eggs (a little foreshadowing here that it takes more than one attempt ) Sorry about the crazy camera angle at the end!
Well, when you don't succeed at first, try again. Due to technical difficulties, attempt #2 with 5 eggs and attempt #3 with 4 eggs would not process...... neither attempt worked.
So, that was a flop. We surmised that the issue was with the holes we made in the eggs not being even enough for them to stand 'straight up' on the table. We will repeat this one again after we go to the store!
Now for the grand daddy of experiments and one that WORKED! Note: An adult (ahem, me) is lighting the piece of paper. If you try this one, you need to have adult supervision/interaction!!!
Drum roll please ..... introducing 'Egg in a Bottle'! "Do you know that things expand when they are heated and shrink when they cool?" Here's an experiment with an egg that proves this!
Yahoo! Success! This experiment was repeated several times...and will probable be one to remember for years to come. (I say 'exploding egg' on the video...but, the egg didn't really explode, did it?)
My daughter's Heteronym Poster Project from Spelling Mechanics.
Sorry about the glare. First side says, "This is a dove. It is soaring."
Second side says, "The dove dove in the cold water."
Tear and Tear ...... spelled the same but pronounced differently. Can you figure it out?
This week was also a week to visit with friends we haven't seen in a LONG while! We hung out with Becky from There is Hope and her family taking in the Christmas lights and cheer.
Fresh in from the pet adoptions, this is Marshmallow. He's a white dwarf hamster full of spunk. He loves to hang out with us while we do school and all is good until he tries to get into my coffee!
Marshmallow the white Dwarf Hamster
And on a sad note, we said goodbye to Button, the gentle Blue Dumpy Frog, also adopted from the Pet Rescue. He came to live with us about a year ago and certainly brightened our day. This is the first time our kids have had to deal with loosing a pet.SPECIAL OFFER FOR Homeschool Circus SUBSCRIBERS through Jan. 31 Early American library is free with purchase of any curriculum CD. Use code LISAtips for a $19.99 discount when you buy any curriculum CD Library plus Early American library. This post written and property of Homeschool Circus and can be found at: www.upatdawnreadytowork.com.
