Week 38

It's been a busy week!

Exploring Tech- Crunch Lab kits

Duck Shoot

Paper airplane launcher

Math- J has been learning percentages and A has been doing fractions. He says fractions have been his favorite thing to learn all year. He wanted to make another fraction pizza to celebrate.

LA- We finished The First Four Years from the Little House Series. They also finished spelling for the year.

They finished their informative essays as well.  Here is A's:

Domestic Animals

Did you know goats and dogs were the first domesticated animals? Domestic animals are important. They give you food, material, and other things, like protection.

Food

Chickens and ducks lay eggs. Cows and goats give milk. Animals also become meat.

Material

Sheep give wool. Cows become leather. Feathers were used for pillows and beds.

Other Uses

Dogs bark to warn of danger, cats keep pests away, horses hold heavy stuff.

In conclusion, domestic animals are useful because they help us so much.

PE- Does having a dance party while shaking bags of homemade ice-cream count? 😉

We practiced catching, jumping, and balance.

We also climbed climb on rock, big rocks. :)

Cook out with Grandma and Grandpa

And it's warm enough now to bring out the bikes!

Science- The plant update! And the scientific method.

Question- What happens to plants when you plant a seed in dirt with food coloring?

Research (or what we already know)- Cut flowers placed in water change colors.

Hypothesis- Some parts, like the flower or veins, would change color.

Experiment- Plant, water, wait... then analyze the results.

The "white" beans are coming up, and they're dyed colors.

Here come more of them.

The plants look the right color.

Carrots are doing well, too.

Getting bigger

Oh no, the cat ate a few. 

This bean started to get color in the leaves, but we think that was because it was dying.

Time to check the roots!

There's all the color!

Rainbow carrots, red, green, and purple

Does the root act like a filter to help the plant keep the right color?

We found this info in a news article:

Roots act like a natural filter for plants and help them get the nutrients they need. When colored water is added to plants with their roots still intact, the roots absorb the color, but the plant will not. This is most likely caused by the fact that the roots are able to discern the difference between nutrients and other chemicals in the ground. According to gardening writer Walter Reeves, plants only absorb the chemicals they need -- nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and a few micronutrients. Even though food dye is not harmful to the plant or root, the root does not recognize it as a necessary nutrient. -SFGATE

Conclusion- You can dye roots, but not fully intact plants.

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The kids also realized they conduct experiments with everyday life. For example, A went through the scientific method- without realizing it- when he figured out how long it took to cook a hotdog in the microwave.

Question-How long?

What he knows- It won't take long

Hypothesis/Experiment- 10 seconds

Analysis- still cold

Conclusion- needs more time, loop back to hypothesis and experiment again.

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But wait, there's more!  Hubble celebrated it's 33rd birthday. Another birthday image was released.  Check out this awesome video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qatNSVppqAw&ab_channel=NASAGoddard

Craft Club- The kids made paper airplanes. More science!

Lastly, a very important Social Studies: J's Report on Texas!

After learning a little about each state, J picked Texas to research a little more. J's  favorite aunt lived in Houston, Texas for 18 months, while serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She arrived just two weeks before Hurricane Harvey hit! J's aunt gave her a book about Texas where she gathered most of the information from her report.

State Flag

State Physical Map

J's Informative Essay-

Texas

Did you know Texas is the second largest state? It’s true! Because of its large size, the climate is different in the east and the west. The west is dry and hot and the east is very lush and green. Its square miles are 268,596. The population is 29.53 million. Its nickname is the Lone Star State.

History

Texas has a long history. It starts with Native Americans living in Texas. In the 1500s Spanish explorers came to what is now Texas and Mexico. Back then, Texas was a part of Mexico. They wanted to take new lands for Spain. The Spanish called Mexico and other settlements New Spain. The Spanish tried to make Native Americans more like them, but failed. After many years, Mexico started fighting for freedom and beat Spain. By this point, the Native Americans of Texas were suffering because the Spanish and Mexicans both brought disease. Soon the Native Americans were push out of Texas.

The Mexicans started letting Americans in, but soon Americans that weren’t allowed came. Now there were more Americans than Mexicans. Americans didn’t like Mexico’s laws. Soon Texans did not want to be a part of Mexico any more. They want to be a separate country.

The revolution began in Gonzales when Mexican soldiers came to take a cannon there. The revolutionist refused to give it to them and taunted them with a flag that had a picture of a cannon and the words "come and take it."

A famous battle known as The Alamo was part of the Texas revolution. Texans had taken over the Alamo and Mexico wanted it back. On March 6^th 1836 the Mexican army arrived and started charging the wall. When they got in, there was a fight and Mexico won. Some famous people died at the Alamo, like Davy Crockett, which made Texans more determined to win freedom. A month later, a Texan army surprised the Mexican army. While the battle was going on, the Texan’s battle cry was “Remember the Alamo!” After an 18-minute battle, Texas was free from Mexico.  Now, it was the Republic of Texas.

Later, it became the 28^th state of the United State. It seceded and joined the confederate states during the Civil War and rejoined America again after the Civil War.

Texas Today

There are a lot of placed you can visit in Texas. Here are some famous ones:

The Alamo is located in San Antonio. There is a tour, musket firing, and a living history.

Austin is the state capital. There is museum and a park.

There is a battle monument, where Texas became a republic, in San Jacinto.

NASA space center is in Houston. There are space suits, tours, and a space ship!

In Galveston there’s the ocean! And the Historic Pleasure Pier. (Beware of hurricanes.)

Today Texas has many cites. People there speak many different languages. Kids learn about the state’s rich history starting in kindergarten.

I hope you learned something about the state of Texas.

All About K and A2

We've been busy having fun playing games, molding clay, painting, stamps, jumping on the trampoline and going to the library.

paper airplane craft at library