What if . . . relative velocity on a busy morning

It was one of those hard fought, "we can barely make it out the door on time" mornings.  As we headed up the road (at constant velocity) my five-year-old said, "Mommy, what if the road were moving and we were holding still?"

 

Read more at Thriving STEM.

Cartoon Book and Paper and Magazine Recycle!Create!

T-Rex loves to read cartoons. Every Sunday, he eagerly retrieves the Sunday paper, eager to read the new comics.   Sometimes, he can even read them all by himself.  While I have nothing against cartoons as a medium, some of the humor is not appropriate for my five-year-old.

I decided to use the comics from the Sunday paper to make him a custom comic book.   All I needed was the Sunday paper and a cheap composition book.

I cut the cartoons apart and glued them into the book.

T-Rex enjoys being able to read the cartoons over and over.  I feel better about the content he is reading, and as a bonus, the book is much easier to keep in order than all those big floppy papers.

This month's challenge from Recycle!Create!  is to make something for or with your children using paper, newspaper, or magazines.  Learn more about the Recycle!Create! project .

Check out the projects from the other co-hosts.

And, if you have a project of your own, be sure to link it up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Bottle Rocket Experiments

This activity addresses Next Generation Science Standard

5-PS1-4.	Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.

When I first started with the Recycle! Create! group, I thought that I was challenging myself to develop activities for my children.  However, it has become very obvious that my older children, T-Rex in particular, are beyond that.  They still need guidance and supervision , but they can do their own projects.

So, if you will indulge some Mommy bragging, I would like to show you their bottle project.

T-Rex wanted to use vinegar and baking soda to launch a bottle.  Pony artist wanted to try it too, so they each carefully measured baking soda and vinegar and recorded the amounts in their journals.

I prompted them to mix their ingredients at the last minute and we set up our rockets out doors.

We were not thrilled with the results, so we went in and journaled.  It was time for me to take care of Little Diddle, so they did not get to try again that day. 

 Our basic problem was too much baking soda.  I pointed this out, so the next time they had time to work, T-Rex adjusted the amount.  It was perfect!  It reacted quickly and explosively!  All over me, so no pictures.

The next step will be to figure out a mechanism that allows us to get things set up before the explosion.  We have done some work on it, but no success yet.  I will let you know if we figure it out. If you have an idea, we would be interested to hear it.

Click here to find projects more great ways to use your old bottles!

Do you have your own ways to use bottles?  Join the Link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Passing Down a Way of Life with a Simple Garden Journal--and a The Ultimate Nature Study Linkup!

This activity can be used to address the following Next Generation Science Standards 

K-ESS2-1.	Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time

K-ESS2-2.	Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.

We had one next door neighbor when I was a girl.  Miss Evie was already somewhere in her seventies when we moved into our new home in the late nineteen eighties.  I was exactly seven.  She lived in the same home where she had grown up, where she had lived as a young married woman, and cared for her husband and parents as each had left this world.  

I used to get her mail on warm summer afternoons in hopes of being invited into the immaculate 1950's era kitchen she cooled by a cunning system of opening windows in the morning then shutting both windows and curtains as the day wore on.  I would sit bare foot on the red company chair by the door, and we would discuss the health of our cats and the progress of our gardens.  She would tell me stories handed down from her relatives who had lived through the Civil War or of her own experience living through the Great Depression.  Our whole family loved her dearly, and I think that in some ways we filled a spot her own children and grandchildren would have held, if she had had any.  That might be one reason she gave it to my dad.  She might have given it to him because of his love for growing things.

It was an old fashioned notebook filled with careful notes in a squarish antique hand.  Miss Evie's father had kept careful notes about his little farm for years.  He recorded where, when, and what grew , and how he tended it.  For my dad, who was now tending plants in the same location, it was treasury of helpful information.

This spring was our in our new home.  I wanted my children to keep journals based on our yard and garden, but was struggling to get them started.  Then I realized, they were not the ones who needed to keep a journal.  I was.   I grabbed a notebook and started filling it with notes .  I measured some plants, counted blossoms, and wrote down some temperatures and rainfalls.  Soon my kids were eager to join me, and they ask if we can do our. "Garden journal".

Our little journal is not all that amazing, or even organized.  It is a start though.  I hope my kids are learning the importance of paying attention to the natural world around them.   Not just as a fun summer project, but as a way of life. The systematic careful attention to how and why things grow that Miss Evie's dad practiced is a tradition I want to pass on to them.

Today, I am joining some other bloggers in hosting a Nature Observation blog hop.
Take a moment to look at the great ideas from my co-hosts!  As you look through the posts, I hope you can find a few methods that allow you to bring the richness of natural observation into your experience, and that of your children. 

July 2 update.  Now that I've had a chance to look at everyone's post, I'm even a bit more excited.  Check these out!

Suzy Homeschooler This is a must read, especially for those of you who are facing extreme weather like we experienced in the Middle East and in Arizona.

Homeschool Antics A great tutorial on how to turn backyard observation into a full fledged  nature study.

Houseful of Chaos  A lovely reflective approach, with a couple of interesting twists.

Study-at-Home Mama If studying nature is a little overwhelming to you, this post has the practical ideas you need.

Inspiring NH Kids Is showing us a great demonstration of a weather phenomenon we often, face.  I will be coming back to this!

My Blessings Homeschool Ideas for creek exploration.  My kids are going to enjoy this one!

Kid World Citizen A great list of fun hands on ideas.

There's also a multi- topic link-up.   I am looking forward to reading ideas you have for observing nature!

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

At Home Pre-School Boot Camp: Week 1 Summary

Welcome to week one of At Home Pre-school Boot Camp! This series is going to be a lot of fun, and cover some things that are really precious to me as a mom and as a teacher.  Let's jump right in!

Activities with your pre-schooler to do just once this week

 Take a trip to the library!  Click here to learn how to make the most of your initial trip to the library.

Get started with writing and fine motor.  Click here to find out how.

Daily challenge

Sit down and play with your child for 15 minutes on at least three different days.  Try to really get on his level.  Can you make this part of your schedule?

Enrich your home environment

Does your child have puzzles readily available?  If not, choose one puzzle that she would enjoy, and put it on a shelf where it is easily reached.  Maybe do it together during your daily play time.   Click here to read about a trick I learned for puzzle storage.

Looking ahead

Put together your paint box.  The cheapest way to get these supplies is to buy locally, but I will give you links in case that is helpful.  (These are Amazon affiliate links.) Don't worry, not all of the lists will be this long!

Adult T-shrits (Fruit of the Loom Men's 4 Pack Pocket T-Shirt, Assortment)

Clothes pins (Honey-Can-Do DRY-01375 Wood Clothespins with Spring, 50-Pack, 4.75x5)

Package of brushes and plastic tray (Darice 11-Piece Painting Set with Brush Assortment and Palette)

Newspaper or similarly sized large paper (ALEX® Toys Artist Studio Paper Roll White Drawing Paper)

Package of white paper, such as computer printer paper or craft paper (GP Spectrum Multi-Use Paper, 8.5 x 11 Inches, 3-Ream Pack )

Bottles of washable (tempera) paint.(Prang Ready-to-Use Tempera Paint, 16-Oz., 12-Pack of Assorted Color)  I recommend red, blue, yellow, white and black to start

If paint is hard to find, or you want a special project, You can click here to read how to make your own--a great list of recipes from Kids Activity Blog.
A box that can hold all of the above. (Just save your Amazon Box!)

Friend to Follow

I have never actually met Mary Anne from Mama Smiles, but after following her blog, I feel like she must be friend material.  I have found several great activities on her blog, but the thing I most admire is the way she delights in doing life with her kids.  The positive attitude is contagiously lovely.  Click here to check out her blog and catch a smile for your kids.

That's it for this week!  Be sure to check in next Monday for week 2, and if you know another parent of a parent of a pre-schooler who might find this series useful, please share it with them!  If you missed the introduction, click here to read what this At Home Pre-School Boot Camp Series is all about.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  Click here for more information.   Thanks for your support!  The post, At Home Pre-School Boot Camp: Week 1 Summary, by Christy McGuire originally appeared on WisdomKnowledgeJoy@blogspot.com.

                

Submarines and Pitch Training with Bubble Wrap

The activity in this post was used with pre-schoolers, but could be used to address this Next Generation Science Standards Objective.

1-PS4-1.	Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.

This month's challenge from Project Recycle and Create was a tough one for me.  I finally just gave up and put the box of bubble wrap Daddy had collected at work in the middle of the room.   For a couple of days it looked like our bubble wrap project would consist of pinching it with our fingers.  Not creative, but we can always use a little more fine motor practice, right?

Then T- Rex started using a craft stick as a tool and suggested that we could make a submarine, since it would not float as well after the bubbles popped. Clever, yes?

Then the Pony Artist said, "Hey Mommy, listen to this!"  And started happily snapping some bubbles.  As I listened, I realized that the bubbles had a different pitch than the ones T-Rex was popping.  

I invited her to come over to the piano, and we worked on popping bubbles of different sizes and matching them to pitch of the piano keys.  Bigger bubbles make lower sounds. Smaller bubbles make higher sounds. 

 Pony Artist figured it out, but she and T-Rex most enjoyed the rhythm aspect of this activity and treated Baby Sister and I to a concert.

Following my children's lead can take me some pretty fun places!

Click here to go to the landing page for this project and see the host projects.

Have your own Buble Wrap idea or experience? Link up! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Multiplication and Exponent Craft for Tweens

So far, most of the projects you see on this blog are for kindergarten and younger, because those are the ages found at my house.  Recently, I was given an invitation to put together some learning projects for a couple of middle school girls.  How fun!

They want princess projects, so I suggested stain glass castle windows, done in fractal patterns.  I was so excited when I received these pictures of the work they did!  I thought you would like to see them too.

To make a fractal pattern, choose a shape and repeat it systematically.  In the example above, she chose squares and put a smaller square on each corner.  Then, she put more squares on the corners of those squares.

Doing fractals inspires mathematical thinking on many levels.  In this case, I was hoping to reinforce the students ' sense of multiplication as they think through how many shapes are needed for the next level. "If I have four squares with four corners, I will need 4x4 more squares."  Count the shapes above to find the answer to "4x4=?"

 Since this is practice in repeatedly multiplying by the same number, it also gives a nice introduction to exponential powers.  Exponential powers are expressed with a "^" .  In the example below, we see a three cornered object repeated four times.  In math terms 3^4, or three to the fourth power.  Count the triangles to find the answer to 3^4=?    My son says this one looks like castles.

My inspiration for the "stain glass" came from Jean Van't Hul at The Artful Parent.  Click here to read how to do it.

I got excited about fractals while taking an on-line class at Moebius Noodles, Math Adventures. The class is over, but I found the class so useful I also downloaded Moebius Noodles: Adventurous Math for the Playground Crowd to our Kindle.  You may want to check it out.

What projects have made you excited recently?

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  Click here for more information.   Thanks for your support!  The post, Multiplication and exponent Craft for Tweens, originally appeared on WisdomKnowledgeJoy@blogspot.com.  

How to Plan a Road Trip your Kids will Love: Tip 3

 

Kids love routine in every context.  I knew we had really gotten comfortable with our traveling routine the night that we walked into our hotel room, and my three-year-old headed straight for the bathroom, undressed, and hopped in the tub.  Here are a few hints on how to establish a routine while on the move.

Pack by activity

Since  our children are too young to take responsibility for their things, my husband suggested this system. It works so well!

We have one overnight bag with all of our toiletries and pajamas.  We pack clothes by outfit in Ziploc storage bags, in the suitcases.  Each evening, when we pull over to sleep, we each choose one outfit for the next day and put it in the toiletry bag.  The overnight bag and electronics bag are the only ones that need to come in, unless we also grab the swim bag!  Giving the children control of what they wear and eat helps them feel more settled in the craziness of traveling. 

In the morning, dirty clothes go back in the clothing bag. The laundry bags stay in the vehicle unless we are washing the laundry.  Then it is taken to the laundry room, and everything repacked in the ziploc bags. Each child has their suitcase with just a jacket, stuffed animal, favorite book.  Well, occasionally other items mysteriously appear.  All electronics go in one bag, though.  That makes it easy to be sure everything is charged over night, out of the heat and not luring thieves to break our windows. We also have a bag just for car activities, a bag for food that I can reach, and often a second store of food and water in the back.  This system saves my husband and I stress, allowing everyone to have a better time. 

Rest Stop Routine

Whenever we pull over, every one is mandated to use the toilet.  Then, we spend a few minutes exploring or playing tag.  Either my husband or I quickly discards trash and organizes snack, drinks, and activities so we will be comfortable on the next leg of our trip.

Organizing the Day

What works well depends both on how much ground you need to cover, and how old the children are.  We have found that our pre-schoolers do best when we wake them about fifteen minutes before pulling out and eat breakfast in the car.  They love those bagels!  If we have a long day of travel, we hold off on electronics until thirty minutes before our lunch stop.  On short days, we can splurge. We try to make lunch a long stop somewhere that the kids can really be active, like a park or restaurant with a play area.  After lunch, it's another hour with out electronics.  Usually they fall asleep.  When they wake up, snacks and electronics flow freely, until we pull in for the night.

Make it an Adventure, Make Car Time a Treat, and Establish Your Routine.  Those are my ideas for planning a great road trip.  What are you doing to make your next road trip special?

Related posts:
How to Plan a Road Trip your Kids will Love: Tip 1
How to Plan a Road Trip your Kids will Love: Tip 2

Pinterest boards
Traveling with Kids, organized by the Measured Mom
My personal Road Trip board

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  Click here for more information.   Thanks for your support!  The post,  Planning a Fun, Educational Family Road Trip: Establish Routine by Christy McGuire originally appeared on WisdomKnowledgeJoy@blogspot.com.

How to Plan a Road Trip your Kids will Love: Tip 2

When it's time to hit the road, my kids are excited to strap themselves in.  It might be weird, but it has been a huge benefit as our family has needed to cover some serious miles over the past few years.   Last week, I shared tip one, make road trips into an adventure. My second piece of road trip advice is this, Make car time a treat. Here is how we do it.

New books

I ordered a few new books for this summer's road trip. Over the past few years,  I have made a habit of buying a children's book about each state we visit. It has been a fun way to appreciate and remember where we have been.  The State Shape Books are great and so are these state alphabet books .

New Car activities

Magnet board activities work well in the car.  At Christmas, a friend recommended doing a nativity from Made by Joel.  I colored and laminated it, and both kids really enjoyed it.

You can also plan simple crafts.  Last year we did this shamrock from Roots of Simplicity while traveling on St. Patrick's day.

I am working on prepping a few new activities for this summer's trip.  I will share as I finish.

Of course, extra screen time is a major reason for my children's love of road trips as well.  I Game Mom is the go to site for great Apps for kids, and we have our own stash of favorite videos.

Snacks and water

Although vacation is the time to splurge, too much extra sugar or red dye still makes us feel bad.  We carry reusable water bottles, and a stash of nuts, crackers, dried and fresh fruit.  My children look forward to these "car foods", and we make better meal choices along the way, because we can afford to eat earlier or to wait for a better choice.

If you are looking for more great car trip ideas check put this Pinterest board organized by Anna at The Measured Mom.  My personal road trip ideas are here.

Related Posts:
How to Plan a Road Trip your Kids will Love: Tip 1


This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  Click here for more information.   Thanks for your support!  The post, Planning A Fun Educational Family Road Trip:Make Car Time a Treat, by Christy McGuire originally appeared on WisdomKnowledgeJoy@blogspot.com.

What is fog?Science Along the Way

This is the first time we have experienced multiple seasons in a temperate climate in quite a while. It has been fun to watch my children react and enjoy.

This is our front yard Monday morning.  My son wanted to know what that stuff was.  After I informed him that it was fog, he said, "Can I go see what it is like?"  After some observation, he described it as "damp" and "pretty cool".

Both descriptions are accurate.  Fog is a collection of water droplets hanging in the air.

Where did the water come from?

In this case, the water had been there for a couple of days.  Warm air is able to incorporate more water droplets in its mix than cool air.  As long as the sun was heating the earth, the water remained as vapor in the atmosphere.  After dark, the molecules in the air began to loose energy, until it was "pretty cool." When the water molecules loose energy, they may decrease in temperature. They may also change into liquid droplets.  

Why do the droplets float?

Archimedes"s principle: if the mass of the fluid displaced by the object is greater than the mass of the object, it floats. (Remember the Greek guy yelling Eureka?)  The force of the fluid on the droplets is called the buoyant force. So, as long as a water droplet displaces a mass of air greater than it's own mass, it floats.  

When a group of those droplets hang in the air, we call it a cloud.  A cloud near the ground is called fog.  When the droplets join together, they bond tightly displacing less air for the same amount of mass.  The force of gravity pulls them to earth, and we call it rain.

The purpose of this series is to help me, my children, and my readers appreciate the natural world.  If you have found science along your way, I would love for you to share it here. 

E-mail me at WisdomKnowledgeJoy@gmail.com for more information.

 Other posts you might enjoy: Cold Blooded Animals on a Cool Day

Preschool Science:  Rubby Ducky in the Bath Tub

Pretend Elevators with Bottle Cap Pulleys

This activity can be used to address the following Next Generation Science Standards

K-2-ETS1-1.	Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
K-2-ETS1-2.	Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
K-2-ETS1-3.	Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

Project Recycle! and Create! has provided me with some much needed motivation to do creative projects with my kids this year.  This month's challenge is to make an activity with or for our kids using bottle caps.

We made play animal elevators with operational pulleys.

 My children helped engineer their elevators and enjoyed using them for pretend play when we finished.  It was a fun introduction to a simple machine.

Materials: bottle caps, preferably of a few different sizes

A Box

String 

Glue

Clothes pins

Small play animals

I let my children choose where to place the initial bottle caps, then hot glued them in place.

I tied string to some clothes pins.  They attached the animals.  My daughter put her favorite little turtle in a car made from a candy box.

I originally envisioned a multiple point pulley system, but they were intrigued lifting their animals with just one.  

My son was frustrated that the string kept slipping off of the pulley.  We solved the problem by gluing a larger lid on the outside of the pulley.

This kind of physical play is great for developing an intuitive understanding of physical properties. We also worked in a little problem solving.  I would like to come back to this concept and add some complexity when they are ready.  For today,  they naturaly made it into pretend play, while I slipped off to get dinner.

Lids have provided us with a few other great solutions. Including:

A drain stop  done by the Pony Artist

A lesson in Circular Motion at the Breakfast Table initiated by T-Rex

Check out these projects from my co-hosts.

Sink or Float Experiment by AlterNative Learning

Memory Game by Powerful Mothering

Solar System Model by Still Playing School

Bottle Cap Art by P is for Preschooler

Flower Card by There's Just One Mommy

Pattern Play by Teach Me Mommy

Or do you have a great bottle cap/lid project?  Link it up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Analyzing Informational Texts and Teaching Critical Thinking

My son, like many little boys, is intensely interested in dinosaurs.  We often bring home dinosaur books from the library. This week, we brought home a book that had some glaring errors. It was a great opportunity to teach my children, ages four and five, about thinking critically.

As we opened the book, I pointed out the copyright date:1994.  That was twenty years ago!  A lot can change in in twenty years.  As we read through the book we found several facts that have changed. For example, Tyrannosaurus Rex is no longer the largest known carnivore.   

  Science, by nature, is always changing.  Anytime you research a scientific topic, it is important to make sure you are working with the latest possible information.  Realistically, kids books will never be sources of cutting edge information.  However, we can make an effort to note whether the information they contain is generally current.

 The book we were reading used the terms "ever" and "never" repeatedly.  I took this opportunity to show my children the danger of universal statements.  If the author had simply said, "large" instead of "largest" her work would still be relevant. T-Rex was big, even if it was not the "biggest carnivore ever." 

More importantly, we can not know everything that ever happened, nor observe everywhere.  Any time an author claims to be omniscient, we should be a little suspicious.

When we come across errors in our reading material, it is tempting just to substitute what I believe to be the correct information and move on. This was a start in teaching my children to analyze their reading material.  Hopefully, they will develop healthy thinking habits in the years to come.

What other types of fallacy do you think are important to note in informational texts?


Other Posts you may find useful:

Must Read Science Book :  A Review of Boy Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs

First Lessons

If you found this post helpful, I'd love for you to add this blog to your reader!

Project Recycle! Create!: Math from Egg Cartons

Egg Cartons suggest math to me.  I think it's all those nice even compartments.  Even before I joined the Recycle!Create! group I had already done a skip counting practice activity from an egg carton.

 My four-year-old daughter absolutely loves it, and even asks for it when it's put away.

Apparently, I am not the only one who thinks math when trying to re-use old egg cartons.   Take a look at these great projects that I found on the Recycle! Create!  Link-up.



Color Sort from Powerful Mothering

Number Exploration by Sparkle and Pook This is an introduction to counting.

Counting Activity from an Egg Carton by There's Just One Mommy This one is to practice counting.

A Ten Frame by Teaching Every Day Would be great as an introduction or review of counting to 10, and I love her detailed explanation all the benefits from this activity!

Mancala from Marie's Pastiche I was going to do this until I came across her post.  I am glad she linked it up because she has a fantastic explanation of the game's background.  You can try this with wee little ones and it challenges adults too!

Project Recycle! Create!: Egg Carton Boats

This activity can be used to address the following Next Generation Science Standards

K-2-ETS1-1.	Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
K-2-ETS1-2.	Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
K-2-ETS1-3.	Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

April's challenge from Recycle! Create! is to use egg cartons to do a project with or for your children.   

Unfortunately, for the environment, eggs only come in Styrofoam in our area.  I decided to ask my children to make boats from the egg cartons.

It took a couple of weeks, but last weekend we finally got the perfect day at the park.  After a family bike ride/walk  we finished off our morning at the cool stream. They even got to do some wading.  

A few things I think they may have learned through this project: school glue does not hold up in water. Tying your string to the boat works better.  Water currents follow the same pattern on their way down the stream. There are tadpoles in our local stream.  

For more great egg carton ideas check out these from my co- hosts.

Volcanoes from Still Playing School
Fairy Houses from P is for Pre-schooler
Easter Cross from Teach Me Mommy
Sculptures from There's just One Mommy
Building with Mud from Planet Smarty Pants
Rainbow Garden Mobile from Lemon Lime Adventures
 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Play Figures  from Sugar Aunts

If you have an egg carton project of your own there is still time to linkup.  Click here to go to the link up.