Oct. 28, 2009 - Human Body - Day 9

Today was dissection day!!  If you have a weak stomach, you might want to pass on the pictures.  It wasn't as bad as I thought.  Nicolas (our gaggy one) could not watch while we were cutting, but once the piece was there to look at, he was fine.  We bought a cow's eye to dissect.  This helped us (me included!) tremendously to understand how our eyes are put together.  Still don't completely understand HOW it works, but at least we know what the inside of the eyeball really looks like.  Diagrams just can't effectively show us.  When the dissection was complete, it made it MUCH easier to fill out the diagram of the eye that we added to our lapbook.  Okay, now for the pictures.

The greyish material around the edges are the tissue and muscles.  If you look in the middle at the black X - that is the optic nerve.

So we began by cutting the tissue and muscle off from the schlera (the white of the eye.)  The coloring has changed because it's dead. :)

Next we cut the cornea from the eyeball.  This revealed the iris (the dark in the middle).  The hole in the middle of the iris is the pupil.  We were able to see that the iris can get bigger and smaller to let in more light.

The next step was cutting the eyeball in half.  This revealed a jelly like substance that fills the inside of the eye.  The left half is the front of the eye and the right is the back.  You can see the optic nerve still.

We popped the lens out.  This works as a magnifier.  We are able to see that in the word "hello" printed on a piece of paper.  You can see the 'e' and part of the 'l' is quite larger than the 'o'.  The lens was hard and like a marble, but in a live eye, it is soft.

Finally we look at the inside of the back half of the eye.  The cream colored part is the retina.  If you look at the top-right , you can see where the optic nerve comes in to the retina.  This is the only place the retina is attached to the eye.  We slid the retina down to reveal the irridescent blue.  This is what reflects light into the retina.  In animals, it is more shiny than human.  This is why animal's eyes seem to glow at night.  I have forgotton all the technical terms for these parts and am too lazy to get up and look them up.  I'm not sure we're ready for too much more dissecting at this point, but this was a fun learning experience for us.  (And it didn't smell too bad.  It had a smell, but didn't stink.)

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Oct. 27, 2009 - Human Body - Day 8

We began this week with exploring our senses.  Today was the eye.  We read in the Blood and Guts book and the Usborne Understanding your Senses book about the eye.  We did a couple of experiments. 

One was using the Usborne book to find our blind spot (which is where the optic nerve attachs to the retina.) 

Another was using a paper rolled up like a telescope and looking at it through one eye while looking at our other hand with the other eye.  As you move your hand away from your eye, you see a hole in your hand.  This is because each eye is seeing something different and our brains put the two images together.  This is why we can see in 3D as opposed to animals like a bird that do not use both eyes to look at the same object.

We looked at different diseases of the eye and simulations of each.

This one is macular degeneration.  We also saw near sightedness, what it looks like for people who need bifocals, glaucoma, and cataracts.  (These simulations I found off the internet.)

We talked briefly about the parts of the eye, but will go into greater detail when we dissect a cow's eye.  The plan is to do this tomorrow, but we may start this evening so Dad can be involved.  None of us are sure about this dissection.  They eye should be less gross than anything else.

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Oct. 26, 2009 - Lentil Co-op

We read the book Lentil by Robert McCloskey in co-op today.  The fifth graders split from the rest of the group and went on location to a building site to learn more about architecture and how a house is built.  I taught the younger children, so I can't tell you much about what they saw or talked about beyond these pictures.

The younger kids learned about Veterans' Day and wrote an acrostic poem entitled Freedom to give to a vet.  Then they explored their 5 senses at different learning stations. 

Listening station - sound bingo
Touch station - match the shape game (by reaching in a bag and finding the missing puzzle piece only by touch)
Smell station - smell and identify scents inside paper bags
Sight station - Matching game

Finally, the taste station we did together.  We used a soft candy cane to suck the lemon juice from a lemon.

Hopefully I can get pictures soon.  Since I sent my camera with the 5th graders, I will have to bum pictures from one of the other moms. ;)

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Oct. 24, 2009 - Flag Football Season 2009

Enjoy these pictures of the boys playing flag football this year.  It's been incredibly cold most games, but they have had fun anyway.  Alex has been quarterback and Nicolas has been a receiver for most of the games.

He missed that catch.

Checking his plays on his wristband.

Running it just like Joseph Addai.

Just like Peyton Manning, changing the call at the last minute.

 

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Oct. 24, 2009 - Blog award

I received this Over the Top blog award from my friend Ami.  (Thanks Ami!)  Here is my list followed by the awards I am giving.

1. Where is your cell phone?  purse
2. Your hair? frizzy
3. Your mother? cook
4. Your father? travelling
5. Your favorite food?  chips
6. Your dream last night? weird
7. Your favorite drink? milk
8. Your goal?  survive
9. What room are you in? family
10. Your hobby? gardening
11. Your fear? alone
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? wife
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren’t? compassionate
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. Wish list item? camper
17. Where did you grow up? IN
18. Last thing you did? eat
19. What are you wearing? sweats
20. Your TV? on
21. Your pets? 5
22. Your friends? few
23. Your life? busy
24. Your mood? good
25. Missing someone? Grandma
26. Vehicle? dying
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? Hobby Lobby
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? funeral
32. Your best friend? husband
33. One place that I go over and over? Wal-Mart
34. One person who emails me regularly? scouts
35. Favorite place to eat? Mom's

My Over the Top Blog awards go to:

http://jimmiescollage.com/

I visit Jimmie's blog to find new ideas and especially like the lens she has created on Squidoo.

http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/

I check the Crafty Crow whenever I need an art idea.

and last but not least, my good friend Ami:

http://www.walkingbytheway.com

I love to see how Ami steps out of the box with her boys and does the more hands-on activities.

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