Fieldlearning - Homeschool Blogger

Behind the News

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 15:40:00 -0600

Our family had an interesting experience this past Wednesday. We got to watch my brother-in-law and his family on the national tv news. They live 12 hours away and we don't see them often, so it was nice to see the kids in motion. All week NBC had been doing a series on the "sandwich generation" - baby boomers with kids who were taking care of one or both parents. That's where how the news is made started to become revealed to us...Andrew and his wife aren't baby boomers, they were born after 1964.
As the 180 seconds of the story played out it appeared to us as if the story was written before the reporter had ever met them. The intro was pure fiction, they never thought about the kitchen table in regard to planning for a family. The interview with the psychologist was done BEFORE the filming with Andrew. So, his comments are not in reponse to them, but generic comments that were carefully placed into the piece.

At one point the reporter steps of the front porch of a home. A home you would assume was Andrew's, unless you had been there. Apparently they had a certain look they were going for in that shot and, well, Andrew's home didn't have the white picket fence thing they wanted. No problem, they just drove around the neighborhood and filmed the shot from someone else's front porch - the residents weren't even at home.

It was hours of shooting over an evening and morning which was edited down to about 3 minutes. Of course one isn't compensated for all that time - but you do prioritize cleaning the house when a news crew is coming, so that was a nice benefit.

We are proud of them, not just in how they carry themselves off in the piece, but in the ways they care for Bill every day. Here's the link to the transcript with a link to video. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11029742/

What does yeast eat?

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 15:19:00 -0600

So, how do we measure how much carbon dioxide is being produced by yeast? Well, we don't measure it absolutely but we can compare how much yeast is being produced by one sample relative to another sample.Here's what we did:Put equal amounts of warm water (115F) and the substance being tested into a clean soda bottle. Add 2 teaspoons of yeast and put a balloon on top. They will look like this. As long as the balloons are the same size you can compare how much CO2 gas is coming off of the mixture. In 15 minutes or so you should have some filling up and looking more like this: We tried grated apple, grated potato, sugar, salt and flour. My K'er drew pictures of the balloons at different points in time; that was the measuring part for her. Guess which things the yeast will eat and why, emphasize only changing one thing at a time (water temp, amount of yeast, water and testing material stays the same) and you'll have yourself an honest to goodness science experiment! And from that smile you can tell - it's even fun.

If you give it a shot, let us know your results!

Happy Chinese New Year

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:36:01 -0600

We've been deeply involved in science fair projects the last few days so we weren't able to make it to a local museum's Chinese New Year celebration.

My ten year old is trying to find Fibonacci numbers in fruit. Turns out that there are about and equal number of Fibonacci numbers in the seeds of fruit and the sections of fruit. But, non-citrus fruit always had a Fibonnacci number in the number of sections. (In the ones she's tested.)

But back to Chinese New Year. For the last two years our family has put together a little shadow puppet show to perform at a Chinese New Year party for children adopted from China in our church. Last year was the year of the rooster and we adapted a Romanian folk tale from a book (The Impudent Rooster) written by an old friend from college. This picture shows a scene. We gave the rich man a Chinese name and instead of eating corn mush, the peasant ate rice. This year is the year of the dog and I've found a tale that explains why dogs and cats don't like each other. That's the easy part. Making all the puppets can be a challenge. As we use a razor blade for the cutting, I do that and my 10 year old colors them and attaches the sticks to control them. My husband tells the story. My 8 yo son provides percussion interludes and my 5 yo daughter usually gets to move one of the minor characters while the oldest and I operate the other puppets. So, it is a real family affair. In 2004 we used the Ed Young book The Rooster's Horns. If you want to make your own shadow puppet theater to celebrate Chinese New Year he'll tell you how to do it and even provide patterns (that are easy enough to cut with just a scissors). Why not invite a few friends, order some Chinese food and make it a party?

Chun jie kuai le!

Learning in the Kitchen

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:36:00 -0600

As I've mentioned it is science fair time. For the next couple of days we tackle the kindergartener's project. She'll be finding out what yeast eats.

Today we read a little bit about how bread is made, talked about the ingredients and observed that there were lots of tiny little holes in bread. Then we took half a cup of very warm water and mixed in a teaspoon of sugar. On the top we sprinkled 2 teaspoons of yeast. After about 3 minutes we took a spoon and played with the bubbles on top. Wow! There were tons of them. I explained a little bit about fermentation to Sadie (although I didn't use that word at first). The yeast "eats" the sugar and makes a gas called carbon dioxide. She took a sniff and then a little taste. I explained to her that the bad taste was the other thing the yeast makes when it eats the sugar, alcohol. We came up with a few things to test to see what else yeast eats - flour, salt, honey, apples and potatoes.

I'll show you how we measure the carbon dioxide tomorrow. In the meantime, take a look at the story of yeast and other experiments you can do.

Free 2006 Astronomy Guidebook

Fri, 6 Jan 2006 12:21:00 -0600

Always on the lookout for great free resources, I think this one is worth the bandwidth to download (although I'd like to see them offer it in paper form from lulu).

Jay from Cleveland, have you seen it yet? What do you think?

In the meantime, you can browse this pdf book with information about an object in the sky and usually a little astronomical history thrown in for every day of the year. I like the format and the bit I've read is interesting and engaging. But you'll need definitely need access to a telescope for most of the objects.

It is written by Tammy Plotner and found at the Universe Today website. The direct link to the free book is here. I found out about it on a listserve from Bob Riddle, who has his own informative website of what is going on in the sky, Current Sky.

10th, 11th, and 12th Days of Christmas

Wed, 4 Jan 2006 19:47:00 -0600

The 10th, 11th and 12th Days of Christmas have been cancelled due to illness. Spent the entire day in bed today. Eldest daughter was there, sick as well. We have to make sure we are better to go to the PA Farm show on Saturday!

Ninth Day of Christmas

Tue, 3 Jan 2006 17:07:00 -0600

On the ninth day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me, nine websites about notable Pennsylvanians.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, PA.

John James Audubon's first home in America was at Mill Grove, in what is now Audubon, PA.

President James Buchannan was born and raised in Pennsylvania.

Artist, Mary Cassatt was born in Allegheny City and raised in Philadelphia.

President Eisenhower had a home and farm in Pennsylvania.

Robert Fulton, inventor of the steam engine, was from Lancaster County.

Baseball great, Reggie Jackson was born in Wyncote, PA.

C.F. Martin established his guitar factory in Nazareth, PA. (They give tours!)

Fireworker Antonio Zambelli traveled from Italy in 1893 to establish the Zambelli Fireworks Manufacturing Company in New Castle Pennsylvania.

Eighth Day of Christmas

Mon, 2 Jan 2006 22:11:00 -0600

On the Eighth Day of Christmas the Fieldlearning Blog gave to me eight (or thereabout) websites about classical music.

Cincinnati Classical Public Radio has a wonderful radio show for children about composers and classical music. You can listen to the show on-line (anytime- they are only about 10 minutes long) and there are downloadable lesson plans. Want to know what a dulcimer sounds like (or any other instrument?) try this page on their site.

Read a story about Mozart on-line.

The Los Angeles Chamber Music Society has a nice little area with on-line activities.Try the New York Philharmonic's Kid Zone where you can learn about composers, instruments or compose your own minuet and send it to a friend! (How cool is that?)

Read a short little piece about a homeschooled pianist who entered college at 16 and listen to him play some pieces.

From the Top (the site that had the piece about the pianist) is a great show featuring young musicians. The host interviews them as well, which shows that despite their exceptional musical gift they are regular kids.

I've mentioned this in a past post, but Naxos Radio would be a great way to get all the classical music you want for only 9.95 per year via the internet. If you want to pick exactly what you want to listen to you should go to their home website and subscribe to listen to their library of music (7000 recordings) for $19.95 or listen for free (but only to 25% of a track). (I don't receive anything for plugging this, I just think it is a nice option.)

Seventh Day of Christmas

Mon, 2 Jan 2006 21:19:00 -0600

Forgive me while I catch up on the days of Christmas - I was outside DC for a few days visiting family!

On the Seventh Day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me seven websites about words.

Merriam-Webster On-line has some neat features, including audio pronunciation, a word of the day subscription and a new dictionary for teens and adults learning English as a Second Language.

The American Heritage dictionary has words indexed by whether or not they have notes in certain catagories like: word histories and synonyms.

If you really need to know a word history, try here or here (a monthly word origin webzine).

Onto the Eighth Day!

Sixth Day of Christmas

Fri, 30 Dec 2005 15:07:00 -0600

On the sixth day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me, six websites to explore art.

The National Gallery of Art has some GREAT interactive activities like the paint box and the Collage Machine.

While you are there, be sure to check out the family and children's guides to different artists.

The Met's guides for children are also very cool. They have more than the NGA and it includes guides like "The Art of Chess" and "Behind the Scences at the Met".

Their latest interactive learning exploration "How Van Gogh Made His Mark" is nicely done; a lot of reading.

The Allentown Art Museum has a nice interactive educational website, The Renaissance Connection.

The Museum of Modern Art has a site for kids and one for teens. At first the kids one looked hoaky, but as I got deeper into it, it was original and valuable. You can make up poems about a work of art, match colors in the painting, or learn facts about the artist. It is all narrated, so even younger children can follow.I know, that is technically seven links.

Fifth Day of Christmas

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 08:59:00 -0600

On the Fifth Day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me five websites about the Tang Dynasty of China!

See objects from the Tang Dynasty in this on-line exhibit (video interviews with curator as well).

Check out some Tang Poems (most are very short) on-line.

See if your library has this gorgeous book of Tang Poems for Children: Maples in the Mist

Chinese Calligraphy during the Tang Dynasty - read about it and see images here.

The silk road was in full swing during the Tang Dynasty - here's a piece from NPR about a modern musician that draws from ancient sounds.

The Fourth Day of Christmas

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 11:36:00 -0600

On the Fourth Day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me four websites about owls and their pellets!

Owl pellets are not gross, they sound gross, but they aren't. Kids love them, they are inexpensive and investigating them will touch on many science topics.

Where to get your pellets - I get mine here:
Genesis, Inc.

Where to learn about owl digestion and more:
The Owl Pages

Virtual Owl Pellet Disection at Kids Wings

Owl Movies from the Barn Owl Nest Box at Cornell.

Have fun!

Third Day of Christmas

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 08:54:00 -0600

On the third day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me three websites about the physics of light and color.

I used these sites in a 4 week homeschool co-op class on light:

The easiest and most accessible is this first one. Lots of experiments to try with easy to find household things.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/iconlight.html

The second is text heavy, but they also have some really neat java tutorials that allow you to learn about color.
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/lightandcolor/index.html

Got a useless cd lying around? Why not make a mini spectroscope?
http://www.uwm.edu/~awschwab/specweb.htm

Got any ideas for upcoming days of Christmas? Leave a comment!

Second Day of Christmas

Mon, 26 Dec 2005 10:57:00 -0600

On the second day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gives to you, two websites about mathematics.

Visit the American Institute of Physics to find out about math connections to the 12 Days of Christmas song. How many gifts were there, anyway?

If you want to explore it further, especially with older students, using Pascal's triangle by visiting the Leadership Program in Discrete Mathematics.

If you do this little exercise, you'll know how many websites I'll have to post in order to stay true to the song myself (don't count on it, but I may try!)

American Girl Place and Cabela's

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:59:00 -0600

American Girl Place and Cabela's are two retailers you would never expect to be mentioned in the same sentence. One is on Fifth Avenue and the other is in the middle of the Kittatiny Mountain range in PA. Each of them have customers who are looking for a wonderful experience. And although each customer group has a different style, the style is easily identifiable.

AGP was packed with people (mostly women and girls) over the Thanksgiving break. There were mom friends with high heels, fashionable hairstyles and fancy coats who were loaded down with (I assume) holiday gifts. One mom and daughter had matching fur coats and many of the girls and dolls were wearing matching outfits. Another family had traveled all the way from Florida. I'm not sure how they were going to fit all the things they bought back on the plane. Oh, no, wait a minute, there was the AG suitcase - that must have been why they got that. My daughter was a bit disappointed with the whole experience. We didn't have time for nor did I want to take little brother and sister to the cafe or the show. (Although we did get to see some tweenagers -in matching AG outfits, of course - singing carols.) And so, she came to the realization that American Girl Place was really just one big store!

On our way home from New York, we stopped at Cabela's (another big store) to break up the trip. Little brother had done well at American Girl and I thought they all would enjoy it. It was also packed with people. Its customers were mostly male, wore camo and drove huge trucks. The sign at the entrance asked everyone to "Please check your firearms at Customer Service." We didn't have much time, but the novelty (to us) of the merchandise (deer butchering kit, anyone? No? How about a pair of socks to keep your feet warm to 20 below?) and the taxidermy was worth the stop. Apparently there is also an aquarium and a gun range, not to mention the restaurant with fudge shop. We'll have to save that for another trip. The huge american game display with all kinds of deer and elk and bear as well as the smaller displays with all sorts of quail and pheasant and waterfowl was overwhelming in its scope. One bonus, there was a lady handing out cups of caramel corn on our way out of the store.

As far as educational value, I'd have to say Cabela's beats American Girl hands-down. The historical displays of artifacts from the dolls' time period were small and not displayed as prominently as the merchandise. In regard to merchandise value? Well, that depends on whether you have use for the products they sell. I will mention this, an AG child's t-shirt was $20, an adult Cabela's t-shirt was $2.95 (reduced from $4.95).

Numbers, Nature, and Camelot

Sat, 12 Nov 2005 07:41:00 -0600

We are taking some time off from formal math instruction this year for a number of reasons. This doesn't mean we aren't doing math, we just aren't working lots of calculations. My 10 y.o. is reading Murderous Maths; we are doing tangrams and origami and looking at Fibonacci numbers and patterns in nature.

To that end, we visited the North Museum of science in Lancater last week as they have 2 exhibits currently that focus on these concepts. The musuem and the exhibits are small, but the admission price isn't high and you get in free if you are an ASTC member (FI, Acad of Nat Sci). I really liked how they highlighted objects in their permanent collection that related to spirals. (If you go to Lancaster, see this post about some fun things to do downtown.)

I've found some resources both on-line and in books to enhance the Fibonacci understanding. Just today I found out about a woman in Australia who has made a connection between the golden ratio and King Arthur tales, some scholars are taking it very seriously, others aren't; read about it here.Now, if you are intriqued by Fibonacci, check out these links:

An on-line exhibit about numbers in nature. http://maven.smith.edu/~phyllo/EXPO/ExpoIntro.html
Explanation of Fibonnaci Numbers
Explanation of the Golden Section
Fibonacci Fun- An activity book for 5 grade and up. I was able to get it at my local library.
Facinating Fibonaccis Another book that I was able to find at the library. It is at a middle school level (guessing) - very nice explanations.
Wild Fibonacci- for younger kids, a picture book.

My daughter still hasn't said she likes math, but she has stopped saying she hates it and I have caught her working problems from the Murderous Maths on the sly!

Dutch Blitz

Sat, 29 Oct 2005 22:03:00 -0500

I warned you there would be more about the PA German culture, didn't I? Well, this game was apparently invented by a German Immigrant from PA Dutch country. As advertised, Dutch Blitz is "A vonderful gut game".

The neat thing about the game is that everyone plays at once, together, but alone. Hard to explain without going through all the rules. Basically there are various piles (some just for you and some that everyone is playing on) and the cards have many rules as to how they move between them . The object is too play all the cards in your Blitz pile. Upon accomplishing this you yell "Blitz". If you make a mistake while playing, you yell "Dutch" and stop play in order to correct the mistake.

My 10 year old daughter was interested in it because of the PA Dutch connection. I remembered enough about the game to know that it would be a good game to work on some logic, strategy and especially speed. We had a friend of hers visiting this weekend and although both girls picked it up without a problem, my daughter's lack of speed and perserverance in concentration were her downfall. But actually the game is just easy enough to understand that you want to keep playing even if you lose. It is sort of addictive even, the three of us played for at least an hour this afternoon. She is sticking with it and getting faster at figuring out how to move her cards.

I am hoping these kinds of activities will translate over into math. Even if they don't, it is a fun family game that almost everyone can play. It is on sale this week at Board Games Express. (I am not affiliated with them, just thought if anyone was interested they might like to know where to buy it.)

Any other great games we should know about? What are your favorites?

Cheese!

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 22:36:00 -0500

The name of this shop isn't the most imaginative. I thought it might be better if at least it was Formagge! But, this way they are not confusing anyone. Last night at dinner we served blue cheese dressing with the salad. One of the children remarked that blue cheese had mold in it. Another child cried "ewww!" Today, after some work was completed in the morning and feeling as though we all needed a walk, I remembered that a cheese shop had opened in Phoenixville this month. "Perfect," I thought, "we will take a walk to the cheese shop and buy some real blue cheese!"

When we walked in I realized that we could eat our way through Europe in cheese. How fun....how expensive. But, food is a necessary part of life, so I spent a little more than I usually do for cheese and supported a new business. Let me tell you, you do get what you pay for. Actually, you get more than you pay for in this case. The owner knows how to win customers. He compliments the children on their behavior, and then gives them a bag of Asher's nonparells as a reward. Later on the woman in the shop (his wife?) gives me some day old bread (still very yummy) free of charge. They were so friendly and answered our questions (do you know that they used to put grape leaf ash on cheese to preserve it? - now it is more for show). Each cheese in the case had a little pin stuck in it with a sign that told you about the cheese. We bought some stuffed grape leaves as well. (Most of those were eaten on the walk home.)

After a little lunch, we placed the cheese on plates and served it with little squares of the yummy bread we got. I looked up the cheese on the internet, talked about where it came from and if anything special was done to make it (pressing, soaking in brine, etc). After reading about a cheese we would try a piece. The blue cheese from France was creamy but still a little strong for the children. Most of them really liked the Applewood Cheddar from England and the Gruyere from Switzerland. A few liked the Gouda and the Manchego (from La Mancha, does the literary reference to Don Quixote count as English?) We looked up the countries where the cheese was from on a map.

So, I think our little cheese excursion besides being a nice fall walk and providing some delicious nourishment also touched on a bit of geography, science and if I stretch it, literature. It gave us a great excuse to invite two of our favorite neighbors over for dinner and a cheese tasting. (And also be reminded by the husband of the famous "This is a cheese shop?" skit.)

Scottish Poetry

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 23:08:00 -0500

Have I blogged about Highland Dancing yet? My children just started taking it in September. They are having a lot of fun and getting quite a good cardio workout. One website about highland dancing emphasizes that jumping has more good health affects than other cardio workouts. Who knew? A quick link - if you have never heard of Scottish Highland dance click here.

So this morning was our latest little venture down one of the strands of Scotland. Scotland leads to Scottish Highland Dance and the Highland Fling which leads to kilts and how to make one and what a tartan is which leads to a website that lets you design your own tartan and then finally onto a Scottish poem by Alice Macdonnel of Keppoch:

The Weaving of the Tartan
    I saw an old Dame weaving,
    Weaving, weaving
    I saw an old Dame weaving,
          A web of tartan fine.
    "Sing high," she said, "sing low," she said,
    "Wild torrent to the sea,
    That saw my exiled bairnies torn,
          In sorrow far frae me.

    And warp well the long threads,
    The bright threads, the strong threads;
    Woof well the cross threads,
          To make the colours shine."
    She wove in red for every deed,
    Of valour done for Scotia's need:
    She wove in green, the laurel's sheen,
          In memory of her glorious dead.

    She spake of Alma's steep incline,
    The desert march, the "thin red line,"
    Of how it fired the blood and stirred the heart,
          Where'er a bairn of hers took part.
    "'Tis for the gallant lads," she said,
    "Who wear the kilt and tartan plaid:
    'Tis for the winsome lasses too,
          Just like my dainty bells of blue.

    So weave well the bright threads,
    The red threads, the green threads;
    Woof well the strong threads
          That bind their hearts to mine."
    I saw an old Dame sighing,
    Sighing, sighing;
    I saw an old Dame sighing,
          Beside a lonely glen.

    "Sing high," she said, "sing low," she said,
    Wild tempests to the sea,
    The wailing of the pibroch's note,
          That bade farewell to me.
    And wae fa' the red deer,
    The swift deer, the strong deer,
    Wae fa' the cursed deer,
          That take the place o' men."

    Where'er a noble deed is wrought,
    Where'er the brightest realms of thought,
    The artists' skill, the martial thrill,
          Be sure to Scotia's land is wed.
    She casts the glamour of her name,
    O'er Britain's throne and statesman's fame;
    From distant lands 'neath foreign names,
          Some brilliant son his birthright claims.

    For ah! - she has reared them amid tempests,
    And cradled them in snow,
    To give the Scottish arms their strength,
          Their hearts a kindly glow.
    So weave well the bright threads,
    The red threads, the green threads.
    Woof well the strong threads
          That bind their hearts to thine.

Take a look at the Scottish Psalm 23 under songs as well.
Check out lesson plans on this website about Scottish Poetry Day.

Fair thee well, lads and lassies!

Feynmann Unit Study, maybe?

Sat, 8 Oct 2005 21:05:00 -0500

Do you think unit studies are only for elementary age children? Well, here's one to challenge you that I just came up with. A unit study on Nobel Prize winning Physicist Richard Feynman.

My first introduction to Feynman was through a book called "Tuva or Bust" written by Ralph Leighton. It tells of the story of Feynman and Leighton's attempt to visit Tuva. Leighton's depiction of Feynman was intriquing. The man was obviously brilliant, but more importantly interested in everything and full of great questions. I don't share his worldview as a scientific rationalist, but I think his wonder and interest in Creation (he would say Nature) is admirable and worth imitation.

Without giving you an entire biography on Feynman let me point out some of the possible topics you could explore, all related to him:

Tuva - geography and culture
Throat Singing - Tuvan and other
Nomadic Peoples - Tuvan and other
His Nobel Prize - what is a nobel prize and how they are awarded as well
The nature of light
Development of the nuclear bomb
Other important physicists of the 20th century
Safe-cracking and Drumming
Feynmann Diagrams
Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster
Nanotechnology

I'll leave you with this quote from Feynmann, from his lecture to science teachers:

You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.
~Richard Feynman