Rocketry~



backyard style.

We had studied rocketry in April & May.

Our first easy-peasy experiment was "blow rockets". We placed a skinny straw into the tube of the rocket, and BLEW. We explored theory of the angle of the fins, and the amount of fins used.

Next we attempted "pop rockets" by using mini M&M containers.




Add water, insert alka-seltzer, seal lid on, and voila..
FLOP...as in flopped over!

not.so.exciting.


So, I bought fuji film. Yes, real film. It comes in a white canister. *smile*

Got our protective eyewear on.

Had a
stopwatch
to record
'time to blast off'.

Dad judged the distance of the 'take off', while we tried a variety of water levels, amount of alka-seltzer, and even tried soda (pop).


It was too fast to catch it well on camera,

but it was fun, and the kids thought it was great.

Our last event in this series was the "sling rocket".


Do you see Katie's on the ground? That hot pink 'stick' in the ground. That was a flopped shot. *hee*


These were so much fun!!

They go so far, we ended up heading to the local elementary school to use their field.


Basically, it is a fancy paper airplane that you use with a good rubber band. (yes, we did snap a few in the process, stings pretty good after about the 3rd time)



We had a good contest amongst us all.

and the littles would chase after them as the flew across the field.



Here is an upclose view.

Can you tell we are a 'color-coded' family?

Rockets, events on the calendar, school folders,

Yep, everyone has their assigned color. Interesting right now though, cuz Andrew *likes* blue, which has always been TJ's color, so we've been going with the dark/light variety.
I figure that's one way to compromise. ;^)

With the mix of all this fun, we read a good Rocketry book, viewed a variety of educational videos, and even watched some fun shows from "Myth Busters"

In conclusion,
we had a blast with this study!

GREEN THUMB???

Maybe not....

Here is our journey with gardening. I share it here as to keep all things real. ;^)

We started in April with planting seeds.

Batch 1, batch 2, AND batch 3 were tortured by a curious 23 month old.

The 4th & final attempt we had him join the process....

then I got smart and placed the seedlings in an out-of-reach place!

CARROTS???

CUCUMBERS???

GREEN TOMATOES???

Bryson is begging to play with these wee lil green tomatoes that he calls a "ball".

We did actually eat many of our hard earned produce, including peas and green onions also.

So, what is your opinion?

With such strange looking vegetables, how would you grade our garden for an "agriculture" credit w/ science labs??

I would like to add that my dear husband was the supervisor over this 6 month project! He was great at explaining the growth, guiding the learning, and starting the green tomato fight. ;^)
I, on the other hand, could somehow die off a cactus; consequently, I stayed out of the way.

l.i.f.e. Academy~

One of the perks to homeschooling...

You can study anywhere you want......

and how ever you want...

September's Goals:

~English~

All about NOUNS; common noun, proper nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, pronouns (personal pronouns- 1st, 2nd, & 3rd person pronouns, -nominative, possessive, & objective case) *phew* and rules of plurals.
~last month was prepositions; that was much easier =)
Homonyms- with long A sounds.

~Fine Arts~

Artist- Vincent Van Gogh
Painting- Cafe Terrace at Night

Composer- George F Handell
Musical piece- Water Music

Poetry- All Things Bright and Beautiful
Poet- Cecil Francis Alexander

~History~

Christopher Columbus

~Math~

Katie- times table 0,1, 2,3,5,10,11
review carrying (re-grouping) of large addition problems.
measuring

TJ- negative numbers, estimating, fractions
review times table

Nick- Celcius vs Fahrenheit, ratios, areas of solids, volumes of cylinders, cones, & pyramids.
refresh on fractions.

~Literature~

Katie- Farmer Boy with mom; Bobbsey Twin series
TJ- Call of the Wild
Nick- Swiss Family Robinson

~Science~

Matter in Motion-

Projectile possiblities; planning trajectories.
(aka Rockets)

Nature Studies-

End summer observation of wildlife.
Dissect a Bee Hive.


The last 3 photos are from our "Mentos" (aka projectile) experiment. We dropped 12 mentos in each container.
Sparkling Water, room temperature: 12 inches *not shown*
Sparkling Water, refrigerated: bubbles over barely
Dr. Pepper: 2 feet *not shown*
Diet Caffeine Free Coke: 10 ft

We all thought the Dr. Pepper would be the big hit, but apparently the lack of caffeine/sugar makes things more explosive? We knew the refrigerated one would be a bust, due to a experiment we did last year on what keeps your pop fizzy. =)

Science in a Bottle?

Objective: to create "Invisible Ink"

Method: Using acidic based items, then applying heat.

The "invisible" part worked very well, don't ya think?
The Challenge: applying the heat.

Attempt #1-blow dryer-it bombed.
Attempt #2-by candle flame-caused charcoal marks (can you guess what page it was?)
Attempt #3- hot burner-this did work, but took a long time to pull the picture out of the paper.

Analyze Results: Lemon & O.J. worked best, vinegar failed.

Conclusion:

I think we will stick to the "white crayon" method of invisible ink...

easier, quicker, & more legible!

Homeschooling is...

as easy as CHEMISTRY!

This weeks element of the periodic table is ...
CARBON

Simple facts:
atomic number is 6
symbol name is C
2 electrons in shell one, 4 electrons in shell two
Is the most important element of a plant...

Bond with it:
carbon dioxide CO2
(2 part oxygen, 1 part carbon)

Experiment: FIZZY POP

a 16 oz bottle of soda pop and a balloon;
remove cap, place balloon over opening, and SHAKE!!

Now try one at room temperature (or warmer) and one refrigerated...DO NOT SHAKE....wait 15 or 20 minutes...
Which bottle loses more fizz (aka. carbon dioxide) ??
The balloon that is bigger, of course!!

For more fun:
1) try adding pop rocks to the soda
2) and of course the infamous 'drop as many mentos as you can' in the soda bottle, in which I recommend a 2 liter bottle of soda, using the great outdoors, and lots of room. ;^)

Resources:
Chem4Kids
howtoteachscience
kidscience

poprockexperiment