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Yesterday morning the kids were up early

and wanted to paint their bird houses. 

J-Man and Mr.Mr. painting their birdhouses.

J-Man wanted sky blue his favorite color and Oliver choose green

Then we put birdseed inside.

Then we glued (with non-toxic white glue)

bird seed to the outside for decoration

Mr.Mr. covered his roof in birdseed

Mr.Mr. and J-Man ready to hang up their bird houses on the tree

The bird houses in the tree.

Scientific Method - Electricity:Potato Clock

On Tuesday we learned about the Scientific Method

and Electricity using a Potato Clock

First we asked our Big Question?

If I use two potatoes will it work like a battery to power the clock?

Then I asked the children what their Hypothosis was. 

I explained that a hypothosis was an educated guess,

the best guess about what you think will happen and why it will happen.

All the materials for our experiment on the table

Potato Clock Kit

Oil, Orange Juice and Orange Soda

Rootbeer, Aloe Vera Medicated Gel, Orange, Banana, Red Potatoes

Then we conducted our experiment.

We set up our experiment according to the directions in the kit.

Make an electrical loop by using copper plates and zinc plates connected with wires.

We then inserted the plate (one zinc & one copper in each potato)

The Potato Clock Worked

Next we tried Rootbeer. 

It worked but the clock was flashing.

We found that when the plates were touching

each other the battery would not work.

Orange Juice made the clock work

Orange Halves made the clock work

Orange Soda made the clock work

Medicated Aloe Vera Gel (for my sunburn) worked.

I was skeptical but banana's work too.

We did an experiment with cooking oil. 

I don't know why I don't have a picture,

but it did not work at all.

So we decided to combine the oil and the Aloe Vera Gel together

The clock worked.

I explained to the children that if we were doing  a science fair project for school we would need to do some research to find out why the oil didn't work and why the other items did work.

In conclusion, science experiements  make you think and test your knowledge.

It is fun to learn!

Forcast: Clouds, Rainbows and Tie-Dye

Staycation Week 5 : We are learning about Science

On Monday we learned about Colors, Clouds, Rainbows

and for a fun activity we tie-dyed t-shirts.

I put together a packet for the kids to fill out.

The first page was the colorwheel

the primary colors are Red,Yellow and Blue

the secondary colors are Orange, Purple and Green

They had to blend the primary colors to achieve the secondary colors

sorry, I can't get the image to turn the right way

Next we made rainbows by gluing on froot loops for the colors

and mini marshmallows for the clouds

Then we counted up how many froot loops were in each color

The red one usually had the most and purple had the least

They had to use tally marks to help count.

There are ten types of clouds in our atmosphere

I created a worksheet with a brief description of each type of cloud

and a box to illustrate what it looked like

This activity was a little advanced for our younger learners

so I had them go outside and draw a picture of the clouds they saw

Then I identified them as the Nimbostratus Clouds

Thick heavy rain clouds that hang low in the sky

Here is J-Man's illustrations of clouds

Next we played the raindrop game

To play you roll three dice, add the total,

 then cover the corresponding raindrop with the umbrella

I-Man played and was frustrated

he could not roll three sixes to complete the game.

After about ten minutes he finally rolled three sixes

and refused to let anyone touch the dice.

The younger kids played together and colored in the raindrops.

J-Man, A.L. and J.L. all rolled one dice, then I helped

them count to find the sum of the dice

Next we tie-dyed our shirts

A.L.'s shirt

The first color she chose to put on her shirt was black.

J.L. chose some fun colors for his shirt

I-Man didn't like all the white left on his shirt

so he continued to dye it with his fingers.

I-Man's shirt all finished

J-Man's shirt

I-Man thought it was so fun he ran to

his room to find something else to dye

He found his pillowcase

I have my shirt all twisted and banded

Tie-Dye table

My shirt dyed and tied

My shirt all finished

I-Man's pillowcase finished

What a colorful day!



Record Heat, Record Fun!

While the Farenheit soared to 109 degrees in Tucson

we headed to Mt. Lemmon to have some fun in the cooler tempurature.

Mr.Mr. making sure Bouba was okay as we set up camp

J-Man

Mr.Mr. with Bouba  on the path to camp

J-Man Fishing at Rose Canyon Lake

I-Man preparing his fishing rod

Mr.Mr. fishing

I-Man looking for the perfect spot

This gentleman helped Idris, gave him worm bait and

taught him a few tricks for fishing for about an hour. 

View of the lake

Mr.Mr. taking a snack break

J-Man having another go on the rock

I-Man caught his first trout on Thursday

He gutted the fish

scaled the fish

cooked the fish

and ate the fish

only the bones are left.

Mr.Mr. and J-Man gathering pinecones and rocks on the path

I-Man packing water up to camp

J-Man learning to hula hoop

Mr.Mr. trying it too

J-Man made a pinecone nest

Roasting marshmallows over the propane stove

(we were not allowed to have a campfire or use coals)

I-Man with his marshmallow

marshmallow sticky face

sunlight coming through the trees

we went hiking around and found these old burnt tree trunks

Mr.Mr and J-Man being silly on a log

a huge log

Rose Canyon Lake

Climbing the stump

Fishing on Friday

Mr.Mr. on the sandbar

I-Man on the other side of the lake

hangin' out

Mr.Mr. fell asleep just after his bath around 6:30 pm and slept all night long.

I-Man playing cards with me

Poker face

Twilight

No campfire means that it is really dark by 8:45 pm

so we made our own lanterns with a flashlight

and empty clear water containers

light enough to see our card game

Fishing on Saturday

Me and Mr.Mr.

J-Man and I-Man trying to catch one last fish

Mr. Mr. had enough and took a nap on my lap in the shade

so did Bouba.

We had three days and three nights of adventure.

Record fun for all.