Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Hot Lava

< Today for Science we learned all about volcanos. We learned that some are active, some are dormant and some are exstinct. We live in a land of volcano's and Mommy even survived the Mt. St. Helens. We live somewhat close to Mt. Rainier, which at the moment, is dormant. The kids had a blast creating their very own volcano's. I have posted the directions of how we did it below. Try it out and see what happens.

Homemade Volcano
You will need:
mason pint jar or clean soup can
dirt, sticks, rocks, and leaves
vinegar
red food coloring
baking soda

Build up dirt around the jar or can to create a mountain. We did ours out in the garden, but you can use a tray and clay to create a more realistic version. Use sticks, rocks, leaves, etc. to make it look like a mountain. Fill the jar 1/2 to 3/4 full of vinegar. Put in about 6 drops of food coloring. Srinkle in soda and watch it bubble. Keep pouring in the mixture until interest is gone, or the vinegar.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Austrailia & New Zealand


This week in History we learned about the people of the land down under, Australia and New Zealand. We read a story about a little boy who ate moths and bats for snacks! Fruit snacks have a whole new appeal now. So we made "Moth Mix", I have put the recipe below.

Moth Mix-(from History of the World)
1 bag microwave popcorn, popped
1/2 c. peanuts (the moths)
2 T. Honey
Pop the popcorn, then mix in the peanuts and honey.
Stir and enjoy a sticky treat.



We also learned about the Maori people who discovered New Zealand. It is thought that they came from the Polynesian Islands. So we painted the kids like a Maori warrior. We were suppose to paint their faces, but the kids were not up for that, so we opted for the arms.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

L is for Logan!


AAAHHH the joys of summer harvesting. Logan has had so much fun with our garden this summer, weeding, digging, and picking. He came running to the house the other day with a special bean just for him. It had grown into the shape of an L. As Logan is learning his letters righ now it was a perfect for him to find this very special bean! You just never know what suprises you might find when you are in the garden.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Indian Sand Art


This week in History we learned about the Gupta Dynasty of India. One of the projects to do was to create sand art. People of the Hindu religion hang a welcome picture made of sand on their doors at the New Year holiday Diwali.

You Will Need:
Paper
Glue stick or White school glue
Colored Sand (purchase at craft store or add food coloring to your own sand and mix)

Draw designs on your paper and write the word welcome. Trace all areas with glue and sprinkle sand over glue. Shake excess sand off your design and let dry. Hang in your front hall or on your bedroom door.
We got this idea from the Story of the World Activity book by: Susan Wise Bauer.

Learning the Seasons


This week in Science we are learning about the seasons and the weather. We made this picture of a tree in all four seasons of the year. The kids and I went outside to collect different kinds of leaves for the seasons. Thankfully it is the beginning of fall so there were all colors, red, greeen, and yellow. We got the idea from Crayola.com (their version has you using different colors of curling ribbon, but we modified some of them with real leaves because they were available.)


Thursday, September 4, 2008

Candy Oasis














Today we were learning about Bedouins and the desert of Saudi Arabia. We made an edible oasis out of brown sugar and candy. As you would assume the kids LOVED it! Logan was bouncing off the walls for the rest of the day because of pure sugar shock. It was still fun.


Addison could not wait to take a nibble. Ready, Set, Go!


Logan was really proud of his creation.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Edible Earth Food Craft


Last week we studied the Earth and all the layers inside the Earth. We had fun learning about the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core. For our project we made an edible Earth made out of oreos, rice crispies and marshmallows. The recipe is listed below for anyone who wants to try it out. It was tasty!

Edible Earth-From American Museum of Natural History
13 Marshmallows
1 maraschino cherry, stem removed
1 T. butter
2 C. rice crispies
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
8 oreos

Directions:
1. To make the inner and outer cores:
Use a butter knife to carve out the middle of one large marshmallow. Insert cherry into the center of the marshmallow (the cherry will be Earth's inner core, and the marshmallow will be the outer core.) Put aside.

2. To make the mantle:
One the stove or in microwave, melt the butter. Stir in the rest of the marshmallows until melted. Remove from heat and stir in cereal. Cool for 5 minutes.

3. Wet you hands with water. Then roll the cereal mixture into a ball around the core.

4. To make the crust:
Use a butter knife and spread a thin layer of peanut better all over the mantle. Then put cookies inside a sandwich bag, close the bag, and crust the cookies into crumbs. Pour cookie crumbs onto a plate. Roll your Earth in the cookie crumbs until all the peanut butter is covered.

5. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and slice your earth in half and admire the layers of inner core, outer core, mantle and crust.

6. Eat!