Tour 1 Week 21

 

Clearly I spoke too soon about the whole "spring has spring" business in my last post. As much as I like snowy, winter weather, having a small snowstorm in late April seemed a bit much. The dogs were especially confused whenever they went outside. 

We started our week with Family Game Night in the sunroom/porch and our last dog guest, Lucky, returning to his person. The 14 year-old spent the week preparing a Dungeons and Dragons adventure for us, including 3-D printed visual aids. I never really understand what's happening when we play D&D, but have a fun time with my boys nonetheless. I remember my brother trying desperately to explain the game to me a billion years ago when we were kids, but I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. 

I'm sure he gets a laugh out of his little sister now engaged in regular role-playing games with his nephews. 

The things we do for our kids. 

 This week we spent time continuing to learn about Saint Katharine Drexel, Scott Joplin and artist Alexander Calder. We read "Sandy's Circus" which is a cute children's book about Alexander Calder. Reading about him reminded me of my especially creative and artistic teen. Alexander, or "Sandy" as he was called, was a tinkerer. He used anything and everything he had on hand to create with - like wire, wood, clay and metal. He's credited for inventing the mobile and had a sense of play that changed the art world. 

And now you know as much as I do about Alexander "Sandy" Calder. You're welcome.

For our art project, we made clay circus animals. 

Well, that was the idea anyway. Who am I to stifle creativity and imagination in favor of following a project to the letter? 

For science this week, we finished learning about our last habitat, the ocean. We read about whales and squid and did a couple quick demonstrations. 

In the process we solved the mystery of why this purple pony was included in our science kit. 

We used the pony, specifically its hair, to demonstrate how gills work. When the hair was underwater it flowed freely and was easy to separate, but out of the water it clumped together. Much like fish gills - under water they can easily float and move, allowing fish to easily absorb the oxygen they need. When a fish is out of the water, their gills clump together, making it very hard for them to move anything past their gills. 

While we were playing with water, we also did a demonstration of echolocation. By tapping the center of the water and taking a picture we could see circular waves radiating out from the point where the water was touched. We discussed how sound waves travel in the same manner through the water which whales use to communicate. 

Our history timeline this week included Mount St. Helens erupting, Ronald Reagan, Mother Angelica founding EWTN, the World Wide Web, and the September 11th terrorist attack. We also added the Southwest and Pacific states geographical features to our notebooks. 

We'll be spending the next few weeks shifting our focus to learning about our state's history. Now that the warmer weather is upon is (except that one fluke day, yes) it's probably also time to plan some field trips! 

But first we will be taking a break from school so that my husband and I can have a much-needed getaway for our anniversary. Our 20th anniversary...crazy. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of my parents, we'll be spending a week in Cancun in the fall, but in the meantime figured at least a short getaway was in order. Hopefully the children, dogs and Nana and Papa survive the next few days without us. 

I hope you're enjoying spring! 

~ Dori