December Cold and a Craft

It has been cold! Very cold! The pictures above show some coastal "snow" (a mysterious patch of frozen bay water - the only one we could see anywhere around) and a frosty footbridge. But it's warm and cozy inside, and we are working on a project (sneak peak above). It has something to do with what we've been learning about electricity - series and parallel circuits, resistance, switches, and how not to make short circuits, among other things. It also has to do with the book we're reading now, "The Fellowship of the Ring." It will take a number of days to finish the whole project, but we think it will be worth it! - Erica

What Makes Someone a Hero?

We have been reading some interesting books lately. We finished The Search for Delicious last week. In that book, a boy named Gaylen discovered that he needed to be a hero. Now we are reading The Hobbit, in which an unadventurous little fellow named Bilbo Baggins discovers his inner hero as well. When we finish this book, we will likely read another book (it's a surprise!) about the hero's journey.

With all this reading about heros we are trying to come up with a list of traits that make someone a hero. So we have some questions for you.

1. How would you describe a hero? What adjectives would you use?

2. In The Search for Delicious and The Hobbit, Gaylen and Bilbo Baggins are "reluctant heros" - they don't really want any part of all this adventure and drama at first. Do you think most heros are reluctant heros? Why?

3. Who are some of your personal heros (they can be fictional or nonfictional)? Why are they your heros?

We can't wait to find out what you have to say!!!!!

Thanks - Dan and Erica

Lights and Lizards

It is never dull at the Garden School, that's for sure. We are beginning to learn about electricity, and we plan to do some inventing before this unit of study is over. We are reading some books about people who are alert enough to notice when their mistakes might actually become useful inventions, and today we started learning about Thomas Edison and we read part of his journal. We will also be reading about Ben Franklin.

In the top photo, Dan is making a Christmas tree light shine with just a C battery. We are going to explore more about circuits, conductors, insulators, and other electrifying topics tomorrow.

In the bottom photo is a little friend who interrupted our science lesson today. We had to catch him and set him loose outside. All interruptions should be so pleasant! - Erica

Cabbage, Chemistry, and Aliens? - a post by Dan and Erica

Today we learned about chemical properties, specifically pH, which is a measure of how many excess hydrogen or hydroxide ions are in a solution. Solutions with excess hydrogen are sour, corrode metals, and they turn cabbage juice red. Bases have excess hydroxide and are bitter, slippery, and are often used in cleansers. They turn cabbage juice blue, green, or yellow. Water is neutral. Neutral substances turn cabbage juice purple. Cabbage juice itself is purple. We had a great time testing some household substances to see if they were acid, base, or neutral.

Then Dan got to play Alien Juice Bar, a game to test our knowledge of acids, bases, and neutrals. This was the first computer game Dan has gotten to play at school this year. He loved it. Dan and Erica

Bartholomew and the Oobleck - a Post by Dan and Erica

Bartholomew and the Oobleck is a book about being grateful for what you have and the importance of taking responsibility for your mistakes. In the beginning of the story, the KING was not grateful for the rain, the sun, the fog, or the snow. He wanted something more. Thanks to his magicians, what he got was Oobleck. In this book, Oobleck is a green substance that sticks to anything it touches. After having OOBLECK rain down for a while, the situation in the kingdom was horrifying. When the King said he was sorry, the Oobleck disappeared. The King learned to be humble, grateful, and responsible.

Oobleck

Today I had the great fun of playing in Ooblek with Dan. It's very strange stuff. He showed me how when you "hit" the surface quickly your hand is stopped--it's a solid. But when you put your hand in slowly it's a liquid! Weirdly weird! Strangely strange! It was fun to play and explore with this stuff. Dan had a lot of interesting ideas about Ooblek--and other things -- he was very creative today. mom

Aesop's Fables - A Post by Dan

We are reading Aesop's Fables. If you ever read this book, you should listen to the morals. For example, in one of the fables, some sheep saw a farmer taking away a pig, who was making a very big fuss about it. "You shouldn't be making a big fuss about it,said the sheep." "That's what you think," gasped the pig. "The farmer just wants your wool, he wants my bacon." The moral of this story was that it's easy to be brave when you're not in danger. I like this book because it's funny, but it also has good lessons. DAN