Monday, September 26, 2011

Food Science

Food and science go great together.   It's always fun, especially when you're allowed to eat it.
We did a few projects recently, and two of them were edible, which made the kids very happy.  Our first project was mummifying apples. And, as you may have guessed already, we didn't eat these.
                                  All we did was cut an apple in fourths.
We put  two of those fourths into separate bowls, pour baking soda, and salt in one bowl, and left the other bowl alone.

Then we put the bowls in a window for a week. After our week was over we checked to see the difference.



We were shocked to find that the covered apples actually looked older than the uncovered apples, but they were well preserved.

That was cool, but our next project was even better. We made an edible cell out of jello and candy. YUM!
(I of course would have rather had jello with fruit, but the kit came with candy, so that's what we used.)
                Once our jello (cytoplasm) was set, we started adding the goodies.
                      We put a slit in the jello to make adding the organelles easier.
                Kelaiah happily put in the Nucleus (gum ball)
                              Elijah put in the mighty mitochondria. (jelly bean)
                              Hannah added the golgi bodies (smarties)

                      Then we added the endoplasmic reticulum (fruit roll ups)
                               And to that we added the ribosomes. (nerds)
                        And the last thing we added were the centrioles. (cake sprinkles)
Of course the best was was when they got to eat it. Although Hannah decided that she didn't like jello , she said she felt like she was eating brains, cause it was jiggly and slimy. lol

Well our next project made Hannah very happy. We made an edible DNA , using red licorice and mini marshmallows.
                                      Here's Kelaiah holding the DNA back bone.
                             Hannah linking up the DNA with a chemical base.

                                               Kelaiah's link.
                             Elijah working on his DNA ladder.
                                   Finished ladder
                                              Elijah's DNA.
                           Kelaiah is ready to eat her DNA.
                                                 sillies
               The children standing in front of the chemical base formula.
                                    Time to eat!

  After we finished each one, we wrote everything we learned, down in our science notebooks.



Well I hope you enjoyed reading about our food projects. If you have any questions or tips, please leave a comment below. I hope to hear from you soon, GOD Bless!  : c )


Note: These ideas are not my own, the first two came from" Apologia's -Exploring Creation with Anatomy." The third project , I found on  The Happy Housewife blog .

Friday, September 16, 2011

Our Week in pictures


 
We discussed Grimms Fairy Tales, and the differences in the modern versions.
(I couldn't figure out which doodle I liked better)

We went over the anatomy of a cell.

After watching "Newton's Workshop: Cell-ebration," We built our own cell city.



The weather has finally decided to cool down for us, so we thought we would go outside and enjoy it.



Hannah found a mushroom to dissect later.

Kelaiah brought this little garden spider home with her, but she didn't keep it, she took it back to it's family.
Of course we did more, but I didn't take a picture of everything. Also some of the things we did are not finished, I will post a picture of them when they are done.
GOD Bless!  : c )

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Re-scheduling

This week is going by a bit chaotically.  I am having a hard time staying focused. I think I need to re-do my schedule a bit, because our days have been way too long.  We are managing, but I'd like the rest of the school year to go smoother, and have some free time left over.  I guess I will be spending my weekend down in the school room, organizing and re-scheduling.  Oh well, it's for the sake of their education, and my sanity, it must be done.  Now if I can get my dinner menu and monthly chores list in order, I'll be set. Does anyone have any advice?  Leave me a comment.  Have a Blessed Day!  : c )

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Our trip to Sweetwater Creek State Park

We decided to take a little family outing today to Sweetwater Creek State Park. So we loaded up the kids, and headed to Lithia Springs, GA. We visited the museum, walked the trail and explored a little bit. It was alot of fun, and we burned of alot of calories as well.  ; cD .. The children had a blast! They jumped the rocks in the water, putting their hands in, and letting the current flow through their fingers. They climbed big boulders, and dug through the sand searching for treasures buried underneath. We think Kelaiah may have gotten lucky and found a used Civil War bullet, but we need to do some more investigating to find out for sure. She also found a big, yellow caterpillar ,and a frog...  The children also loved looking at the artifacts in the museum. They were even able to see some creatures that live in the area. They were in cages though, not roaming free. I think they enjoyed the ruins of the New Manchester Mill the most though. They loved how old it is and the history it entails.  My favorite part of the trip, besides watching the children enjoy themselves,  was the smell of earth and wood, it was rich and sweet and of course earthy. It made me feel very alive.
Makes me think of the scripture ... This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:24. 
Another that comes to mind is,
Psalm 34:8 -
O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
Amen...He is good and has blessed us greatly.  Well, I need to go , it's passed my bedtime. Thank you for stopping by , and GOD Bless!   : c )


 Lewis with the children.
& Me with the children, below.
 So pretty
 The ruins
 Museum Exhibit
 More ruins



 Kelaiah found this caterpillar.






The frog that Kelaiah found
 Climbing Mt. Everest.. well not really..
 Elijah really liked this bear.
 

 King snake
 Elijah and the bear..again..
 Kelaiah's clay covered civil war bullet. (maybe)
 On the bridge
 looking for the snake
 Taking a break