Science Fair in New Albany, IN

We participated in a science fair on February 5 for the first time this year.  I have not been involved with an science fair since high school and had forgotten how much was involved.  Nevertheless, the kids had a good time and next year will involve some better (and earlier) planning.

  

Jonathan's project was on "Magnets".  He had some adorable little frogs racing around the track.

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Samuel chose multiple items to drop in the water.  He made a list of which items would sink or float.  He then tested his hypothesis.

Alaina's project was on "Wind Power".  She created a windmill and attempted to light a tiny light bulb.  She was able to generate power and showed this on a small galvanometer; however, she was not able to generate enough power to light the bulb.

You Can't Go Wrong with Playdoh

Making Playdoh "bricks" during our January rock study in science

In February, we worked on sculptures.  They had to first draw the design and then attempt to create it with the Playdoh.

Jonathan's masterpiece-"The Statue of Liberty"

Samuel's final product-one of the knights from his "Two Knights and a Dragon" drawing

Doing a Little More in the Homeschool than We Imagined.....

In November, it was time to take our science program up a notch.  We dissected an owl pellet.  To my surprise, Alaina found it very interesting.  i was definitely more"grossed out" than she was.  She took a lot of time carefully pulling out the various bones, identifying them, and then determined that this particular pellet was the result of a rodent the owl had eaten.

Comparing Climates

In October, we compared rainfall and temperature in our area to that of an area in the tropical rain forest using bar graphs.

How's My Elbow Work?

This was a science project that the boys did in October 2010.  I have found science to be one subject that they can do together.  It can be challenging at times because their reading levels range from kindergarten to almost second grade.  Projects like this one are so much more fun when you have a partner and it is worth pushing one ahead and holding the other back a bit.  Within a year or so, they will be close enough and we won't notice those differences anymore.  Boys truly do need the hands on activities.

Enjoying Fall at the Nature Preserve

On September 17, we joined the St. Michael Mom's Club for an afternoon at a local nature preserve.  This was a special time for Jonathan, because it is not often that he gets to do something without the older kids.  In this particular group, he was the oldest child (by only a few months, but it is nice to be the oldest when you are five).  We had lunch together, games, and a nature hike.

Jonathan learned that Golden Rod is Kentucky's state flower.

  The afternoon ended with a pretty butterfly craft.

Systems of Classification

In September of this year, Alaina was studying classification systems in science.  She used a 16 bean soup mix to practice this.

Samuel has been learning about classifying animals and created a fun book.

Jonathan has been learning about patterns in his math class and had some fun with teddy bear counters.

Alaina's Cell Model

Alaina was given a variety of items and had to decide how to best use them to create a cell model.

Her final product.

Just practicing a little......

I thought I would try to post a few pictures from last year and become a little more familiar with this blog before we start school. We start 3 weeks from today!

This was a science experiment Alaina did in October 2009. She polluted the cups of water with various things. She then attempted to filter the water and compared the results.