Journey to Excellence

In our regular life this week… Not only did school start back for us this week, but our regular activities resumed, as well. Eli had Cub Scouts on Monday night. He has a minimal number of activities he needs to complete to finish all of his achievements for a rank advancement at the Blue and Gold Banquet in February. This is extraordinary because the rest of his Pack started on their achievements in February of last year. He didn't start Scouts until this past October, so he has been in hyperspeed. Of course, we have the flexibility to work on some of the achievements during our school day which makes it much easier. Wednesday we were back to church services, having potluck dinner and then handbell choir practice. On Thursday night I held an organizational meeting to re-start a former United Methodist Women Circle (that my mom was a member of when she was a young woman). I am feeling the call of Titus 2. It's kind of hard to admit that I am an "older woman",...

I'll be linking up with Friday Fun School this week, because we had a little too much fun with our homemade flubber. Brynne has been studying all things St. Patrick's Day this week, and one of our activities was making green flubber. Here is the recipe: Step 1: In a large container combine and mix: 1 1/2 cups very warm water 2 cups Elmer's white glue A few drops of food coloring Step 2: in a small container combine and mix: 1 1/3 cups very warm water 2 level tsp 20 Mule Team Borax (adults please do this step) The Borax must be completely dissolved. Step 3: Combine the glue and Borax mixtures: Mix well using your hands until all the liquid is absorbed. You may need to squish, mix, and break up the flubber to get it fully combined. Store the flubber in a plastic, air-tight container at room temperature. For best results, measure precisely and mix well as noted above. If kept in an airtight container, the flubber will keep for up to 2 weeks. Makes enough for 6 chi...

Dawson has been studying DNA for the past couple of weeks. I had read many recommendations to purchase a particular DNA building kit, but at $50 I was reluctant to do so for such a limited purpose. While perusing the aisles at Hobby Lobby, I came across the ScienceWiz DNA kit by Penny Norman, Ph.D. Wielded with my 40% off coupon, I picked up this little gem for about $12.00. It is regularly priced at $19.99 (still a bargain). It included all of the pieces necessary to build the DNA ladder and Double Helix (that I was going to be purchasing the other kit for), and included all the materials necessary to do some DNA extractions (both vegetable/fruit and HUMAN), a chromosome puzzle and karyotyping. It was a bargain for all we could do with it! Constructed Double Helix Chromosome puzzle The 40-page booklet that came with the kit not only included the instructions for all of the projects, but also acted as a mini-textbook with introductory material about cells, nuclei, DNA, c...

Dawson has been working on a fermentation experiment for the past 10 days. I have often received the ziplock bag from a neighbor with an alcohol-smelling concoction and a 10 day plan for turning it into Amish Friendship Bread. We usually save a cup of the start, giving the remainder away to friends (thus the FRIENDSHIP part of the bread), and keep it going for a couple of rounds. But then we either get tired of it or accidentally miss a day or two of the instructions, so end up throwing it away. And then later I will get a hankerin' for some Amish Friendship Bread, but no start to start it with. Enter the Fermentation Experiment . We found a recipe for the Amish Friendship Bread Starter . The purpose of this recipe is to get the proper fermentation going to successfully bake the bread. The " fermentation of sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast ... is the fundamental step to making bread dough. Before most bread doughs get baked, they require time to rise. Thi...

Dawson has been learning about the basic patterns of all life. One that we studied this week is: Life Runs on Sugar. From The Way Life Works by Mahlon Hoagland, "Sugars are simple, energy-packed chains of three to seven carbon atoms festooned with hydrogens and oxygens ." Sugar is carbon and water fused together. When sugar is heated, it breaks down into it's original carbon and water elements. So, to demonstrate the decomposition of sugar, we did the following experiment: Dawson poured 1/2 cup of sugar into a small pan and heated it until the hydrogen and oxygen were revealed in their natural combined form: water. As it was broken down into the carbon element, it turn into a blackish  color. Once the sugar was caramelized into a liquid form, he slowly added 1/2 cup of water. It sizzled and popped, so he poured slowly and stayed back. Part of it crystalized immediately and it tasted like rock candy. The sugar was decomposed and made into a completely...

Our study on The Human Body is coming to a close, and we are ending it with a study on Nutrition . It has come at the most perfect time. We have been having some "chunkey monkey" issues with our littlest one and using this opportunity to learn about healthy food choices will be very beneficial to her. Brynne and I have been discussing healthy food choices versus non-healthy food choices. We have discussed that eating treats are okay, as long as they do not tip the balance of the Food Pyramid. We read the book Showdown at the Food Pyramid , that demonstrated this perfectly in a cute story! We have referred back to it many times this weekend. Brynne made a large Food Pyramid by cutting out pictures of people exercising, and different foods from the food groups (notice that she put Goldfish crackers in the milk category because they have "cheese" in them). We used the USDA My Pyramid for Kids site to learn about the Food Pyramid. She played the game Blas...

Dawson made edible cells on Friday. He made an animal cell pizza ... and a plant cell chocolate chip cookie ... He reviewed what he's learned about cells the past two weeks, and I had dinner made by someone else. Win, win!! I am linking up at Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.

This week in our study of the Human Body , Brynne moved on to the Nervous System . Our first stop was a Pamela Hill Nettleton book called, Think, Think, Think: Learning About Your Brain . As part of our discussions about the brain , and the fact that it's the BOSS of the body, we discussed the importance of the spinal cord . We did a hands on spinal cord project by alternating gummy Life Savers and wagon wheel pasta on a pipe cleaner. We talked about why there was the "squishy" stuff in between the vertebra and how the back can bend and sway because of it. We completed "The Brynne" by adding the stomach, small intestine and large intestine, from our study last week of the Digestive System (although I just realized I have the large intestine coming out of the stomach, when the small intestine should be) and the brain and spinal cord. We are now done talking about the parts of the body and will conclude our study of the Human Body with a two-day unit ...

This week Brynne and I doubled up on Science! "The Brynne" received her heart and blood vessels. We intended to add her stomach, esophagus, liver, small intestine, and large intestine, but just ran out of time. We'll do that first thing tomorrow. Brynne sewed and stuffed a felt heart. Red and blue yarn were used as blood vessels. We read the two Pamela Hill Nettleton books on the Circulatory and Digestive systems (again, cannot recommend this series of books enough! ) We listened to and measured our heart rates both before and after exercise. We even worked in a couple of extra walks and scooter rides to drive home the point. Brynne listened to Crusoe's heartbeat with her homemade stethoscope from the Y oung Scientists Club's "The Magic School Bus: Journey into the Human Body" kit . We did a Digestor Inspector experiment with a cool gadget we received at the Mad Science! camp Eli and Brynne attended this past summer. It was gros...