Rain in a jar
What You Will Need
1 large wide mouthed jar
Hot water
1 ruler
1 plastic sandwich bag
1 rubber band
Enough ice cubes or crushed ice to fill the sandwich bag half full
Directions
Fill the jar with approximately 2 inches of hot water. This is meant to represent a miniture tropical ocean. Insert the plastic bag over the top of the jar allowing half the bag to sit inside the jar . Then use a rubber band around the rim of the jar to secure the bag in place. Fill the bag with ice. Within minutes the air in the jar will become cloudy, As the hot water evaporates it will rise meeting the cool air created by the ice cubes. Within 15-20 minutes the water vapor will condense accumulating on the bottom of the bag. Drops of rain will begin to fall in the jar much like how the fall from clouds when the same conditions occur. Have fun!
Filed under: Science on November 30th, 2006 | No Comments »
What You Will Need
1 egg
White Vinegar
1 large drinking glass or jar
Plastic wrap
Directions
Place the egg in the glass and pour vinegar in until there is enough to cover the egg. Cover the glass with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours. You will notice bubbles starting to form inside the glass. Gently remove the egg with a large spoon. The egg’s shell has begun to dissolve so be extra careful. Refill your glass with fresh vinegar and place the egg back into the glass. Cover the glass and place it back into the refrigerator for another 24-48 hour period. In this time frame the egg shell will have completely dissolved. Once this has occurred remove the egg once again. You should now have a completely translucent egg.
What Happened?
Vinegar contains acetic acid which breaks down the calcium carbonate crystals which make up the egg shell. Calcium ions float freely while carbonate becomes carbon dioxide creates the bubbles that you see in the glass.
Variations
You can also do this experiment using a hard boiled egg. Once the shell has dissolved allow the egg to sit out on a table for 24 hours. The shell becomes hard again. This occurs because the calcium lost while sitting in vinegar is replaced by the calcium dioxide found in air.
Another variation to this experiment is to place chicken bones in vinegar for a 24 hour period. The same chemical reaction occurs, and you are left with bones that are stringy and can actually be tied into knots! Leave them out on a table for 24 hours and they too become hard once again.
Have Fun!
Filed under: Science on November 18th, 2006 | No Comments »
Art and art appreciation should be part of a fundamental learning program in every school. Unfortunately, not all schools have the benefit of a comprehensive art program. Often when budget cuts occur, art and performing arts are the first programs to go. Why is art so important? Art is not simply something you frame and hang upon your wall. It is a visual orator of the thoughts, feelings and societal temperament of our times. It is in art that we find what is important to civilizations both past and present.
Art is a very powerful means of expression. It provides children the ability to see their dreams and visions materialize in the form of something tangible and in a way that they can be shared. If you are home schooling your child or simply looking for ways to feed his or her creativity, check out these great sites for ideas and lessons plans.
Arts Edge
Art Games
Getty
Museum
Hand Papermaking
Invention at Play
Kinderart
Collage Machine
The Artist’s Toolkit
…and a couple of recipes to get you started.
Coffee Dough (fossil stones)
1 cup flour
½ cup salt
1 cup coffee grinds
½ cup cold leftover coffee
Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir into a rough mix. Once this is done knead the dough with your hands on a floured surface until the dough is smooth. Once the dough is smooth tear varying size chunks off and roll until approximately a ½ inch think. Now press a textured item into the dough. This could be a leaf, shells, twigs, almost anything you find in nature. Once an impression has been made in the dough carefully remove the item. Allow the dough to dry in a warm place where it will be undisturbed for several days. If you wish to hang your fossil stone, be sure to create a hole in it while the slab of dough is still wet. You can do so using a dowel rod, straw or nail head.
Starch Finger Paints
2 tbs liquid starch
1 tbs powered tempera
Put starch and tempera in individual bowls depending on the number of colors you are going to create. Stir the mixture until evenly blended. Now you’re ready to finger paint.
Eggshell Sidewalk Chalk
5-6 eggshells
1 tsp flour
1 tsp of hot tap water
Food coloring (optional )
Wash & dry eggshells. Put into bowl and grind into a powder. A mortar and pestle works best. Remove any large remaining pieces. Place flour and hot water in another bowl and add 1 tablespoon eggshell powder & mix until a paste forms. Add food coloring if desired. Shape your mixture into sticks and wrap each in strips of paper towel. Set the sticks aside in a warm undisturbed location. Allow to dry approximately 3 days until hard. Remove paper towel. Voila! You have chalk!
Important Note* Eggshell chalk is for sidewalks only J
Filed under: Arts & Crafts on November 16th, 2006 | No Comments »
Right now I am trying to put a list together of museums which feature a portion of their collection online and offer further educational material in varying areas of interest. As time goes on I will continue to add to the list.
I can’t recall if I have said this in the past, if not I feel it necessary to say now, I never want anyone to construe this site as a collection of electronic babysitting tools. In no way shape or form is that a comment in regards to parenting abilities, but I guess what I am trying to say is that it is easy for a child to substitute an XBox or Gameboy with a computer. Children need parental interaction, so any interactive websites should be considered supplemental to activities you engage in with your child. Museums are wonderful places to learn about both art and history. If you live in a small town, you may not find one that is readily accessible. Use the Internet to discover great works of art or to explore history. Allow that experience to be the stepping stone for your child to create art and discover the history of what lies beyond his or her own front door.
Smithsonian
Chicago Museums of Art
Moma
Eisener Museum Online
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Museum of History and Science University of Oxford
American Museum of Natural History
Vatican Museum
Louvre
Sue at the Field Museum
Cincinnati Museum of Art
Dayton Art Institute
If you know a great site please do not hesitate to leave the web address in the comments. I will add the above sites to the blogroll found on the right hand side of the page as well as any worthwhile sites you care to submit.
Filed under: Arts & Crafts on November 13th, 2006 | No Comments »
One fun way to teach your child about fractions is to have a Hershey Bar /Pizza Party. Pizza is a Friday night tradition at our house, so I used the opportunity to give my son a firm understanding of fractions.
Note** Consider who you order your pizza from, as some pizzerias cut their pizza into squares with triangle corners. A pizza cut in such a manner is probably a bit too confusing. More often than not, our pizzas are cut into 8 fairly equal slices.
When we go to serve the pizza we first count all the available slices. As we put each slice on the plate we consider the fraction amount represented by the remaining pizza.
“One slice for your sister, we now have 7/8 of our pizza left. One slice for you, we now have 6/8 of our pizza left.”You might then ask, “How much pizza has been served so far?”
Once we have an understanding of our pizza fractions-and were done eating of course, we have our dessert.
A Hershey Bar is divided into 12 smaller pieces which can be broken apart in a variety of manners. A normal size Hershey bar is divided into 4 columns with 3 rectangular pieces in each column. Depending on how comfortable your child is, you may choose to have them divide the bar in fourths or ultimately 12 individual pieces.
I start by having my son divide the bar into half. We then break our halves down into quarters until we get to the point that we have divided all of the 12 pieces. Once you are finished, you can let your child to eat fractional portions of the bar. Have them show you what equals ¼ of the bar or ½ of the bar, and then allow them to eat those pieces.
This is by far the tastiest ways I know to teach fractions.
Printable Candy Bar Fractions Worksheet
Primary Resources Pizza Place Challenge
Filed under: Math on November 8th, 2006 | No Comments »
Has your child expressed an interest in learning a foreign language? If so, have you considered what curriculum you might use? Foreign language programs are pricey, and if your child is not motivated to learn a second language, or finds they are not intrigued by the language they have chosen, you may find yourself with $200 of worthless software.
I am currently considering a foreign language program for my son, because I believe it will ultimately give him a greater world view. Later in life it will increase his career opportunities.
The BBC is one of my favorite educational sites because it is so comprehensive. Before you make a purchase, please allow your child to explore BBC Languages. Here they will be able to taste a wide variety of languages including Greek and Mandarin Chinese. If you are looking for more information concerning the benefits of learning a second language at a young age, please read this article by Neil Jeffrey: Learning a Foreign Language
More foreign language sites to come…
Filed under: Foreign Languages on November 6th, 2006 | No Comments »
This is a crafty little experiment which gives children a chance to witness a chemical reaction.
Make your very own volcano with these simple instructions:
What You Need To Get Started
1 Bucket of moist dirt or Salt Play Dough (recipe follows)
1 small plastic soda or water bottle
A baking pan
Red Food Coloring
Liquid dish detergent
2 Tbsp of baking soda
Vinegar
Salt Dough Recipe
6 cups flour
2 cups salt
4 tsp cooking oil
2 cups warm water
Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl. Work the dough by kneading it with your hands until the dough is smooth and firm. If the dough is crumbles add water as needed. You may color the dough with food color if you wish your volcano to have an authentic look.
It is a good idea to cover your working area with a plastic table cloth or newspapers. It is also recommended that your child wear a smock or t-shirt which is normally reserved for painting-this can get kind of messy:)
Fill your bottle with water almost to the top with warm water. Place several drops of food coloring into the water until it is a nice red consistency. Then add 2 drops of dish detergent. Replace the bottle cap.
Place the soda bottle in the center of your baking sheet. Begin to build a mound around the bottle using either dirt or play dough (whatever medium you have chosen) Make sure that you sculpt it to have awide base and narrow top much like a mountain. It is a good idea to keep a cap on top of the bottle while you work. Make sure not to cover the cap. You don’t want dough or dirt to fall inside of the bottle. Once you have built the volcano remove the cap and spoon in several tablespoons of baking soda. Now slowly pour vinegar into the mouth of the bottle. You should see lava bubble up out of the bottle and run down the sides of your volcano.
Here is a slideshow that will show you exactly how a volcano is made.
Filed under: Science on November 5th, 2006 | No Comments »
