My Education Junction

There are a variety of lessons which can be learned using rainbows. Rainbows are the essential tool for teaching ROYGBIV. You can also use rainbows to demonstrate the difference in primary pigment colors versus primary colors of light. Below is an exercise demonstrating the primary colors of pigment.

Rainbow in a Bag

You will need:

Red, yellow and blue food coloring 

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup cornstarch

4 cups cold water

Medium sized pot

3 bowls

3 “Ziplock” style bags- preferably ones made of thicker plastic

1. Mix the sugar and the cornstarch together in the pot. Make sure they are thoroughly blended.

2. Add the water and stir.

3. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens, about 5 - 10 minutes.

4. Divide the mixture evenly into your three bowls. Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl creating three different colors. Mix well. Add enough food coloring to make vibrant colors. Let the mixtures cool.

5. Put a large spoonful of each color into the plastic bag. Seal the bag carefully. Smoosh the mixture together using your finger. The colors will begin to blend creating all the colors of a rainbow. Eventually, the colors will blend to the extent that the mixture will turn gray. No problem - you have 2 more bags, so you can start the fun all over again!

Make a Rainbow Indoors

What you will need:

A glass of water

A mirror small enough to fit inside your glass

Flashlight

A dark room with white or pale colored walls

1.)Fill your glass all the way to the top with water.

2.)Insert the mirror and tilt it diagonally so the mirror points upward

3.)Place the glass in a very dark room and point your lit flashlight directly at the mirror inside the glass. A rainbow should appear on the wall. If you have problems producing a rainbow try to adjust the angle of the mirror.

Explanation- As light passes through the water, the water refracts the light causing the colors to separate.

Filed under: Science, Arts & Crafts on March 28th, 2007 | No Comments »

My grandmother and I made a borax crystal necklace many, many years ago. It wasn’t until recently that I became perplexed by how my grandmother would know how to make such a thing. I find all of my recipes either in books or via the Internet. But when I was a child there was no world wide web. In fact, growing up I didn’t even have cable TV. Our area was so rural that the cable company did not bother to run cable down our road until I was a senior in high school. My grandmother was a very crafty lady, so it should be no surprise that she would be able to concoct such a thing. I only wish I had bothered to ask her how she knew what she knew way back when.

I pulled the borax recipe out of the archives of my mind last weekend. My son and daughter took a trip to COSI, and my son had to buy a crystal making kit. I have a love-hate relationship with such kits. Maybe I have a problem following directions, but my success rate with kits is roughly 50/50. The kit required us to make solution which was then poured over a rock. The claim was that we would begin to see crystals form on the rock in 12 hours. 72 hours later we were to see crystals an inch or more in size protruding from the rock. Days went by and no crystals formed on the rock. Although, small cubicle crystals now encrust the sides of the bowl we used. I suppose a crystal is a crystal, but those on the side of the bowl are not nearly as beautiful or dramatic as what is depicted in the picture on the box.

Needless to say, my son was horribly disappointed. I told him not to worry. His mother was an extraordinary scientist who could create crystals in a matter of hours with a little more than laundry booster. He rolled his eyes. It didn’t take long to convince him, his mother knows how to deliver.

What You Need

1.) 1 wide mouth glass jar

2.) Pipe cleaners, or string

3.) A pencil or pen which is long enough to lay across the mouth of the jar

4.) A washer (to weight down the string -if you choose to use string)

5.) Borax

6.) A pot to boil water in

Directions

In a pot bring to boil approximately 5-7 cups of water. You can adjust this amount based on the size of the jar(s) you may be using. For every cup of water add 3 tbs of Borax. Stir the mixture to insure the borax is completely dissolved. Remove the mixture from the stove and carefully pour it into the jars until the jar is filled to the neck. Curl the end of a pipe cleaner around the pen you will be using. Submerge the pipe cleaner into the solution and allow the pen to hang across the mouth of the jar. You can color the solution with food coloring, though be aware it will take a reasonable amount to create colored crystals. If you decide to use string, tie one end to the pencil, and tie a washer of the other end to insure the length of the string stays submerged. You will begin to see crystals forming within hours. I like to use pipe cleaners as the crystals adhere to the pipe cleaners nicely and the pipe cleaners can be shaped into a variety of designs before being submerged. Imagine the possibilites…flowers, snowflakes, stars, spirals.

Filed under: Rainy Day Recipes on March 26th, 2007 | 2 Comments »

I found this website www.storytimeyoga.com. It looks pretty interesting, so I thought I would pass it along. In the meantime, I have ordered Wai Lana -Little Yogis Vol 1 & 2. I was hoping they would arrive this week so could pass a review along. No such luck. But as soon as we receive it I will let you know if it is a two thumbs up.

Filed under: Uncategorized on March 25th, 2007 | No Comments »

I apologize as this blog is a little out of sorts right now. I have decided to move back to Wordpress, I am working out the kinks. Over the course of the next six months I will be making some significant changes. I hope you will be pleased with the results !

Filed under: Uncategorized on March 18th, 2007 | No Comments »

You will need

• yourself and a partner
• a ball or small toy that will fit on the top side of your feet

What to do

1. Stand facing you partner a few feet apart with your hands by your sides and feet together.
2. Place the soft ball or toy (penguin egg) on the tops of your feet so it sits there, balanced nicely.
3. Waddle towards your partner as they waddle towards you, keeping the egg cautiously perched on your feet.
4. Now is the tricky part! You have to pass the egg to your partner, without the egg touching the ground. If the egg touches the ground and stays there, it will die.
5. Balancing the egg on top of your feet will probably take some practice. Make sure to be extra careful because the chicks life depends on it! Imagine doing this in temperatures

Why do Emperor Penguins do this?

Emperor Penguins spend their entire lives in the icy temperatures of Antarctica. The temperatures are so frigid that if a penguin egg touches the icy ground it freezes immediately. Females transfer the egg by rolling it from her under belly to the top of her feet. She then passes the egg off to the male who keeps it warm under a layer of feather skin, his brood pouch. He huddles with other males taking turns in the interior of the circle in order to stay warm. During this time the male eats nothing. He exists solely on fat reserves while he awaits the return of his mate. Several months later the female returns. At this point he passes the egg back to her and leaves to feed. Days later the egg will hatch.

Creature Facts by National Geographic

Filed under: Science on March 8th, 2007 | No Comments »

6/1/07 I was recently given the opportunity to offer Free Math Printables on a trial basis. Have fun!

While searching the Internet for new math activities for my son, I came across a website which suggested doing M&M Math in conjunction with reading Charlie and Chocolate Factory. I thought that was a wonderful idea that would work well with either M&M Math or Hershey Bar Fractions.

M&M’s can be used to sort, graph, create fractions and make estimates. Give your child a package of M&M’s. Ask them to empty the package, and on the basis of sight alone determine quantities of the various colors. Estimations do not need to be overly complex. They can be as simple as your child stating that red is the most common color or blue is the least. Then have your child sort the M&M’s by color and document the quantities on a bar graph. Now ask your child to order colors on the basis of quantity as documented on the graph. Another activity is to group the colors in twos and create fractions.

There are lots of ways to tailor activities to meet the needs and interests of your children. My son loves to cook. Baking is another great way to reinforce fractions. Consider intertwining the above activities while making M&M cookies. No matter what you decide to do, you are bound to make learning delicious!

Filed under: Math on March 7th, 2007 | No Comments »

It is hard to believe it is already March. In a few short months summer break will be upon us. Because I live in Ohio my posts will focus on Ohio. I am happy to hear from anybody outside of the state who has some great destinations they would like to share.

Below is a list of museums with programs geared towards children. If you are interested in taking your children to more than one of the locations listed below, it is highly recommend that you consider purchasing a family pass from the museum closest to you. Currently, all of the museums listed below participate in a reciprocal program. This means if you hold a pass to one you can receive a discount entrance to the others, or in some cases you might even be able to visit for free. Often reciprocal benefits extend to area zoos making the savings significant.

In upcoming posts I will also list zoos, metro park programs and area attractions. Note- If you are interested in visiting the Cincinnati Museum Center and you don’t live in the area, consider making it a weekend long trip. The museum has more than a days worth of attractions and it is not to far from another great attraction, the Newport Aquarium.

Boonshoft Museum of Discovery- Dayton, OH

Cincinnati Museum Center- Cincinnati, OH

Cosi- Columbus, OH

Cosi- Toledo, OH

Great Lakes Science Center- Cleveland, OH

HealthSpace- Cleveland, OH

National Inventors Hall of Fame -Akron, OH

Wm McKinley Presidential Library & Museum -Canton, OH

The Works: Ohio Center for History, Art and Technology- Newark, OH

Ohio Historical Center- Columbus, OH

Wright Patt Air Force Museum- Fairborn, OH

                                                                                                   

Filed under: Summer Break on March 5th, 2007 | No Comments »