My Education Junction

We have been working on a project for the past week where we are dying t-shirts in sunbath.  This is something you could just as easily do on a stovetop, but sometimes I like to do things the hard way because I want the kids to see how things use to be done way, way, way back in the old days. The process stinks- and I mean STINKS, but it is still interesting to see what color the vegetables create.  I will be posting more on this activity next week. We haven’t pulled our shirts from the jars yet, and I wanted a finished project to show you.

In the meantime, a curious thing occurred. After making what was essentially a red cabbage tea it was time to add a mordant to the mixture in order to “fix” the dye. At this point the color of the dye was reddish purple but after adding alum to it it turned a very deep shade of purple almost blue. I found this rather perplexing and wanted to find out why.

Red Cabbage is a natural acid-base indicator. So in adding alum to my solution the cabbage mixture immediately turned blue indicating a base had been added.

Here is a PH scale

0 is a very strong acid (bright red)

3 - 5 is a weak acid (hot pink)

7 is neutral (liliac)

8 - 9 is a weak base (dark purple- blue)

13 - 14 is a very strong base. (green-yellow)

Want to try this experiment?

This is what you need:

Fresh red cabbage

A sharp knife

A cutting board

Hot tap water

You will need a cup for each household substance you test

A spoon for each corresponding cup

A large plastic bottle or glass jar

A range of the household substances which may include: (acids) toilet cleaner, vinegar, lemon juice, (neutrals) pure water or baby shampoo, (base) baking soda, liquid dish soap or milk of magnesia.

This is what you do:

Cut your red cabbage into small chunks and place in a plastic bottle or glass jar. Now fill the container to the top with hot tap water, and allow the container to set for approximately 20 minutes or until the mixture has cooled. Once the mixture has cooled, strain the cabbage from the mixture but retain the liquid because it will serve as your base-acid indicator. Take the liquid and pour it evenly in the glasses you will be using to test your household substances. Add one household substance per cup and stir. What color is the liquid now?

Below you can see some of our photos. I apologize because the lighting isn’t the best. We used baking soda, vinegar and dish detergent.  The baking soda changed our solution to a blue, vinegar to a hot pink and our dish detergent appears to be more on the neutral side because it really had very little affect when it came to changing the color.

Filed under: Science on June 30th, 2007 | 2 Comments »

1.) I want my children to know what it is to be passionate in their pursuits. I want them to find that one things that gives meaning to their life, something that they would give all that they have to without regret and without a contingency plan.

2.) I want my children to know the meaning of loyalty and friendship. So many of us are committed to a degree which suits us. To be loyal to another is to do so is without expectation, without judgment and to continue to stand by another even when their reputation may cast shadows upon us.

3.) I want my children to know what it is to love a child. Before I had my children I thought I knew what love was, but the love I feel for my children surpasses anything I have ever known or will ever know. It washes over you and fills you with such emotion you think your heart might burst. So kids, I hope your hearts bursts with love.

This post is a submission for the June MamaBlogga writing project. Today is the last day for entries so hurry up and get your entry in!

Filed under: Uncategorized on June 30th, 2007 | 13 Comments »

When I was a girl, I loved spending the night at my girlfriend Melia’s house. Aside from the fact that she had horses her mother always made us crepes for breakfast. I would marvel at that super thin pancake and wonder how she ever got it so thin and yet managed to flip it without tearing it in two. Sometimes she would make them with jelly in the middle, sometimes with cream cheese and fruit.

Do this day I am still not able to make a crepe- not even a pancake for that matter. I would like to think it is my lack of good cookware  that has prevented me from doing so- it might just be me. But I can’t help but think if only I had a really awesome crepe pan, I would be eating crepes again.

****This is a sponsored post****

Filed under: Sponsored on June 30th, 2007 | No Comments »

The average age for children who experiment with drugs and alcohol is roughly 12 years old. While people think experimentation is a normal right of passage when it comes to being a youth, many children will find themselves very susceptible to drug and alcohol addiction.As anything in life, drug use follow trends of the times. One of our nations most prevalent and addictive drugs is currently methamphetamine. With the production and distribution of methamphetamine on the rise children, teens and young adults find easy access to this highly addictive drug. Parents who once believed drug addiction would be the least of their worries are now finding that the attraction of drugs can permeate into the homes of even those with the best of intentions and sound parenting skills.

It is often hard for most parents to accept that their children are users. They are often wrought with disbelief followed by anger and embarrassment. Many of us wouldn’t think twice about sharing our difficulties as parents, but we shutter to at the thought of divulging our children have a drug or alcohol problem. We are afraid that admission is by virtue a glimpse of what we practice and accept within our home.

There are many resources available on the web that can help you navigate through these troubled waters. Whether you are looking to gain a greater understanding of addiction or wanting unbiased information concerning drug rehabilitation, there are is a world outside your door of parents, addicts and recovering addicts who are looking to share information. Don’t let fear or shame stand in the way of finding answers and achieving recovery.

***This is a sponsored post***

Filed under: Uncategorized on June 30th, 2007 | No Comments »

Earlier in the week I had stated that I would be adding other Mother Goose Rhymes. I am just going to add the PDF to the library section. I have so many other things I am attempting to do right now, I just don’t want to cram too many things in all at once. Anyhow, the file will be there if you are interested. You might wonder what is the point of having something like Little Mother Goose in PDF form? Well, for me personally, I like being able to access a single page and printing that page for my purposes. I  have the advantage of doing what I see fit without the hassle of making photocopies or defacing a book.  And of course it goes without saying, but the illustrations are great collages, scrapbooking or altered books.

Moving on…
I am going to try to post in a more organized fashion. I would like to dedicate certain days to predetermined subject matter. For instance Science Saturdays or Math Mondays. I still need to work out the details in between, but I think doing this will create a better balance of subject matter.

Sponsored Posts… In the very near future you will be seeing sponsored posts on this blog. I don’t know if this is even worth mentioning, but I do know some people have a very definite opinion of paid postings and it is far from positive. I don’t want to distract from the theme of my blog, but at the same time I do want to add printables on a permanent basis and this requires a publishing license. Publishing licenses are not free. With that being said I need to find a way to make printables available without sticking my mitts into the household kitty. I hope you understand.

Expect to see the first Science Saturday starting tomorrow…

Filed under: Uncategorized on June 30th, 2007 | No Comments »

You have probably noticed the Storynory widget in my sidebar by now. I most certainly should have given it a proper introduction, but often I get sidetracked. So before anymore time passes, allow me to introduce Storynory.

Story Nory offers free podcasts of classic children’s stories. As it stands, they have 75 in their library and there are plans to add more. In today’s world where our children spend their time playing with things like Wii, Storynory maybe a little too low tech for some tastes. Afterall, why would anyone want to listen to a story when they can watch a DVD, and then play the movie themed video game on their PSP?

Storynory offers the opportunity for a child to use his/her imagination as they paint the imagery of the story within their own minds without any further visual influences. What better way to entertain and engage on a long car ride than to have your child listen to various stories and draw the characters and scenery as they see it in their minds eye. Another option is to allow you child to listen to the first half of a story and then write their own conclusion to the story. Once they are done have them listen to the ending. How was there ending the same? How was it different?

So use Storynory to entertain. Better yet use it as an exercise for the imagination, because with all the widgets and gidgets in the world creativity is losing ground.

Filed under: Creative Thinking, Reading on June 28th, 2007 | 3 Comments »

Filed under: Summer Break on June 27th, 2007 | 12 Comments »