Living books plus hands-on investigation are hallmarks of a Charlotte Mason (CM) education. Our study of rocks & minerals was right along those lines.

I wanted to start off with something that would immediately get Sprite enthusiastic about the topic, so I assigned her to choose any four rocks from our collection and fill out the Rock Detective page from Considering God’s Creation. CGC is a wonderful resource for elementary level science and nature study. You can read my review of this curriculum here.

Hands-on study of rocks and making notes.

Testing hardness with a scratch test and a steel file.

Sprite adored studying the rocks in this way and did more than the four I asked her to do.

Then we did some reading from living books, tying in the facts in the books to what Sprite had already experienced with her rock exploration.

Books

• Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (yes, the new, used, library discard one!)
• DK Eye Wonder Rocks and Minerals
• My First Guide:  Rocks and Minerals

I’m so glad we had the Kingfisher Encyclopedia because the two other books, although good books, are a bit too simplistic for 5th grade Sprite.

Then Sprite compiled all she’d learned into this brilliant notebooking page.

Next we went back to some hands-on work. Sprite used a flow chart from Earth Logic: Our Dynamic Earth, part of the Science Logic curriculum, to identify some rocks I selected for her.

Careful observation.

Testing a reaction with vinegar and more filing.

And of course, documenting it all in the science notebook.

Next step was focusing on the Moh’s Hardness Scale. Sprite did a fantastic job on this notebooking page. The part that most impressed me was her chart at the bottom. I noticed rocks there that were not in the hardness diagrams of our book, and when I asked her how she chose them, she said she tested the hardness of the rocks herself. I was so excited that she trusted her own observations and didn’t feel a need to simply copy the book.

We then shifted to the computer for watching some great visuals of the rock cycle.

Excellent Websites

That image was a good base, but it was a bit tiny, so I started to whip up some printable rock cycle pieces using Publisher. Voila! I had a moment of inspiration. Instead of giving her the pieces, I should have her make the pieces herself.

When I was a public school teacher, I heard a lecture by another teacher who asked a very penetrating question, “Who is doing all the work? You or the students?” This was Charlotte Mason’ s problem with unit studies, too. She felt the teacher did too much digesting and repackaging the information rather than letting the child do that.

So instead of giving Sprite pieces to cut out, I gave her directions for making the pieces. And then she used them to demonstrate the rock cycle. This is her finished product. Then, of course, I asked her to use her diagram to explain (narrate) the rock cycle.

I now feel confident that she understands the processes in the rock cycle. And she told me (again) that she loves making things like this. I know that not all children enjoy creating with paper, but this style fits Sprite to a tee. The document I created can be downloaded on the Freebies page or directly from here.

The document does include the printable pieces which were my original idea. Feel free to use those if your child does not benefit from or enjoy making things himself.  We are all different, and you may not want to invest as much time in the rock cycle as we did.

Related posts:

1. Unit Studies and Charlotte Mason
2. Charlotte Mason Carnival
3. Charlotte Mason Carnival

This is probably the main reason I love doing science experiments with Sprite:

Look at that face. The wonder, the joy of discovery. This is hardly work. This is science play!

So although it’s sometimes a hassle to find the supplies, set it all up, and then clean up afterwards, it’s so worth it.

Not all experiments are so glamorous. Here is one where Sprite built a simple scale and measured the weights of various objects.

But this one about density and miscibility was very, very impressive! In fact, Sprite asked if she could duplicate it for fun. This is the second time she did it.

[Visit At Home Science for more details about the experiment.]

The yellow is water. The blue is rubbing alcohol, and the bubbles are oil. Nothing mixed up. It was fascinating, and I admit, we both stared at if for many minutes. Sprite injected more and more oil into the bubble to see how big she could make it. It was mesmerizing.

Then I let Sprite play around, devising her own experiments, “I wonder what happens if I ….”

I love that kind of scientific play. I suppose I should use the word “experimentation” versus play. But what’s the difference, really? She’s enjoying interacting hands-on with the concepts we’re studying in her chemistry curriculum.

I was very impressed when Sprite used the word viscous in talking about pancake syrup a couple of days after an experiment. For Sprite, the activities really cement the ideas. So they are worth the preparation and clean up.

I’ve already bought a steel file in preparation for our rocks and minerals study. Can’t wait for that one.

Related posts:

1. Owl Pellet Science Experiment
2. Vinegar Chemistry
3. Chemistry Equipment

It was time! The questions were coming, and I was totally unprepared. I had not even one book that explained the “facts of life.” Does every parent think that this time comes far sooner than expected? I sure did!

I did my best to research online and made some book selections from Amazon. A couple of weeks later, I was armed with some top notch books to answer my daughter’s questions about human reproduction. I reviewed two of the best choices at The Curriculum Choice:  It’s So Amazing! and What’s the Big Deal? Read them and be more prepared than I was.

PS.  If you enjoy reading The Curriculum Choice, please vote for it in the Best Family or Group Blog category and Best Curriculum or Business Blog category at the Homeschool Blog Awards.

Sprite with Elements Lapbook

We assembled another lapbook this week. We’ve been collecting these minibooks for several months now. Sprite does a few minibooks each week, usually after a science lesson as her narration activity.

We took pics outside when we went to free our latest nature study object — a grasshopper.

For the cover, Sprite made a drawing of Mendeleev working on the Periodic Table of the Elements. We loved her drawing so much that I scanned it and printed it out rather than use the original on the lapbook.

The whole set of pics can be found at Flickr.

Elements Lapbook

Super Long Accordion Book

Some of what we used can be found linked at Chemistry Lapbook.

But the vast majority of the minibooks came from blanks that I prepared beforehand. Sprite chose whichever one best suited the information she wanted to record. I find that lapbooking in this way is really the simplest and most creative method. I don’t have to spend a lot of time creating or printing out fancy templates with clipart and such. I just offer blank books to be filled in by Sprite.

Related posts:

1. Light and Color Lapbook

We’re studying chemistry! And what’s a chemistry study without a Periodic Table of Elements? You know that simply printing out a copy is not enough for us. Oh no. Instead, I had Sprite make her own wall chart.

Working on Periodic Table Chart

We actually started adding elements during our reading of The Mystery of the Periodic Table. (I highly recommend the book. You can read my review of The Mystery of the Periodic Table at The Curriculum Choice.) Many elements were known to ancient scientists and alchemists, and we filled those in first. Of course, those elements are ones that most of us are very familiar with such as gold, silver, iron, and copper.  When we studied hydrogen, we added it in. Then we took a more systematic approach and filled in the gaps group by group.

Chemistry

Filling in the Chart

I bought the periodic table chart as a PDF template from Etsy for only $3.

(For a one page, much smaller, but free version, visit this PDF blank printable periodic table.)

It’s finished now and hanging in a place of honor right above the new world map. I’m sure we’ll refer to it many, many times as we continue our study of chemistry.

Completed Periodic Table

Sprite with Solar Eclipse Lapbook

When we started using lapbooks in Kindergarten, I didn’t know if we’d continue using them throughout the years or if lapbooking would taper off. At one point I thought we’d transition solely to notebooking. But Sprite still enjoys making minibooks, so we haven’t given up lapbooks altogether. Sometimes we mix up lapbooking and notebooking, too.

Yesterday was a good example of another lapbooking transition. I asked Sprite how she would like to narrate her solar eclipse experience, and she chose making a lapbook.

To give her a bit of structure, I listed five questions she should address in some way:

1.  What is a solar eclipse?

2.  What are the stages in a solar eclipse?

3.  How should you watch an eclipse?

4.  What parts of China could see the eclipse?

5.  What did you experience today, July 22, 2009?

She used newspaper clippings, blank minibooks that I’d already prepared, and her own creativity to devise with this simple lapbook.

Cover of Solar Eclipse Lapbook

Inside of Solar Eclipse Lapbook

How to Watch an Eclipse

Related posts:

1. We Saw the Eclipse!
2. Magnets Lapbook
3. Light and Color Lapbook

Sprite and I saw our first ever solar eclipse today! (Dad has seen one before, but he found it just as fascinating as we did.)

Can you see the sliver of light inside the box Sprite is holding? That’s the image we saw through our pinhole viewer. You can see how much of the sun was blocked by the moon, but still it was so bright that Sprite had to close her eyes against the sun.  (This is posed just for a photo. I wanted her face with the eclipse image together. In the other photos you can see how we used the pinhole viewers to observe the eclipse.)

When I realized last night that from where we live we would be able to view the solar eclipse, I scurried around searching for information about how to safely view an eclipse. We constructed two viewers, packed a small bag with extra foil, tape, and pins,  and planned some places to watch. As it turned out, our own apartment complex was perfect! And we were able to share our viewers with our neighbors who were using unsafe methods (x-rays, exposed photo film, sunglasses, binoculars, & cardboard with holes in it).

Here is my husband, setting up the viewer and showing our neighbors how it works.

Here is one of the first views we had of the eclipse. Just a tad of the sun is blocked by the moon.

The media here was not warning people of the dangers of looking directly at the sun. In fact when I studied the local newspaper for an eclipse time schedule, I saw two photos of children wearing something like 3D theater glasses and another photo of people looking through a telescope!

Here are neighbors using X-rays to view the eclipse. NOT SAFE; DO NOT TRY THIS.

The sun is behind Sprite and entered a small pinhole at the end of the tube that’s over her shoulder. The image of the sun appeared at the other end which we viewed through a window cut in the side of the tube. This tube was perfect! Thank you, Amazon! (I ordered a map recently.)

The cereal box viewer (yes, this is Chinese Trix)  was adequate but because it was shorter did not provide as large of an image as the tube pinhole viewer.

Here’s a view of the eclipse in the cereal box.

As time went on, more of the sun was eclipsed.

And even more.

You can see that it’s getting darker around us.

Now just a sliver of the sun is left.

The streetlamps came on, and traffic stopped. In our area, we did not have a total, 100% eclipse.  According to our local newspaper, our eclipse was 99.9% though. It did get dark, but not totally black.  The power of the sun amazed me at that moment. I was getting only .1% of the sun’s light, and although it was dark, I could still see around me! Another observation was the immediate cool that we felt as the sun’s rays were blocked. Of course, we know scientifically the power of the sun, but to experience it in this way was quite stunning to me.

Then in about two minutes, the sky started to brighten, just like a very speedy dawn. We watched the sun’s image grow larger and larger in our pinhole viewer until everyone else had wandered off and the ladies brought their vegetables out to dry in the sunshine.

Back inside, I gave Sprite a list of questions about a solar eclipse; she chose to answer them with a lapbook. I’ll blog that tomorrow since she’s still working on the cover.

Related posts:

1. Independent Lapbook — Eclipse

Even though she’s ten, I still read books aloud to Sprite.   I enjoy our time together and the shared memories we create through reading. And the best part is that I can sneak in some learning without it being considered “school.” We’ve been taking summer break mainly because her local friends are on vacation now and have time to play. But reading books is plain fun!

Our latest read was The Dragon in the Cliff by Sheila Cole.  I previewed the book first on a four hour bus ride, and loved it so much that I wanted to immediately share it with Sprite.  It is the story of Mary Anning, a working class girl who at the age of 15 found the world’s first complete ichthyosaur fossil. Because of the prejudices against women at that time, she did not receive credit for her discoveries. Even worse, she was misunderstood and despised by her community because searching for fossils was considered inappropriate for a young girl.

I loved this book for two main reasons. First, it shows how far women have truly come in just 200 years. For example, in the book women are assumed to be unable to understand science. I knew that Sprite would find the attitudes toward girls inconceivable. And she did. But it’s important to me that she understand the prejudices that existed and be thankful for the amazing freedoms and opportunities she now has. Secondly, it is a great book to stimulate discussions about science –dinosaurs, creation, evolution, and paleontology. We re-read The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible to answer some of the questions that came up in The Dragon in the Cliff.

The ichthyosaur is actually considered an aquatic reptile rather than a dinosaur. But who knows? Scientists are basing these ideas on bones only. From the fossil record, we know it gave birth to live young, so maybe it was a mammal.  To get an idea of the size of this creature, look at this dramatic image of an ichthyosaur fossil at National Geographic. It is assumed to be similar to dolphins.

As things often work out, while we were in the midst of the book,  I saw this cool glue resist craft featured at Crafty Crow. Perfect! It was a great hands-on activity to complement the reading of the book.

First we sketched the fossil.

Then we used white glue to go over the “bones.”

We let it dry for a day before adding a light wash of paint.

Here is Sprite’s fossil art.

And of course, I had to do it too! Here is mine.

Related posts:

1. Dinosaurs

You all know the wonderful reaction you get when you mix baking soda with vinegar. Well we took it up a notch and created a full fledged experiment with it! Part of our chemistry curriculum is studying the scientific method and performing an experiment. Sprite wanted to test three types of vinegar and see which one would create the greatest reaction.

We used our graduated cylinders to measure out equal portions of vinegar

and baking soda

We did a few trial runs to determine exactly how to measure the reaction. We ended up timing the bubbles and measuring the distance of the foam.

Although her hypothesis was wrong, she did learn more about vinegar’s reactions. We also made the red cabbage litmus test to compare the acidity of each type of vinegar.

This was a really easy and practical experiment for us to do! I consider it a success. She took detailed notes and wrote up a nice lab report.

Related posts:

1. Chemistry Equipment
2. Joy of Science Experiments
3. Hydrogen and the Hindenberg

Tower from Straws and Tape

This  assignment from the Livingmath.net curriculum was not an easy project because there were no directions, just an assignment — build a tower from straws.  Never having constructed anything like this nor ever having seen a straw tower, I was rather frustrated at the lack of detail offered. I mean, how can we make something that we have no concept of at all?

I could only find one resource that had directions — How to Build a Straw Tower Capable of Holding a Baseball. So we roughly followed the guidelines laid out there, and it worked. Sprite and I are not short on creativity, but we certainly need some sort of foundation to work on. The article fit the bill. Here are our steps.

First we had to cut off the bendy part of each straw. Then we made a triangle and a square to compare the strengths of each shape. It was easy to see that a triangle is much stronger than a square. But we followed our directions and made an octagon base pentagon base. (Whoops! Thanks, Chaz, for pointing out my error.)

For the side structures, we made long pieces from six straws by inserting straws into other straws.

We used tape to reinforce the joints. Here are our completed base and sides.

Then we began connecting the sides to the base. Just taping this thing together was tricky! We tried lots of ways before we found methods that worked. We used a LOT of tape. But there was nothing in the directions about being pretty. The one criteria was that it hold a baseball.

We also constructed a center support. Then we were exhausted and tired of yellow straws! So things got a bit silly!

The next day, we resumed work on the tower. We trimmed it to a shorter height and added horizontal  supports all around. Not pretty, by any means, but it was strong! Now the test. Here is Sprite, gingerly testing the structure with a baseball.

IT WORKS!