Weather Boy

How can "school" possibly compete with this room?

It is actually Samuel's bedroom.  Every single paper you see he has handwritten and it is in someway related to the weather.  Specifically hurricanes.  When I walked into his room to take these pictures he was finding out the latest statistics on hurricane Sandy.

The picture above is a favorite he posted on Instagram "What to Wear Forecast"  - Now he knows exactly what to wear depending on the high and low temperature of the day!

Where and when did he learn percentages? Making graphs? Maybe I missed that day of homeschool...
These numbers represent the probability of a hurricane passing through the county where we live.

Slowly but surely I am becoming a believer in unschooling.  But make no mistake...I'm kicking and screaming all the way...

Coral Polyp

Science exploration this year has been exciting for Samuel.  Today it was especially yummy!

As he begins to study  Coral Reefs he has had to draw maps, read books, and today he made a coral polyp with a banana (body) rolled in chocolate syrup (calcium carbonate coating) dusted with candy sprinkles (helper algae/coral tissue) and rice noodles (tentacles).

And then he ate it...yummy!

What are the parts of an animal cell?

Samuel's answer to this question?
Probably the same as the parts of a human cell.

During Unit 10 of school, as Samuel studied about dinosaurs in science, we explored animal cells.  Science is one of the subjects he studies independently, even though I like to supervise the experiments.
Here are a few pictures of how he built a model of an animal cell to find the answer to this question.

Reading instructions.

Mixing cornstarch and water for cytoplasm.

Wax paper is the membrane, conrstarch mixture is cytoplasm. Blue object in center is nucleus.

Marshmallows are vacuoles, which store food/waste.

Jelly beans are mytochondria (produces energy).

What did Samuel find out? 

He was right!

Rain in the Desert

Why does water disappear so quickly in the desert after it rains?

 Well, to answer this question, Samuel created a desert with soy butter...

 crushed cereal...

 pressed firmly, and....

rain!

Conclusion: The water was not absorbed because the sand was too thick.

This was the last day to study the desert (science) which has ignited extracurricular planning time for a trip to Saguaro National Park.

Backyard Friends*

 Cardinal and Painted Bunting

 Mockingbird

 Pigeon

Chickadee

*Thank you Delina for taking these pictures while standing outside in the cold!

Nature Study - April 1, 2011

On our Spring/Summer schedule Science is scheduled for Fridays and it is a favorite. Even the twins come out to learn!

 Every season we study the same tree to observe and document the changes.  We chose a Post Oak in the front of our  house, observed the makings of an acorn and buds in the tree.

Inspection of the trunk was necessary in order to find if any insects were using it as a home or restaurant...

They chose Post Oak leaves and stamped them for the Nature Book - and picked up old acorns to compare with new.