When I look at the expectations of arithmetic and numeracy development for a child between 5 and 10, first to sixth grade, and even beyond, with few exceptions of specifics, Lily demonstrates regularly her comprehension and functional use of the concepts that are expected of these years in conventional schooling. Then, I look beyond these […]
Out of Africa, Or….
It started with the Croods… and then we watched a variety of videos (noted below) that explored the origins of humans, potential adaptations and various “types” of human through the last 40,000 years, and even explored a couple existing societies that we have collectively determined are the closest representations we presently have of a previous […]
10 Rainforest Creatures That Defy Imagination
Our exploration for this morning, before we jump into our latest Tinkercrate – Artbots. While the rainforest only covers an estimated 6% of land, it serves as a home to over half of the species of plants and animals on earth. We read about many species that inhabit the rainforest everyday like gorillas, orangutans […]
Our Unseen World
This is a new series we are watching on Netflix The Electromagnetic Spectrum The heat produced by the Sun travels from the Sun to the Earth via waves known as electromagnetic waves. These waves can vary greatly in their wavelength. Have you ever thrown a rock into a lake? What happens when you throw a […]
She Asked… Oil
She asked about oil, where it comes from and how it gets processed so we can use it in cars, etc.. We have spent most of today exploring how crude oil has formed, how it is extracted, refined, and finally delivered for our consumption. We’ve also talked about fracking for natural gas, the uses of […]
LED Robots
Today we built two robots and gave them sight! Lily worked on this project as her first project selection from her Tinkercrate and we had a great experience. She and I read through the directions, she assembled the components, and we set to work placing resistors, LED’s, and copper taping in a pattern on a printed […]
Circuitry, Electrons, Atoms, and Catfish
A post under development – as we work through her Tinkercrate (Circuits) this week: Today we read through the Tinkerzine, learning about the basics of electrons, the concepts of particles within an atom, the structure and concept of an atom, how electrons behave, the difference between a particle, an atom, and a molecule, and discovered […]
Revisiting the Compass
We’re exploring the history of the last two thousand years or so, and beyond… We reached the year 300, in which we learned the Chinese invented the magnetic compass, later turned into a navigational tool around 1000. A few years back, Lily made a compass out of a little boat in a bowl of water. […]
Titanic, Hindenburg, H2O, and Plasma
We began our day talking about H2O, then discussed the Titanic, then the Hindenburg, then Mark Twain, then helium, then steam and how the Titanic was powered, which led to evaporation and the water cycle, and how snow is formed. We then studied snow under the microscope, and then onto the Plasma ball and conductivity. […]
A Googol & A Light Year – That's How Big
Yesterday and today… We’ve been playing with the abacus, learning about the Orders of Magnitude (what we call each major transition in numbers, as they increase exponentially), and multiplication via sets thanks to a few beads on sticks. Yesterday, we talked about how, with each added zero, we increase the size/amount of the number. She’s […]