Niagara Falls

On Tuesday, we continued our adventure in Niagara Falls. None of the kids had ever seen the falls and since we were reasonably close we planned to take a day there. It was so hot we spent ourselves on the American side and didn't view the falls from Canada. I was only disappointed that I didn't get to flex my enhanced NY driver's license on the way back through customs. Ah well... We did take a ride on the Maid of the Mist which was lots of fun. I kept asking Dan how much for the wedding package!

View from the platform above the Maid of the Mist dock on the American side of the falls.

This is probably the best view of the American Falls from the US. Check out the mist from the Horseshoe Falls in the background there...you can see that when you cross the Niagara further up river just as you are approaching the city of Niagara Falls.

Approaching the Canadian Falls from the Maid of the Mist

Passing the American Falls on the way back to the dock- on the way up to the Canadian Falls you see these closer up and I could have stood there all day to feel the mist on my face.

The whirlpool- you can just see the cable car you can take over the river from the Canadian side.

It was so dreadfully hot that day that we almost just left after our Maid of the Mist experience, but we managed to pull ourselves together for a drive (on the American side) down to the whirlpool. The whirlpool is where the Niagara river takes a sharp turn and all the water tumbling from the falls can't make the turn so well and goes around before exiting and continuing down the river toward Lake Ontario. E12 took a look at it and was disappointed. He felt the whirlpool was not dramatic enough. Somehow he thought it would be this amazing swirling vortex of water sucking anything down in its path. This thought reminded Dan of something he'd read. Now if you knew Dan in person, you'd know that this is a thing with him. He remembers everything he reads and is able to call it up in conversation at will. It's his super power. Really.

The story was about a lake in Louisiana which drained like a bath tub and emptied completely in a very short amount of time- the whirlpool sucked down fully loaded barges and caused the canal and the connecting Gulf of Mexico to flow north into the hole! Sure enough, Dan found the video of it and shared it with the kids. I just viewed it again to share here with you and I made a wild discovery. The earth science professor they interview is from SUNY Brockport (a State University of NY campus very near where we were camping) and in the background is a portrait of William Pryor Letchworth for whom the state park was named! My point? That just brought all of this together very tidily! Now, watch this video and stand in awe of a remarkable engineering failure which caused a huge whirlpool-yes, it's worth the time! Warning: ignore the typed comments that go with the video! 



Now that was a swirling vortex with some crazy power.

Our trip to Niagara Falls was a success despite the heat- yes...it was even hot so close to Canada! I only wish we could have lingered on the Maid of the Mist that afternoon.

Lentil: Acid-Base Chemistry

As one last activity for our study of Lentil we did some acid-base chemistry. Have you ever used cabbage juice as an indicator? It's very easy to do and it will allow you to test household items for pH- it indicates for both acids and bases. We thought it would be a fun exercise given that Lentil is all about a lemon!

First you cut the cabbage some and boil it in a pot. The juice left behind is the indicator!

I set up the experiment in an egg carton- I so wish my store hadn't switched to cardboard. These make convenient, disposable vessels for all sorts of science.

Our cabbage juice indicator- you can't see the deep purple color here...

J5 used a dropper to put the indicator in the liquid in his egg carton wells and he waited to see the change- which doesn't require much because it changes right away!

The results- the solution turns pink in the presence of an acid and green in the presence of a base. I had no bases on hand! We squeezed the orange into a well after he saw that squirting right on the orange didn't show much change.

I made this quick data sheet for him and he colored in the circles for what turned and what didn't. Then he dictated some narration to me about the experiment. I'll share the final result when I post his notebook pages.

All in all a very satisfying experience! Who doesn't love to use a pipette (we keep disposables on hand) and make things turn colors? We've started Peter Rabbit this week, but I'm looking forward to sharing his notebook pages. Stay tuned...

Space Science

I8 has been asking and asking to continue work in his Magic School Bus space kit. So, the same day J5 worked with chemistry, I did some space science with I8.

He chose to paint the planets to make the mobile.

This involved wires and wire cutters- which we couldn't find so we went with needlenose which did the job.

In the end, the wires are floppy and he had a hard time getting them all together. So, we are going to come up with an alternate design just as soon we can settle in and stop traveling constantly.

Summer is quickly drawing to a close and we are all ready to settle only our schedule is not allowing for it just yet. The soccer coaches are scheduling practices and the fall schedule is resuming even this week. It all happens so fast!

More Field Trip Fun!

Last week while R9 was at her Creative Sew, I took the boys to the science center. It was a fantastic visit. The museum was nearly empty and we had plenty of time to explore. We only had a bit over an hour and the boys and I had a good time.

First stop- building a dam. I7 took care of diverting some water so construction could begin.

Construction is ongoing. All three boys had a hand in the action.

Almost there- this was a great activity for a warm day.

The dam is a little leaky and we discussed the implications...the grooves at the bottom are supposed to allow water to leak in a controlled way.

Impounded water- success!

uh-oh...a structural failure!

Then we moved to "Scope on a Rope". J4 is checking out butterfly wings.

This is a family favorite- the geyser. J4 loves to watch the water come to a boil and shoot out.

There she blows!

This is the backdrop to the geyser on the outdoor science area.

Not a bad way to wait out a sibling's activity! Usually we go to the grocery store. This was much more pleasant for us all.

Stay tuned as tomorrow we will put a maple tree seed under our digital microscope...

Homeschool Science Fair

Our local homeschool group science fair was on Saturday night. It's just a chance for us all to come together and share what we've been doing in our homeschools.

We decided to pull together a summary on our study of caves. The kids did a great job! It was a good review of the material for them and it was nice to see all the other projects.

We gathered some spelunking gear and we had my laptop showing the clip of the fun cave exploration on Dragonfly TV. Plus, we shared the books we read that had caves. Of course, we shared our cave facts.

When a parent came to look at the map of cave locations in the US, she commented on how funny it was that they were clustered together to which R9 commented, "Well they are all together like that because that is where the limestone deposits are." I love it when they learn!

We have turned our attention to volcanoes as we've been studying Italy and reading Red Sails to Capri which has us transitioning from caves to volcanoes (there's a beautiful cave on this volcanic island- I know....smooth on the hand off!) as we continue our earth science focus this year.

Salt Dough Caves

As a last activity in exploring caves, I let the kids make salt dough caves and formations. My kids love working with salt dough. I gathered up some materials for the day including cardboard bases, salt, flour, water, and a few books on caves (note the Caves of the Desert from Saudi Arabia- Dan recently traveled there and brought home this book because it had large pictures with both English and Arabic text- he had forgotten we were doing a unit on caves- very cool)
As always when I want a homemade recipe for goop, I turn to my Kid Concoctions manual. In this case I think the recipe is too wet. So, we modified it and got things going. Making large items like caves, I thought we'd need a double batch. That calls for A LOT of salt. Just so you know.

This gave us a great chance to double a recipe and do some family "living" math. R9 got a great introduction to multiplying fractions by doing this before we made the dough.

I also took the opportunity to review how caves are made and where they are found. Limestone anyone? Right after we got married, we lived in Virginia and I worked at a school in Maryland. I was also going to graduate school. I used to drive from our condo in Virginia to the middle school I worked in and to and from graduate school- all of those rides involved traversing a large limestone deposit. Sinkholes would open up every now and then. One did open and swallow a car on the route between home and graduate school. My carpool partner is the earth science teacher at the school and every time a sink hole made the news he would say, "If one opens up on I-70 that's going to make national news!" Good ol' Garry...such a beacon of hope! One did open up near the entrance to the Genstar Quarrry outside Frederick, Maryland and we used to go by there everyday...hence my colleague's frequent comments. Comments that used to also have a shade of opinion on the quarry's responsibility in sinkholes forming. Ahem.

Anyway, I know all about limestone and water forming caves under the ground. Good times...
R9 LOVES to play with dough, paper mache or anything else that involves getting her hands dirty. The salt did irritate her hands after a while so she did complain about that.
We found the dough was still too sticky and heavy to form a good caves. I had visions of cave formations and all kinds of things. This dough was too dense. Next time..Model Magic!

Below are the finished products and the only one I can easily identify is J4's. Can you pick it out from the rest? The kids grew impatient with the medium for the task. Sometimes a project is like that. I've had a few like that myself.




We didn't have quite enough salt to do the job, but we figured it was close enough. However, I gave E11 the challenge to figure it out using the weight of the package.
But what about the conversion? E11 decided to see how much a cup of salt would weigh. Only we had no salt left...he met this challenge by deciding to try sugar instead. This made for a good conversation on molecular weight and how salt and sugar were different.
Our next stop in the world of earth science is volcanoes. Fun stuff.

Caves- Preschool Style

Hello from Denver, Colorado!

I've been here since Wednesday night enjoying some primo training time at MOPS Int'l headquarters! So, while I have just a moment...I wanted to be sure and update my blog while I can. We've been getting some technology training (so we can connect with moms and MOPS Leaders better) and what a scary thought that if I don't blog for five days- I'm irrelevant! So...here I am! Phew...that was close.

So, you might remember that we've been studying caves. The other night J4 requested a reading on Rocks and Minerals and of course I obliged. How fun that he assisted with his head lamp. He is all about rock types and cross sections of the earth. He likes to point to the different layers and name them.

J4 sports his head lamp while I read about Rocks and Minerals at bedtime- at his request.

Future geologist? Maybe... for now he is just crazy cute with that head lamp. Every kid needs to have one. WAY better than a book light.

I'm looking forward to catching up on the cave reading once I arrive back in NY Sunday evening.

Until then...I will continue experiencing the Rocky Mountain High. The Rockies are still stunning (if you've been reading a while, you might remember I saw them for the first time this time last year and it took my breath away).

And I enjoyed a Sonic drink for the first time on this trip. My MOPS staff prayer partner gave me a Sonic gift card for my birthday in November. I've been waiting to use it here in Denver ever since.

Daily slushie goodness. It's everything I thought it would be.

Cave Study Resources

(Luray Caverns- Luray, Virginia)

Here are a some websites I found which will give you some good pictures of caves or some fun information. The USGS (United States Geological Survey) has a great website full of really nice lesson plans for teachers. We've been reading Angus Lost and talking about cave formations and having a really good time at it.

Show Cave Directory

The Virtual Cave

Exploring Caves USGS teacher packet. This is what I'm using for the bulk of our cave study. It's put together really well with a fictional story they authored that leads you through all aspects of caves.

National Caves Association- gives facts about caves and a state by state look at where the caves are. There's a nice cave science section as well.

Have you ever watched Dragonfly TV? Our kids love this science documentary program with kids as hosts and investigators. I remember watching an episode with a segment on caves. So...I did a little detective work and found myself praising the internet! I can't tell you how awesome it is to have this stuff at your fingertips. The kids couldn't wait to watch the kids explore the cave again.

More Than Skin Deep (A Teacher's Guide to Caves)-this one has a lot of resources and lessons on caves and bats.

That last one is a link from a section of website for the National Science Teachers Assocation (NSTA) of which I am a former member. Turns out they have a lot going on over there to look at and use in SciLinks. How did I EVER manage to teach anything without the internet? Probably a lost art in the classroom teaching world for sure.

Books on Hand:

• The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole
• Caves by Jenny Wood
• The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Our World
  

The Exploring Caves unit mentioned above is really very good. We've had a lot of good discussions and I'm looking forward to doing more with the kids. When we've produced more to look at I will share with them with you. Of course.

For now enjoy the resources. That way the post won't be gigantic when I post some progress.