Boats

Taz's science experiment in LHFHG today was to make a boat out of aluminum foil, and then see how much weight it could hold before sinking. What we discovered, as evidenced by the Lego starship floating in Crawdad's boat to the right, is that aluminum foil is surprisingly buoyant. :P

 We started our experiment out by making lovely green water. 

Then Taz and I tried to fashion some sort of object that was sort of boat shaped, yet would still float. 

The boys started out just making giant foil squares that would hold their Lego's. 

But we eventually got around to making slightly more marine shaped creations.  I thought this little sailboat turned out fairly well, even if it does seem to be taking on water. :P

Below, the boys sail their sailboats while Taz tries to reattach the sail to hers. 

 Displayed to the right are the finished creations of our water color extravaganza earlier in the week. From the top left: my flower, Cub's tree, Crawdad's sunset, and Taz's.......modern art? :P

Below is a pic Taz painted the following day. She attempted to recreate Crawdad's sunset painting, and honestly, we thought she did a fantastic job. :)

 In addition to boats and painting projects, this week Cub:

*Completed 5 days of SL history and Bible, finishing The Shining Company and starting The Gammage Cup

*Suffered through 4 days of pre-algebra

*Did 4 days of chemistry (and was very thankful that Mama put off the physics portion of his physical science course until next semester. He really loves chemistry. He really does not love physics.), and read 4 sections of his archeology book

*Did 3 days of grammar, skipped spelling, and started his next unit of writing in IEW

*Played in Band and drums class on Thursday, attended 2 days of Karate, passed his Trek verses, sat in on Who is God? with his brother, listened to me read Rascal and Reddy Fox (not his read alouds, but he likes to listen in anyway :)), went to piano lessons, and practiced at home (below)....and yes, those are small, glittery Christmas trees on our piano. Taz couldn't bear to have us pack them away last Christmas, so they have stayed out and enjoyed many hours of playtime instead. I have weird kids, I know. I'm pretty sure they come by it honest. :P

 This week Crawdad:

*Completed 4 days of Preparing, including several notebooking pages, a timeline card, and a written narration

*Listened to 4 days of Apologia science (whales), along with his assignments on the tundra in Preparing

*Changed fractions to decimals to percents in math (and tutored his brother on the same when similar problems came up in Cub's review section, and he didn't quite remember how to work them) along with some review concepts

*Read 4 days in his Bible, and worked through 4 days of Who is God? with me

*Completed 4 days of grammar, skipped spelling, and attempted a creative writing assignment. I think I'm glad we're starting IEW next week. Maybe more technical writing instruction will suit him better.

Crawdad's written narration, his drawing of Noah's Ark, and his timeline cards (creation and the flood)

Taz, along with floating boats and making watercolor pictures, enjoyed 4 days of other activities in LHFHG, like practicing reading and doing math, learning that snakes have special clear eyelids, being completely enthralled by Reddy Fox, memorizing "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." She also had a teensy bit of a hard time in OT this week and is fighting me tooth and nail over her audio therapy. I think the culprit might be a growth spurt, since she's consuming massive (for her :P) amounts of food and conking out an hour before her usual bedtime.