Jupiter and Saturn

We're still enjoying our solar system unit from Elemental Science.  Last week we learned about Jupiter and this week we're learning about Saturn.  Seriously, space is so flippin' cool!  I cannot wait till we visit the Planetarium.  I think it'll be the perfect field trip to go along with this unit.  

They taped a bunch of paper together so
they could make this huge Jupiter.
And then they worked together to color it.

It's almost as big as Chaycers!

Taping it on the wall with our other planets.  We realized after putting Jupiter up that our sun needed to be a bit bigger so, we fixed that...you'll see in our Saturn picture. 

Vann's drawing the
rings on Saturn.

Now they're coloring it. 

Adding it to our solar system.  See how we made the sun a little bigger.  And it's not near as big as it should be, but they know it's ginormous compared to the planets.

Chayce helping to tape it up on the wall. 

Vann sat down and drew the other day.  I think he is just like Chris with his artistic abilities.  Chris can draw and sculpt clay and paint so super well, it's amazing!  I do not have any of those talents, sorry boys lol.  I would love for him to explore drawing more.  But I'm all about just letting the boys dive into whatever their hearts desire.  My job is to make sure they have all the tools they need and then to give them the time and space to make their magic happen!

He's drawing a pixel...it's from a Wii game, Paper Mario.

Pretty good right?!  I like him.  

Chayce spotted a pretty bird outside the other day.  He quick went and grabbed his binoculars so he could see him more closely.  

And then later that day he ran inside and said 'Mom you have to come see the sunset!'  Holy gorgeousness!!  It was breathtaking.  We all stood outside for awhile enjoying all the pretty colors.  So so cool!

Solar System

We started our unit on the Solar System this week.  I am so so into this stuff!  Yesterday I said, 'I want to be an astronomer when I grow up!'  Chayce said, 'Uh Mom you are already old.'  Very funny Chaycers, very funny.  I don't want to go into space or anything crazy like that.  But I do want to learn more about it...it's so unimaginably ginormous.  I like it.  And I love that I get to dive into it with the boys.  Our unit is a little over 2 months long so hopefully I'll get my fix!  

Coloring his planets.

They worked together to
make a solar system.

They've been interested in this stuff for years now.  Just look at our book...it's literally falling apart it's been read so many times!  Here's a link to a similar book by my fav National Geographic.  The one we have was from a school Scholastic flyer back when Vann was in preschool. 

We got a new book this year...it's pretty sweet...First Space Encyclopedia.  It's full of great pictures and lots of cool info.  It'll get much use over the next few months!

Their solar system!  The planets they colored were templates from the curriculum we're using.  And Pluto is included, but they know it's a dwarf planet.  

Chayce's galaxy using chalk pastels.  

Vann's galaxy.

I'm really excited about the next 2 months.  I plan to take the boys to the Adler Planetarium downtown to explore and learn even more.  I think it will be a fun time!  What about you...do you find space as cool as I do?!

All About Rocks

For the next few weeks we are learning all about rocks.  So far the boys have collected rocks, made rock candy, learned about how different rocks are formed, fun stuff like that.  I love geology.  I took a class in college (way back in the day) and it was one of my most fav classes ever.  So re-learning about it with the kids has been pretty cool!

They loved collecting rocks.

You may think they would just scoop up a handful of rocks and be done, but they didn't.  Each rock was carefully selected before it was put into their container.  

After they collected some rocks, they picked a few of their most favs.  

They drew them in their workbooks and wrote why they liked them the best.

We haven't started our preschool curriculum just yet...next week yay!  But I still found ways to keep Ash busy while the older boys did their school.  

This little dude loves to cut.  He will sit and cut and cut and cut until the table is full of itty bitty pieces of paper.  I love it!

So focused...lil' cutie!

Making rock candy!  It takes a few weeks for the rock candy to form so for now we wait and watch.  Every day the boys check to see how many more sugar crystals have formed.  They get really excited when they notice more on the string or top of the glass!

Here are a few of the books we've enjoyed reading while learning all about rocks...

National Geographic: Everything Rocks and Minerals
Let's Go Rock Collecting
If You Find a Rock
I Wonder Why Stalactites Hang Down
Extreme Rocks & Minerals
Caves: Mysteries Beneath Our Feet

And we've also used this Rock On! game...the kids love this one!  

Clouds

The boys enjoyed learning about clouds.  They were super into getting all the names of each type down.  I even learned quite a bit during this week of lessons too!  We got this great book from the library that was very helpful in learning about clouds...Clouds by Anne Rockwell.  

Here they are using cotton balls to make a picture of the different types of clouds.

Those are his cirrus (wispy and feathery) clouds.

Vann did a great job of making the stratus (blanket like) clouds.  

The puffy ones are cumulus clouds.

Chaycers put a few cotton balls together to make his stratus clouds...at the bottom of his picture.  

They colored a few grey to make nimbus (storm) clouds.

Using the book to help label his clouds.  They have specific names depending on how high they are...I didn't know this so it was fun to learn about.  

What I love most is when the boys talk about things we've learned outside of 'school' time.  They are always pointing out and naming clouds now as we drive or are sitting at baseball...it's great!  

After work we headed to the mall.  It was a different one than we usually go to so we had to stop and watch the fountain action for a bit.  After about 15 minutes we all had to pee!

Wind Activities

More weather fun!  We're still digging our Elemental Science curriculum.  Last week we learned about wind and kept busy with these wind activities :)

This first one demonstrates the differences between light and strong winds.  It's super simple, you just blow a cotton ball across the table with a light wind, medium wind and strong wind (aka gales).  Sometimes I think these easy ones will not be much fun for the boys, but I'm always wrong.  The loved it!  They giggled and kept at it for longer than I anticipated.  Even little Ash wanted in on the action!

I love the leg up on the table lol. 

Strong wind!

He giggled every time :)

Love this little dude :)

This next one demonstrates a little about tornadoes.  They shook this thing over and over and over again!  Amazed each time how a little funnel of water appeared in their bottle.

Swirling it...

So cool!  

Volcanos & erosion

One of our projects for science was to make a salt dough volcano and have it explode with vinegar and baking soda.  Since we did that not too long ago and we had just bought some colored clay at the store, we decided to create volcanos with that instead.  It proved to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated, but the boys still made the best of it!  

He's telling me about his creation.
The clay came in long tube like shapes...Chaycers had a hard time squishing and shaping the clay so you can still see those tube like shapes on his volcano. 

Can you see his lava?!

Vann had a little better luck getting his clay to do what he wanted it to.  

He made a volcano, a giant and some smaller islands.  

And a mini volcano on the back side!  He had a hard time getting his big volcano to stand up straight...we didn't have quite enough dark clay.  But he did the best with what we did have!

This project is the perfect example of how things don't always go as planned and that's okay!  They still had fun and it didn't stop us from talking further about volcanos and all they had learned about them that week.  

One topic we've talked a lot about in our science lessons is erosion and how there are many types...water, sand, wind, acid rain, etc.  These next pics are from a demonstration they did using chalk and vinegar.  It was showing how acid rain affects statues.  

Watching the bubbles on the chalk.

Recording their results.

I love these workbooks and reading what the boys write.  It will be fun to look back on someday!