Foil Boats

During the after school program, we had a mother who was also a science teacher come in and do an activity with the kids. They built a boat using just one piece of foil. Then they had to see how many pennies their boats would hold and talked about what made a successful boat.













Well, my girls wanted to do it again... so they each made a boat... and instead of pennies, we used pattern blocks... using up all of one size and shape before moving on to the next. All in all, Gabi's boat held 381 pieces (BTW - she and Bethie were also the 3rd place boat during the ASP - would have been 2nd if you didn't count the "helpers" who were in high school). Bethie's held 198.


















They had fun... and then so did Peter... he loves to pour things. A great skill to have and learn... but boys is he messy when he does it... which is any time he can get to liquid!

Dye and Crystals

So Gabi loves Science.... as in, she'd do that and nothing else if she was allowed. She loves to read about it, explore it, study it, do it.... she just loves science. So, she ends up doing a lot of that on her own... and I don't get many pictures.

But we thought about doing crystals... (we still need to get some Borax to do crystals that way - not so easy to find around here)....

We made up four glasses - one was warm tap water with sugar, another the same only with blue food coloring, then there was one with a super saturated (i.e. boiled and completely filled with sugar), and another the same but once again with blue food coloring.

We were trying to see if which would make better crystals - which started crystals the fastest - and whether or not the blue food coloring changed the effect.

I cannot say we had a complete success.... when we put in the food coloring, we noted that the dye moved faster through the warm tap water than through the super saturated solution - Therefore, the more sugar in the water, the hard it was for the food coloring to mix (without being stirred).

We set out glasses in the window sill behind the sink - the safest place for such a thing in our house right now.... apparently not safe enough - Bob managed to knock one over while doing dishes! But that wasn't the only problem... apparently it's a window with a lot of cold air flowing around it... the water cooled off too rapidly and we ended up with more crystals on the edge of the glass than on the lollipop stick!

We have decided to try again... in the spring... with the frigid air isn't a problem... still, we were able to see a few crystals that had formed.... and the girls thought they were mighty tasty! (Let's hear it for sugar!)

The Barred Owl

About a month or so ago, we decided to visit some friends and head out on a "field trip". It was a fun one - head off to the Children's Museum. There are lots around (just not close enough for us to be actively involved in regularly) and this one we had not yet been too. The kids were very excited to find out we were going to go "explore" and "play" there.

While we were there, we were able to enjoy a mini creature feature. We learned about the Barred Owl. It was really neat to see and touch the owl. It was especially fun to watch the gentleman show us what the owl could do (such as turning it's head all the way around to the back).

The kids had a great time telling Daddy all about the owl when they got home!

We also tried to go into the Marine Science Center to see some seals and turtles. However, there were classes in session and no turtles currently there. We'll be going back another time when we know the kids will be able to help feed the seal and see some turtles too!