Just plain silly

Here is the original video that inspired David and his friends to create a spoof video...




Here is their video - a spoof of a spoof...

Tapestry of Grace Year 3, Week 3

Week Three: The focus this week is on the Early Industrial Revolution.

Key Facts:

1. Industrial Revolution
a. Started in Europe/Great Britain
b. Machines and Factories
c. Inventions

2. History of the Telegraph
a. William Sturgeon/Electromagnet
b. Joseph Henry & Charles Wheatstone
c. Samuel Morse/Morse Code

3. Eli Whitney
a. The Cotton Gin
b. Eli Whitney Armory/Production of Muskets
c. Machine Tool Industry/Interchangeable Parts

4. Robert Fulton
a. The Steam Engine
b. Steam Warship
c. Commissioned by Napoleon/Designed Submarine (Nautilus)

5. Francis Cabot Lowell
a. The American Textile Industry
b. Power Loom
c. Active Lobbyist/Protective Tariff


Activities: Make a Battery, Make a Cardboard Loom


Unit Projects: Add information on Eli Whitney, Robert Fulton and Francis Cabot Lowell to the display board.


Geography: Labeled map of the British Isles


Digging Deeper:

• Napoleon Code
• Immanuel Kent

Videos:

• Industrial Revolution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO3AW0JAHmU&feature=PlayList&p=FCFEC9A4EA49374D&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
• The Industrial Revolution - The Golden Age of Steam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0ANJEpj79o&feature=related
• Industrial Revolution in pictures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb4ut4xLEJA&feature=related

Reading:

• A Head Full of Notions
• Swiss Family Robinson
• The Year of the Horseless Carriage: 1801 (Read Aloud)

Truly Blessed

I was planning on posting pictures of our camping trip. I even had a great opportunity to take a great close up picture of a deer. He must have thought I had food, because he came within five feet of me. I reached for my camera and then realized that the memory card was at home! My camera does not have any internal memory... ugh.

Nathan and Ryan enjoyed playing Frisbee disc golf at the campsite and going on spider hunts. Despite the rain, they found ways to stay occupied. They even ran experiments on the best method of roasting marshmallows.

Meanwhile, David was a volunteer worker with True Adventure Sports yesterday. He worked 14 hours straight and didn't even have time for any meal breaks. He worked with rappelling and rock climbing tours from early morning until mid afternoon. Then he worked with a cave tour and finished up just before 10 pm. He came back to camp exhausted and dazed. What I didn't realize until this morning, was that on the way back to camp, he and another volunteer were in a slight car accident. They were not traveling fast. But, as they were going down a hill and around a curve the driver hydroplaned and hit a small tree on the side of the road. I know that they were not traveling fast, because the only damage to the car was the front fender. The air bags did not deploy and the tree only lost the outer layer of bark. It could have been much worse. Especially considering that they were traveling on the canyon rim road (Little River Canyon National Preserve) and the tree they hit was on the canyon side. If they had been speeding, they could have gone over the edge and ended up at the bottom of the canyon. Although I would never want anyone to be in an accident, this was a good lesson for David. Even though he wasn't driving, he now knows that a small amount of water on the road is all that is needed to loose control and hydroplane . The roads were wet because it had been drizzling and softly raining off and on all day. However, I truly feel blessed that he and the other volunteer were not hurt and the damage was minimal. Hopefully, this is a lesson that David will carry with him as he takes his driver's license road test later this week.

David and DH are both volunteering with True Adventure Sports tonight. They are working on an extreme night hike at Cherokee Rock Village that begins at midnight and will go until the wee hours of the morning. I think David will have plenty of volunteer hours for awhile.

Week Five Review

Although we are on our regular school schedule now, we did not complete everything on our list this week. Somehow, we didn't get to our Latin lessons - at all! I had them scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. I figured they could do their Latin lesson and attend Co-op on Tuesday. In my mind, I felt that it should work. However, I now know that the lesson needs to be done before we leave for Co-op. Because, by the time we get home from Co-op on Tuesdays, they are eager to go outside and play. I don't normally have a problem with getting lessons done on Thursdays, but I had to move David's chemistry lab group from Friday afternoon to Thursday afternoon this week because of a conflicting field trip. So, Latin got dropped because I needed to get the kids started on their chemistry labs. Hopefully, I've got this figured out now and we will get to our Latin lessons from now on.

What else did I not get to? Well, I have not started cleaning out the closets. I really need to since summer is quickly coming to an end and fall is almost here. But, somehow it was all I could do this week to get the school work (minus the Latin), basic house cleaning, laundry and cooking done.

I would like to think that next week will run more smoothly, but I know better. Monday is a holiday (Labor Day) and on Wednesday, my oldest son David, turns 16! So, at some point we will need to go down to the DMV so he can take the road test and (hopefully) get his drivers license.

Also, David has informed me that one morning this week, he along with one of his homeschool friends and church youth minister are being interviewed live, via Skype, on Fox News in Cleveland, Ohio. Apparently, they made a funny (spoof) video to one of their news stories and they want to interview them. I don't know which day it will be yet, but David said it will be early, around 6 am. (yikes!)

This weekend, we plan to go camping. We will probably do some rock climbing or rappelling if the weather holds out. I'm going to try to enjoy the long weekend because I know this week will be a busy one.

Chemistry Labs, Week 1

This week, the kids performed two chemistry experiments:

Experiment 1.1: Air Has Mass: The yardstick balances with two uninflated balloons. Once one balloon is inflated, the yardstick tips in that direction. Indicating that air has mass.

Experiment 1.2: Air Takes Up Space: After placing the glass upside down in a sink of water, the paper towel is still dry.

Training for a triathlon

Nathan and Ryan continue to train for their upcoming triathlon. Today, I took them up to our local recreation center to run on the track. I don't think they are worried about any of the individual events (swimming, biking and running). But, after doing all three events back to back to back, I know they will be exhausted! They are somewhat competitive with each other, but are not trying to break any records. Their goal is just to finish the race. Plus, it is something that their older brother has never done. So, that alone seems to be enough incentive for them - along with the t-shirt and medal everyone receives for finishing the race :)

David can't participate in the race because he is too old. His birthday is four days before the cut-off date.









Countdown to race day: 11 days (September 13th)

Co-op, Week 3

We completed two more experiments this week:

Experiment 2.1: How Does Weight Affect the Speed...

What falls faster, a book, a rock or a cork?

Experiment 2: Dancing Raisins (another look at density) - raisins, craisins, pasta and dried beans bobbing up and down in clear soda (CO2)