Simple Machines

Learning about simple machines gives your child a little insight into engineering. There are six types of simple machines.

*A lever is a simple mechanism like a board or a beam that rotates around a fulcrum.

*Wheel and axle is a simple mechanism that consists of two connected wheels, which rotate around the same axle.

*An inclined plane has no moving parts. Chutes, ramps, slides, and blades are examples of inclined planes.

*A wedge is an inclined plane that is used for lifting, holding, or separating objects.

*A pulley is a simple machine that uses grooved wheels and a rope to raise, lower, or move a load.

*A screw is a simple machine that holds things together.

Help your child execute experiments with each simple machine.

Here are two to get your started:

Messages on a Pulley

A PULLEY lets us change the direction of the force we use to do work.

Question: Can you use a pulley to help you send messages across a room?

Materials: 2 thread spools, 40 feet of string, 2 round pencils, paperclips, message

Procedure:

1. Put the pencils through the thread spool centers. Tie the ends of the string together to make a loop. Have one person hold the ends of one pencil (allowing the spool to turn freely. Have one person hold the other spool. Wrap the string around the spools to create a pulley system.

2. Write a message; attach it to the pulley with a paper clip. Have a third person pull the string to move the message.

Results:

1. Did you message travel across the classroom by pulley?

2. Is that what you thought would happen?

3. What did you learn?

Count the Turns

A SCREW is used to hold things together. It has a line that goes around it that is called THREAD (actually a twisting inclined plane).

Question: What type of screw takes more turns to go into a block of wood - one with more or less thread?

Materials: Wood block, same size screws with different sized threads, screwdriver, and masking tape

Procedure:

1. Wrap a screw driver handle with a piece of masking tape. Make a mark on the tape. YOU WILL COUNT ONE TURN EACH TIME THE MARK COMES BACK TO THE PLACE IT STARTED.

2. Place the screwdriver into the slot of one screw. Watch where the mark is and start turning the screw to the right.

3. Count how many turns it takes to get the screw all the way into the wood.

4. Repeat for the other screw or screws.

Results:

1. Which screw took more turns to go all the way into the wood?

2. Is that what you thought would happen?

3. What did you learn?

Volcanoes

A volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of molten rock below the surface of the earth. When pressure builds up, eruptions occur. Gases and rock shoot up through the opening and spill over or fill the air with lava fragments.

There are more than 1500 active volcanoes on the Earth. There are at least 80 under the oceans.

Here are two volcano experiments:

Baking Soda Volcano

Supplies:

· 6 cups of flour

· 2 cups of salt

· 4 tablespoons cooking oil

· 2 tablespoons of baking soda

· dishwashing detergent

· food color

· vinegar

· warm water

· baking dish or pan

Directions:

First, make the cone of the baking soda volcano. Mix 6 cups flour, 2 cups salt, 4 tablespoons cooking oil and 2 cups warm water. The mixture should be smooth and firm. Add more warm water if needed.

Stand the soda bottle in the baking pan and mold the dough around it into a volcano shape.

*Don't cover the opening or drop dough in it.

Fill the bottle most of the way full with warm water and a bit of red food color.

Add 6 drops of detergent to the bottle contents.

Add 2 tablespoons of baking soda to the contents.

Slowly pour vinegar into the bottle and watch the eruption!

EXPLANATION:

Why does this happen? The red lava is the result of a chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar. In this reaction, the carbon dioxide gas is produced; pressure builds up inside the plastic bottle until the gas bubbles out of the volcano. This is a good representation of what happens in real volcanoes.

Soda Bottle Volcano

Supplies:

· roll of mint Mentos (type of candy)

· clear 2-liter bottle of Coke (diet works better)

Directions:

Go outside to an area where you have a lot of room. This experiment is messy! Open the bottle of soda carefully. Position the bottle on the ground, so that it will not tip over.

*Diet soda works better than regular soda. Plus, diet doesn't leave a sticky mess.

Unwrap the roll of Mentos. The goal is to drop the Mentos into the bottle at the same time, which is very tricky. One method is to roll a piece of paper into a tube just big enough to hold the loose Mentos. Put a card under the roll and on top of the bottle top, so you can pull the card and the candies will just drop in at once.

Drop all of the Mentos into the bottle at the same time and then move out of the way just as quick as you can and watch the eruption!

EXPLANATION:

Water molecules attract, linking together to form a tight mesh around each bubble of carbon dioxide gas in the soda. When you drop the Mentos in the soda, the gelatin and gum arabic from the dissolving candy break the surface tension. Each Mentos candy has thousands of pits on the surface. These tiny pits are called nucleation sites, perfect places for the carbon dioxide bubbles to form. As soon as you drop the Mentos in the soda, bubbles form all over the surface of the candy. Couple this with the fact that the candies are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle and you are just asking for an explosion. When all this gas is released, it literally pushes all the liquid up and out of the bottle in an amazing blast.

Pen Pals

When I was a kid, I had a pen pal from Korea. We wrote back and forth and sometimes we even exchanged gifts. I remember my pen pal sending me a book of popular Korean poems. It was fun knowing I had someone so far away to write to. They were interested in my country and I was interested in their country. Having a foreign pen pal is very educational. It is a great way for kids to share their ideas, feelings, jokes, recipes, or whatever they choose. It is a super way to sneak in writing practice too!

Here are a few sites you can check out for pen pals. Please practice safety when choosing a pen pal. The sites below are supposed to be safe sites, but examine their rules carefully. The last two charge some type of fee.

Students of the World

Email Kids Pen Pal Club

Friendship by Mail

Student Letter Exchange

Writing Prompts

Writing is sometimes a challenge for kids. Have many times have you heard, “I don’t know what to write!” Well, this month I am listing 20 writing prompts for you to use with your kids.

1. What do you think the world will be like in 25 years? Use examples.

2. If you could be any superhero, who would you like to be, and why?

3. Describe your best friend using only the letters in his or her name.

4. If you had to eat only one type of food forever, what would you choose, and why? Will you be able to survive?

5. If turtles could sing and dance, what songs would they sing, and what kinds of dances would they do?

6. If you were Jell-O pudding, what flavor would you be, and why?

7. What is the craziest game you’ve ever played? What made it so crazy?

8. Do you like your first name, why or why not? Does it fit your personality, why or why not?

9. Imagine that you are stuck inside a T.V. What will you do? What shows will you visit? How will you escape?

10. If you designed a video game, what would it be called, and how would it work

11. If you had an invisible magic helper, what would you have him or her do, and why?

12. Have you ever saved money for something important that you wanted? Did you meet your goal? Was it worth it?

13. Write a story about your future self getting your dream job.

14. Pretend you are going to travel back in time. Where will you go, and why? What will happen?

15. Imagine living life in the jungle. What will you do? How will you survive?

16. If you were a famous chef, what would you cook, and why?

17. If you met an alien, what would you want to ask him or her, and why?

18. What is the craziest idea you’ve ever had? Why was it crazy?

19. If you were a household appliance, what would you be? A vacuum? Microwave? Blender? Why?

20. If it suddenly began to rain food, what would you want the forecast to look like, and why?

The Great Santa Claus Mystery

I was reading a blog yesterday about when to tell your children the truth about Santa Claus. I know that some people think that if you tell your children that there is a Santa Claus, a Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny, you are lying to them. They believe that you should never lie to your children. Eventually they will find out the truth and they will hate you forever. I actually watched a tv program the other day where a little boy found out the truth about many things. You know, those silly things we tell our children when we know they are not true. “Don’t make that face, you will freeze that way.” Or maybe, “If you swallow that watermelon seed it will grow into a watermelon plant in your tummy.” He was quite devastated as he proved that each of these things were not true.

But for those of us who do tell our children about Santa, when do you tell them the truth. My son told me last year that he knew that there was not such thing as Santa. He knew that the presents came from Mom and Dad. We did not have to tell him anything. One of my friends said that she was telling her 8 year old this year. She does not want her school friends to tell her the truth. She wants to tell her herself. Another friend said that her child figured it out a long time ago, but has been playing along with the whole thing so the other kids in the family would not figure it out. It’s fun playing fantasy games. That’s what Santa is, a fantasy game. We all need a little fantasy in our lives.

So if your children believe in Santa, when are you going to tell them?

It's Holiday Time

December is here. I can’t believe how busy life can get this time of year. I am really struggling to find enough time to sit down and work on our curriculum. I’m actually thinking of declaring this whole month a vacation. Since we do a lot of work during the summer maybe I could get by with that.

A lot of what we are doing is learning related. Baking and shopping are definitely learning experiences. I was shopping a few days ago and saw a little girl hand the clerk her money. Before the clerk could say anything, the father asked the little girl how much change she should get back. It took her a couple of minutes and a little help from the clerk, but she was able to figure out how much change she should get back. What a great real life way to learn.

We are also focusing on some community service projects. One of young friends was in the hospital last year over the holidays being treated for cancer. He and his mother are collecting toys and decorations to take to the hospital this year to other children who are dealing with this horrible disease. We have purchased a few things to take to them. And we are collecting from our friends as well so we can have a few more things to donate to these kids.

Another project that we have been working on this year is to write cards to elderly people in nursing homes who never have visitors. We are sending them to a homeschool magazine who is collecting them to take to a local nursing home.

My son also made a very personal donation this year. He cut his beautiful long hair and sent it to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is an organization that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer or other diseases. To donate hair, you first braid it and then put rubber bands at both ends before you cut the braid off. My son’s braid was 14 inches long.

What things are you doing during this busy holiday season?

Is This School Or Not

Sometimes I feel like we take a lot of days off school. Or at least off of working on our curriculum on the computer. It seems like we are on the go all the time. We spend a lot of time at the Environmental Center, the Art Museum, the Nature Center, or the Science Museum. But these are all educational events. And our Lego Engineering Class, Lego Lapbook class, and Geography class are definitely learning times. But is it really school when we go to Chuck E. Cheese or the park. I’ve decided that it is. The park is recess, right? And physical education. I mean how much more exercise can a little boy get than running around a park all day. Chuck E. Cheese teaches so many things. Hand eye coordination on those video games. Then the math skills that are required to add up your tokens. Do I have enough points to win that prize I want? How many more tickets do I have to earn before I can buy it? Yes, it is much more than just playing games.

I think one of the problems many of us have when we first start homeschooling is that we think of school as being Monday through Friday from 9 till 3 with weekends off. That’s what we are used to. But what’s wrong with doing school work at midnight. Or doing a special class on the weekend. That’s still learning. It still counts when you have to document your learning experiences for quarterly or annual reports. Many times homeschoolers are required to document the number of hours per day they spend on school. But do you count all those learning hours. Making cookies requires math skills. It also teaches some chemistry. Watching the bread rise is definitely a chemical reaction. But I don’t think most of us think to document those hours. Sorting laundry or sorting the silverware is also learning. I mean if it counts as math to sort the blue balls from the red squares on the computer, why not count sorting all the forks from all the spoons.

Take some time this week to look at all the things you do with your child that actually are learning experiences and not just play. If you have to provide documentation to the school district or a supervising teacher, be sure you count those hours as well.