Jennifer Lambert

A Sacred Balance

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The Electric Pickle Book Review

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November 8, 2017 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Are you bored with science textbooks and printables?
We love hands-on learning in our house.
This book is a great addition to our homeschool library!

The Electric Pickle: 50 Experiments from the Periodic Table, from Aluminum to Zinc By Joey Green (Chicago Review Press; October 1, 2017)

Our Review of The Electric Pickle:

Who doesn’t want to play with fire?

My husband is a chemist, so he felt really comfortable with the experiments. I don’t think I would want to play with fire without safety gear and supervision. We all loved learning about chemistry, physics, and the elements with the fun and mostly easy experiments.

The kids are 7, 10, 11, and 17. We’re all very into science and experiential learning.

We love the simplicity and application of the book with an experiment and learning about the element and its uses.

We went to the hardware store to gather supplies. Some items are a little harder to find than others and some we need to order online, but it’s mostly just household stuff.

We completed the following experiments:

  • Hydrogen: “Exploding Hydrogen Bubbles”
    We took it a step farther and just blew up a balloon instead of bubbles. I don’t recommend trying this at home!
  • Lithium: “Horrible Hot Dog” – Insert a lithium battery into an uncooked hot dog and watch it sizzle and bubble.
  • Boron: “Green Tornado Fire” – Use boric acid and antifreeze to create a green glowing flame.
  • Nitrogen: “Homemade Ping Pong Ball Smoke Bomb”We didn’t get much smoke with this experiment.
  • Oxygen: “Freaky Soap Soufflé” – Microwave a regular bar of soap to turn it into a large, lava-like cloud formation
  • Oxygen: “Cornstarch Powered Flamerthrower”
    The neighbors asked us about this one!
  • Sodium: “Baffling Money Burn” but we just did it with a piece of paper!
  • Iron: “Bewildering Burning Steel”
  • Zinc: “Shocking Silver Pennies”
    We actually did a similar experiment at our local science museum with nickels:

Book Summary

It’s a strange and fascinating DIY guide for the chemistry-curious, featuring an activity for every single element of the periodic table. Why does a pickle light up when you plug it into a wall socket? Can iron burn? Are Cheerios magnetic? Explore these strange questions and more in The Electric Pickle, an indispensable collection of 50 madcap experiments based on the periodic table. Each project demonstrates an element’s unique properties using easy-to-follow instructions.

Activities include:

  • Hexed Helium Balloon
  • Black Light Jell-O
  • Totally Tricky Thermometer
  • Ludicrous Lead-Pencil Lightbulb
  • Sodium: “Electric Pickle” – Conduct electricity through a pickle to watch it glow bright yellow

Projects range from relatively quick with very few simple ingredients to more exciting and complex experiments that lead to booming or glowing results.

The Electric Pickle is also sprinkled with mind-bending scientific facts and entertaining sidebars about historic experiments and less common, often dangerous, elements.

About the Author

Joey Green, a former contributing editor to National Lampoon and a former advertising copywriter at J. Walter Thompson, is the author of more than fifty (yes, fifty) books, including “Contrary to Popular Belief,” “Clean It! Fix It! Eat It!,” the best-selling “Joey Green’s Magic Brands” series, “The Mad Scientist Handbook” series, and “You Know You’ve Reached Middle Age If . . .”–to name just a few.

Joey has appeared on dozens of national television shows, including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Good Morning America,” and “The View.” He has been profiled in the “New York Times,” “People” magazine, the “Los Angeles Times,” the “Washington Post,” and “USA Today,” and he has been interviewed on hundreds of radio shows.

A native of Miami, Florida, and a graduate of Cornell University (where he was the political cartoonist on the “Cornell Daily Sun” and founded the campus humor magazine, the “Cornell Lunatic,” still publishing to this very day), he lives in Los Angeles. You can visit him at www.joeygreen.com

We have supplies for several more experiments. Weekends are for science now!

We’re really happy to have The Electric Pickle in our homeschool library. It’s a fast favorite. The experiments are great for all ages. I’m so glad my husband is a chemist and feels comfortable setting up and performing some of the tougher or more dangerous experiments.

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How We Do Science

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June 9, 2017 By Jennifer Lambert 7 Comments

We use many different resources to learn about science.

We used Apologia science for years, and we’re beginning to look into some other texts and living books to supplement our science studies.

The Apologia elementary books were a great introduction to science, but we need something more in-depth now. We weren’t overly impressed with the Apologia high school texts.

We prefer less Bible and more science. We’re now leaning toward secular science books to really learn good science. It’s hard to find good high school texts.

High school science requires labs for biology, chemistry, and physics.

Our science studies cover these topics, and more:

  • Natural History
  • Astronomy
  • Anatomy
  • Botany
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics

How We Study Science:

  • Experiments
  • Activities
  • Notebooking
  • Gardening
  • Cooking
  • Pets
  • Field Trips

Science should be experienced. Textbooks are just supplementary materials. We love the library for living books.

Elizabeth dug for fossils in Texas. We made the moon phases with Oreo cookies. We’ve studied bacteria. We love to cook. We go on nature walks. We love gardening. We love our pets. Science is all around us and it’s impossible to separate it into a sterile subject to be learned at a certain time and place.

We do lots of experiments and activities.

Some are fun and turn into competitions. Other activities are data-collecting and cross-curricular. Some are just demonstrations and visuals.

We’ve explored the world around us in many ways. The kids love sensory experiences when they’re little. As they get older, we follow experiments in the textbooks. The kids have participated in science fairs. We’ve raised caterpillars into butterflies.

Some experiments don’t turn out right, but that’s ok.

Testing water displacement by counting beans.

science experiment

Liz won the homeschool high school science fair and got published.

We loved raising butterflies.

We charted different varieties of apples.

The girls made water molecules with candy.

We made a DNA strand out of pipe cleaners.

We enjoyed seeing salt, pepper, and sugar crystals under a microscope.

We had a fun eclipse party!

We use notebooking for every subject in our homeschool.

We love nature study and learning about plants and animals.

Dissections and other labs require lots of specific notebooking and record keeping.

We grew a garden.

We loved growing fun fruits and vegetables for several years. It was a family effort!

We love cooking.

We all love trying and creating fun recipes together.

We discuss how heat and pressure affect different foods and of course, use lots of math in measurements.

Baking is great science!

We love our pets.

Animals are very educational. We often visit zoos, aquariums, and farms to observe them.

We’ve had several aquariums over the years.

We have cats.

It’s hard to move every few years and sell the fish, but the cats have always gone with us, everywhere.

We take lots of field trips.

We learned about TV at the PBS station.

We attended an astronomy party on Antelope Island.

We love dino parks.

We enjoy farms and zoos.

Science has become such a part of our everyday life that we don’t need a textbook as much anymore.

See all of our Science posts here.

See our Nature Study posts here.

How do you do science in your homeschool?

Famous Scientists Notebooking Pages
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Wildflowers and Herbs Unit Study

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October 4, 2016 By Jennifer Lambert 5 Comments

We’ve been exploring for months all the herbs and wildflowers near our home.

Wildflowers and Herbs Unit Study

The kids went on a hike in the woods with my old camera and took fun pictures of interesting finds!

I love how excited they were to show me this humongous grasshopper on a branch.
Big Grasshopper
Tori loved this big mushroom in the detritus.
Albatrellus Mushroom
They took several pictures of the water patterns in the creek.
Creek Water Patterns
We always stop to watch the honeybees!
Honeybee on Blackberry Bushes

I love that the kids have the freedom to explore the woods near our house. I encourage them to get out there every day to see the changes taking place with the seasons.

They’ve been fascinated with wildflowers and herbs lately.

We’ve acquired some fun books as gifts and from thrift stores, and I bought a few. The library had some too!
Wildflower Resources

Natural Medicine

We also went on a family walk in the woods and brought our wildflower guidebook with us.

Wildflower Guidebook
We loved this very tall thistle!
Tall Thistle

Thistle
Wild St John's Wort
Foxgloves are my favorite!
Foxgloves

We noticed some lovely flowers popping up all over!

We love notebooking about what we’re learning about:

Flowers and Weeds Notebooking Pages


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Learning About Seeds

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March 1, 2016 By Jennifer Lambert 13 Comments

We’re studying botany for science for the next few months.
We read the Parable of the Sower and about the mustard seed in Bible.

We’re learning about seeds and longing for spring.

We’re seeing a few signs of spring, but also more snow and ice. It’s a lovely dichotomy.
We’re using Exploring Creation with Botany by Apologia as our text and the kids each have an Exploring Creation with Botany Notebooking Journal.

Alex loves his first junior notebooking journal! The girls each have their first regular journals.

There are pages to draw or color, writing sections, puzzles, and lapbooking components.

Botany Notebooking Journals

We compared sunflower seeds and bean seeds. We found the hilum and embryo.

Bean and Sunflower Seeds

Dad helped us to dissect our soaked bean seeds to see the embryo.

Dissecting a Bean Seed

We also placed bean seeds in plastic bags with wet paper towels to view the germination.

Since it’s still so cold here, we taped them to the windowsill by the radiator instead of to our sliding glass door which is in the coldest hallway in our house.

Seed Sprouting

We’ve been observing some early signs of spring like my chives and daffodils sprouting.

Daffodils and Chives

We have some wildflowers to plant when the ground gets a little warmer. We will observe bees and pollination.

Wildflower Seed Mix

Katie found this little curly seed at the park and proudly brought it home.

We’ll hold onto it to see what kind of leaves it has.

Learning About Seeds

And here are our bean seeds after ONE WEEK!

Bean Seeds After One Week

I think it’s important for kids to learn where food comes from and how much work farming is.

We’ve had nice gardens in the past with fruits and vegetables. They love to plant, weed, water, watch, and harvest the bounty – and cook, can/preserve, and eat it!

We’re excited to start our garden when the ground gets warmer!

Resources:

  • Learning About Seeds + Printables
  • Science of Spring
  • Learning About Seeds from Untrained Housewife
  • Tons of Seeds Activities from How Wee Learn
  • Tot School: Seeds from Kara Carrero
  • Montessori Seeds from Playful Learning
  • Scholastic Seeds
  • Growing Seeds from Play Dough to Plato
  • PreKinders Seeds
  • Grow Sprouts
  • How to Start Seeds
Flowers and Weeds Notebooking Pages
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Homemade Soap

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February 23, 2016 By Jennifer Lambert 14 Comments

We had a fun activity accompanying our science curriculum: soap making!

The kids all know that we use parts of plants in skin care, but this was a fun project.

We first measured out the soap base.

Weighing Soap

Tori melted the soap down in a glass bowl over a pot of water.

Double Boiler

We added oatmeal and vitamin E to the melted soap base.

Oatmeal and Vitamin E

Last, we added lavender essential oil to the soap.

Adding Lavender Essential Oil

Dad ladled out the molten soap into the rose-shaped molds.

Pouring Soap into Molds

The soap set up pretty quickly on the counter. Our house is always cold!

Soap Drying

We popped the finished soaps out of the mold after a couple hours, just to make sure they were all set.

The soaps turned out so pretty with the oatmeal and rose shapes. They smell great!

Oatmeal Lavender Soap

These little soaps are perfect presents for all sorts of occasions.

Soap Recipe:

I chose to omit the use of lye since the children were completing this assignment. I’m sure the soap would be improved with its addition, but it is dangerous and I’m unfamiliar with it.

  • 10 oz soap base (goat’s milk, glycerin, shea butter)
  • 3 oz vitamin E
  • 1/2 cup oatmeal

Optional add-ins: 20 drops essential oils, 3-4 oz honey, 1/4 cup dried flowers

Directions:

Measure soap base with a kitchen scale.

Melt soap base in a double boiler. Remove from heat.

Stir in oatmeal, vitamin E, and any optional items.

Add essential oils, if using.

Pour or ladle into pretty soap molds.

Allow to cool for several hours or overnight.

Pop out of molds carefully.

Wrap with cellophane, ribbons, labels, and give as gifts!

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Rocks and Minerals Unit Study

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September 7, 2015 By Jennifer Lambert 10 Comments

Rocks and Minerals Roundup of Activities, Books, Resources, and Printables

Tori has always loved rocks. She has said for years that she wants to be a geologist when she grows up. We always look for ways to expose her to rocks and minerals when we travel – with fun field trips, museums, and activities.

I created this list of fun activities we have loved to use to learn about geology.

Geology Resources - Rocks, Minerals, and Gemstones

My kids really love these monthly themed Calendar Connections with fun science and history facts. We chose rocks and minerals for August.

Calendar Connections Rocks and Minerals

Tori practiced her reading with this great rocks and minerals unit study from Currclick (link below)!

Reading about Rocks and Minerals

Tori loved seeing this huge crystal at Dorothy’s Glass Hut.

Big Crystal

All my kids loved Mummelsee and the rocky Mermaid statue.

Mummelsee Mermaid

We loved the pattern on this eroding rock at Mummelsee.

Eroding Rock at Mummelsee

Pick and Choose from these Amazing Rocks and Minerals Resources!

Projects and Crafts:

  • Have fun with this edible rock project.
  • Make crystals.
  • Rock doodles project
  • Get crafty and make a pet rock! Be creative. Paint it, glue on googly eyes, and give it hair!
  • Celebrate Collect Rocks Day on September 16!
  • Go on a nature walk and collect pretty and intersting rocks to study. Look them up online or in a guide book. Discuss texture, color, class. My kids are obsessed with rocks and collect them wherever we go – cheap souvenirs! (Make sure it’s legal to take rocks wherever you are! Some places don’t like it.)

Books

  • If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet by Leslie McGuirk
  • Geology Lab for Kids by Garret Romaine
  • Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor
  • Milo and the Magical Stones by Marcus Pfister
  • Roxaboxen by Alice McLarren
  • Rocks: Hard, Soft, Smooth, and Rough by Natalie M. Rosinksy
  • If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian
  • Jump into Science: Rocks and Minerals by Steve Tomecek
  • Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs, and Other Ughs by Anthony D. Fredericks
  • Rocks, Fossils & Arrowheads by Laura Evert
  • Ultimate Sticker Book: Rocks and Minerals
  • National Geographic Kids Everything Rocks and Minerals by Steve Tomecek
  • National Geographic Readers: Rocks and Minerals Readers by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
  • Geology Rocks! by Cindy Bloboam
  • Peterson Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals
  • Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks & Minerals
  • A Golden Guide: Rocks, Gems and Minerals
  • Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics
  • Apologia Exploring Creation with Physical Science
  • Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy

Notebooking and Printables:

  • Geology pages from Homeschool Helper
  • Rocks and Minerals pages from the Notebooking Fairy
  • Metamorphic pages from the Notebooking Fairy
  • Igneous pages from the Notebooking Fairy
  • Sedimentary pages from the Notebooking Fairy
  • Nature Study from Notebooking Pages (our favorite notebooking resource!)
  • Handbook of Nature Study: Rocks – Articles, Printables, and Challenges

Unit Studies and Learning Links:

  • Crystal Unit Study
  • Montessori Rocks and Minerals Works from Living Montessori Now
  • Rocks and Minerals from The Homeschool Den
  • FREE Rocks and Minerals Unit Study with a great study guide and Powerpoint presentation from Currclick (see pic above of Tori reading aloud from it!)
  • HUGE list of Rocks and Minerals curricula from Currclick
  • Rocks and Minerals from Stacy Sews and Schools
  • Lapbook and Unit Study from Simply Necessary
  • Old Earth Geology FREE curriculum
  • Mineralogy4Kids interactive website

Fun Field Trips Around the World:

See a list of Teacher Resources in the USA

Fun field trip ideas for rock hounds: museums, mines, archeological sites and digs, gold panning, canyons, gorges, waterfalls, rivers, creeks.

Northeast

  • Sterling Hill Mining Museum in the Highlands region of New Jersey
  • Mineral Collecting in New England and Mid-Atlantic
  • Herkimer Diamond Mine in New York
  • Crystal Grove Diamond Mine in New York

West and Southwest

  • Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
  • Colorado Geological Survey
  • Northwest Geology Field Trips
  • Some great Kansas rocks field trips
  • Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Gemstone Museum and Dinosaur Park in Ogden, Utah
  • Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology
  • Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine in Montana
  • Glacier National Park in Montana
  • Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana
  • Gold Bug Park in Placerville, California
  • Julian Mining in Julian, California
  • Cavern Tours and Mining in the Sierra Nevadas
  • Royal Peacock Opal Mine in Nevada
  • Bonanza Opal Mine in Nevada
  • Crater of Diamonds in Arkansas

Hawaii

  • Volcanoes National Park for hiking and learning about volcanoes, lava, rocks

Northwest

  • Independence Mine State Park in Alaska
  • State Parks near Tok in Alaska
  • Trapper Creek Museum in Alaska
  • Pioneer Park in Alaska
  • Crow Creek Gold Mine in Alaska

South

  • Rock City in Chattanooga, Tennessee
  • Morefield Mine in Virginia
  • Sliding Rock near Asheville, North Carolina
  • Cherokee Ruby and Sapphire Mine in North Carolina
  • Hiddenite Gems in North Carolina
  • Crisson Mining in Dahlonega, Georgia
  • Consolidated Mining in Dahlonega, Georgia
  • Diamond Del’s Gem Mining Adventure

Virtual

  • Dig into Mining Virtual Field Trips
  • Online Mineral Museum
  • Skull Cliff, Alaska 

Canada

  • Check out Mining Matters
  • Britannia Mine Museum near Vancouver, BC

Australia

  • The Crystal Caves in Queensland, Australia
  • Blue Hollow Mine in Queensland
  • Miners’ Heritage in Queensland
  • Rubyvale in Queensland
  • Mt. Surprise Gems in Queensland
  • Pat’s Gems Fossicking Park in Queensland
  • The Big Sapphire Gemfields Information Centre in Queensland
  • Carman’s Tunnel Goldmine in Maldon, Victoria
  • Gemtree Caravan Park in Northern Territory
  • Outback Mining near Perth
  • Australian Museum
  • Melbourne Museum

Europe

  • Fischbach Copper Mine in Germany
  • Berchtesgaden Salt Mine in Germany
  • Salt Mines – Bavaria, Germany
  • Hallein Salt Mine in Bad Dürrnberg, Austria
  • Partnach Gorge in Bavaria – great opportunity to discuss erosion and collect river rocks!
  • Grube Wenzel Visitor’s Mine in OberWolfach, Germany
  • KristallWelt in Dietingen, Germany
  • Mummelsee in the Black Forest, Germany: A kettle hole lake – shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers
  • The German gemstone route – especially the Idar-Oberstein Steinkaulenberg gemstone mine – our family loved it!
  • Geology Museum in Rome, Italy
  • Mineralogy Museum in Rome, Italy

What are your favorite tools to study geology?

More fun resources on my Geology Pinterest board:

Follow Jennifer’s board Geology on Pinterest.

 

ProSchool Membership - Productive Homeschooling
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Our Dental Unit

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January 20, 2015 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

We learned about teeth this week!

I found some really fun science, crafts, games, and activities for us to learn about dental health.

We’re using Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology by Apologia as our primary text. We love the fun experiments and learning activities.

Dental Unit

We learned about stained teeth with an egg and cola.

Stained Teeth Experiment

Alex demanded an experiment page like his sisters. And he did awesome!

Little Scientist

The kids made predictions and drew their ideas. Kate drew a time lapse of the egg sinking, changing colors, and then exploding. She’s special like that. Tori drew the egg sinking and turning brown. Alex drew the egg floating.

Drawing Predictions

The egg didn’t explode, much to Kate’s chagrin. It did sink and turn an icky brown.

Stained Egg

We used Thieves toothpaste and baking soda to brush the shell. It cleaned off a lot, but not all.

Brushing the egg

I put the colored egg beside a clean one to show the difference.

egg colors

The girls did a great job on their science experiment pages.

Completing Experiment Pages

We learned about cavities.

I stuck a hole in an apple and we watched it turn brown and get soft and rotten.

apple cavity

After one week, it was disgusting:

apple cavity after one week

We placed a tooth in cola and watched it rot. It turned brown and soft.

Rotten Tooth

Alex made a happy fluffy tooth.

Fluffy Tooth

We visited the dentist.

The kids (and I) all had dentist appointments – and NO CAVITIES!

Spiderman Sunglasses to the Rescue

We practiced flossing with egg cartons and ribbon.

Flossing Teeth Activity

We labeled teeth drawings.

Labeling a Tooth

I found some fun literacy works for the girls – sentences, matching, ABC order.

Literacy Work with a Dental Theme

They played this teeth game with mini marshmallows a gazillion times.

Teeth Games

We learned a poem about dental health. Subscribe to the blog for the free download (and others!)

Follow Jennifer’s board Dental Unit on Pinterest.

February is Dental Health month!

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Elementary Chemistry and Physics Experiments

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April 2, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

We’ve been loving science with Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics .

Science Experiment #1: Separating a Homogeneous Mixture

  • 4 Crayola markers (purple, brown, black, green)
  • 4 pieces white chalk
  • 4 plastic cups
  • water

Draw a ring of color around each chalk stick with a different color marker on each chalk.

Set each chalk stick in a cup of water (no more than half-full).

The water will creep up the chalk. It’s pretty cool!

Tori draws her ring of color on a piece of chalk.

coloring chalk

Alex did super following direction and drawing his ring.

drawing on chalk

Kate concentrated to get her circle just right.

chalk painting

We set the chalk sticks in cups.

chalk experiment

After I poured in some water, Alex wanted something immediate and amazing to happen. He was kinda disappointed.

waiting for chalk to bleed

After the water got to the ring, it bled the color. Brown was the neatest, separating all the colors.

rainbow chalk

Here is the completed experiment.

ombre chalk

Experiment #2: Making Butter from Cream

Making Butter From Cream

Fill a small jar half-full with whole cream.

And shake.

shake 1

shake

shake 2

shake

shake 3

shake

shake 4

until it become mostly solid. You can drain the buttermilk or use it (there’s very little). Add a little salt and refrigerate to solidify more.

The kids loved having *their* very own butter!

buttermilk to butter

So of course, I made biscuits for dinner. For the butter.

For science.

Biscuits

Tori loves biscuits.

Buttered Biscuits

Kate just recently began liking butter. So happy she’s normal.

Buttery Biscuits

What fun science have you done lately?

Linking up: The Jenny Evolution, 123Homeschool4Me, Happy and Blessed Home, Little Bins for Little Hands, Kids Activities Blog

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Crystal Unit Study

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January 27, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 5 Comments

We’re loving the lessons in Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics! 

Snow

We’ve been blessed (ahem) with an abundance of snow…that refuses to melt and go away.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

We went on a snowy nature hike to view the snow formations.

Snowy Nature Hike

We saw icy snow, fluffy soft snow, ice, and the pond was frozen! We saw the patterns in the snowdrifts from the wind. We haven’t been able to view too many snowflakes this year, but we have pictures and we’ve seen the crystal formations in the ice on our sidewalks and windows.

Salt

The kids were really fascinated by salt.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot…” Matthew 5:13

We went to Dad’s lab to use the cool microscope! (ah, the benefits of having a lab officer husband!)

Cool Microscope

We viewed table salt, salt we found at the Great Salt Lake (in the yellow bucket), raw sugar, and pepper.

Science Labs

The table salt is processed so it formed almost perfect cuboids with few impurities, but the salt from the Great Salt Lake was all jagged and had lots of impurities, as did the raw sugar. The pepper was too opaque to see real well.

Table Salt Under a Microscope

Our Sunday School teacher taught on covenant and salt a couple weeks ago and she mentioned a great experiential lesson about making pickles, so we plan to buy some cucumbers and discuss how the salt changes them into a new creation – along with Matthew 5:13.

Gems

We looked at pictures of different precious stones online and in books and viewed the few rings, earrings, and pendants I have with magnifying glasses to see the facets.

I would love to take a field trip to a jewelry store or mine, but that will have to wait. I don’t feel comfortable taking them to a jewelry store I don’t know and the local mines are closed for the season. So, we’ll plan on that later.

Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
Proverbs 3:13-15

Choose my instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold,
for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her. 
Proverbs 8:10-11

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10

The girls really loved my grandmother’s ruby ring. I thought it a perfect teaching prop for the Bible lessons in Proverbs too.

ruby ring study

The girls learned the 4 C’s: cut, color, clarity, and carat. They loved learning about the different grades of jewels.

They love the Junior Notebooking Journals that make assessment easy for me.

They drew jewels and the salt images from the microscope viewing in their notebooks. They love science!

We have some other fun experiments in the works this week – rock candy, salt flowers, borax crystals.

Linking up at Living and Learning at Home,  Chesnut Grove Academy, Suzy Homeschooler, Kids Activities Blog

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Elementary Chemistry and Physics Demonstrations

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December 13, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 1 Comment

The kids have been loving Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics for science this year.

Tori especially loves the coloring pages and copywork in the Junior Notebooking Journal.

coloring

Kate just wants to do experiments all the time.

We worked on water displacement with pinto beans. I think the winner was over 500 beans!

displacement

Most experiments and projects are simple enough that Alex joins in.

displacement with beans

I love his expression. The surface tension fascinated him.

water displacement

Review time! I wrote the definitions on the board for the girls to add to their notebooking journals.

science vocabulary

It combines all the greatness of notebooking with very little effort. The girls love the colorful foldables and lapbooking components.

science notebooking

I usually set up the items for the girls to complete so there are no mishaps with cutting or gluing.

notebooking in science

The girls loved making water molecules with candy (gobstoppers and nerds).

water molecule activity

What are you learning in science?

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