Florida on Our Minds

BY OUR ESTIMATION: This morning we checked out Scholastic's Max's Math Adventures feature for the first time. Many of the exercises are "beneath" CJ and Annabelle's level, so to speak, but I did find one about estimation that I thought would be a good fit for them. We don't talk about estimation often enough, and it's a math skill that's used a lot in the real world.

During the course of our work, we talked about what a good estimate is as compared to a bad one. Based on his assessment above, when your estimate is off by 100 percent, that's not so hot. ;)
SHUTTLE TALK : Today we read, "What is the Space Shuttle?" on NASA's Web site. It's well written - very succinct covering the basics of the shuttle (its major parts, how it's launched and lands, how many there are, when the shuttle program started and when it will end).

We also visited NASA's Current Missions section. It features info about preparations for STS-132, the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. In this photo, STS-132 crew members are in their orange launch-and-entry suits, inside the slidewire basket as they practice emergency exit procedures at the launch pad. (Image credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller )

We also enjoyed a 56-frame slide show of preparations for the May 14 mission. Lots of great photos and info there (remember to click on 'show captions' if you're going to watch the show, or you won't always know what it is you're looking at).

Here's the official patch of the upcoming Atlantis mission. The mission captain is named Ken Ham, which the kids find amusing. No doubt we'll come home with one of these stickers or patches in tow. I'm thinking between now and May 14, we'll do at least one thing a day that's NASA-related.

DISCOVERY OF THE DAY: As we were boning up on NASA, it occurred to me that we should also be familiarizing ourselves with Florida. (Who knows when, if ever, we'll visit there again?)

So I did a quick Web search for "Florida Lesson Plan." A few clicks later, I wound up discovering that Microsoft has a whole library of lesson plans online. (Who knew?) They didn't have anything on Florida, but the site is a wonderful resource for another day. ...

SUNSHINE STATE: After a few misses, I finally found the goldmine of links to Florida educational info - a "kids corner" list on the official state of Florida site. Yes!

We decided to visit "Online Sunshine" today. It's part of the Florida State Legislature's Web site. And, well, it's pretty lame. Yes, we did learn some facts about Florida (for instance that Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in the area on March 27, 1513 and called it "Pascua Florida" because he arrived during the time of the Feast of Flowers). However, the site's appearance and layout was, well, kinda lame and not engaging. (Their 'games' for instance were static puzzles or list-type tests. Too old school for my tastes. I at least want a little Flash animation, dang it!)Tomorrow, hopefully we'll find something a little snazzier. I guess we could even (gasp) go get a book or two about Florida at the library!
ARTISTIC LICENSE: After lunch Annabelle said she'd like to paint. I helped her get the watercolor supplies out and she went at it. After she was done, I asked her to tell me about her painting. She said, "I was like, um, testing if they (the colors) were going to look nice together. And when I figured out it looked nice together, then I used some more colors to see if they looked good together. When I knew all the colors looked good, I decided to put some new colors in and then sometimes even put the ones that I did first. It was just like a color exploration."

SCOOT!: This afternoon when we were taking Kirby for a lap around the block, the kids decided they wanted to ride their scooters instead of walking. (It's amazing how all of the sudden they are both so proficient on the Razors when it seems like just a few weeks ago they were an accident waiting to happen.) So they scooted along at a good pace. There's probably lots more scooting in our future. And I wonder when it's time to get a skateboard!?

THEY'RE HERE!: As I walked across our deck late this afternoon, I noticed a very small package tucked under our barbecue. Lo and behold, it was the caterpillars we'd ordered a few days prior. Now we're in the butterfly business!

The kids opened the cardboard packaging box gingerly. I think they half expected live Painted Lady larvae or butterflies to come busting out of it. :) However, as it turned out, it's a little self contained cup (food and all) with four live caterpillars. We carefully read the instructions about where to place it and what to expect.

In the coming days, you can expect plenty of updates about the life and times of the larvae.