Short Stuff

Image: NASA.gov, obviously
EYES ON THE SKIES: This morning first thing (and by that I mean before 6), CJ and I checked in on Discovery and her crew. So far so good on the mission. We don't usually ever have the TV on between 9 and 4, but I kept NASA TV running in the background on our big screen all day. I just love hearing the exchanges between the astronauts and Mission Control. I realize this makes me a rather enormous geek. ...

LINGERING LESSONS: When she emerged from the shower mid-morning, Annabelle told me she had been playing Lewis and Clark in the bathtub. "I made the (rubber) duckies look like they were Lewis and Clark. I took my (wooden) boat, because it had a loose string and it didn't have the sail anymore just like theirs, and I made the Frankenstein ducky look like he was pulling it and then I put Private the Penguin on the boat and I made the boat go around the bathtub like they were on the river, just like Lewis and Clark."

Nice :)

AILING: Today's entry is going to be short because, in short, I feel like crap. I've been some degree of sick since New Year's Eve and this week it's been especially awful. The tipping point came when I started oozing out my eyes (as opposed to 'just' my lungs and sinuses). I finally broke down and made a Dr. appointment.

I absolutely did NOT want to take the younguns to Group Health with me as every time we go there for anything, we all wind up sicker than we were before. Fortunately biggest bro Rick was available today. He took them to a movie while I was indisposed.

I'd heard good things about "Tangled," a Disney film. I asked CeeJ and Bee if they'd heard of "Tangled." Both of them had. I asked them if they knew what fairy tale the movie was based on. They both knew it was "Rapunzel." We reviewed our "Rapunzel" knowledge so they could compare and contrast it afterward.

I dropped the three off and headed off to my appointment, and picked them up afterward. We didn't get into heavy analysis of the film today, but all three gave the movie big thumbs up reviews. "It was GREAT!" said CJ, who frankly, wasn't excited about seeing it to begin with.

BALLOON GIRL: By fishing around in our craft drawer, Annabelle found a big pink balloon today. She was thrilled - until the tried to blow it up. Unfortunately, it had a hole in it, on the neck, but Annabelle wouldn't let that stop her.
She tried several methods to work around the problem. Her first idea was trying to insert another balloon over and around the hole. She also suggested stapling the balloon (I pointed out that this would mean adding two holes to it). She eventually settled upon (pink!) duct tape to try to cover the hole.

She was thrilled that it worked. (Check out CJ trying to photobomb in the background!)

Day of Discovery

image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
ONE LAST TIME AROUND: Today was all about STS-133, the launch of space shuttle Discovery.

At 9 a.m. we turned on NASA TV to watch the preparations for a 1:50 p.m. lift off, our time.

Today's launch was extra special for a number of reasons. First, it marked Discovery's final glory. Since being put into service in August of 1984, Discovery has flown 39 space missions. Amazing!

Today was also special in that it marked the first time a humanoid robot was sent to Earth's outer space. On board Discovery is Robonaut 2, or "R2" (of course!) for short. The kids and I took a crash course on R2 this morning. It was easy, thanks to NASA's Web site. There we learned that R2's primary job for now is teaching engineers how dexterous robots behave in space. We watched one video that showed how R2 adapts its movements to work around and with humans. We could also see how amazingly dexterous its fingers are. (R2 was built in a GM-NASA partnership. Seeing it operate, it's easy to imagine why GM would be interested in a robot like R2.)

Right now, R2 doesn't even have legs! However, It is hoped that through upgrades and advancements, one day R2 will venture outside the station to help real astronauts make repairs or additions to the station or perform scientific work. The ISS is set to be R2's forever home; there are no plans to bring him back to earth.

Today's launch was also special to us because it's the first one since we went to the Space Coast and sat on the Causeway, witnessing the launch of STS-132 in person. What a thrill of a lifetime that was!

While that was impossible to beat, it was fun today to be able to see every little step of the mission on NASA TV. (When we were on the Causeway, for hours all we had was a spot on the sand and a faint, faraway voice broadcasting the countdown from time to time.) Today, we watched the six astronauts don their flight suits and then get on the bus to make their way to the launch pad. We heard interviews with former astronauts and had steady updates from Mission Control regarding systems and the weather. We watched the astronauts climb into the tiny cockpit, and heard them going through voice and instrument checks. It was fascinating to watch.

CRAPPYNAUTS: Seeing the astronauts having to sit in such cramped quarters, laying on their backs with their legs up in the air for two-plus hours before liftoff gave me an idea. ... I told the kids to assume the position ... :)
I (jokingly) told them they were going to have to spend the next two hours like that, without moving. No food, no bathroom, no scratching an itch on your nose. Nothing.

"Has it been an hour yet?" CJ asked about 30 seconds into our experiment.

"I'm hungry. Those oranges (for breakfast) were NOTHING," Annabelle complained about 2 minutes in. About a minute later she added, "OK, I think I lost movement in my feet."

I cajoled them into staying like that for all of 5 minutes before letting them sit up. I think they have a new appreciation for what the astronauts go through.

THE OTHER DISCOVERY: As the countdown clock ticked down, we did some other homework, including reading another chapter in our little Lewis and Clark workbooks from EdHelper.com, and completing some comprehension questions about it. The kids were totally NOT into that today. Maybe too much blood rushed to their heads while they were astronauts in training. ;)

TO A T: At one point today, CJ asked me, "What does 'T-minus' mean?" I told him I *thought* it was short for time, and that when people are counting down to something they often say T-minus and then the amount of time left until the event occurs. I did a little research to be sure and found out that was a good enough explanation.

INTO ORBIT: At 1:53 p.m. Discovery roared skyward. "It's as bright as the sun!" Annabelle said of the initial rocket fuel burn, echoing something her dad said was we watched Atlantis blast off last May. We watched the booster rockets fall away from the shuttle, and eventually its separation from the big orange external tank. We listened to mission control track it for another hour or so, and eventually NASA TV began running some pre-produced features about the mission (R2, the crew, the history of Discovery, and so on).

IN OTHER NEWS: Since we checked out the book "Kitchen Science Experiments" at the library yesterday, Annabelle has been begging nearly non-stop to do an experiment. So, once the shuttle was safely in orbit, I gathered the items needed to do a simple experiment involving yeast.

First, I asked the kids, "What do you know about yeast?" They both knew that it's an ingredient in pizza dough and bread.

"And aren't they alive?" Annabelle said, staring at the jar of yeast on the counter. I told her that yeast is a tiny plant-like microorganism and that there are many types or strains of yeast. The Fleishmann company's Web site has a good primer on yeast, BTW.)

I told them that when I'm making pizza dough, in order for the yeast to multiply and help the dough rise, I have to put it in warm water - not too hot and not too cold, just like a shower - and I have to feed it sugar.

We put warm water in two plastic bottles. We added a tablespoon of yeast to each and in only one bottle, we added a tablespoon of sugar. We topped these bottles with balloons, which cut off the oxygen supply to the yeast. And waited ...
Before too long, we noticed a foamy substance starting to form on the top of the bottle with sugar in it. According to our book, "When the trapped oxygen (in the bottle) runs out ... (yeast cells) switch to anaerobic respiration." And during this process, carbon dioxide is produced. Where would that carbon dioxide go? I asked the kids ...
Turns out, it filled the balloon on top of the sugar-fed yeast bottle. Cool! Meanwhile, the balloon over the water and yeast only bottle did nothing but droop, as the yeast in it wasn't respirating. Fun stuff!

Blue Skies

WHAT SNOMAGEDDEON!?: If you believed what you saw or read on the news last night, we were supposed to wake up to a thick white carpet this morning.

Imagine my surprise upon upping to to sunshine, the sight of blooming daffodils and crocus, and people on the golf course near our house. Hmph. Guess the forecasters missed that one. ... They're still promising a snowy wallop tonight. We'll see if they're right this time.

BACK WITH THE CORPS: We started our day by spending more time with Lewis and Clark, our latest educational obsession. :)

We cued up several some short videos from History.com.

The first was a 2 minute overview of the expedition (which the kids should be able to tell by now), another was about the Louisiana Purchase. The next three we watched were excerpts from a show called "Extreme History" hosted by Roger Daltrey. (Yes, THAT Roger Daltrey. The Who's frontman seemed, to me, an odd choice for a series about American history, but he seemed to be having a good time and his hosting chops were fine.)

First we learned about how Lewis and Clark made replacement canoes by hollowing out logs, mostly with hatchets. Hard, hard work. And while trying to paddle one, Daltrey pointed out they were super heavy, hard to steer, and that he was drenched while sitting in it.

Next, we learned how the Corps made stuffed sausages using buffalo intestines and flesh. Mmmm!

And last but not least, in a video that most certainly would NOT be PETA-approved, we learned how the expedition, on occasion, dined on beavers. Annabelle grew squirmy and squeamish as they chopped off a dead beaver's appendages. Then, in full living (or, in the beaver's case, dead) color, the critter was skinned, rinsed, and skewered for roasting over the fire. It looked awful - like an electrocuted rat - and Mr. Daltrey didn't care for its taste, either. Gruesome as it was, I thought it worthwhile viewing. The fact of the matter is, those guys on the expedition weren't dining on white tablecloths, for sure. ...

The videos kept the kids' attention, for the most part. I did catch CJ looking out the window from time to time ...
From there it was time for some table work. The kids read "Lewis and Clark: A New World (Natural History)," from EdHelper.com and answered several comprehension questions about it.

HIT THE STACKS: We headed over to the library. While I looked for books, Annabelle read the oversized books in the kids' section. CJ worked a few puzzles, when he wasn't gazing out the window. ...

IMPORTANT AUTHOR: Back home, I asked the kids, "Who was it that sent Lewis & Clark on their journey?" They both knew it was Jefferson thanks to our recent studies.

We spent the next half hour reading "Thomas Jefferson a Picture Book Biography," by James Cross Giblin. Not your average kiddie picture book, it had 45 pages and over 4,100 words.

The kids learned LOTS more about Jefferson, including about his childhood, his education, his home (Monticello), his work as a lawyer and his eventual involvement in politics. They learned that he authored the Declaration of Independence, wrote a statute for religious freedom in Virginia and that he was the founder of the University of Virginia. They learned that the man who wrote "all men are created equal" was a slave owner his entire life.

After reading the book, they each took an Accelerated Reader quiz online about it and aced the test. Yay!

LET'S MAKE A DEAL: Hoping to have the kids apply some of what they've learned, I told them we were going to play a game. CJ was going to be Lewis and Annabelle was going to be Clark. I reminded them that Lewis and Clark took thousands of items with them for trading with Native Americans they encountered, and told them I wanted them to gather things from around the house that they thought would make good trade or peace offerings. I gave them each 5 minutes to complete the task.

Annabelle decided upon a recorder, a fan, a tin can, some boots, a straw, some peanut butter and a big container of rice. CJ and I agreed that her selections were all good trade items.

CJ chose a bunch of bananas, an ornamental wrist watch, some scissors, a wooden toy, a drinking glass, and ... two Redbox DVDs?
I told him I thought all of his choices were great, except for the DVDs. I reminded him the Native Americans wouldn't have a DVD player, so they wouldn't have much use for the DVDs.

He thought about it for a minute and then holding up a DVD, he demonstrated how they could be used to try to slice a predator. I had to give him credit for creativity. :)

HAIRY SITUATION: I told CJ he was starting to look like Rapunzel and that he needed a haircut. He didn't like that idea. A couple minutes later, Annabelle called me into the bedroom and pointed out CJ, who was hiding under the desk.

He got a haircut anyway.

COOKIE MONSTERS: We haven't made cookies in weeks, so this afternoon we threw together a batch of peanut butter cookies. Tasty!

GOOD TO GO: We are eagerly awaiting the launch of shuttle Discovery tomorrow afternoon. It's hard to believe this will be the first shuttle launch since we made our awesome trip down for STS-132 in May of last year. $HIT HIT$ THE FAN: About the first thing I read this morning was the headline on the front page of the Seattle Times today.

FINANCIAL SCANDAL HITS SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

In a nutshell, SPS spent around $1.8 million on contract work that was never done or didn't benefit the district. This has been going on for months/years and, frankly, more than a few people have been aware of it. There has been a secret criminal investigation into allegations of financial fraud and the results of that investigation are starting to make their way out to the light of day.

Unfortunately, the story didn't surprise me. It's just more business as usual in Seattle Public Schools, it seems. ... One of the first things I learned upon moving to Seattle is that the administrative culture in SPS seems completely out of line with the best interests of its students.
And what a shame - there are so many hardworking teachers in this district trying to do more with less in overcrowded classrooms every day, and meanwhile, in their nice quiet offices, some in the administration continue to, in effect, steal from the children (not to mention district taxpayers).

Disgusting.

Into the Woods

MORNING DISCOVERY: Though snow is in the forecast for tonight and the next couple of days, this morning was brisk, but sunny, so we struck out for Discovery Park looking to get some soccer and tennis practice in.

We started with soccer, me and CeeJ v. Bee and her dad. Kirby mostly tries to stay out of the way of the ball. I'm not sure what the final score was after about 20 minutes, but I'd guess it was pretty close to a tie.

Next up was some tennis. CJ did pretty well, making contact about every other swing.
Annabelle, unfortunately, didn't have her A game today. Click on the photo for a closer up look at her - the poor girl seems to have her eyes crossed on this swing. No wonder she's not hitting it!
Though we'd been sporty for nearly an hour, the kids weren't done yet. Afterward, they wanted to head over to the playground, and especially the zipline!

SHOPPING LISTS: For writing practice today, I asked the kids to reflect for a few moments on the reading and activities we've done and the movie we saw about Lewis and Clark. Then I asked then to get a pencil and paper and sit down and make a "shopping list" for supplies for their trip. I told CJ he was Clark and Annabelle that she was Meriwether. I got to be Thomas Jefferson. :) I gave them about 5 minutes to brainstorm their lists and then we reconvened in the kitchen. They took turns reading items from their list. Clark's list included "oxin(s), wheeles, ropes, cotes, food." I told him it was an OK start but that he needed a LOT more things, and that I was afraid he'd gotten the Oregon Trail confused with the Corps of Discovery's journey (mostly on water rather than over land).

Lewis' list had "food, clothes, spare parts, oxen/horses, wagons, boats, guns and bullets to hunt." Not bad, but still lacking. Together, we reviewed the list of what Lewis and Clark actually did take with them. We talked about their transportation needs (boats and horses, not wagons, wheels and "oxin). We went over the equipment they'd need, including tents, lots of tools (a needle and thread, axes, pliers, chisels, whetstone, saws, steels for making fire). While they'd definitely want bullets and guns, I pointed out that since they were in or on the water so much,

it's no wonder they took lots of fishing line and hooks. Paper and writing utensils were important, so they could make maps and log plants, animals and people encountered. And they also brought a few books (about navigating, botany, and a dictionary, for instance). Tools to help them navigate (telescope, sextants, and a chronometer) were also important, and they also brought along thousands of trinkets to give to Native Americans along the way.

Total cost of the provisions: $2,324, in 1804 dollars.

MORE READING: I found a 14-page mini book on EdHelper.com all about Lewis and Clark. It has mini chapters, each with comprehensive questions. I asked the kids to read the first chapter, "Lewis and Clark - Who Were They?"

I wish I'd read it more closely before printing it out and giving it to the kids. Why, you ask? Check out this first paragraph:

"Lewis and Clark were sent on a great adventure. They had to explore a land that not many people had seen before."

Ugh.

Christian pointed out to the kids that thousands and thousands of people had seen the land before, as they'd lived there for generations. Annabelle immediately piped in, "Native Americans!"

Near the passage's end there is also a paragraph about Lewis either killing himself or being murdered in 1807, just a couple of years after their expedition. In part, it reads, "He was buried in Tennessee. There is a Latin phrase on Lewis's grave that people think came from Thomas Jefferson."

But do you think they tell you what the phrase is? Noooooo. Pretty lame. And then later, in the comprehensive questions, one of them is "Who came up with the Latin phrase on the grave of Lewis?" The choices are a) Meriwether Lewis, b) William Clark or C) Thomas Jefferson. The kids both "correctly" chose C, but I pointed out to them the question is flawed because the story says people *think* Jefferson is responsible for the (mysterious) phrase, but the question states it as fact.

Clearly, the passage and questions need some careful editing.

CRABBYPANTS: For whatever reason, both of the kids were uncharacteristically crabby this afternoon. I finally told them both to just sit on the couch and zip their lips until I told them otherwise. Naturally, they turned it into a game of sorts. ...

History Lessons

RUNNING AND RIDING: We were hitting the pavement by about 10 this morning. We have actually gone for a ride/run TWO days in a row now. It's unfortunate that this is remarkable. We used to run and ride four or five days a week before the doldrums of December and January.
We headed for Smith Cove/Elliott Bay. Once there, we found a NOAA vessel was docked. We also saw preparations at the port for the cruise ships that will, no doubt, be coming soon. That's definitely a sign winter is on its way out.
The kids checked out tidal pools, clambered around on big boulders and even did some beach cleanup.

PRESIDENTS DAY: We would have been remiss if we didn't touch upon the reason today's a holiday. I asked the kids if they knew anything about President's Day. They each said they didn't. I had them get out a calendar and find the day/date and by doing so they learned that it's very near George Washington's birthday (February 22). I explained that Presidents Day is a federal holiday, on the third Monday in February, and it was initially an observance of Washington's birthday, but since its inception, many states have renamed their Washington's birthday observances as "Presidents' Day," giving nod to Lincoln's birthday (Feb. 12), too.

After that I quizzed the kids to name as many presidents as they could. They took turns. It didn't take long before they were stumped, so we need to do some more learnin' about presidents. To that point, I pulled out "A Boy Named FDR - How Franklin D. Roosevelt Grew Up to Change America," written by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.

It's an illustrated biography, the bulk of it focusing on FDR's childhood, teen and college years. We learned that FDR was the only child of an extremely wealthy family. Their estate had 9 bathrooms, lots of servants, and sat on 1,000 acres. For fun he loved to sail. Young FDR was homeschooled by his mother and tutors who were brought in, until he went away to an exclusive boarding school at 14. He went to college at Harvard, where he served as editor in chief of the Harvard Crimson newspaper. From the get go, FDR aspired to a career as a politician, with his eye on the White House. His role model was Teddy Roosevelt, his fifth cousin. And speaking of cousins, turns out he married a cousin (fifth, once removed), Eleanor. She didn't even have to change her last name ...

The book covered his being stricken with polio at 39, and his remarkable rehabilitation efforts. Roosevelt's presidency (12 years, the longest in U.S. history), is summed up on one page.

After the book, we turned to BrainPop, where the kids watched a video about FDR. And because I'm a fan for going to the primary source, I also played a couple of FDR's speeches for the kids, one being his address following the attack on Pearl Harbor. I also played oh-so-interesting speech of his how the Republicans blamed him for the Great Depression, when nothing could be further from the truth. Roosevelt was the one who brought the country OUT of that awful time. Listening to the speech was fascinating, because, in so many ways, it sounded so eerily familiar to today's politics. It's definitely worth a listen.

INTREPID EXPLORERS: To expand upon our recent readings and activities regarding Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, today we headed to the Eames Theater at the Pacific Science Center to see "Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West."
Man, those guys covered an amazing amount of ground, in great peril nearly all the time.
I was glad we'd read up on the Corps of Discovery ahead of time, as the movie brought the fact we'd learned to life in full color, on a huge screen. They were both rapt for the duration of the 45 minute film. CJ proclaimed it "GREAT!" on the way out.

Tonight I found several educational activities on the movie's Web site. We'll have to check some of those out tomorrow.

Naturally, after the movie, we took a stroll through Pacific Science Center.
It was super crowded, no doubt due to people on their mid winter break and/or Presidents Day holiday from school. Anticipating the larger crowds, PacSci had all sorts of special intereactive displays with people staffing them. We spent several minutes at one all about acidity. The kids got to experiment with some pH strips in various solutions and learn about how acidity in the water could affect sea life. For that lesson, there was a fun LEGO activity. They also spent some time talking about how carbon emissions affect the environment. There were some interesting maps to go along with that.

Annabelle enjoyed controlling this dinosaur's jaw.

And, as always, the kids loved playing with the water powered machines outside.


HBD2Z: Today I came across a news story that Feb. 21 marks the 25th birthday of the Legend of Zelda video game series. (Wow. That makes me feel old!) An adventure game with a (then) unique roleplaying nature and top-down vantage point, Zelda was remarkable for being the first Nintendo title to sell in excess of 1,000,000 games.

CJ and I read the story and then we watched a YouTube video featuring all of the boss battles from the very first Zelda game.