A few days ago, CJ was asking if pirates are real. Christian and I told him they are real and there are pirates to this day. In fact, it was just a little over a year ago that a couple from the Seattle area and two other people were killed by Somali pirates
This afternoon in the car CJ asked if all pirates are bad. I thought about it and I told him I think the answer is yes. A pirate is a thief (or worse) on water. When we got home we watched the BrainPOP movie about pirates and the cartoon did a nice job of revealing them as real life scoundrels.
PIGGYBACK RIDE: Bright and early, we watched coverage of space shuttle Endeavour's final flight. It left Kennedy Space Center this morning, but she wasn't launched into low Earth orbit, per usual. Rather, this was her trip to the retirement ranch, final stop, Los Angeles, for display at the California Science Center.
In its heyday, from STS-49 in May of 1992 utnil May of of 2011, Endeavour flew 25 missions totalling 122,883,151 miles and 299 days in orbit. Endeavour was the youngest shuttle, the last to enter the fleet. During its first mission its crew rescued an Intelsat satellite, and on its final mission, Endeavor delivered a key component to the International Space Station.
photo credit: NASA, of course
I have to admit, it made me a bit depressed to see the storied shuttle having to hitch a ride on a 747. Sigh. The shuttle era is officially over. LEAFY GREENS: In science class this afternoon, the kids had a fun and educational time doing crayon rubbings on different types of leaves. Their rubbings revealed interesting patterns that couldn't be seen by the naked eye.
From their rubbings, the kids learned that the leaves all have systems of veins in them, just like in our bodies. In both plants and animals, these veins deliver water and nutrients.
Obviously, there were different shapes of leaves, and each type had different vein systems.
Palmate leaves look like a hand or a fan. They have veins radiating out from the base, and radiate toward the edge of the leaf. Maple leaves (both big maple and Japanese maple) are examples.
Pinnate leaves are feather shaped or multi-divided, arising from both sides of a common axis. Ferns, or palm trees or the English laurels (invasives, which we have ALL over our neighborhood) have pinnate leaves.
Reed/grassy/flat type leaves, with veins that run parallel, like train tracks to one another, are paralleled leaves. These are in grassy/reedy plants, and the tropicals we have up top in our yard. I think we'll be doing some more leaf rubbings outside of class. Very cool.
THE RESULTS ARE IN: Last week, CJ and Annabelle took the "Diagnostic Online Math Assessment (DOMA)" test as a prereq to a weekly math class they'll be taking. Today, on the first day of said class, they got their results. I was happy to learn that the kids are definitely on track when it comes to math. Bee had the 'max score" (grade 6) for number skills, and she was just under third grade for fractions (something we'll work on). She was over the max score (um, how is that possible?) for measurement math questions.
CJ was just under max score for number skills, he was at max score for fractions (grade 6) and he was just a bit above grade average for measurements.
All in all, it's nice to know I haven't completely academically ruined them so far via our unconditional approach.
Helping with baking makes one comfortable with measurements because it makes them real, while fractions are a rather abstract thing, sort of like video games.
ReplyDelete