GONE FISHIN': Last night the dinos must have been wanting to get some extra protein in their diet, because in the morning the kids discovered them trying to catch a couple of fish.
Naturally, we talked about how hooks on the *outside* of a fish tank was a pretty ineffective way to actually catch something. What's funny, is I think the fish clearly would have taken the bait if they could have. They were keenly interested.
Only four more nights of Dinovember to go!
MIDNIGHT MOVIE: Last night, at 10:30, I discovered "The Wall" had just started on AMC. I could hear the kids were still awake, so I invited them to bring their pillows and blankets and come out to the couches and watch the movie. Annabelle made it until about 12:05. CJ made it until the end, about 12:25.
Despite that, they were both up raring to go at the usual time this morning.
MAYFLOWER DRAMA: This afternoon, I was poking around on Learn360.com, a Web site we have access to through the Shoreline school the kids attend on Wednesdays. I've known about the site for a long time, but never, before today, took the time to take a look.
I decided to browse its Thanksgiving-related offerings. There were many. I decided I was most interested in having the kids watch a documentary, "Desperate Crossing: Untold Story of the Mayflower," a documentary produced by the A&E Television Networks.
Using the writings of William Bradford , commentary from historians and dramatic recreations, the 4-hour program tells of the Separatists' leaving England, traveling first to Holland and then on to the New World in 1621.
Using the writings of William Bradford , commentary from historians and dramatic recreations, the 4-hour program tells of the Separatists' leaving England, traveling first to Holland and then on to the New World in 1621.
We watched the first 7 minutes with great interest and then ... green screen and horrible noises, but no video. We tried it two more times, same thing each time at the 7 minute mark. BUMMER!
So then I turned to YouTube and found part of the program there. We watched a total of about a half hour of the program, and would have watched more had there been more to watch.
We learned lots, including how awful conditions on the Mayflower were, the route the ship took, what the early days of the settlement were like and about the Wampanoag people, natives the newcomers encountered and interacted with.
The History Channel Web site even has a great study guide to go along with the program:
http://www.history.com/images/media/pdf/1463_Study_Guide_Desp_Cross_nonspread.pdf
We did watch a video that worked on the Learn360 site, it was a video of the picture book "Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message." The Weston Woods video was was narrated by Chief Jake Swamp in both English and Mohawk. The title is also available on BookFlix, for people with access to that (http://bkflix.grolier.com/p/node-33982/bk0030pr) (we have access through Seattle Public Libraries).
SHAKE YOUR BODY: Today, we discovered something called "Deskercise." (We found it on the Learn360.com site.) Hosted by Slim Goodbody (a guy in a snazzy body suit), each episode includes a short geography lesson, and then a themed exercise session.
The video we watched today had a Thanksgiving theme. Here are the kids trotting like a turkey. :)
MIXING MATH: We spent a LOT of time in the kitchen today, making things for tomorrow's feast. The kids helped with stuffing, Chex mix and a pair of pumpkin pies.
SPEAKING OF SATURN: An email from NASA's Cassini program let us know about a special Webinar coming up on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
The one hour program will feature a panel of Cassini scientists answering students’ questions about Saturn and its moons in a live Ustream webcast from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. It will be broadcast here: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 .
Questions for
the scientists can be e-mailed (by Dec. 3) to
scientistforaday@jpl.nasa.gov.
Teachers sending in questions should include their student's first name, grade, school, city, state, and country (if outside the United States), and the student's question, of course. "Cassini Ustream Questions" should go in the subject line of the e-mail.
The notice said they'll try to answer as many questions as they can during the broadcast. Can't wait!
Teachers sending in questions should include their student's first name, grade, school, city, state, and country (if outside the United States), and the student's question, of course. "Cassini Ustream Questions" should go in the subject line of the e-mail.
The notice said they'll try to answer as many questions as they can during the broadcast. Can't wait!
I am reminded that CJ and Bee are somewhat related to a JPL scientist. He's married to their 2nd cousin from Albuquerque. He works on Mars explorers..
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