READY TO FACE THE DAY: This morning, I asked the kids to get what they needed to be ready for the trip to West Seattle for their programming class. As we walked out to the car, I couldn't help but do a double take at CJ.
This photo really does capture his essence. He's got his Favorite Book Ever, his favorite pony, and the Guy Fawkes mask he loves to wear. So this is CJ, ready for school.
ANNIVERSARIES: April 12 has a big circle on the space history calendar. It was on this day in 1961 that Yuri Gagarin became the first human to leave the Earth's gravitational pull behind, floating weightless in his capsule as he orbited our planet.
April 12 also marks the day the first ever space shuttle launched, in 1981, marking the return to manned spaceflight for the United States in the post-Apollo era. Columbia lifted off from Cape Canaveral with astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen on board. The revolutionary shuttle was the world's first reusable spacecraft.
Looking at the photos and video of the first launch, we were struck by how shiny and new Columbia looked pre-launch. She never looked that way again, as launch, spaceflight and re-entry all take their toll on the shuttle's tiles.
GAME RECAP: Last night we spent 5+ hours at Safeco Field. It was cold and the Mariners lost, but we managed to have lots of fun anyway.
We visited the Moose in his den ...
We went out and said 'hi' to Dave ...
Annabelle saved a run by snagging a long ball over the fence ...
and CJ danced on tables, with the twinkling lights of the city all around.
Too bad the best part of the on field action was the honorary first pitch thrown out by Seahawks superstar Richard Sherman.
Dude threw a perfect strike. The way the Ms' starting rotation is looking, the team might want to think about signing Sherman.
AWESOMENESS: At one point this afternoon, Annabelle was having a heart to heart with a Havanese. As she scratched behind Laika's ears, Annabelle shared, "We got an A on our physics final. Awesome! We got Paul McCartney tickets. Awesome! We're going to the Mariners game. Awesome! We got selected for the Pacific Science Center panel. Awesome!" Busy, good day 'round MPA. :) To expand upon Annabelle's points, yes, indeedy, we did finish our physics class today. We're thrilled to have completed it - all of us with a 90 percent or better average on the tests. That was no easy feat, let me tell you. Those quizzes were so hard they hurt at times. Today's test was no exception. I think I was on question 8 of 10 when I said aloud, "Well, finally. One I'm almost certain I got right." Sigh. Thankfully, my barely educated guesses were good enough. One of the questions involved spinning a lazy Susan. The kids didn't know what one was, so I went and retrieved one from the cupboard. And so, in the middle of our test, we were all standing around spinning our spices. (No one ever said it wasn't an open cupboard test!)
Annabelle finished her quiz in about 3 minutes. I think I took closer to 10, and CJ clocked in around 15. It's not a timed test, so that didn't matter, really, but I'm still mystified how Bee could finish so quickly. Must be nice. We're all happy to have "How Things Work" under our belts, and we're going to miss Professor Lou and his fun way of thinking about physics. Regarding Bee's Paul McCartney proclamation, we'd already bought our limit of pre-sale Paul tix through his Web site a couple of days ago, but needed more so the whole family could go. Since the show's at Safeco Field, the Mariners also had a special presale, starting today at 10. That meant one today's lessons was teaching the kids how to get seats when they're a hot ticket. By 9:45, we had four computers here cued up, plus my phone, which also has Internet access. I walked the kids through which price point level we wanted, how many tickets to request, and told them they'd have to type in a captcha code once they selected the # of tickets and price point. I instructed them that at 5 minutes before the 'box office' opens, you start trying to get in and you hit refresh refresh refresh forever until you get what you want, and speed is everything At 10 a.m. when the 'gates' opened, Annabelle was first to get in and she got us great seats. :) 100 level, on the aisle. She was very proud of herself. We all can't wait until July 19! And to the last point, regarding the Pacific Science Center panel, weeks ago, I responded to a call for people/groups to apply to be involved in an on-going (3-year long) feedback cycle for their new and evolving Wellbody Academy exhibit. In my app, I mentioned that we're veteran mystery shoppers (shh! don't tell anyone), that we're science geeks, homeschoolers, and included our MPA Web site. I was happy to learn we made the cut. Apparently there were hundreds of applicants and only 50 were selected, so we're feeling special. ;) We were asked to pick a team name, and science-y monikers are encouraged. Annabelle set about making a list of science-related names, while CJ campaigned hard for "Team Flippy Hands." Funny, but too silly. Out of the blue I suggested "The Neutrinos." Really not sure where that came from, Turns out it means "small neutral one" in Italian. Neutrionos are sub atomic particles which do not carry an electrical charge. That means they're not affected by electromagnetic forces the way electrons and protons are. A typical neutrino passes through normal matter unimpeded. Pretty cool. So that's the name we're going to submit.
COLOR MY WORLD: As we were driving home from science and math classes this afternoon, Annabelle was reading a "Highlights" magazine, wherein she found a 'recipe' for making your own crayons. "Can we try it?" she asked, excitedly.
I said "sure," and then she asked if we had any extra crayons. I reminded her that I always pick up every single give-away crayon she and CJ have ever received at a restaurant, and so we had bags full of them.
As soon as we got home, she set about peeling some of them. She then cut them in half and placed them in a silicone muffin tin. I was instructed to fire the oven up to 275, and we stuck 'em in. There, they melted over the next 20 minutes or so.
After they cooled (another 20 minutes or so) and solidified, Annabelle took them out of the oven.
And then she set about taking them out of the molds. It took a little work.
She was very pleased when they popped out. ...
"It worked! It worked!" she excitedly announced.
Fun, easy way to recycle old crayons. I only wish I'd pulled out my little dino-shaped silicone molds.
DIFFERENT STROKES: We're in the last week of our physics class, and listened to an interesting lecture by Professor Lou Bloomfield of UV all about bumper cars. There was much talk of impulses and momentum.
Next up, was our first lecture in our newest class, eight weeks of Understanding Einstein: The Special Theory of Relativity. It's taught by Larry Randles Lagerstrom of Stanford University. Per its intro, in the course we'll be seeking to "understand Einstein, especially focusing on the special theory of relativity that Albert Einstein, as a 26-year-old patent clerk, introduced in his so-called 'miracle year' of 1905."
We only got halfway through the first lecture, and it's already very interesting. The lecture is covering select events and trends of significance in physics and related fields between 1800 and 1900, to give us a better understanding of the technological world into which Albert Einstein was born.
We learned a bit about the invention of the battery and how that made it possible to provide sustained electric current (a game changer!). Electromagnetic induction, eletromagnetic waves, the symbiotic relationship of the railroad and telegraph, ether wind and more were covered.
It's so interesting looking at the differences between the notes CJ, Annabelle and I take. Mine are a mess - big and sloppy, with the shorthand I invented during my years of note taking for news reporting. CJ's notes are orderly - all single spaced, with careful lettering.
Annabelle's notes are a hoot.
So much going on here. If you look, you'll find a frog that's part of an investigation into animal electricity by Volta. You'll also see a compass needle responding to a magnet, indicating a connection between electricity and magnetism. She also teaches herself how to remember what 'symbyotic' means, and I love that she knows there's an N in the middle of environment. Now, if she can just remember it starts with an E. :)
Their note taking styles couldn't be more different, but each way works for each of them, based on their test scores.
ON THE MEND: Oh, how I love this photo. It's from yesterday. When Annabelle awoke on Monday we shared with her the news that CJ had come down with an icky flu during the middle of the night.
Immediately, she set about helping him the only way she knew how - crafting cures everything! All on her own, she rounded up a lunch sack, some letter stickers, her pens, and created a CJ puppet with a big ol' GET WELL SOON! message on it. Too sweet.
Despite the horrified look on CJ's face in the photo (another reason I love the pic), he really did appreciate it. The puppet stood guard next to his computer as he wiled away the hours and the rest of his virus. We're all feeling much better tonight, mercifully.
HOMEWORK: We didn't get too ambitious with our schooly stuff today, but we did do some math, some physics (bumper cars, fun!) and some science homework.
While working on his science sheet, CJ said, "This is where my physics class really comes in handy!"
That was music to my ears! The unit the class is working on now is about levers and pulleys, and thanks to our Coursera "How Things Work" class, the kids know a fair bit about work, torque, ramps, levers, and such.
RECREATIONAL READING: CJ's latest guilty pleasure in the reading department has become the "Weekly World News" Web site. Tragically, they stopped with their paper issues several years ago. I reminded CJ tonight, that he's probably imprinted on the WW News, as the house he spent the first 3+ years of his life in had a bathroom wallpapered in the tabloid. (I'd saved the best/worst front pages of that paper for years with that home 'improvement' project in mind.) Here are a couple of the gems that used to grace our walls. ...
Source: Weekly World News
Ah, memories!
CJ said he'd like to start a newspaper like the Weekly World News. I told him that sounds like great fun, I'd love to write for a publication like that.
We talked a bit about tabloid "journalism" and what makes people publish and buy "news"papers like WW News. I told the kids that one of the things that they usually feature are stories with at least some shreds of truth, so that readers will see that, think, "Well that's true, so maybe this is, too. ..."
For instance, the WW News Web site has a story about the "World's Largest Nutella Heist." And sure 'nuff, a big theft of the stuff did take place in Germany this week, and it was reported widely in the mainstream media. However, it's worth noting in the mainstream reports, 5 tons worth $20,000 were stolen, while the WW News Heist says 15 tons worth $200,000. Everything's bigger in the Weekly World News, eh? Their account also names Lindsay Lohan as a possible suspect, and notes that some Nutella addicts are injecting the sweet substance straight into their veins. Oh, how I've missed the Weekly World News.
We'll definitely be doing an MPA take on WWN style "news" stories in the future. What a fun way to get some creative writing done, not to mention have some fun with Photoshop.
BIG DIG: One of the biggest construction projects in Seattle history is underway - replacing the double decker Alaskan Way Viaduct running along part of the Seattle waterfront with a tunnel. It's a $2 billion project just underway, scheduled to open in early 2016.
Part of the viaduct is down already and there's been all sorts of equipment and workers in the vicinity for months now. A few days ago, Big Bertha arrived. "She" is the boring machine. The Seattle Times has some nice photos of the big drill's arrival here: http://seattletimes.com/html/photogalleries/localnews2020694507/1.html
Tonight, I rather unfortunately made the kids watch this boring video about the drilling portion of the project (http://youtu.be/Dk-8Q42NCSQ). Honestly, could the Washington State Department of Transportation have made the project sounds any less interesting or exciting? I think not. ...
PAWS ON SCIENCE: Saturday we spent some quality time at Pacific Science Center for one of our absolute favorite annual events, "Paws on Science." It's a chance to meet scientists from a wide spectrum of fields of study - everything from Earth sciences to engineers working with composites.
I'll let the pictures do most of the talking for now, and have the kids write reports when they're up to it (more on that later).
The kids had more than a couple of chances to get their "paws" on powerful microscopes. Here, CJ's looking at 'germs' that look suspiciously like candy, or Crunchberries.
You can also see CJ's passport on the table. These little books were given for future scientists to take between booths, and after they participated in the educational activity there, they got a stamp in their passport. CJ and Annabelle accumulated a lot of stamps in the 2 hours we had (per our parking meter).
Above, they experimented with thermometers that read temperatures with infrared technology. Below, they build beneficial viruses, like the ones some UW scientists are working on in hopes of an eventual cure for muscular dystrophy.
Below is Bee's finished virus.
At a medicine-themed table, they learned that some medicines are more effective if you chew them up. Look at how much more quickly the Tums they pulverized with a mortar and pestle (lower left cup) neutralized the acid as compared to the whole tablet (lower right cup).
We learned that the UW has four bee hives on campus. One of the things they're studying is colony collapse, an issue that could have grave consequences for all of us. The queen may be in the photo below. We spotted her when we were at PSC, and my camera was pointed in her general direction, but this evening, Annabelle and I can't pick her out from the crowd.
Of course, they had to climb in the race car, built by the UW Formula Motorsports team. UW engineering students build new cars each year, and race against other engineering student teams in the U.S. and abroad.
One table featured an array of tools which help make science accessible to people with disabilities. There, we found everything from talking scales to a hand-held device that can read colors. The kids each got to operate a braille printing machine, spelling out their names. Below, Annabelle explains to a UW student it might take her awhile, as her name is relatively long.
It wouldn't have been Husky day without an appearance by some of the Husky marching band and cheer squad ...
and we even got to meet the real live Husky, Dubs!!
It was a great day!
THE LIFE OF PI: Sunday, we'd planned on going to see "Life of Pi," since it was showing at our favorite theater, The Crest in Shoreline, where tickets are just $3 apiece and they use real butter on their popcorn. :)
Three of four of us made it. I stayed home and sat on the couch, having hallucinations thanks to my sky high fever, which hit shortly after midnight on Saturday.
I vaguely remember Annabelle saying the movie was great. I went to bed before dinner and was down for the night until ... the flu hit CJ around 2 a.m. It wasn't pretty. I'll leave it at that.
THREE OUTS: Our various illnesses kept half the family home from tonight's Mariners' home opener. :( The kids and I watched it (and the NCAA national championship basketball game) on TV, which Christian, Rick and Kennedy all enjoyed the fireworks and fun in person. Oh well, there will be other games. Many other games!
