Dem Bones

SKELETAL:  Wednesday is our 'school' day, where we actually go to a bricks and mortar place for some learnin'.  Annabelle created a board game in her art class this morning, and this afternoon in science, the kids continued learning about the skeletal system. 

Last week, they learned there are 206 bones in the human body. For my kids, that number is easy to remember, as 206 is the area code for Seattle. :)

Today, they worked on assembling skeletons. Mercifully, there were not 206 parts; it was significantly simplified. 

It was fun watching the students use logic to figure out which bones went where. Of course, there were some comical mistakes along the way, but that's how we learn!

In the end, they all got the hip bone connected to the thigh bone, etc.

HISTORY LESSON: We started our morning with Emmett Sullivan of the University of London and professor of our "The Camera Never Lies," a class we're taking via Coursera.

More specifically, we listened to Emmett interview Julio Etchart. Born in Uruguay, Etchart has an impressive body of work, including his images from the 1980s in Chile, during the uprising and struggle for freedom from the Pinochet dictatorship.

From an artistic standpoint, this class has been fascinating. And today, listening to Etchart, we learned so much about the composition of a compelling photograph, especially in a tense situation. But this class has been so much more than an art lesson. Via the photos we've been compelled to study for our homework we've learned volumes about the Korean War, the Chilean uprising, the U.S. Intervention in Somalia in the early 1990s, and so much more. 

It might not be the typical curriculum for fourth and sixth graders, but in the grand scheme of things, I think it all evens out.