Amicus With Mikro for Scale

I think our lizard doubles in size over night. No, not really, but she sure is growing! Here she is with Mikro for a size comparison.





And remember how she started out?

Plimoth Plantation Webcast Replay

We participated in the live Virtual Field Trip to Plimoth Plantation earlier today. If you missed it, you can watch the replay here.

Or, I could just embed it....

YouTube Science

Chemistry on You Tube: A Mostly Musical Melange


They Might Be Giants: Meet the Elements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0zION8xjbM





Versions of Tom Lehrer's Elements Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssaUusY6hWM





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGM-wSKFBpo





Oh, So Elementary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAmdttSzx5I





118 Elements in 18 minutes (and the rest of their videos!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFsdbLFHgY8






History of the Periodic Table Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PejaN0us2ro




History of the Periodic Table Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecEq3ac7-vI





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****Preview this one, parents-- maybe reserve for older kids... Dating and PDAs (across the spectrum of possible orientations) as a metaphor for chemical bonding... May be offensive to some...****


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCmrfZcZnlE





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Chemical Bonding Song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNBzyM6TcK8
Sorry, not able to embed this one...

Chemical Bonds for Dummies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6o-eqGUBCY






For more advanced study:
Chemistry at Khan Academy, starting off with Atoms:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xSQlwWGT8M






Chemistry Music Videos-- a series of them, starting with this one, describing the scientific method:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPaGOHwv7mQ

and this one on the periodic table:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PSzSTilu_s

Unfortunately, not able to be embedded. Definitely worth a look at these! They are available for purchase, with a bunch of related material here: http://markrosengarten.com/chemvids.html

And to make our sometimes overbearing government happy: I have no affiliation with the creator of this material and have received no money or property in exchange for suggesting his materials. I just like good science songs and try to pass them along when I can.

Enjoy!

Papermaking Workshop at the Library

This weekend, Mikro learned about paper and papermaking, and got to make his own collaged paper bowl, in a workshop at our local library with 2 Hands 2 Learn:





I got to make one, too. That was fun, and something we'll be doing more of at home!

Amicus Update

Mikro's little dragon isn't so little anymore. She's 13 inches long, and needs a bigger tank sooner rather than later. Her claws are also proportionally bigger, and having her climb up my arm no longer "tickles"...

NYC in the Revolutionary War Era

On Thursday, our homeschool group took a Revolutionary War walking tour of lower Manhattan, led by staff from the South Street Seaport Museum.

Our educator took us on a walk to various period sites and told us about events that occurred near/at: Bowling Green, Fraunces Tavern, Federal Hall, Trinity Church, St. Paul's Chapel, and City Hall Park (then the Commons area). Totally new to me were the Battle of Golden Hill and the story of the Liberty Poles. We learned a lot.





Unfortunately, it was a damp and cold day, and I got banged into multiple times by a very bouncy kid (not Mikro), so I am now in arthritis hell. Cancelled our trip to the Met today because I can't move without making ouchy noises...

Singin' Wid A Sword in Ma Han

On Wednesday, we saw Singin' Wid A Sword in Ma Han at the Schomburg Center, with our homeschool group. It is the story of a family's escape to freedom. Powerful and moving, and the music was amazing. The cast did a question and answer session afterwards, and had a lot of wisdom to impart.

Tuesday Science

Tuesday was our last Mad Science class till spring. The kids learned about insects, sorted plastic critters into insect or not categories, looked at microscope slides of insect parts, simulated compound eyes, and learned about how insects can see colors in the UV spectrum that we can't by having a bee puppet deposit faux pollen on their hands, and looking at it under blacklight...

Autumn Fun

Jumping in the piles of raked leaves and making extra work for Dad...

Nostalgia

After the Diwali festival, we walked around Kevin's old neighborhood, saw the apartment building he lived in as a very little kid, and his elementary/middle school. And we discovered that the very last Jahn's Ice Cream Parlor is still going strong in the neighborhood.



When I was a kid, every graduation was celebrated with an enormous ice cream concoction at the Brooklyn Jahn's on 86th Street... I'm sad most of them are gone, but grateful Mikro got to experience the place that brought me so much childhood fun. I only wish they had had something non-dairy on the menu that he might have been able to eat. He said he didn't mind if Kev and I indulged (and I think he was curious to see what the stuff looked like), so Kev and I split a banana split.





I promised Mikro his first ever dairy free, allergy safe Sundae on Sunday at home the following day. He had a coconut milk ice cream sundae with slivered almonds, non-dairy chocolate syrup, ricemellow creme (in lieu of whipped cream), and a dash of red sugar crystals, which he thoroughly enjoyed! He is angling for Sundaes on Sunday to become a regular thing here...