Weekly wrap-up for Oct 7

After a week in Disney World, going back to a school schedule was hard for both student and teacher.  "Math just isn't very exciting" my Schnickelfritz informed me.  No, he's right, after Space Mountain it's hard to go back to dividing with remainders but math and science are necessary if you're going to build the next big thing in roller coasters.  

We wrapped up our study of canniforms with an experiment on how the black skin of polar bears keeps them warm.   We placed two thermometers on the driveway and covered them with plastic trash bags--one white and one black.  We had to weight them done with a lot of rocks as it was a very blustery day.   During the interval before checking the temperatures we watched Walt Disney's nature short, "Bear Country."    When the kitchen timer went off the kids raced out and grabbed the thermometers but they had a little difficulty gauging the small lines so they handed them over to the two moms. Imagine the disappointment  when it appeared that yet another experiment wasn't going to turn out the way it was supposed to--they both said 96 degrees.  We decided to redo the experiment, this time using heavy paving stones to hold down the trash bags and keep the wind from blowing the heat out from underneath.  Twenty minutes later we had temps of 96 and 107 degrees! 

In Missouri history, Louis Joliet has just reached Pere Marquette and they are preparing to journey down the Wisconson river in hopes that it will empty into the mighty Mississippi.  We are using the Landmark title "The Explorations of Pere Marquette" and it's hard for me to read aloud when Fritz keeps wanting to turn back to the maps.  I've printed out some blank outline maps so he can track the journey himself although my source makes it look like they had a mighty long portage from the Fox to the Wisconsin.

We've completed our President's book.  We've included official portraits, dates and number of terms, birth states, education, Vice Presidents and two significant events from each administration.  Now we have to list 10 Bible verses that allude to qualities of good leaders and write an essay on Fritz's favorite president to complete the Royal Ranger's badge.

We do have one reminder of our Disney trip--Fritz built several roller coaster simulations at Sum of All Thrills in Epcot's Innoventions.  He kepts the  magnetic card from the exhibit and we've been able to access a video of his coasts and play other cool games at Raytheon's website  www.mathmovesu.com .