Static Electricity

Horseshoe Crab Dissection!

The Dissectors!

Today we went to the Arizona Science Center to learn about horseshoe crabs. Not only did we learn about horseshoe crabs, but we also dissected one.

            When we arrived at our sciency classroom, we watched a video about baby horseshoe crabs swimming above the beautiful colored coral. It was funny to watch the video because the baby horseshoe crabs were so light, they would float upside down.

            After the interesting and funny video, we looked at a diagram of the inside of the horseshoe crab and the outside of the horseshoe crab. Now it’s time for an interesting fact about these incredible and weird crabs. Think about our heart, it is sort of in a circle/oval shape. The horseshoe crab’s heart is a thin line like a shoelace. Isn't that weird? The horseshoe crab’s heart is a white color, located under the shell, and it is the length of its own body.

            Now it is time for the best part of the class: the dissection. This is my favorite part because we can get covered in horseshoe crab eggs and horseshoe crab claws. Our dissection started out by cutting the shell so it could pop off really easily, which did not work for Samantha and me. We spent practically the whole class trying to remove the horseshoe crab’s shell. Finally when the shell popped off, I found some brown goo that looked like chewed up meat, but then I asked the instructor what they were, and she said they were eggs. It was hard to believe. There were a million of those eggs. We had a horseshoey time at the Arizona Science Center.

Before the dissection!

The mouth is located between the two legs!

Seeing if it is a male or female!

After the dissection!

The promosa!

The claws!!!

Pi Purses

                                          

       When does learning math result is a stylish purse? During homeschool, of course! Today we cut out a circle of fleece with a 18 inch diameter using a template. The fleece was purchased at a fabric store after considering many patterns and colors. With the 18 inch diameter, we were able to determine the radius, then calculate both the circle's area and circumference using pi. 

       

       After cutting out the circle, we cut an even number of 1/2 inch slits perpendicular to the edge of the circle, about 1/2 inch in from the edge and about 1 1/2 inches apart. That was a lot of measuring!  Then, starting from the outside, we wove a 60 inch length of 1/2 inch ribbon through the slits. We learned that an odd number of slits would not result in a purse! When we purchased the ribbon the day prior, we discovered that ribbon came in quantities of 3 yards. By using our conversion skills and a little mental math, we determined that each roll of ribbon was sufficient for one purse with enough left over to create a matching hair ribbon.

Samantha's completed purse.

Circle with an 18 inch diameter and 9 inch radius.

This is our guide.

The Simple Farm

  

Today we visited the Simple Farm in a suburban neighborhood; the farm is located on Cactus Road in Scottsdale. When we first arrived at the farm we looked at all the herbs, fruits, and vegetables: parsley, pomegranates, chard, eggplant, watermelon, spinach, beets, dill, and squash. 

           

                                                 

After we looked at all the growing plants, we visited the goats. Three of them were pregnant. We visited the Simple Farm’s blog and we watched three videos of ultrasounds showing each goat’s babies. Two goats were having two babies each, and the other goat was having three babies. The goats are for milking, and the milk is used for cheese and caramel. 

                                     

Also on the farm were chickens in coops. We could tell the difference between the male and female chickens by the comb and the wattle. 

        

We went to this farm during school to learn about how food looks before it is put into grocery stores, and before it is covered in preservatives. We learned that pomegranates and eggplants grow on vines the size of me. It was interesting to see the potatoes in the ground. After visiting this farm, I still have questions about how goat’s milk becomes cheese.   

Pomegranates

Spinach

      

We purchased fresh bread from the Farmers Market.

The Giver - A Production by Child's Play

This is what Child’s Play says about the play, The Giver:

“Lois Lowry’s Newbery-winning novel, beloved by kids and teacher for years, finally comes to life on stage! Jonas lives in a perfect world – a world without war, fear, or pain. All the world’s problems have been eliminated – including making choices or feeling emotion. But when Jonas turns 12 he is selected to receive special training from The Giver. Soon, a new world opens up to him – exposing harsh truths about his society. In this moving adaptation, audiences will discover what it means to grow up and take charge of their own future.”

  

Voting

Terrible Lizards

Today we went to the Science Center to learn about nasty…dinosaurs. When we arrived at the Arizona Science Center, we went into our large classroom, and in our large classroom, we learned a couple facts: the smallest dinosaur can be the size of a cat, and the largest dinosaur can be the size of three school buses and the weight of ten school buses. Life is so amazing.

            An activity we did was take three to four small and jagged rocks, and then we put them into a baggie. Then we went to the front of the classroom to pick up a small piece of lettuce. We placed the small piece of lettuce into the bag with the rocks until the lettuce was broken up into dark green, tiny chunks of lettuce. That experiment was to show how types of dinosaurs eat.

            Another experiment we did to show how dinosaurs eat was taking a green, nasty smelling chunk of celery, with a white clean smelling serrated knife, and we sawed the chunk of disgusting celery on our plate until it was in tiny pieces to show how this type of dinosaur ate. We had a very interesting and dino-ing time at the Arizona Science Center.

Dinosaur egg!

Fossil!

Coprolite

Bat Dissection on Halloween!

       
            Today we went to the Science Center to dissect a…bat! The preservative hurt my nose; however, I eventually got used to the burning smell.

            The first activity was watching a video about bats with large wings hunting their prey. The video was very interesting because some bats catch their small insect prey with their tiny feet.

            After the very interesting video, it was time to learn a few educational bat facts: the smallest bat can be the size of a finger, and the largest bat can be the size of a bathtub. Wow! More interesting facts are that mega bats eat fruit, pollen, and nectar, and micro bats eat insects, like moths and butterflies. Vampire bats suck blood, of course.

            Finally it was time to dissect a bat. We started our dissection by pinning the small Mexican free-tailed bat’s wings to the square shaped, blue dissecting mat. Then we kept ripping off the skin and we were cutting bones like you could not believe. After we completed our dissection, our bat was completely decimated. We had a fun and batty time at our favorite science place, the Arizona Science Center. 

Mexican free-tailed bat

     Interesting bat facts:

• Bat urinate while drinking blood from cattle.
• They are related to lemurs and apes.
• The largest bat is the size of a bathtub.
• Bats come out at night so they have less competition from birds for hunting insects.
• They hang upside down so it is easier for them to let go, flap their wings, and fly off.
• Bats eat 60% of their body weight everyday.

Decimated!

A foot on the electronic microscope.

The bat still in its jar.