Print Making

Inspired by petroglyphs from thousands of years ago, the girls drew and "carved" their own unique designs onto foam. Then, using brayers, they created many prints by experimenting with color and pressure.

You know you are having a great time
 when your hands look like this!

Making Lemonade from Lemons!

What do we do with lemons? (Besides powering a digital clock!) We make lemonade, of course. Finding the right amount of water and sugar took some experimenting, but we eventually created the perfect recipe. Thank you, Mrs. Henry, for the fruit!

Thank you also for the unusual pot!

Navajo Weaving

          Today we traveled to Mrs. Henry’s studio for our art lesson. First we finished our collages of cityscapes, and we even added a real photograph of us surfing in the foreground!

Then we read the story The Goat in the Rug that lead into the next lesson of dyeing and weaving. It is a Navajo tale set in Window Rock. We learned that goat hair is “mohair” and sheep hair is “wool”.  We used many tools: carders, looms, dye from onion skin and berries picked from the yard, and wool. We followed up our lesson with Annie and the Old One, a Newbery honor book.

Lauren carding wool.

Samantha carding wool.

Carders

Gathering berries from the garden
 to make home-made dye.

Finished product!

Our looms before our weaving.

                                                                         



     

Energy

Energy: What is it? Where does it come from? Can you see it? What do we do with it? These were the questions posed to us today at the Arizona Science Center. To answer some of these questions, we experimented with "wacky walkers", poppers, and balloons. The wacky walkers walked, the poppers popped, and the balloons shot around the room - Lauren's balloon even landed in the recycling bin after a crazy flight around the science lab!

Wacky Walkers ready to roll across the floor.

We discovered some laws about energy.
1. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another.
2. The amount of energy in the universe is constant.
3. Sometimes energy is unavailable for use.

We even learned a formula for work:
W = F x D
That means that work is force (push or pull) over a distance. So the boy trying to push the building down is NOT working, but the girls fanning herself with a piece of paper IS working. Amazing!

Finally we learned about two categories of energy: potential and kinetic.

After our lab, Lauren rode the Sky Cycle 30 feet above us!

Don't look down!

Catch BookBreath

The girls joined the Phoenix Public Library’s annual winter reading program, “Catch BookBreath @ your Phoenix Public Library,” which kicked off Jan. 9 and runs through March 10 at all library locations.

Children up to 12 years old are eligible to participate in the program and earn prizes by reading or listening to books. Prizes include a book for children to take home and keep, and a “Happy Birthday Arizona” t-shirt in honor of the Arizona Centennial.  

We visited the Mesquite branch today and picked out our first prize while we loaded up on new books to last us until next Monday. 

Order of Operations

Samantha shows all of her steps!

Lemon Clock

Using inquiry investigation, the girls asked if lemons could power a digital clock. They stated the problem, stated the hypothesis, planned the investigation, made a mind map, anticipated problems, built the clock, drew conclusions, and learned about electrochemical cells and the properties of electricity. The girls will continue to experiment with tomatoes, potatoes, oranges, and soft drinks. Did you know the first battery was made by Italian scientist Alessandro Volta (1745-1827)? Another fun fact is that the cooper and zinc strips are called electrodes, and the lemon is called an electrolyte.