Pre-Algebra - This week was a review of decimals and square roots. The review went well, although Rocket Boy is still having trouble with the concept of negative numbers. I have been looking at a couple of options to help with this. Because Rocket Boy learns visually, I am hoping to find some type of manipulative that will help. We continued playing math games. This week we worked Mindware puzzles. They were a lot of fun!
History Odyssey - Rocket Boy didn't cover any new history this week, concentrating instead on his Industrial Revolution report. He has researched and written two of the three topic paragraphs and will continue working on this next week.
Bible - we are continuing to read Genesis and are up to Joseph. His brothers are back home after receiving wheat and are getting ready to return to Joseph with the family.
Science - this week Rocket boy compelted the first of two chapters on genetics and DNA. His test will be on Monday. Labs are underway using this kit:
Rocket Boy tried to extract DNA from a tomato, but the experiment failed, however he has done some trouble shooting and thinks it is because our dish detergent created way too many suds because it is a concentrated formula. He will try again next week. This is the picture of the failed mixture - you can see that it is entirely foamy. 
Here he is preparing some petri dishes so that he can grow bacteria. We're going to find out if there are any bacteria on his fingers! I'll post results next week. 
Here he is constructing a DNA model.
The completed DNA model.
We have a lot of things brewing, most urgent is First Lego League. We are coming up on our regional championship that takes place on Feb. 6. Please visit the team website to see videos and photos from this seasons project. They have done a really good job! While you are there, take a few minutes to fill out a survey on your bike riding habits, or lack thereof. They would appreciate it very much.
We have two cats in our home. One of them sits in a chair beside us at the dining room table when we are working on school work. We call her the math cat! Occasionally she will crawl into my lap to get a view of what's happening on the tabletop. Here is a picture of the two of us from this week:
Have a happy Friday everyone!
4 comments:
I came across a blog last week (Jimmie from China) & she explained negative numbers to her daughter by demonstrating with a timeline. Negative numbers work like B.C. Positive numbers like A.D. Worked for her daughter anyway.
Sounds like lots of science fun going on at your house!
Even though the experiment didn't work, that was a really cool science week! Thanks for sharing.
Very neat science experiment - please post his results when he tries again. We love science at our house!
Ditto Tonia's suggestion. I want to know how the experiment goes. I liked that Rocket Boy made the effort to troubleshoot why the experiment failed. I think I'll keep my eye on this kit.
Great week!
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