Monday, October 24, 2011

Science - Breaking the Mold

The last time I posted, it was about the English I course that I designed. It is going fairly well. After much discussion, we realized that science wasn't fitting his needs, so we have decided that for the rest of the year we will allow Rocket Boy to follow his own interests and do some unit studies. First up was a chemistry unit.

From a young age, Rocket Boy has always wanted to know about fireworks. He brought this up right away when I asked him what he'd like to learn about. Here is a list of the materials that he used, with his father helping with the labs.

The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire and Phosphorous by John Emsley
Gunpowder Alchemy, Bombards and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World by Jack Kelly

Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny LeCouteur
Chemistry of Fireworks unit study w/labs from the American Chemical Society. 

They tried to make the black snake, but it didn't work out so well. I know they had fun trying, though!

We don't really know what's next, Rocket Boy is still finishing up the reading for this one. We will figure it out this week, though!

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