Rocket Science

Wombat's choice of what to do this morning - just a bit of rocket science smile emoticon He is watching documentaries on journeys to deepest space and future spaceflight technologies, and using an app with realistic orbital physics to create and test his own rocket designs.

The app is Simple Rockets: "Kepler wrote the equations 400 years ago, and SimpleRockets uses those equations to model extremely realistic orbital physics. Players will learn about rocket science and astrodynamics while they are having a blast exploring the solar system."

Here are some of Wombat's creations.

Scorpion!

The other day my Mulga yelled out that there was a scorpion in the sandpit where he and Boronia were playing. It was not at all aggressive and I was easily able to gently coax it into a jar using a stick. 

Being homeschoolers we transferred it into our mini aquarium to observe overnight. We also happened to have a UV torch on hand. The next day I carefully transferred it back into the jar and we took it for a bushwalk and released it on our property well away from the house. 

I posted some pictures on facebook and was astounded by the number of people who did not realise we had scorpions in Australia - let alone this close to Sydney. I believe they are quite rare as this is only the second I have seen in 20 years of living out here. 

We are members of the museum and Wombat wanted to make sure we shared it to so we sent an email to them.

We think it might be a Mottled Scorpion from our research (http://www.foundation.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Other+Arachnids/Scorpions#.VPgEXPzLfYg).

From our understanding it would give a painful sting to an adult and may be deadly to a young child. We are hoping the museum will confirm our hypothesis. (Mulga got double pocket money for protecting himself and his sister by alerting an adult and keeping them both away.) 

NPWS volunteers

Spent a nice rainy day at Bent's Basin as NPWS volunteers. We were making flaps which were to be placed at the entrance of wombat burrows to test the effectiveness of this method for delivering medicine to treat mange in the wombats. Unfortunately the rain stopped us from going out to put the traps in place, and soccer has now started so we are unlikely to get the chance to go back and see how they worked unless they do a weekday run - but it was a great homeschooling experience nonetheless and one we enjoyed heaps.

African drumming workshop

Today we joined in with an African drumming workshop with other homeschoolers. We learnt about how the drums were made and the materials they are made from, and the boys learnt to play some increasingly complex rhythms. Boronia and the boys had fun playing with the other kids afterwards - Waratah even learnt how to play handball.

Praying mantises and particulate matter

Sprouted wheat seed which we used to make Essene bread. This is bread which uses only one ingredient, and is cooked at a very low temperature - it can even be cooked by the sun. Our first try was not a great success as we had difficulty grinding the "flour" fine enough.

Hard to see, but this was our experiment in particulate matter. There are 4 materials in the bags: wood, wheat, salt and sugar, each material having a large, medium and small particle size. The boys were challenged to identify the materials. We sorted them into materials and particle size, discussed how the various particle sizes were created, and why they might be needed (eg wheat seed for planting, cracked wheat couscous, grinding flour to make bread; wood for building, wood shavings for animal bedding, wood pulp for paper...). We then examined the materials under our field microscope and challenged ourselves to identify the difference between the finely ground salt and sugar crystals.

Waratah's latest pet. We have researched habitat and diet, and identified his gender (males have 6 segmented abdomens, females have 8).

Building a play space

The boys have been using logs left over from the big wind storm that brought down the top of one of our trees, and spare bricks and pavers to construct a play space to their own requirements. Both like to use it as a quiet space to sit and think, and rake designs into the dirt.

Garden design

Waratah has been using the GardenMap app to design his perfect garden, using measurements based on his actual garden patch.

Mt Annan Sustainability Centre

Mulga making a "cuppa" in the kitchen...

and offering it to Fiona, who graciously accepts.

Waratah interacting with his friends.

Boronia exploring.

Mummy's birthday

My 40th birthday was 11 August, but we decided to postpone for a few days to allow Boronia to recover from her tiredness and get used to being home after spending time in the city with me at my Negotiation seminar. It was a lovely birthday and well worth the wait.

Results of desert water experiment

It is hard to see, but when we checked on our desert water condensation project, we discovered that the pie tin was close to half full of water, which had condensed from the leaves and damp sand.

We poured it into a measuring cup and discovered that we had made 10mls of water. We discussed whether this would be enough to keep us alive in the desert and how big a set up we would need for that purpose. We also discussed whether this technique could be used for cleaning dirty water.

S1 HSIE: ENS1.6 Demonstrates an understanding of the relationship between environments and people.

S1 Science: PSS1.5 Grows, makes or processes some products using a range of techniques and materials.

S1 Science: ESS1.6 Identifies and describes ways in which people and other living things depend upon the earth and its environments.

S1 Science: INVS1.7 Conducts guided investigations by observing, questioning, predicting, collecting and recording data, and suggesting possible explanations.

S1 Science: DMS1.8 Develops and implements own design ideas in response to an investigation of needs and wants.

Desert Biome

Today we continued our exploration of the desert biome with some experiments to investigate how desert plants conserve and create water.

First we wet some paper towels. One we wrapped in rolled up wax paper, one we just rolled up and the third we laid flat. It was a sunny, slightly windy day. We checked back at 10 minute intervals and noted how quickly the third towel dried out, and that the second towel also dried out although it preserved its moisture for longer. The towel wrapped in wax paper was still damp the next day.

Boronia was very fascinated by our next project and quickly dismantled it. We made it again while she was napping, and set it out of her reach.

First we filled a dish with slightly damp sand, and some freshly picked leaves.

We made a space in the middle of the leaves and put in a small pie tin.

We then sealed the project in a ziploc bag and put it in the sun, noticing how quickly condensation began to form on the surface of the plastic.

Finally, we placed a heavy marble on the bag, over the pie tin, to weight the bag down.

The finished project was left in a sunny place for the rest of the day and the next morning. Our aim was to see how much water we could "create" because we had read about this being a desert survival technique.

S1 HSIE: ENS1.6 Demonstrates an understanding of the relationship between environments and people.

S1 Science: PSS1.5 Grows, makes or processes some products using a range of techniques and materials.

S1 Science: ESS1.6 Identifies and describes ways in which people and other living things depend upon the earth and its environments.

S1 Science: INVS1.7 Conducts guided investigations by observing, questioning, predicting, collecting and recording data, and suggesting possible explanations.

S1 Science: DMS1.8 Develops and implements own design ideas in response to an investigation of needs and wants.

S1 Science: UTS1.9 Selects and uses a range of equipment, computer-based technology, materials and other resources to undertake an investigation or design task.

Building houses

Mulga using foam castle blocks to build animal habitats and superhero homes, then acting out dramatic play with them.

First time geocaching - Madoline Glen

We have been wanting to try geocaching for a long time now, and we finally got our first opportunity, with a our Blue Mountains Homeschool Bushwalk group. We all met at Springwood to walk through Birdwood Gully, and hopefully pick up a few geocaches on the way. We were all first timers, and it took us a while to get the hang of using the compass apps on our various devices (we were using an iPad in a Griffin Survivor case with Compass Commander. I have since purchased the geocaching.com app which is VERY user friendly).

Waratah climbing the wall of. a cave

Mulga with his "fossilized T-rex tooth".

At first we missed the spot where we were to turn off the track, and walked up the hill, where we stopped to play on some amazing wave-curled rock formations. I didn't get any photos of that because Waratah and I (and Boronia in the carrier) decided to go back down the hill to see if we could find the right spot. A short trek off the trail, and we had it! Back up the hill to get everyone else, and then back down the hill to let everyone share in the excitement of making their first find. It was a lovely big cache with something for everyone.

Hidden treasure!

Mulga was incredibly impressed to find this "Gandalf" statue.

Boronia thought it was all very exciting.

The children then made and hid their own special cache for homeschoolers. Everyone else went home, while we decided to have one last look for the cache we had missed right at the start. We did not find it, but we did find a gorgeous, active Satin Bower-bird nest.

Veggie Gardening

A lovely sunny winter's day - time to get out in the veggie garden... Boronia enjoyed being more mobile and able to explore areas she could not get to before...

And the boys helped weed among the broadbeans (using some not-so-traditional gardening tools). Did a great job, though!

Snowflakes

We love using the free brochures you find outside travel agents for our craft and geography explorations. Here Waratah has created a collage showing some of the travel adventures he would like to experience some day.

We have also been using the travel brochures to make "snowflake pictures". Here is one of Waratah's, made from a picture of Chinese lanterns.

One of mine made a church on the Adriatic sea.

Another of Waratah's from a picture of a Thai temple.

Boronia, meanwhile, has been enjoying discovering the Boynton books she received for her birthday.