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.

Here be Dragons...

Today we varied our usual fare of dinosaur documentaries by watching a work of docufiction:

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8FIDeOOL52Q" width="480"></iframe>

This very entertaining presentation used the same CGI and animatronic techniques which are used to bring dinosaurs to life on the big screen to give the same credibility to dragons. This sparked a lot of interesting questions about how difficult it is to know if what we are watching onscreen is real, the way in which fictional stories can be presented as non-fiction, and the difficulty of knowing what is "truth" when we are thinking about things that happened millions of years ago. (We concluded that only God knows what actually happened, but that it is fun to speculate!)

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).

Garden design

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

Lorikeet drawing

Waratah's latest artwork. He asked Daddy to draw the outline if the bird, but the rest is all his own work, using pencils and oil pastels. He used a google image search for the placement of the colours. When finished, he cut out the bird very carefully and pasted it onto a separately drawn background.

Flowers and trees

One of Waratah's favourite rainy day crafts is to pull apart artificial flowers and remake new blooms from them. Here is one of his magnificent creations.

It was definitely a day to stay inside. A big wind storm came through and brought the tops of several large eucalyptus trees crashing down near our back stairs.

Dragon city

This is another popular game which the boys have and are enjoying. It provides them with maths practice (reading numbers and time), reading practice, and they need to consider that different kinds of dragons require different environments and plan their world accordingly.

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.

Yet another hero!

While Mulga was playing his soccer match, Daddy and Waratah went for a walk and rescued a baby Indian Minor bird. Here are Waratah and some of the other siblings from Mulga's team discussing the bird, and the player of the match award which Waratah had earned during his earlier match.

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 PDHPE: COS1.1 Communicates appropriately in a variety of ways.

S1 PDHPE: INS1.3 Develops positive relationships with peers and other people.

S1 PDHPE: MOS1.4 Demonstrates maturing performance of basic movement and compositional skills in a variety of predictable situations.

S1 PDHPE: ALS1.6 Participates in physical activity, recognising that it can be both enjoyable and important for health.

S1 PDHPE: GSS1.8 Performs fundamental movement skills with equipment in minor games.

S1 PDHPE: IRS1.11 Identifies the ways in which they communicate, cooperate and care for others.

More heroes

Mulga wanted to expand on the superhero dramatic play set he received for his birthday, so he asked for printouts of some more characters. (There were no villains. How can you have dramatic superhero play without villians?) Some good fine motor skills practice for him as he coloured them in.

The boys discovered this cool mole cricket and spent some time observing it 

before releasing it back into the garden.

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

Boronia helped Waratah and Daddy plant the succulents we brought home from our dinosaur garden day at Mt Annan Sustainability Centre.

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

Waratah also put together an electricity design project -which required a lot of reading instructions

.

S1 English: RS1.5 Reads a wider range of texts on less familiar topics with increasing independence and understanding, making connections between own knowledge and experience and information in texts.

S1 English: RS1.6 Draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies when reading and comprehending texts.

S1 Science: PPS1.4 Identifies and describes different ways some forms of energy are used in the community.

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.

Gundungurra geocache and a Dino garden

First, some reading in bed.

S1 English: RS1.5 Reads a wider range of texts on less familiar topics with increasing independence and understanding, making connections between own knowledge and experience and information in texts.

S1 English: RS1.6 Draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies when reading and comprehending texts.

S1 English: RS1.5 Reads a wider range of texts on less familiar topics with increasing independence and understanding, making connections between own knowledge and experience and information in texts.

S1 English: RS1.6 Draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies when reading and comprehending texts.

 These are the superhero books that Mulga got for his birthday. Very popular with the boys.

Off for a quick spot of geocaching: this cache was called Gundungurra in honour of the local Aboriginal tribe. "The territory of the Gundungurra tribe includes Burragorang, Katoomba, Picton, Berrima, Taralga and Goulburn, with the intervening country." 

S1 Maths: MS1.1 Estimates, measures, compares and records lengths and distances using informal units, metres and centimetres.

S1 Maths: WMS1.2 Uses objects, diagrams, imagery and technology to explore mathematical problems.

S1 Maths: WMS1.5 Links mathematical ideas and makes connections with, and generalisations about, existing knowledge and understanding in relation to Stage 1 content.

S1 HSIE: CCS1.2 Identifies changes and continuities in their own life and in the local community.

S1 HSIE: ENS1.5 Compares and contrasts natural and built features in their local area and the ways in which people interact with these features.

S1 PDHPE: ALS1.6 Participates in physical activity, recognising that it can be both enjoyable and important for health.

Then off to the Mt Annan Sustainability Centre to plant a dinosaur garden.

Waratah enjoyed learning about the succulent plant varieties and drew diagrams of them on the blackboard. The top one is Mother-in-Law's tongue, and the bottom one is the Jellybean plant.

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

S1 Science: ICS1.2 Creates a range of information products and communicates using a variety of media.

S1 Science: LTS1.3 Identifies and describes ways in which living things grow and change.

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 PDHPE: COS1.1 Communicates appropriately in a variety of ways.

S1 PDHPE: INS1.3 Develops positive relationships with peers and other people.

S1 Creative Arts: VAS1.1 Makes artworks in a particular way about experiences of real and imaginary things.

Boronia enjoys a spot of gardening too.

Mulga engaged in some imaginative play with the little kitchen, and took a turn at the chalkboard - this was a picture of a journey accompanied by a complicated superhero narrative.

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.