Fibonacci and Art

We are heading out of town for a week for a family vacation. Yay! I can't wait. But before we leave, I want to leave you with a very cool You Tube video that makes me feel absolutely thrilled and awed with math and nature. Have a wonderful week.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahXIMUkSXX0

A Tanka by D

Fish

Scaly, blue-gray, stream-lined

Swish of the tail

In the water, salt or fresh

No hands, no legs, no fishing rod

by D

On the Shelves 2/20

Happy President's Day!

Here's what we are reading this week:

Lincoln, by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire
Thomas Jefferson by Cheryl Harness
Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas
A Picture Book of Sacagawea by Dan Brown
Paths to Peace by Jane Breskin Zalben
Uncover the Human Body by Luann Colombo
Treasury of Inspirational Stories for Children by James Herriot
Fireside Stories by Caitlin Matthews

Some of these are new, and some are tried and true all-time favorites (like Herriot's Inspirational Stories). 

D is really into the Deltora Quest series right now. J is simultaneously reading some Magic Tree House books along with the Ocean Fairy series. And I am struggling through the Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje, and hoping it is going to pick up.

Happy Reading!

xoxo

Happy Valentines Day to everyone! May your day be full of sweetness, pinkness, sugariness, and of course, love.

MFA

We spent the day at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston today. We haven't visited the museum in over a year, and I was struck by the beauty of the works we saw today. I left feeling so very grateful that this museum exists right in our backyard. J and K spent the day looking at sculpture, while D toured the modern art exhibit with the older kids. All 3 kids then worked on projects that tied in to the ideas they discussed while touring the galleries today.

Some of the sculpture we saw today included pieces from Ancient China and Japan.

The girls, hard at work in the clay studio.

Three 3-D masterpieces. 

Stinky Liver Stan

Our human torso model arrived this week to aid in our study of the human body. In addition to removing his lungs, heart, stomach, liver, and intestines on a regular basis we are currently considering names for this handsome gentleman. So far it's a toss up between Naked Bob and Stinky Liver Stan.

We also did a quick experiment this week that helped us to 'see' air. We've been discussing how our nose, trachea, and lungs help us to breath air, and how our red blood cells take the oxygen from that air and circulate it throughout our body. Of course we can't taste, touch, or feel air (unless it's windy) so we looked at some air trapped in a glass. We added water to a bowl, and then food coloring to the water. We placed a paper towel in the top of a glass and placed the glass, open side down, in the bowl of colored water. We could see the clear air trapped in the glass, and that the paper towel stayed dry with the glass placed upside down. When we tipped the glass the air escaped in bubbles, which we could also see. This was a spontaneous experiment we decided to do after reading Air is All Around You, a Let's Read and Find out Book. The experiment is included in the book.

Human Body, part 2

Just a quick post today to let you know what we've been up to in the land of science. We're continuing our study of the human body and are currently learning about the circulatory system. Today we made a model of blood.

Have I ever mentioned how much we love science?

Our blood model

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Inspired by http://soulemama.com/

Museum of Science

Were were all feeling a bit uninspired and sluggish this week, so we decided to spend a day with friends at the Museum of Science in Boston. This is one of our favorite field trip destinations. We spent quite a bit of time in the Pompeii exhibit, which was amazing, and visited some of our long-time favorite exhibits as well. Animals and dinosaurs seem never to disappoint.

Two Dogs, One Boy, Some Sticks, and a bit of Sunshine

What glorious weather! The pull of the sun and the warm spring-like air drew us outside today so D and I decided to hit the hiking trails with our two pups. What a wonderful way to spend a January afternoon in New England.

On the shelves

Or should I say "Off the shelves"? Here's what we're reading this week:

Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport
A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln by David A. Adler
Abe Lincoln, the boy who loved books by Kay Winters
Abe's Honest Words by Doreen Rappaport
Stranger in the Woods by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick
Snow is Falling by Franklyn M. Branley
Air is All Around You by Franklyn M. Branley
A Snowman named just Bob by Mark Kimball Moulton
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

D: Nataniel Flood, Beastologist by R.L LaFevers
J: Magic Tree House, A Day in Pompeii by Mary Pope Osborne
Me: The Children's Book by A.S Byatt

Happy Reading!

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Inspired by http://soulemama.com/

Human Body part 1

January just seems to be cruising along here this year and I feel I am running along to keep up. It's hard to believe I haven't even sat down to post to our blog since before the holidays, so I'm carving out a bit of time tonight for a brief post about one of our favorites, science. We are fanatical science fans around here and right now are studying the human body and anatomy, so I thought I'd post from time to time about what we've been up to. This week we wrapped up our study of the respiratory system.

We recorded our resting heartbeat, and then checked it again after exercising and doing various activities to see how much it increased. We charted this on a graph. We also built our own model of the respiratory system with simple drawings, and a tube to represent the trachea. We used different colored math chips to show how red blood cells bring oxygen from the lungs to the heart, and then to different parts of the body in exchange for carbon dioxide, which is then returned to the heart, lung, and back out the nose.