What My Child is Reading - June 26, 2010

None of the weather themed books, I put on hold, have come in yet, and I still haven't figured out what the story with edible clouds, from my childhood was, so it was kind of a strange, scattered week of reading here at our house.

The little ones (ages 4 and 5) enjoyed a couple of silly stories by Jamie Mclaine, with zany illustrations by April Goodman Wily.

I found the word-heavy sentences of Have You Ever Seen a Moose Taking a Bath, and Have You Ever Seen a Moose Brushing His Teeth, somewhat cumbersome to read. But, once I had read through them a few times, and got the hang of the text, I found them almost as fun, and fanciful as the animals themselves.

My younger son (age 7) discovered our set of Pokemon early readers, that his older brother collected as a member of the now defunct (at least I couldn't find it online anymore), Scholastic Pokemon Master's Club. You might not be able to join the club, with it's monthly delivery of books, stickers, and pokedexes, but you can still find the books about. Any young fan of the Pokemon series is sure to enjoy them.

The older girls (ages 9 and 11) have been happily reading through the works of Gail Carson Levine, the author of Ella Enchanted. I think I'll probably read some of the altered fairy tales myself too, once I finish the Star Wars Fate of the Jedi series, I'm currently reading through (though I won't admit to that if you ask me in person!)

Finally, my oldest (age 12), much to my great delight, has discovered Modern Publishing's Treasury of Illustrated Classics. I'm hoping to move him on into the actual novels this fall, but for now, these abridged, and illustrated versions, are giving him a taste of the great authors. Judging by the way he's barreling through them, I'd say the reading level is a little too easy for him. But, with the library summer reading program under way, and 12 year old boys being what they are, I'm just happy to have him ensconced in a series.

For more children's book reviews and recommendations, check out this week's What My Child Is Reading blog hop, hosted by Mouse Learns, Mouse Grows.



It's great to be a homeschooler.

Carrots and Baby Bunnies

Remember the pop bottle, carrot garden we planted back in March?

Well, despite the fact, that I dumped the whole thing out, and had to sort of replant it (you can read about that, here), and despite the fact, that we had to keep the terrarium lid on longer than we wanted to, due to a bug infestation (I didn't post about that, but suffice it to say, we shouldn't have used dirt from last year, that had sat outside all fall), the carrots have continued to grow.

We haven't been able to see any orange through the bottle, but we can see quite a few white roots, growing from the carrots. And, this week, small tops have started sticking up, above the dirt.

Finally, I just couldn't stand it any more. I had to pull one, to see how they're growing (always a problem of mine with carrots). I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture below or not, but the carrot I pulled, while a very lovely carrot, is also very tiny, about an inch long.

I don't think they're quite ready yet.

We debated about what to do with such a tiny carrot. The children wanted to taste it, but they didn't want to share it with each other. Finally, after some research to make sure it was okay, we decided to feed it to the wild rabbits around town. Remember the rabbits we saw on our nature drive, at the beginning of spring?

They've had a family.

Naturally, when we approached they all scampered into their hole.

I think the girls were hoping to lure out some of the cute baby bunnies with their offering. They really are irresistibly adorable, even if they seem to be overrunning the town. Too many carrots aren't good for rabbits, because they are high in sugar. But, an occasional one, especially such a tiny one, is okay.

After some coaxing, I managed to convince the girls to leave the carrot for the rabbits to enjoy later. So, we didn't get to see the bunnies enjoying their snack. But, I'm quite certain they all popped back out again, as soon as we were gone.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Homemade Hygrometer

Now that we have a basic thermometer, and barometer we figured we might as well go ahead, and make a hygrometer.

Hygro is from the Greek, hugros, meaning wet, or moist. So, a hygrometer is a device for measuring moisture in the air - or humidity.

We found directions for making a simple hygrometer on squido.com, using:

• a block of wood, or heavy cardboard, about 10'' x 4''
  
• a thin piece of thin plastic, about 3'' x 3''
  
• 2 small nails
  
• 3 strands of human hair, about 8'' long (I donated a few gray ones).
  
• a dime
  
• glue
  
• tape
  
• a hammer
  
• heavy scissors
  
• and, since we used light colored hair, we added a piece of black construction paper, to place behind the hair, so it would show up.

We glued the construction paper to the wood.

And, we cut a small plastic lid into a triangular pointer. We used a large nail to make a big hole in the middle of the base of the triangle, and taped the dime near it's point.

Then, we nailed the triangle, low on the block of wood, with the small nail, through the large hole. The large hole allows the plastic to spin freely on the small nail.

We hammered in the second nail, about two inches above the middle of the triangle, on the block of wood.

Finally, we wrapped the hair around the top nail, and stretched it down to the middle of the triangle, using a spot of hot glue to secure it to the nail, and triangle, so when we stood the block up, the triangle would hang perpendicular to the hair.

When there is more moisture in the air, the hair will expand, and lengthen, and the triangle will tip down. When, the air is dry, the hair will contract, and pull the tip back up.

We marked our hygrometer, and then tested it, by placing it in the bathroom, while one of the children showered with the fan off. The tip of the triangle didn't move a lot, but it did move down enough to be noticeable. And, when we removed the hygrometer from the steamy bathroom, the pointer returned to it's original spot. So, it seems to be working.

Oh, and just as a by the way - relative humidity is the difference between the amount of moisture in the air, and the total amount of moisture the air can hold at that temperature. It would take a slightly more complicated device to measure that difference, but ours will be good enough for tracking changes in the humidity level throughout the day.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Homemade Thermometer

With a working barometer in place on our counter, we decided the next weather tool we needed was a thermometer. We actually have several mercury filled thermometers around the house, but we decided to see if we could make our own, kid friendly version.

To begin with we followed instructions, like these from TLC, where the idea was to take a narrow necked bottle, fill it halfway with colored water, stick a straw midway into the water, and seal the neck of the bottle, around the straw, with modeling clay. The idea is the air in the bottle will expand as it heats, pushing the water up the straw, where it can be recorded on a scale, attached behind the straw.

It sounded pretty simple, but we couldn't get it to work. We tried, as some other sites suggested, replacing part, or all, of the water with rubbing alcohol. And we, tried adding a wire, or in our case, a thin crochet hook, into the straw, to break the surface tension of the water. But, we could not get the water to rise in the straw.

Finally, I saw instructions on Homemade Style, using a film canister, where they had punched a hole through the lid for the straw, and then sealed it with hot glue. They stated if the water didn't rise, it was because of an air leak. We decided, that was our problem with the clay.

The only narrow necked bottle I had on hand, was a candy sprinkle bottle, but it did have a lid. The Man of the House was sweet enough to drill a straw sized hole in it for us, while I fired up the glue gun.


It took a lot of glue, but suddenly the water in the straw rose up above the lid, and held steady. It was a very exciting moment.


We marked room temperature on the piece of cardboard, we'd taped to the straw, and then stuck the bottle into a bowl of very hot water. Happily, it didn't melt our bottle, and we were able to watch the water level rise in the straw, to mark the higher temperature.


Then, we stuck our thermometer in a bowl of ice water, and watched the temperature come, very slowly, down.


It's a long way from perfect. We're still having some problems with air leaking, and haven't been able to keep it steady, yet. But, even so, we (okay mainly I) definitely had one of those Tom Hanks, Castaway kind of moments, when we sat the thermometer in the hot water, and the colored water started to rise - "I have made a thermometer!" But then, our device might be considered a thermoscope, I'm really not entirely sure.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Homemade Barometer Part 3

We made our third type of barometer last night. I've completely lost track of where I found the instructions for this one, but I know I saw it on multiple sites. We modified our version just a bit, anyway.


For this model of barometer you need:

*a glass

*a ruler, with tape attached for marking, or a piece of cardboard, or card stock

*a straw

*a bit of polymer clay, or chewed chewing gum (we used the clay)

*food coloring

*water

*and tape

It's a pretty simple concept, if a little fussy to put together.

1. Tape the straw inside the glass, so it doesn't quite touch the bottom of the glass.


2. Fill the glass about halfway full of colored water.


3. Suck some of the water into the straw (we chose to tip the glass, to fill the straw), then quickly plug the top of the straw with the clay, or gum, so the water stays in the straw.


4. Tape the ruler, or card stock on the outside of the glass, next to the straw, and mark the level of the water in the straw, on the card stock.

Just like our other models, as the atmospheric pressures changes, the level of water in the straw will go up (for high pressure), or down (for low pressure).

All three models seem to be working about the same, going up and down together. In the comments of our second model, Brimful Curiosities asked if the water evaporation won't eventually lead to changing readings. I think it will, for that model, and this one.

And, although evaporation is not a problem with our first model, I think the balloon might lose some of its elasticity over time, changing the readings, too.

Still, for the short term, these homemade barometers have given the children a little better understanding of what atmospheric pressure is, and how measuring it, helps in predicting changes in the weather.

The Man of the House has suggested, that just one barometer on the kitchen counter might be sufficient. So, I think after today's readings we'll dismantle the two liquid filled barometers, to make room for our next project - a homemade thermometer!

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Homemade Barometer Part 2

We had some excitement, and a setback with our first barometer.

First off, our balloon over jar, barometer seems to be working. It was pointing higher this morning than yesterday, and dropped a little, as clouds starting rolling in.

Then, we experienced our setback. One of the little ones, decided to pull the pointer straw off of the balloon. So, after a quick interrogation, and tearful confession, we had to start over, and re-glue the straw.

While we were at it, we decided to go ahead, and make our second, of what I think will be three, barometers. This time we loosely followed instructions from PBS's Rough Science site. It called for:

• a glass
  
• a bowl
  
• 4 paper clips (we substituted bobby pins)
  
• water
  
• and we added a couple inches of painter's tape

Start by placing the bobby pins on the rim of the glass, pushing them down as far as they will go, and spacing them an equal distance apart.

Stick the tape to the outside of the glass, about an inch down from the top. We used painter's tape, so it will be easier to remove later.

Fill the glass halfway with water.

Put the bowl, upside down, on top of the glass, and quickly flip the glass, and bowl over. Some of the water will escape from the glass, into the bowl, but that is okay.

Finally, mark the water level, on the tape.

As, the atmospheric pressure rises, it will push down on the water in the bowl, and cause the water level in the glass to rise. When the pressure is lower, that water will push out of the glass, and the water level will drop.

Or, at least that's what we've been told. Nasa's for Kids site, has a pretty nice explanation of what atmospheric pressure is, and how it effects the weather, if you're interested. And, in the time it's taken me to type all this up, the clouds have continued to roll in, the temperature has risen slightly, and both barometers have dropped. Which, if I understand everything correctly, means they are both working as expected.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Homemade Barometer Part 1

I realized with a start, that we let a perfectly good, stormy spring pass by without doing any kind of real weather study. We did quite a bit with wind, last summer, but very little with weather prediction, so I thought, before summer got away from us, we might start with making a simple barometer. We're moving into some real thunderstorm weather, so it might prove useful.

I was still formulating my plan of action, when I became aware I had a 12 year old with time on his hands this morning, looking for something to do, so we plunged right in, sort of half prepared.

We opted to make the balloon on jar type of barometer, but we might yet try a liquid filled type, too. I'm not sure who to credit with the design, we saw it on several sights, including on PBS's Zoom. But, it's pretty simple to put together. It requires:

• a largish balloon
• a glass jar (wide mouth is good)
• a rubber band
• a straw
• paper
• scissors
• glue
• tape

Just cut the neck off of a balloon.

Stretch the neckless balloon over the mouth of a jar. The jar should have a wide enough mouth, so the balloon fits tightly.

(We also discovered this makes a very good bongo-type drum).

Secure the balloon to the jar, with a rubber band.

Glue a straw to the balloon, starting at the midpoint, so the straw extends past the edge of the jar, a couple of inches. We also trimmed the end of the straw to make it pointy.

Tape a piece of paper to the wall, behind the jar, and point the straw at it.

We started with the straw pointing sideways at the paper, but decided it was too difficult to tell where the straw was pointing, because depending on where you were standing, it looked different.

Then, we turned the jar, so the straw pointed directly at the paper, and marked where it was pointing with the time, and date. Finally, we recorded the time, date, temperature, and general cloud state (which this morning was partly cloudy), in a separate notebook.

The idea is when it's sunny, and generally high pressured out, the atmospheric pressure should push down on the balloon, causing the straw to point upward a little. When it's cloudy, and low pressured, the straw will drop. After recording our findings over the next few, hopefully varying days, we'll be able to mark high, and low spots on our wall chart, and be able to predict by looking at our barometer, what kind of weather to be expecting.

I've got my doubts about this model, so as I said, I think we'll follow it up with an additional type. But, either way, I hope to report back on our findings, and some additional weather related projects, later in the week.

It's great to be a homeschooler.