Epic Foam Explosion

Today's DIY Project - Create a Foam Explosion

Elephant Toothpaste Foam Explosion

We're doing the "Elephant Toothpaste"(kid friendly version) as demonstrated by Steve Spangler Science.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz Hydrogen Peroxide
• splash of dish soap
• desired food color (optional)
• Yeast solution (dry yeast + water)

In a disposable bottle we measured 4 oz of peroxide.  Chase then  mixed in the dish soap and food color before adding in the catalyst.  We used yeast for a kid friendly version.  Chase also wore safety glasses and this was done on our junk picnic table (it needs to be fixed).  Then, explosion!  Much more impressive than the old baking soda and vinegar volcano!  :D  This foamed up real fast and kept erupting.  He was quite impressed.

The project page has member projects and how to's for you to learn how.  Chase is posting up the video of his project now, which may take a while for it to load on DIY.org.  But here it is below:

HP Instant Ink

We've started up with HP Instant Ink to try to save money on our printing costs.  We have an HP Instant Ink compatible Printer, HP OfficeJet 3830 Series (affiliate link).  HP's program will save a lot of money on ink, since it charges per printed page, rather than amount/color of inks used.  And you get rollover pages, up to your plan amount.  We're starting off with the 300 page plan, which is normally $9.99, but we have a promo giving us a free month.  If you want a free month, you can sign up with our link - Instant Ink.  It grants us one month free and new enrollments also get the free month.  

It will send the ink before we run out, there are 3 different plans to fit your budget and you can change them any time.  $9.99 being the highest with 300 pages.  I probably won't be printing anywhere near that much, but I wanted to start with the higher plan while I have it for free.  Also, buying ink costs more than $10.  I'll write up a proper review after I've received it.  I plan to use my printer for both homeschool and professional art projects, like printing out my digital stamps and papers.  So, hopefully, I'll get some good use out of it.  The HP Connected website gives you a comprehensive record of your usage, so you can see how much you're using and adjust your plan accordingly.

Tosanoides Obama Pyle Fish

Next assignment for Chase is on the newly discovered "Tosanoides Obama Pyle Fish" from the genus Tosanoides.  They are named after our President for his conservation efforts to expand the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

So, I've decided to release a little clip art of this cute little fish.  One b&w version with just the lines and another of the colored version.  JPG and PNG version of each.

I used a photo reference from National Geographic's website, taken by Richard Pyle, the man who discovered this new species.  As such, this is a completely free resource with share and share alike permissions.  As in, any products made with this should also be free.  It is an educational resource from a news source and I am uncertain if it is in the public domain or not.  This is, of course a hand drawing that is watercolor painted on card stock paper.  So would fall into fair use, however, I feel this little fish should swim freely.

Don't know what his non-Scientific nickname will be, I am guessing "Obama Fish"  ;D

Download on TeachersPayTeachers

This fish will be named in honor of President Obama for his commitment to protecting nature through the expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD PYLE

Bonus!  Free Coloring Page!  Just randomly decided to make a coloring version print page.  You can give guided instruction for the colors of the fish, or use print outs of my watercolor version as example, or let the students color however they like.

Interactive Journal, Interactive Fun

Trying to take a fresh approach to school this year, one that Chase seems to enjoy.  We'll be trying to work more in his journals opposed to strictly worksheets.  Last year, it was such a struggle to get him to do his written assignments, I didn't have the energy to do the journaling.  Preparing them can be a lot of work.

Today, we worked on two journals, Math and Science.  For Math, I made a small project, Groups of Two and Groups of Three.  I drew everything to fit in the notebooks and he colored, grouped and then labeled them and glued each into the book.  Finally, I had him write an equation to represent how many groups of twos and threes there were to reinforce the multiplication concepts.

I plan to be making some TpT material out of this.  Maybe offer the pumpkins and baseballs as clipart.  I find the clipart on there to be lacking and want to flood the site with my own art.  Of course, many of my materials have sadly been lost to our external hard drive crash, which we have not yet been able to recover.  I may have to rescan some things if I managed to keep them.  Some I just used the 'hard copy' for Chase's journals last year.  Or it's been misplaced in my mess of art supplies.  I need shelves.  And drawers!  A roll cart!

For Science, we made a quick cover for the notebook, which he decorated.  I wrote in his vocabulary words: Entomologist, Arthropods, Invertebrate, Exoskeleton, and Antennae.  I'm planning a unit on insects!  He wrote in the meanings and drew a picture of an ant enlarged with a magnifying glass.  This is his field journal, so we might need to take it outside to do some investigating.  Chase is terrible at identifying bugs.  He hates them.  But any time he sees one, he shouts, "Bug!" without telling us if it's a spider or a fly or a moth, etc...

So, we've gotten internet on my art desk computer.  Yay!  So now I can upload directly from creation.  And once we upgrade a bit, then perhaps, live art sessions.  We need an adapter to switch out the current motherboard with another we have stashed in the closet.  Which will have a better power supply and perhaps even on board audio.  This computer cannot even run headphones.

Well, I need to get back to creating new TpT materials.

"Candids"

Chase loves to have me take 'candids' like in Big Nate.

Hunting for a Good Book?

Sir Fartsalot

Yesterday I read to Chase from "Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger" for his reading 20.  We left off on Chapter 5.  Today, after homeschool was all wrapped up he dove back into the book.  By dinner time, he read to Chapter 10.  He quickly devoured up his mega meal of turkey pepperoni sandwich and yogurt w/banana and sprinkles (I let him choose leftovers or a sandwich) and right back to the book.  And once I'd finished cleaning up and dishes, I'd come to check on him.  Chapter 26!  Wow!  I gleefully told his Dad and Grandpa and Great Grandma and posted how proud I was on Facebook...  And he had finished the book before bedtime with time enough to spare.  So I let him watch the amusing video in this post.  Highly recommend this book.  It is full of laughs and it's a gas.  (totally intentional pun)

He hasn't been getting enough sleep lately and has been giving us a terrible time for school.  It is pulling teeth to get him to brush them.  And getting dressed is a contest of wills.  I'm trying to keep his school work interesting and fun.  A mix of worksheets and hands on learning.  And games.  I'm on a mad search for games.

Mini review of one game.  The Lesson Plan Diva had a nice little "Where the Wild Things Are" book report trivia game modeled after Jeopardy as a freebie.  So I downloaded it.  Chase really enjoyed it, however, there's some flaws.  The answer and question sheets are incorrect.  One of the answers was wrong and the questions don't match the board.  Her stuff looks great, but I'll probably create my own material next time.  I want to make sure the problems and solutions are correct and not have to proofread every question.  There were many great reviews, however none mentioned the errors.  I'll have to give her a precise review, she'd probably want to know there are mistakes.  It is still a great resource and you just have to check the answers real quick before going over with the kids.  Where the Wild Things Are Trivia Game  I cut out the board for Chase's interactive notebook.  And worked out a prize system for his totals.  20 pts = 1 prize, 40 pts = 2 prizes and 100 pts = CANDY!  He liked that.

I mentioned before that I won Mrs. O Knows' giveaway for Trainer's Warehouse's wonderful Quick Response Whiteboards.  They arrived the other day and they are a big hit!  We received the 12 pk which has 4 of each color handle, red, blue and green.  We're keeping half of them.  Chase LOVES them.  We did a spelling/Pictionary inspired game where I would make a drawing and he'd write what it was and we'd flip our boards to see if we had a match and then switch roles.  Today we did some math stories where I presented him with word, number and picture problems and he would solve them on his board.  Then I did a spelling activity where he would pick the correct word to match the picture where I have several variations of a word written down.  (i.e. picture of a fan and choices were fun, fon, fan, fin and fen)  He would write it on his board and we'd flip.

He's been running around drawing on this and carrying them all over the house as a little sign.  I would highly recommend them!  I'll have to post up a picture of them in use some time.  The packaging for them was great, it arrived in a bigger box and padded with paper.  There was a catalog for their other products and website as well as a few free items.  They gifted me a small doodle pad for Chase to fidget and doodle in between working on assignments.  Hopefully, it will save his work from being covered in his wonderful art.  And a certificate/sign display holder that can adhere to the wall.  I'll figure out a use for it.  The whiteboards are available singles or there's snap on handles and other options.  So if a pack of 12 won't suit your needs, there are plenty of options.  The little dry erasers that come with each board are okay, but they leave a fuzz bit behind.  I end up wiping it down with a baby wipe afterwards to clean up remaining marks and fuzz.  I have heard using WD-40 will make your dry erase boards perform better and clean up easier.  I'll have to give it a try.  It is something I found on Pinterest...  ;P

Another very exciting thing, at least to me, since teaching is very exciting to me!...  Humanist Homeschoolers, will be lending us a Social Studies textbook for First Graders.  They're a secular free resources for homeschool provider.  They receive support via donations.  I'd like to thank everyone who donated books to them so my son can have a better education.  There isn't a 1st grade common core standard, but I want to keep him on par with his peers.  I'd been alternating between Geography, Biographies of Historical figures, Current Events and local/US histories, etc.  Now, I need science, which HH recommended Classic Science: Elementary Life Science as a free curriculum.  I'm excited to have a great start to his school year.

I absolutely gushed and fawned over his reading skills tonight, I hope he feels proud of himself.  He says he didn't have trouble with a single word, and it is the first chapter book he ever read by himself.  Maybe he won't feel so daunted by books like Harry Potter, since they have so few pictures.  This one had pictures every few pages or small pictures in the text.  But way more text than illustration.  He also admired the fonts and design of the cover art, saying how the black and grey border go nice together and he likes the color of the dragon, and color scheme.  I would have to agree.  Looks like he has an eye for design.  ;)

215 page Chapter book