I am sorry I haven't done a good job as sharing our Science projects. I hope to get better at sharing what we do. This is a project that might not work as well with a pre k child. I am sure a young child can do this but they will need a lot of mom's help. Because things have been a bit busy and crazy at my house I am only doing this project with Travis. Most of the time Demi joins in with our Science projects but for this one I have decided to have a different Science project to do with Demi.
The science project we are working on is making a pinhole camera. I found lots of options on the web.
Corbis Readymech Camera
Homemade matchbox pinhole camera
Pinholo pine nut camera
A real looking paper camera
R2 D2 Pinhole Camera
Cofffee can camera
Simple pinhole Camera
oatmeal box camera
Kodak
A google search will bring up a lot more for you than I have listed.
This is a project Travis and I are working on together. It hasn't gone as smooth as most of our other projects. Our problems with this project have nothing to do with Travis or the camera. Life has got in the way of getting this project done. First my printer wouldn't work with my computer. Now it seems that when we try to work on it the phone rings, the baby cries, Demi needs something, or something else gets in the way. I hope to get some pictures of Travis working on this and sharing with you how it turns out soon. Just in case things don't calm down I thought I should at least let you know what we are doing and share the links I found.
At a quick glance this site looks interesting http://acept.asu.edu/PiN/act/pinhole/pinhole.shtml It looks like it is in a lesson plan form and looks easy enough for an elementary school age child to follow. I only glanced at it so I could be wrong. I did see an activities button on the right that I want to check out when I get a free minute or two.
I want to read with Travis the info I found here.
My plan is to try to make one or two pinhole cameras. This will be an intro to photography type of thing. I will then let Travis use our digital camera and our camcorder on another day for a fun Science class. He has used our camera and camcorder before but this time we will compare cameras and maybe read a bit on how to take a nice picture and making a good video. If he enjoys the pinhole camera and wants to try to make more or get more involved with making prints we will follow that interest but we won't do it during our Science class time.
After we make one and learn how to use it Travis will then be able to use it on his own. After we read about and make the camera we will move on to something else in our Science class. I will encourage him and help him with photography in the afternoons, evenings, and weekends. I have learned that for my family this is the best way to let him to experiment with the things he enjoys for as long as he wants AND to keep moving along with lessons. We (Travis and I) don't view Science as real "lessons". it is more like a way to see, read, try, and learn about fun new things. It is more like play time with new handmade toys that we never knew we wanted to have. LOL! I want to introduce him to so many things but at the same time I want him to be able to play with and experiment with the things he loves so having a Science class time for introducing new things and lots of free time later in the day to keep playing/experimenting with things he has already tried wants to enjoy more is what works for us. I think this might be why he spends so much time in the afternoons in his room inventing or trying things and so little time in front of the TV.
This system is the only way I have found for Travis to be able to learn and play with the things he has an interest in AND have time to read and try other fun things that are in our books. Travis and I sometimes get so excited and interested in a project that we can forget that we want to learn about and try lots of other fun things. I never want to take away the excitement he has when he takes an interest in building, planting, digging, racing, inventing, and such. But at the same time I want to show him that we can learn about and play, make sounds, create, build, and do so many things he doesn't know about yet. I have always wondered how other homeschoolers make decisions like this. I doubt I am the only person who has had so much fun in a history lesson or a science project and ended up spending a month (12-40) hours on and forget to move ahead to the next fun thing. Until I find a better way to schedule and plan stuff we will keep with this system.
I hope to share in a week or two how our pinhole camera works. Please let us know if you make one. We would love to hear how other people make out with making a camera. From what I read online the results can run from wonderful to very poor. I am not expecting wonderful results my 8 year old will be doing most of this himself but we will have lots of fun trying it out! If it doesn't work well we will be able to appreciate having a digital camera to use whenever we want.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Letter A-make your own colored sand
A is for art.
Our art project this time is making our own colored sand.
A few weeks ago I saw on TV a lady color sand (maybe it was salt) in a glass and then stuck a tiny candle in it to make a decoration for the house. At the time this show was on I was trying to put the baby down for a nap so I wasn't watching it close enough to know if it was sand or salt she was coloring. I didn't hear what she used to color it. I am trying to remember, I think she might have put a spoon of paint in the cup of sand and stirred it with a spoon. It was a show on the DIY channel but I am not sure what show it was. I know it must have been one on in the late afternoon (after out school day is over) because I don't watch TV early in the day. Anyway, after seeing that I decided to give a try at coloring sand . I figured I had nothing to loose I have lots of sand (2 sandboxes full). I have food colors and paints. I use food colors to dye things a lot so I thought first I would try food colors and if that didn't work I would try paint. We poured some sand in bottles and added some food coloring. We used about 1/2 cup of sand and 10 drops of food color but I am sure less food color or more sand in the bottles would give lighter colors and more food color will give darker colors. I used 1/2 cup because that is the first measuring cup I found and I used 10 drops because it sounded like an easy number to remember. LOL! After adding sand and food color in the bottles we put the lids on and shook. We ended up with some very colorful sand. Our sand was NOT white sand. It was natural tan colored play sand and I had no problems getting it to change color. I was very happy with how simple this project was!
Here is Travis making yellow sand.
Demi making purple sand (we used neon purple food coloring).
Zee always looks so interested in what her brother and sister are doing.
Picture of our sand. We made pink, blue, yellow, green, and purple so far.
Poor Zee! I wouldn't give her sand because I knew she would try to eat it. Next time we do this I will make sure to have an extra bottle of sand for her to shake. |We did this late at night and I never did this before so I didn't take the time to think of including Zee.
Here is a picture of them all at the table crafting nicely together. OK Zee is playing with baby toys but soon she will be involved with all our projects. Can you see Travis holding up his project? I think Travis caught the crafting bug (maybe he is a bit like his mom)!
I was brave and took video of us trying this project. I thought it would be neat if it worked and my children responded with a WOW. The WOW response didn't happen but it will show family and friends a small clip of our day. It will take me most of tomorrow to upload the video clips. I will share them soon as I get them uploaded to you tube.
Our art project this time is making our own colored sand.
A few weeks ago I saw on TV a lady color sand (maybe it was salt) in a glass and then stuck a tiny candle in it to make a decoration for the house. At the time this show was on I was trying to put the baby down for a nap so I wasn't watching it close enough to know if it was sand or salt she was coloring. I didn't hear what she used to color it. I am trying to remember, I think she might have put a spoon of paint in the cup of sand and stirred it with a spoon. It was a show on the DIY channel but I am not sure what show it was. I know it must have been one on in the late afternoon (after out school day is over) because I don't watch TV early in the day. Anyway, after seeing that I decided to give a try at coloring sand . I figured I had nothing to loose I have lots of sand (2 sandboxes full). I have food colors and paints. I use food colors to dye things a lot so I thought first I would try food colors and if that didn't work I would try paint. We poured some sand in bottles and added some food coloring. We used about 1/2 cup of sand and 10 drops of food color but I am sure less food color or more sand in the bottles would give lighter colors and more food color will give darker colors. I used 1/2 cup because that is the first measuring cup I found and I used 10 drops because it sounded like an easy number to remember. LOL! After adding sand and food color in the bottles we put the lids on and shook. We ended up with some very colorful sand. Our sand was NOT white sand. It was natural tan colored play sand and I had no problems getting it to change color. I was very happy with how simple this project was!
Here is Travis making yellow sand.
Demi making purple sand (we used neon purple food coloring).
Zee always looks so interested in what her brother and sister are doing.
Picture of our sand. We made pink, blue, yellow, green, and purple so far.
Poor Zee! I wouldn't give her sand because I knew she would try to eat it. Next time we do this I will make sure to have an extra bottle of sand for her to shake. |We did this late at night and I never did this before so I didn't take the time to think of including Zee.
Here is a picture of them all at the table crafting nicely together. OK Zee is playing with baby toys but soon she will be involved with all our projects. Can you see Travis holding up his project? I think Travis caught the crafting bug (maybe he is a bit like his mom)!
I was brave and took video of us trying this project. I thought it would be neat if it worked and my children responded with a WOW. The WOW response didn't happen but it will show family and friends a small clip of our day. It will take me most of tomorrow to upload the video clips. I will share them soon as I get them uploaded to you tube.
Letter A
A is for Art
and Amazing friends!
A friend stopped over to visit today. The children all did some sand art together. I put some colored sand (stuff I got from the dollar store) in a container and gave the children caps with some glue in them and q-tips to paint the glue on small cards (card stock cut in quarters). They painted with the glue then sprinkled color sand over the glue and shook over the tray to take off the extra sand.
Vicky gave me permission to post picture of all our children crafting together. I am so excited about this! I think it is wonderful that I can share some pictures of my children doing things with other children that are around the same age they are. I worry our family members that live out of the area might think our children are never with other children because they are homeschooled. Vicky is also a homeschooling mom she has 4 beautiful, kind, and wonderful children.
Aren't her children cute?
This one below reminds me of when I was in elementary school. I remember my art class having short round tables, glue, and colored sand to work with. See it is just like school only it is in our living room. LOL! LOOK! in this picture every child is working hard on this project.
Below is a picture of some of the finished projects. Vicky if you are reading this I have your children's pages. I put them up on the kitchen table to dry and keep Demi from messing with them but then I forgot to give them to you before you left.
I love it when my children get to do things with other homeschoolers! I took the camera outside when we all when out to play but I enjoyed sitting on the porch visiting with Vicky so much I forgot to take any pictures.
This sand craft looked like it worked well for all the children. I like crafts that can be used for little and older children. If you don't like sand in your house you might want to do this outside. I never care if we have sand on the floor so it isn't a problem for me but I thought I should write to let everyone know some sand will spread out on the table and floor.
and Amazing friends!
A friend stopped over to visit today. The children all did some sand art together. I put some colored sand (stuff I got from the dollar store) in a container and gave the children caps with some glue in them and q-tips to paint the glue on small cards (card stock cut in quarters). They painted with the glue then sprinkled color sand over the glue and shook over the tray to take off the extra sand.
Vicky gave me permission to post picture of all our children crafting together. I am so excited about this! I think it is wonderful that I can share some pictures of my children doing things with other children that are around the same age they are. I worry our family members that live out of the area might think our children are never with other children because they are homeschooled. Vicky is also a homeschooling mom she has 4 beautiful, kind, and wonderful children.
Aren't her children cute?
This one below reminds me of when I was in elementary school. I remember my art class having short round tables, glue, and colored sand to work with. See it is just like school only it is in our living room. LOL! LOOK! in this picture every child is working hard on this project.
Below is a picture of some of the finished projects. Vicky if you are reading this I have your children's pages. I put them up on the kitchen table to dry and keep Demi from messing with them but then I forgot to give them to you before you left.
I love it when my children get to do things with other homeschoolers! I took the camera outside when we all when out to play but I enjoyed sitting on the porch visiting with Vicky so much I forgot to take any pictures.
This sand craft looked like it worked well for all the children. I like crafts that can be used for little and older children. If you don't like sand in your house you might want to do this outside. I never care if we have sand on the floor so it isn't a problem for me but I thought I should write to let everyone know some sand will spread out on the table and floor.
letter A
WATCH OUT! The letter A ants are hungry!
I left the room to give Travis a quick grammar lesson this morning. When I came back in the living room I saw this!
WOW! Our ants are BIG eaters! Demi has such a good imagination! She went into her playroom and gathered a bunch of her play food and staged her ants to be eating the food. Travis and I both laughed when we saw this,
Here is something else I wanted to share. Last night I gave Travis a wallpaper book. I told him it was his and he could use it however he wanted. He spent an hour or so before bed cutting, pasting, creating, and painting. Below is one of his creations. In the last 24 hours I think he has made around 10 pieces of art. He told me today that he likes creating crafts with wallpaper books. He made up a bunch of cute cards with the golf theme wallpaper pages (for his poppy who plays golf) but I am too lazy to go take pictures of them right now. I just wanted to share with you all that Travis is starting to like "crafts".
I left the room to give Travis a quick grammar lesson this morning. When I came back in the living room I saw this!
WOW! Our ants are BIG eaters! Demi has such a good imagination! She went into her playroom and gathered a bunch of her play food and staged her ants to be eating the food. Travis and I both laughed when we saw this,
Here is something else I wanted to share. Last night I gave Travis a wallpaper book. I told him it was his and he could use it however he wanted. He spent an hour or so before bed cutting, pasting, creating, and painting. Below is one of his creations. In the last 24 hours I think he has made around 10 pieces of art. He told me today that he likes creating crafts with wallpaper books. He made up a bunch of cute cards with the golf theme wallpaper pages (for his poppy who plays golf) but I am too lazy to go take pictures of them right now. I just wanted to share with you all that Travis is starting to like "crafts".
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