Soil: A Worm Garden Experiment

Saturday, August 28, 2010 Aimee Larsen 1 Comments


This past week, we started our study on soil as we move from the study of rocks.  Makes sense, right?  We started a small worm garden experiment.  We are very optimistic about the results.

Supplies

I went to the local school store and found a worm farm and I could order the worms, it was going to cost of $40!  For Dirt and Worms?  I don't think so!  So, Cooper and I went over to Hobby Lobby and looked for clear containers, I was thinking $10 was plenty of money to spend on containers and worms and it was.  We found two clear plastic display containers.  We went to a bait store and bought the worms, we don't have time for digging.  All cost was less than $10  I'm sure we could have done it for free if we'd wanted to.





We put sand in the bottom for drainage and because worms like sand too.


We kept the middle container centered so that we would be sure to see the worms working.  We added layers of food, grass clippings, dirt, sand, oats, paper, water and more dirt.



After we finished we added our worms.  These suckers were HUGE. I probably should have bought regular warms but "Night Crawlers" sounded fun.  We waited for them to crawl down into the dirt and watched.





Worms need sleep too.


So, nighty night worms.  We made a paper covering with black construction paper that we can slip on and off to check on our worms and their activity.  I'm still trying to decide if they need more dirt.  I think we'll be adding more but for now, they are working on what they have. 

This is not a study of worms but a study of soil and how it is made so that it is usable for gardens and growing.  However, curiosity is going to get to them and it will turn into a study of worms, I just know it.  Also, I had the hardest time finding a similar experiment to make sure we were doing this right.  Here's what I found that I loved and you'll love this little site too...The Magic Onions: Worm Garden

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$50 Gift Certificate Giveway

Friday, August 27, 2010 Aimee Larsen 0 Comments


Don't forget to register for this GIVEAWAY.   A local shop to the Ringgold, GA/Chattanooga area is giving away $50 to spend in their store... Visit the link above to learn more.

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Kids Toys Simplified

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 Aimee Larsen 0 Comments



Back during the summer, I got fed up with all the toys my kids had.  We could never keep our playroom clean or the whole upstairs for that matter.  I'm sharing this is right now as encouragement for all you moms and dads out there who are suffering from the same thing in your house.  This is what we did.  I asked my boys to each pick 5 things they wanted to keep out to play with.  We did this when all the toys were all over the place so they could see how much they had.  They easily picked 5 each and they  ALL fit in one toy chest.  Give it a try, I promise you'll love it and they will still have plenty to play with.

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Homeschool Week 2: Finding a rhythm.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 Aimee Larsen 0 Comments


This is the boring part of the week.  This is his math and while he "gets" it, he isn't interested in doing it.  So, I need to research some ways to make the concept more fun.  We did look through the newspaper to find big numbers (in the Business section) and then we played around with those numbers based on how they were written in the paper.  If they were in word form, we wrote them numerically.  If they were numerical form, we wrote them in word form.  That's about the best I could do for place value up to the 100 millions.  Next week will be interesting because we are doing measurements.  That'll be fun!

Then we spent a great deal of time reading The Double Life of Pocahontas"  by Jean Fritz.  A chapter a day this week and since we are studying the events at Jamestown this week we made a scale model of Jamestown.  I've realized we do want to spend much more time on colonial history.  He's loving it and there is SO much to learn and do. 

On a personal note, with Jamestown on our minds, Cooper and I had a discussion, which truly makes you think about eternity on Wednesday.  The book we are reading is long winded and so we take turns.  When we began and he started huffing and puffing about having to read, I told him..."This story you are reading may be historical fiction but it doesn't mean that these people and events weren't real."  We talked about that these people were moms and dads, brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren.  That the cried when they were hurt, afraid and overwhelmed by love.  They held their babies and read their Bibles and worshiped God.  While the story of Jamestown is quite horrific and most where the laziest men ever in history; the town eventually grew and new towns sprang from it and more people and families arrived as settlers.  These people were real.  

Then, later Wednesday evening I was dancing in the kitchen with Jake.  It was a slow dance, mostly to keep him interested so he would stay in my arms longer than he would if I just stood there holding him.  I tried to make an impression in my mind that his arms were small, soft and warm and his little body was so small.  I eventually cried later thinking about this moment and how many moments in history moms have done this very thing, even maybe in Jamestown.  The feeling of his little arms and the loving hug...that's the treasure I want in Heaven. 

P.S.  Here's a picture of the big project for the week.

Click on Image for Close Up



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Rock Lesson Continued

Monday, August 23, 2010 Aimee Larsen 0 Comments




Line Up
To demonstrate that some minerals have a definite cleavage line.

Materials: smooth paper towels


Procedure:
  • Try to rip a single sheet of a paper towel from top to bottom.
  • Turn another sheet of paper towel and try to tear it from side to side.
Results:  The paper will tear easily in one direction but not in the other.


Why?:  Paper towels are made on a wire screen, creating a straight line in one direction.  Pulling on the paper attacks the weakest point.  The parallel lines on the paper made by the wire screen are thinner than the rest of the paper, and thus the paper rips easily down one of these lines.  Jagged and irregular tears result when the paper is pulled in the opposite direction.  This is like cutting minerals, such as diamonds, along cleavage lines.  The mineral splits smoothly and easily along the lines where the molecules line up, but it can smash into irregular pieces if hit across the cleave line.


Crunch

 To demonstrate the formation of metapmorphic rocks

Materials: 20 flat toothpicks, book and table.

Procedure:
  • Snap the toothpicks in half, but leave them connected
  • Pile the toothpicks on a table.
  • Place the book on the top of the toothpick pile and press down.
  • Remove the book.
Results: The toothpicks are pressed into flat layers (we wiggled ours a bit too much and they spread out).

Why?: the toothpicks flatten into layers under the pressure of the book.  In nature, the weight of rocks at the surface pushes down on the rock and dirt beneath, forcing them to flatten into layers.  Rocks formed by great pressure are called metamorphic rocks.

Folds
To demonstrate how compressional forces affect crustal movement

Materials: 4 paper towels, glass of water

Procedure:
  • Stack the paper towels on a table.
  • Fold the stack of paper in half.
  • Wet the paper with water.
  • Place hands on the edges of the wet paper.
  • Slowly push the sides of the paper toward the center.
Results:  The paper has many folds

Why?  Your hands push the sides of the paper toward the center.  Parts of the paper fold over so that it fits into the smaller space provided.  When forces from opposite directions push against section of the earth's crust, the compressed land is squeezed into new shapes called folds.  The upper surface of this folded land has a wavelike appearance.

Easy Folding?
To demonstrate the pressure required to fold the earths crust.

Materials: 1 sheet of newspaper

Procedure:
  • Fold the paper in half
  • Continue to fold the paper as many times as you can.
Results:  The paper becomes more difficult to fold.  After the 6th or 7th folding, you will be unable to bend the paper.

Why?  With each folding the amount of paper doubles.  After 7 foldings, there are 128 sheets.  The earths crust, like the paper, requires a small amount of pressure to fold thing, lighter layers on the surface.  Tremendous amounts of pressure are required to fold over larger, denser sections of land.



That concludes our lesson today on rocks.  Enjoy!

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