Cartesian Diver

This week we did an experiment that went with our Apologia science. It showed the way a nautilus and an octopus would move in the water. Submarines also use this to move up and down in the water. First, we took a small water bottle and filled it to the top. Then we took a water dropper and filled it as full as we could and it still float in a cup of water. Then we put the dropper in the bottle and closed the lid tightly. When we squeezed the bottle the dropper(diver, nautilus, sub..) sank to the bottom of the bottom.

Dropper at the top.

Squeeze. It is sinking.

All the way at the bottom.

This is because when you put pressure on the bottle, you also put pressure on the water inside and the dropper fills with more water making it heavier and it sinks. When we let go of the bottle the water came out of the dropper and it floated. Pretty cool.

Usually you see this experiment labeled as a Cartesian diver. It was pretty simple to do and the kids loved it. Apologia is great!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Today is Bobbi's birthday. She is nine. Wednesday was Tyler's. He is six. Time sure does fly. So last night we had a small family supper and opened presents. They were so suprised when Granny gave each of them a Nintendo DS. Neither one has put it down since. (That will stop in a week or two. There has to be limits.)

They each gave the other a gift and then we had them hide their eyes so we could bring out their gifts from us (Mom & Dad). Granny manned the camera.

They were in total shock.

We had to go try them out right away.

Tyler still needs a bit of practice on his. It is an 18 inch and he is about a 17 inch. However, when he feels comfortable on it he will be able to keep up with the rest of us when we go on bike rides.

Now, I know what you are thinking, especially if you have read my other posts or know my family. You are wondering what we were thinking buying a STUNT bike(see the pegs on the wheels) for a girl with a broken arm. Did I mention it was her 3rd broken arm(same arm). She can't even ride it for at least 4 more weeks. Poor thing. She doesn't seem unhappy about it does she? Naw. Mom rode it for her. LOL!!! Plus all of her broken arms have been from her falling down. Just simply falling wrong, so why not have fun doing it. Maybe, (hopefully) this will be her last broken arm. They will have a friend party next weekend.

God's Glorious Creation

Last night, Rosemary Stripey (the caterpillar) became an official chrysalis!! She is much more beautiful than I thought she would be. She is green, which I think is a much more rare color. Usually they are brown. It is amazing to look at the pictures from yesterday's post and know that she didn't move, but turned into this. It is even more amazing to know that she will eventually turn into a beautiful black Swallowtail butterfly. Only God can do something like that. She didn't have "ears" as a caterpillar, but not she has these ear-like points on top of her.

You can look closely at her and still see her old skin is the chrysalis in places. You can still see the strings that are holding her to the box. Truly amazing

Can you see her old skin in this picture? Look at the bottom of her.

Rosemary Stripey Caterpillar

As of Tuesday, we have a new caterpillar pet. It is the caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly. A friend at our homeschool group found several on her parsley and decided to share them. We were thrilled to get one. Bobbi and Tyler have named her Rosemary Stripey (we couldn't decide, so we combined names). We only had her for a day before she started to wander. Caterpillars do that before they begin to pupate. They also empty out their digestive tract. (Yuck!) She wandered around and around the little box she is in before deciding on a spot to stick to. I tried to get her to attach to a stick, but she wasn't interested.

They attach themselves with what looks like spider's web. There is a bunch on her bottom side and then there is a small string coming from her to the wall of the box. If you look close, you can see it. It is white.

There is also one on the other side, but it didn't photograph well. How she did this, I don't know. If you look close in the first picture you can see that none of her "legs" are on the wall, just her abdomen(tail) and her head. We are waiting for her to molt one last time. When she does this it will be her pupa or chrysalis. I don't think it is very pretty, but we will wait and see. It really doesn't matter because when she comes out she will be a beautiful Black Swallowtail Butterfly. I must plant lots of parsley next year. I planted carrots this year, but they didn't do well. I want to plant a butterfly/moth garden that will support not only the adult, but also the larva. How cool would that be. I'll keep you posted.

New Cast?

We went back to the Dr. today. Bobbi had an x-ray taken and the doctor said everythng looked good. All of her tests came back normal also, so all these broken arms are just dumb luck. Does anyone have a suit of armor I can borrow for her when we get these casts off? LOL She didn't get a new cast today. The one she had on was fitting very good, so he wants to leave it. However, they did cut it down a bit and put a different color on it. We go back in two weeks. I don't know what kind of cast she will get, but they will remove this one before they x-ray this time. Her poor little arm will get to breathe for a bit, and I do mean little. Her arm will be quite a bit smaller due to lack of use.

Lost Tooth

Bobbi has had this loose tooth for a while. Her adult tooth has already grown in in front of it. It had been loose for a while, but not anymore. Tonight she pulled it herself!!! Yeah go Bobbi. Other teeth have come out in Oreos, creamcicles and fudge bars. She swallowed 2, one of which I "looked for". Yuck.

Living Room Beach Trip???

Since Tropical Storm Fay postponed our trip to the beach, we decided to do a little conchology(study of shells) in the living room. It looks like sand doesn't it? We just finished the chapter in our Apology book on Mollusks and needed some reinforcement. We needed to add to our ocean box also. So, the kids spread out all of our shells on the floor and picke out their favorites. They found all kinds of bivalves, a Moon Snail shell, a Cowry, a Wentletrap, some Slipper Shells and a limpet to name a few. If we ever get to go to the beach, maybe we can add to this.

Conchologists at work.












One of Tyler's finds.






One of Bobbi's finds.











Bobbi's final collection.










Tyler's final collection.

Astronomy Field Trip

Future anthropologists digging up dinosaur bones?

Picking up things like a Mars rover would.




Riding on a sea turtle.





Yesterday we went on a field trip to our local planetarium. The kids really liked it. It was specifically for homeschool children. They got to sit in the planetarium and look up at the stars as a cowboy told about the stars. It was pretty cool. Then they got to go to a special room with lots of hands on things to play with. They loved it.