This Week in School

We are studying ancient civilizations.  When we studied the Mesopotamians, we made royal crowns out of gold and lapis lazuli and then ate a royal feast.  Gavin appointed himself the servant.  He arranged the chairs as low sofas for reclining.  Then he picked flowers and arranged them in a vase.  The meal was rolls, dried fruit, nuts, and apple juice drunk from bowls.  After he served the food he fanned the dinners with a feather duster.  

As we study the universe in science, Hannah asked, "If we are part of the Milky Way Galaxy, how come we can see it in the sky?"  I found this experiment in a book and we set it up.  A large piece of cardboard is placed on chairs to keep it off the ground.  Use heavy books- or kids- to keep it from caving in.  The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy with arms extending out so we used Othello game pieces to mark stars in our galaxy, but coins or checker pieces could be used.  Our Sun is about 3/4 of the way out an arm from the center.  David ,with his head popping through the card board galaxy, is seeing the stars from the Earth's point of view.  Most of the stars we see in the night sky are part of our galaxy.  A telescope is needed to see other galaxies.  The closest star to us, beside the Sun, is three light-years away.  The size of the Universe is so immense I can not comprehend it.  

Jessica has waited all season for her watermelon to ripen.  The seed's plant description said it would grow to be 100 pounds.  All season it grew.  This week the vine died.  We don't know how heavy it was but she struggled to hold it for more than a few seconds at a time.  The rind was almost two inches thick.  The flesh was a soft pink.  It had a nice flavor.  If it had been able to ripen for another week or two it would have been perfect.  We ate all of it in three meals.  The strawberries, basil and marigolds that you can see in the picture are still going strong.  She has started a new crop of lettuce, onions and peas that are each a few inches tall.     

We love Cub Scouts!

For the activity this week we learned how to plan a party.  We learned how to blow up and tie balloons and hang streamers.  Then we made wrapping paper and wrapped hymn books.  We played musical chairs and ate pretzels.  One of the boys was chosen to open the presents.  The boys learned how to be polite guests at a party.  I was amazed at how captivated the boys were as the hymn books were being unwrapped.  There is something magical about presents, even when you know it is just a hymn book.