Another Great School Day Rewarded

Day 4 of school and we are doing great! I woke up to the sound of boys running around the house.  Sean and Henry were already doing their two mile run.  Edward and Brendan never made their mile but did manage a trek down the drive way before breakfast.

We had all of their school work done by the end of the morning.  It helped that the boys knew they were going to have science experiments at the end of the day.  What a smart mom to put their favorite subject at the end, right?!

So, we had a special treat today as the boys had three experiments between the two science courses.  The first was in Edward's aquatic science course.  He was learning about the ocean's surface currents, so was given the opportunity to demonstrate this effect in our kitchen.  I was a little leery about this experiment because it included TWO hair dryers and a dish full of water and cereal.  I could just imagine the mess that could be made.  However, the boys controlled themselves and had great fun seeing the water swirl around the dish.  Maybe it was because they knew there was more enjoyment to be had with the other experiments.

The second experiment was in the physical science text.  The boys were learning about measurement and conversions.  The point was made that concise and accurate measurements were important in science.  So the boys were to use an unknown unit to measure our dining room table.  What better unit then cubits and fingers?

Did you know that a cubit was the length of a man's arm from his elbow to the tip of his middle finger?  And, a finger is the length of a man's last knuckle on his index finger.  The boys took this information and made their measurements.  Of course, their measurements were different since they had different size cubits.  So, they learned that it is important to be accurate , as well as having standardized units.

The final experiment was about concentration.  No...not the ability to stay focused on school!  This was about the "quantity of a substance within a volume of space."  We began the experiment with all the materials and made it half way through the experiment....STOP!!!

Well, that is what we had to do.  We ran out of vinegar for the second half of the experiment.  BUMMER!!  So now we will have to redo the experiment after going to the store next week.  That's OK...lesson learned to verify QUANTITY as  well as availability before starting an experiment.

So, the lessons were done.  We ate lunch took a nice break and headed out to our local museum.  They were sponsoring a back to school night.  We love our museum and are always eager to go to these events for the youth.  Tonight due to several other conflicting events, we had the museum staff almost completely to ourselves, except another family with two boys.  Zaira ruled the roost as the only girl and being so adorable! The boys had a great time making crafts and eating pizza until they were beyond full!

The reason I love our museum so much is because they make us feel special.  David and Laura went out of the way to help the boys enjoy themselves.  They started out by making beaded jewelry.  The boys were allowed to make as many pieces as they liked and they enjoyed doing it!  Mostly, they made jewelry for Amanda, which I thought was so sweet!

After the pizza, they pulled out brown molding clay in little individual bowls.  They made the mistake of saying it looked like chocolate ice cream, and Brendan believed them!  I wish I had the picture of his face after he took a bite!  Poor guy...he did not taste it twice!

Several creatures were made...mostly abstract animals.  AND THEN...Henry noticed something move across the room next to us!  A MOUSE!!!  Of course, the boys all wanted to go see the little guy.  David quickly took action and closed the doors keeping the boys in with Michael and I.  He and Laura tried to catch the mouse with little luck.  So, we tried to distract the boys by having them make little clay mice instead.

The room we were in had a window looking out into the 'mouse room,' so the boys would peek out to to see if they could see the real mouse.  Lo and behold, it popped its head out again, so David and Laura tried to catch it again.  This time the children watched from the window as Laura caught it in a paper cup and  took it outside.  The boys thought that was the highlight of the evening.

So it turned out to be a good time to clean up and head home!  You just never know what is going to make a child enjoy an evening, but for a group of boys I am guessing a mouse trapping will win out every time!