Austin has been doing more firemen related activities this week.  Yesterday he did a relational worksheet.  The top said "find the fire that is between the tree and the bush" and it had several pictures.  Then he played a matching game matching an object to it's shadow.  He thought it was just going to be a regular matching game and when I starting laying out the shadow pieces on the table he said, "Hey, they're all black!"  It was kind of funny...probably more so if you were there...

In geography we are learning about Russia this month.  Yes, it's random.  Gavin opened his Little Passports package.  It was only some temporary tattoos this month.  Usually they have fun stuff but every once in a while they disappoint you.  Gavin wasn't disappointed but I didn't think it was that great.

Gavin traced a map of Russia and labelled major cities and landforms then we read this book.

 

We didn't read a different book in science yesterday but Gavin drew the layers of the Earth in his science journal (he used stencils for his circles).

Then we tried to make an edible Earth with a recipe I got from the American Museum of Natural History.  It didn't work exactly but it was fun to make.  Gavin wrapped a big marshmallow around a cherry (inner core and outer core).  Then he made Rice Krispy Treats and used them to form a ball around the marshmallow (mantle).  Finally he spread peanut butter around the Rice Krispy's and rolled it in crushed Oreo cookies (crust).  When you cut it in half, it's supposed to show the layers.  Ours kind of collapsed on itself since it was all soft substances.  All was not lost though because it tasted really good!

 

 Here he is making Rice Krispy treats.

Crushing the Oreos.

Spreading peanut butter.

And trying to roll it in Oreos that were not crushed enough.  We really need a kitchen mallet...

Today Austin was excited because he got to use Gavin's ruler to measure fireman tools.  This was his first time using a ruler and he was pleased to be a big boy!

Then he labelled a fireman's helmet, boots, uniform and hose.  I tried to get him to sound out the words and he did a good job with a little help.  He got helmet and hose easily.  He glued the words next to the fireman.

Today Gavin read about sedimentary rocks.  They usually form from layers of plant and animal matter that gets pressed down and over time turn into rock because of heat and pressure.  To demonstrate, we made seven layer bars.  Although they were really six layer bars because when I made my grocery list we had coconut in the pantry.  After I made my grocery list I cleaned out the pantry and apparently the coconut was expired and trashed.  So, I had an 'Oops' moment when I opened the pantry to look for coconut and had a bad feeling that there was no longer any coconut there.  Anyway, first we got out our ingredients and Gavin drew pictures of each one separately.

   Adelaide's uneaten salad was not apart of it even though it is in the picture.

Then he added the ingredients to a baking dish and when he was finished he drew what it looked like and observed that you could plainly tell one thing from another, they were all separate things.

When we pulled them out of the oven he drew them again and noticed that they were all melted together and you couldn't see individual ingredients anymore because of the heat of the oven.

 

This is the book he read in science today.

In history he has been studying the time of the judges in the Bible this week.  He is going back to the Israelites.  This semester he will learn about many of the same civilizations he did last semester, but later in their history, eventually learning about their demise.  Consequently there will be lots of warfare which should make him happy.  Last semester focused on their origins, way of life and things they were known for, kind of an overview of the culture.  Anyway we have read about Deborah and Gideon together, and he is working on this book, set in the time of Ruth.  But, we don't have any history projects this week which is a good thing since we have been doing projects in science.