Visit Military Museums and NASA sites!

There is plenty of science at any military museum.  While, the docent might like to share stories, he has training and can explain any number of details about the plane, tank, gun, etc.  In Virginia and Washington, D.C., there are many aeronautic and military museums.  NASA sites are quick visits—ideal for younger kiddos.  I used to stop at the Wallops Island NASA center on my way to Chincoteague, when I did programs, such as student workshops at the Marine Science Consortium.   Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the Chincoteague town are both great in the spring or fall.  The Refuge is home to the Delmarva Fox Squirrel, Sika deer, Piping Plover, and a number of migratory birds. 

My husband, Rob’s, family didn’t visit museums; my family did!  When our family was young, we started with short visits—maybe 30 minutes.  We went to high interest museums, such as Bata Shoe Museum.  When we visited the Smithsonian museums, we went for Kid-friendly exhibits. (Visiting with Kids has good suggestions, too.) I have lost count of the number of trips I’ve taken to D.C. with kiddos, family friends, and students—many of whom had never or seldom visited any museum.  Gear your visit to the kiddos’ interests.  Try a tour with a docent. We traipse down to the  Spark!Lab and do a few experiments.  However, when I’ve led tours with teens unfamiliar with museums, I let them explore and set a time and place to meet in the lobby.  (They had to stay in the museum.)  Military and aeronautic museums often appeal to men and boys.  This summer tour a museum.  Start with a free museum where you won’t feel as though you need to spend hours to get your money’s worth.  

1. National Museum of the Army has an Experiential Learning Center, Educational Programs, and Digital Resources.  Go in  person and ask lots of questions.  

2. National Museum of the Marine Corps has an education page.  We went last week.  This museum never gets old!

3.  Look at these Virginia Military Museums, listed by Trip Adviser.  I toured the Virginia War Museum years ago.  The content is excellent. We went to the Military Aviation Museum last summer.  Just look at the Home Educator Programs!  Look over the Homeschool Group Field Trip Information Kit to plan a visit.  The STEM activities are amazing.  Be sure to visit the Goxhill Watch Office

4. The National Air and Space Museum has two sites, one on the Mall, in Washington D.C. and the other near Dulles Airport, in Virginia.  Check out the Learning Resources and Programs.  The Professional Development is free (and dry.)  

5.  NASA has visitor centers: Goddard, Wallops Island, and Langley are in Virginia and Maryland.  Fairmont, WV has the Starlab  in conjunction with the NASA IV Center. (Here is the ERC contact page.  For years, I borrowed kits and materials when I taught in WV.)  The Kennedy Space Center and Space Center Houston have loads of pricy programs.   

Visit the Smithsonian!

 Before the real crowds descend, go ahead and visit a Smithsonian museum.  We live near Quantico, outside Washington, D.C. Did you know there are 21 Smithsonian Museums? Some, like the Rockwell Museum, near the Corning Museum, are affiliates.  (The Rockwell Museum isn’t associated with Norman Rockwell; here is a preview of their collection. Yes, our family will visit nearly any museum, including the Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball Museum.  Who knows what we’ll see?)  The Natural History museum and the National Air and Space Museum  are on the Mall, located between the Washington Monument and the Capitol.  The National Zoo is in Rock Creek Park, in D.C.—drive or take the metro.   You need free entry passes for the Space Museum and the Zoo. Plan ahead to see the Panda. (Did you know there’s a Giant Panda Cam?)

The easiest place to park is at Union Station.  There is parking near the Zoo, which also requires an entry pass  with a fee to park.  Be advised the Zoo is a long hike from the nearest Metro station. It is very difficult to find street parking in D.C.  It is three miles to walk from Union Station to the Lincoln Memorial.  The Mall is about two miles from Union Station.  If you stay outside of D.C., you may want to take the VRE or Metro.  

 I took students on a train which left the Martinsburg, WV station at 5:30 am and arrived at about 8:00 am at Union Station.  After a quick stop at McDonald’s and the bathrooms, we marched 40 or so teens and chaperones to the Lincoln Memorial.  We toured all of the monuments and sometimes hiked around the White House.  Why?  Several reasons.  Tired teens tend to behave.  The chaperones and kiddos wanted their money’s worth.  Lastly, the Smithsonian museums don’t open until 10:00 am. Everyone was warned in advance that the distance from Union to Lincoln was three miles each way.

Summer Water Science

 Let’s fill the coffee can with craft sticks loaded with ideas.  (Write chores on the craft sticks, too: make the bed, sort silverware,  or match socks.  I gave up and let my kiddos pick out and match socks from a laundry bin in the closet.). Today is all about water science!  There have already been a few warm days.  I’m ready for summer!

1. Super Bubbles; Baking soda, cornstarch, and glycerin and classic recipe with either glycerin or corn.  syrup,  Here are instructions for a giant bubble wand.  We just use our hands or make simple wands with pipe cleaners. The plastic soda holder works well, too.  Super bubbles never gets old.  Store a batch in the garage.

2.  Make a Density Bottle.  This is an investment; UV beads are expensive.  Use the UV beads for experiments.  They are great for bracelets when you teach about Noah and the Ark; the beads remind us of the rainbow and God’s promise.  

3. Here are five simple water experiments or 6 Cool Water Experiments.

4. Water Gel Crystals or Water Beads are captivating.  Water gel are sold as beads, spikes, or crystals—all fun!  I bought the water absorbing crystals originally at the local plant nursery.  Check the garden section at Walmart.

5.  Try to get Rainbow Walking Water to work.  

6.  Colorful Patterns in Ice was a bigger hit than I expected when we froze bowls of ice for kiddos at camp.  (Honestly, I was filling time outside.)  Often,  I substitute tempera paint for food coloring because it’s cheaper.  You can also Melt Frozen Hands.

7.  Buy Magic Sand.  This activity is good for fifteen minutes. Here is a lesson plan for fall.   (I add Magic Sand to the Separating Mixtures lab for Chemistry.)

Science and Trade Books

 Many home-schoolers do not use a defined curriculum, particularly for younger kiddos.  Do you rely on the library for science books?  Trade books are a great way to teach.   How do you use trade books to teach?  Start with a topic.  I know many families teach around a child’s interests.  When you plan the science lesson, consider adding a bit of history. (Who was Newton?) Is there unique vocabulary to learn?  (Fulcrum?  Gravity?  Reaction?)  As much as possible include experiments and builds.  Assign a paragraph!  Head to the library!  Now is a good time to plan next year’s science curriculum before the summer doldrums—when your brain just can’t process anything.  Here are a few suggestions to get started.

Catapults and Siege Engines: plan to research and build catapults and siege weapons.  BTW here is more inspiration.  Here and  here are lessons.

2. Science Experiments: Kiddos associate reactions, crystals, slime, and colorful solutions with science experiments.  Many of these are kitchen labs.  

3. Physics basics is another good top which includes simple machines.

American Girl Science: Dyes and Ink

As a home-schooler, you can tailor the curriculum to your child.  My friend, Jen, has a daughter who adores her American Girl dolls.  What an opportunity!  Do a deep dive into the different historic periods.  Here are dyes and paints used by Nez Perce.  Here is an article about insect dyes used in New Mexico.  Here is a list of native plant dyes, a unit about Colonial dyes, and another lesson with natural dyes.  Make ink: ink. ink, and natural ink.  Make a quill pen.  Once the girls dye some unbleached muslin, they’re going to want to make doll clothes!

American Girl Science: Agriculture

 I’m a little obsessed with American Girl dolls.  I love the Historical Characters, especially the original Pleasant Company dolls.  My friend, Jen, is using the American Girl books, the Welcome to the World series, dolls, historic clothes, crafts, and recipes, games, to teach history to her daughter, Sophie.  (I’ve been sewing for several, young friends)

But I specialize in science.  First, science was not taught as a subject in elementary schools until the 1950s.  The answer is agriculture!  Crops were a common feature across history.  Children tended gardens and fields.

The Nez Perce did not grow the Three Sisters; instead, here is a list of plants they used, wild plants.

Both  Colonial Children  and Pioneer Children would have cared for chickens, churned butter, and raised crops.  There were many methods to protect plants, such as bell jars.   Read about Trellising.  Plant heirloom seeds.  BTW many of the pioneer crops are similar to colonial crops.  Dreaming of Seeds has examples of pioneer seeds.  

What an opportunity for your kiddos!  Let them do the research into historic gardens.  There are many, small historic garden museums: Jamestown, Mt.Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, and Ferry Farm.  Look at the list of Living History Farms associated with Little House and Laura Ingalls Wilder.   Look for living history museums in your area, such as the Frontier Culture Museum, Land is Valley Village and Farm, and Swedish Pioneer Museums.  

Summer Toys!

 Let’s make toys this summer!  Toys are a staple at Science Camp.  Our family makes science toys to combat boredom.  Do you want to add to the fun?  Film a video!  You can always add the video to your digital portfolio.  Planning the experiment to film for posterity takes more time, one commodity in abundance during the summer!  See if your video goes viral.

1. Cartesian Diver: Classic pipette version, pen cap and clay version, ketchup packet version.

2.  Balloon Toys: Balloon in a Bottle, Spinning Penny, CD Hovercraft, and Remote Control Roller.

3.  Tornado or Vortex Tubes: Tornado in a Jar, Tornado in a Bottle (washer and duct tape), or Vortex Tube toy, which twists on to plastic soda bottles.  BTW just about any size plastic bottle works.

The washer and duct tape version made a good vortex, but was leaky.

4. Balls: Basketball Blaster and  Astro Blaster toy.  Try different ball combinations: basketball and tennis ball or ping pong ball and tennis ball.  The best combo is a tiny, bouncy ball and a pinky ball.  Do it in the basement where you are more likely to be able to find the tiny bouncy ball.  We just buy a bag of bouncy balls.

5. Spinners: Spinners (Exploratorium), Paper Spinners, Fidget Spinner, and CD Spinners.  Yes, I’ve made hundreds of CD or DVD spinners.  Ask the thrift store to save them for you.

Rockets

 We keep a bucket with Pump Rockets and foam rockets in the basement for play emergencies. You can make Foam Rocket  toys. (Here is a similar design with a paper protractor, should you want to estimate the range.)  Wear safety glasses or goggles whenever you launch rockets!  We keep a large bin in the basement, too.

Make a Stomp Rocket.  

We love the water rocket toy, too!

We just bought the toy.  The Science Toymaker has made the Overhead Water Rocket Launcher into a project.

Have you made Straw Rockets?

Another classic rocket is the Film Canister Rocket.  Put 1/4th of an Alka-seltzer tablet into a film canister, fill with water, snap on the top, and run.  Next try a 1/2 tablet.  Usually a whole tablet reacts so quickly you can’t snap on the top before it erupts.  We perform rocket trials at the cul-de-sac down the street, away  from the neighbors.  Below, we tried the Exploding Art rockets on the sidewalk.  It was pink for weeks.

K20 Learn

 The University of Oklahoma has produced a website, K20 Learn, full of resources.  First, all of this is free,  largely under a Creative Commons License.  K20 has popped up in recent searches.  Let’s give it a look!

Look at Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire! In order to access all of the materials I need to use the videos on the website and download the files to Google Drive.  The lesson is highly scripted.  (While I want to drive a fork into my eye whenever I read through scripted lessons, they are useful if you are unfamiliar with the material.) I like to stay on top of educational practices.  It doesn’t mean I adopt them.  I want to see what the method is, first.  I cannot see myself using Chain Notes.  When I taught I found Bell Ringers and Exit Notes anathema.  (I needed every minute of class time to teach!  Attendance takes about one minute.  If Admin insisted on Bell Ringers, we began with a question or problem germane to the lesson.)  The K20 science lessons are in 5E lessons.  (BSCS developed this model in the 1980s.  It’s a good approach!)    

Back to Great Balls of Fire and evaluating K20 Learn resources.  For whatever reason, the Lesson Slides are located on the website’s page at the bottom.  In the lesson slides are pictures of the videos, rather than embedded videos.  The teacher uses the script, video links, and resource links to teach.  This can be confusing.  Instead, let’s look at the resources.  Here is the background, Card Sort,   Card Sort Hand-out, Chat Station hand-out, and Chat Station Cards.  These resources and the video below are all useful.  What about the rest?  Not so much.  However, I don’t consider this sort of evaluation  a waste of time.  I hadn’t heard about S-I-T: Surprising, Interesting, Troubling.  Will I use it?  Doubtful.  I’m only interested in the materials which promote a lesson and help kiddos understand.  I’m willing to try the card sort and chat station to see if these help kiddos understand reactions and reaction types.  It’s also why I won’t immediately dismiss a new resource, even one chock-full of educational jargon and strategies.

Chemistry: Card Sorts

I test regularly; I assess all the time!  What’s the difference?  A test or quiz can be recorded and saved.  Assessment can be informal.  I want to gauge understanding.  This past year, we reviewed the names of the bones, muscles, and lobes regularly.  I was assessing whether or not the kiddos still knew the names.  One tool I use for assessment is a card sort.  A card sort is different from a Concept Map, which helps me see if a student understands both the terms and the relationships among the terms or concepts.

Card sorts are quick.  For example, right after a lesson, you can do a card sort.  The first time or two I do a sort as a group, especially with younger kiddos.  Go over the answers together.  If there are many mistakes, there is still confusion about the topic.  You can stop and address the problem immediately.  I see assessment as part of instruction. Below are card sorts with lesson material.

Solids Liquids and Gases is designed for younger kiddos.  Another good source are the Scientific Classification three-part, Montessori cards. Here is the basic why and how of three-part cards.

Physical or Chemical Properties: BiteSize Lesson and Physical and Chemical Properties Card Sort

Physical or Chemical Change: BiteSize Lesson  and Card Sort

Classify Chemical Equations: Types of Chemical Reactions lesson, Card Sort (no answer key), Card Sort 2 (Slide Deck with answer key)

Acid-Bases: Video and Card Sort using a Venn Diagram.

Gas Laws: Use the paper card sort (or just use the electronic gif) with Card Sort Hacks.  Keep the original card sort copy as an answer key.  Cut up the paper copy to use as a card sort.

It’s annoying to see that even card sorts are sold on TPT or Etsy.  Come on!  

Hot Hands Lab

 Walmart had HotHands on clearance at $0.50 for a two-pack.  I bought a bunch for Chemistry labs.  The younger kiddos can measure the temperatures of hot and cold packs directly with thermometers.  The high school class will do thermochemical labs and use the instant packs for comparison with their results.  If one of the teens is miles ahead of the class, he or she can try to devise a hot or cold pack.  Now I need a good deal on cold packs, too.  I just noticed the hot packs are adhesive backed.  I’ll have to watch where the kiddos stick them.

1. Designing a Hand Warmer is intended to AP Chemistry classes, as a project.  Make an Instant Cold Pack is easier; most cold packs have urea, ammonium nitrate or calcium ammonium nitrate as ingredients,  I like to have commercial products to make comparisons.  This version is more of a straight-forward calorimetry lab.  

2. Use the heat packs to measure the number of calories; Calories From a Heat Pack has a video and a lesson on calorimetry.  Use the same method to determine the number of calories in an instant cold pack.

3.  Hot & Cold Packs (1987) is a Chemmatters article, which explains the underlying chemical reactions.  Hot and Cold Packs tests exothermic and endothermic reactions.  My class will compare results with the instant packs.  Spoiler alert!  The commercial products are both hotter and colder for much longer periods of time.  Here is an instant cold pack lab.