STEAM Sunday~ November 2, 2014

 Most of our time during our scheduled STEAM Sunday time was spent on developing questions they wanted to know more about. The reoccurring theme that kept showing up in every one's questions revealed that the topic of Health Education was an important issue to them,  They each narrowed a topic down and then brainstormed what would be their learning goals and how they will present what they have learned to me or others who may be interested.

                                                                      Ken\

Kennede decided  she wanted to continue working on learning about the effects of Alcohol. She narrowed her topic down to Drunk Driving and plans to work independently on this subject to create an end project that promotes awareness of Drunk Driving among Teen Drivers.
                                                                               

Since it will be the kids first time having a project that I will grade by a using rubric, (that they will be creating :) I will be helping them find lessons that may lead them to finding other research info that they are looking for. We printed off three lessons from here. Kennede is really motivated to do this and I have no doubt that it won't be too long that us finding lessons together will not be necessary, even though Lesson Planning was very fun for the both of us.

                                                                         

                 

Ken also had fun putting together this Brain Puzzle, Kennede plans on writing down what the functions are of the parts of the brain. Kennede is making a short infomercial for her final presentation.

Their STEAM notebooks have graph paper instead of lined paper, with the exception of Nia's. They really like these notebooks and appreciated that this work was separated from the binders.

                                                                          DJ

         What's wrong with Energy Drinks?

I was so glad when DJ wanted to learn more about Energy Drinks. Why would I be happy about this? Because he frequently asks me if  he can  have one when we are in the store. Now he can expand on my No.  I realized through him brainstorming out loud that I never said why I say no to those drinks. Right now he is working on an activity that is having him research the different names of Energy Drinks. See how he got me to but this energy drink anyway. LOL. In order to research it properly you must read the labels on it. So  he wins anyways, but no way will he be drinking this stuff.  DJ is thinking about doing a Poster Board about Energy Drinks for final presentations.

 More work was done in his Zoology Coloring Book, today's  work was about Paraceium.

                                                                            Nia

Oh My! I am really doing dances over here that I have a teenage daughter that is drug free. After we had our long chat about illegal drugs I learned a thing or two. Nia does attend school and unfortunately over hears conversations from those who are her age that are doing drugs. There are some crazy street drug names and I am just thanking God that we have conversations that encourage honesty and self respect, I grabbed some ideas from this Resource Guide, which has us talking about prescriptions drugs. Nia is making a video of How Drug Use is Growing among Teenagers for her final.

I am linking up to Science Sunday.

Playing With Food

Lately DJ has been interested in trying out new foods. When we go grocery shopping he makes sure to try out a new fruit or vegetable. When he picked out a orange bell pepper and put it in the cart, I had no idea that he was going to make a Jack-o-:Lantern with it.

                                                                             

I am impressed! All these years I have been trying to figure out a smiple way to carve a Jack-O-Lantern. 

I hope everyone had a eventful and safe Halloween!

The Daily Life Of An Animal Lover

                                                                         

 I made a new blog where I will post daily. I will be writing about animal facts, my pets, and more animal related things. I would love it if  you checked it out and feel free to ask questions. Please follow,  here's a link to it iwuvanimals.blogspot.com. 

                                                   

Cleaning The Branch

Today I'm going to tell you guys how to make any outdoor material safe for your pets.So what you'll need is a Spray Bottle, Warm Water, Blow Dryer, and the material you plan on making safe.

First you spray it with your warm water to burn all of the things that could have been in it.

Blow dry it to make any bugs in it solid so that you can shake it to knock out any bugs.

Let it for sit for 1 day and I hope you had fun making the things in your backyard safe for animals. This is a fun way to safe money and get the job done!

Corn Snake

My previous post was on Garter Snakes, but it's gone too late into August to find Garter Snakes so I decided to get a Corn Snake! So I'm going to be posting a care video soon when I get my Corn Snake. My first snake escaped and so did the second one. This time I have a locking lid and paper towel to monitor it to see if there's any signs of sickness.

This is not my Corn snake in the picture below. I just wanted you guys to see a example of what a Corn Snake looks like. The Corn Snake is the best beginner snake you can get and the snake is often misunderstood as being slimy-actually their not slimy at all their really quite dry.

Garter Snakes

Garter Snakes: lately I've been studying on garter snakes and I have been looking for one to be my Snake Of The Summer and have encountered a Eastern Rough Green Snake it wasn't what I was looking for but it was very fun seeing it.

Also I had a tank setup pacifically for a Garter Snake hopefully I have some luck this fall.

Project Talk: Chinese Water Dragon Tank

I have been getting better using the saw. It was kind of scary and fun at the same time! I now know how to cut straight lines. I have been helping my mom with projects too. Today I get to go get some more materials for my Chinese Water Dragon's tank.

                                                                               

My Chinese Water Dragon doesn't have a name yet. As soon as I decide on the name I will share it with you.                                                                       

Meet the Montessori Makers

Introducing...

                                                                   

                                                                   

Hi! My name is Donovan, but I like to be called DJ. I am 10 years old and I love animals. I consider myself an Herpetologist, even though I haven't attended college or high school for that matter. My favorite sport is TaeKwonDo. My favorite food is any kind of noodles. My favorite thing to learn about is Zoology. My current project is building a bigger tank for my Chinese Water Dragon. My favorite tool is the Saw. My favorite Montessori material is the Checkerboard. What you may want to know about me is that I often don't finish my projects before I start another one. I like to take my time and while I am thinking I think of another project and start it so I won't forget about it.

                                                                       

Greetings! My name is Kennede, but you can call me Ken. I am 13 years old. I like learning about Physics. My favorite Montessori material is the Binomial Cube. I absolutely love Duct Tape! I also like acting and making YouTube videos. My current project is building a Model Car that was inspired by a recent outing to the Michigan Historical Museum. I am also researching more about Go Cart Racing. What I love most about being a Maker is that my projects allow me to express myself.

                                                                              

Hola! My name is Nia. I am 16 years old. My favorite subjects are History and Language Arts. I am very interested in learning other languages and about other cultures, so that's what I spend a lot of my time doing. My favorite Montessori materials are the Continent Boxes. The Continent Boxes are packed with objects, pictures, and facts about the specific continent. My favorite tool is a pen because I love to write! My current project is making jewelry. I always journal my ideas and designs before I start making, sometimes this process may take several days to do.