martinzoo

A diamante poem follows a very specific format – there are seven lines, and each line must have a specific number and type of words. When it’s finished, the poem will be in the shape of a diamond.

Line 1= Topic (noun)
Line 2 = Two describing words (adjectives)
Line 3 = Three action words (-ing verbs)
Line 4 = Four words: (nouns) the first two words relate to line 1 and the last two words relate to line 7
Line 5 = Three action words for the ending noun (-ing verbs)
Line 6 = Two words to describe ending noun (adjectives)
Line 7 = Ending noun (opposite of Line 1)

GB wrote this diamante poem today.

*                                 War

*                      Violent, Destructive

*               Killing, Fighting, Shooting

*         Battle,     Gun,     People,     Home

*              Hoping, Working, Talking

*                        Secure, Calm

*                               Peace

Gramma and Grampa came over yesterday and took advantage of our park day with the homeschoolers. Our group alternates parks every other week. And this particular park is pretty far for us to get to. It takes us about 40 minutes to get there. But that just goes to show how spread out the homeschoolers are around here.

Anyway, we homeschoolers usually meet around 1:30. And Grampa has been bugging GB and I to go letterboxing again soon. So when I went on the letterboxing site I saw that there were several boxes in this particular park. So I fullfilled my haircutting duties and off we went to the park.

Once we got there I discovered I had made a major boo-boo. I had forgotten to bring the clues to the letterbox. I was SO bummed. But Gramma and Grampa were so enchanted with the park that we decided to just do the nature trail, which turned out to be about a mile and a half trek around the park. And it is SUCH a beautiful trail. It skims right along the beautiful James River and has lots of benches to sit and watch the water flow. I loved it!

Here, GB is partaking of one of the nicely placed benches, and getting acorns dropped on his head……..LOL!

The wind was something fierce. See how it’s blowing his shirt all over? GB was genuinely worried that he may get blown away.  In fact, as I write, we are under a wind advisory.

Here are Gramma and Grampa with their nicely coiffed hair.

Isn’t the river pretty?

This was a boat landing. Although, I couldn’t imagine actually bringing ours out here. It’s pretty dry. But maybe it’ll be better next year. GB was enjoying the hill while Grampa conducted an experiment to prove which way the river flowed. I said something about how the river was flowing fast, and he said “No, that’s just the wind. The river actually flows in the other direction, towards Richmond.” So he promptly threw a light stick in there and made us watch as it actually moved against the wind in the opposite direction, albeit a bit slowly due to wind conditions.

I remember Grampa thinking he was tough and doing this to me when I was a kid. Little did he know that I just thought it was annoying and frustrating. I’m pretty sure GB was having similar thoughts.  But yeah, Grampa, I’ll concede, you’re still strong…………for an old guy……….LOL!

I thought this tree was really cool. It literally grew out of the river bank like that. But the erosion on the sides of the bank made it seem like it wasn’t long for this world, which will be a shame.

After our journey around the trail, where I took no pictures of the beautiful wild flowers (what’s up with that?), we had a nice picnic. It was windy and chilly, but the view more than made up for it.

Then Gramma and Grampa went on their way and GB and I stayed for his weekly Wednesday park day. He looks forward to this day more than any other during the week, even weekends! So it’s really easy for me to say, “If you don’t behave, there will be no park day.”……..LOL! ………. I have to use what I’ve got, you know?

You know one of the things I love about homeschooling?

It’s the opportunity to stop in the middle of what you are doing to follow another path.

As I’ve mentioned zillions many, many times, I really want GB to become more fluent with his math facts. I’m really trying to be patient here.

Really.

I keep having to remind myself that when I was in the 5th grade my parents made me go to Summer school for math because *I* wasn’t getting the multiplication facts down.

Sound familiar?

So, I’m trying to stay patient and offer any way that I can that will help GB in the quest for instant fact recall.

Today I remembered an old program that I bought WAY back in the 3rd grade when GB was first starting to dabble in multiplication. It’s called TimesTales. And I took it out and looked at it and my first thought was that it was too babyish and he would never go for it. But you know what? He liked it! Basically, there is a story that involves each number, and when combined with other numbers the story changes in a way that helps you to remember the answer. For example: Mr. Snowman (8) and Mrs. Snowman (8) must eat [6] snowcones [4] times a day or they will melt. (8X8) = [64] We spent all morning learning it, and by lunchtime he had the facts that they include in the program down pat. The ONLY problem with the program is that it assumes you already know the 3’s and 4’s fluently. GB was wanting to know where the stories were for those numbers.

After spending all morning learning the multiplication facts, GB was in a very proud mood. And I was feeling pretty good about him, too. And he said, “After all this talk about snowcones, it makes me want one.” And my mind started clicking. And I remembered that Aquagirl had given my dh a snowcone maker one Father’s Day a few years ago.

So I told GB, “You know what? You deserve a snowcone. So let’s go make some!”

It was a totally spontaneous moment. And it was nice to just be able to decide to do that.

After snowcones, and lunch, we got back to the math. We worked more on the process of solving bigger multiplication problems, which he can do, but normally takes SO long to ‘figure’ out the multiplication, that he gets frustrated with the time the problems are taking. Having the facts down really helps aleviate that frustration. And hopefully he’ll retain what he learned today.

I think that since we’ve finished our Drug, Alcohol and Tobacco unit that I will focus on math for this week and really push for better fluency.

Module 6

Looking through our last module, I realized it was just a review of all the other modules we’d done so far. So rather than read from the preformatted script, which was kind of dry and boring, GB and I perused this incredible site from The University of Utah’s Genetic Science Learning Center.

Mouse Party showed us the effect that different drugs have on mouse brains.

And we loved this great visual page. I really think that this, along with all we’ve learned in the past two weeks, has helped GB so much to know what he would be getting into if he decided to try any of this.

Module 5

In this module we did two experiments to observe the unhealthy residue that cigarette smoking leaves in the lungs and other parts of the respiratory system.

Things we learned about tobacco:

1. Tobacco is VERY potent.
2. It contains more than 4000 chemicals, many of which are released into the air during smoking.
3. Tar and Carbon Monoxide are two particularly dangerous chemicals in cigarette smoke.
4. Tar causes lung cancer, emphysema, and bronchial diseases.
5. Carbon Monoxide can cause heart problems.
6. Other serious health problems linked to smoking include digestive cancers, gastric ulcers, and cancers of the throat, lip, esophagus, and pancreas.
7. The leaves of the tobacco plant contain a drug called nicotine. Nicotine is found in all tobacco products: cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff. It causes an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration. It is VERY addictive.
8. Nicotine enters the body very quickly. After the smoke is inhaled, it only takes EIGHT seconds to reach the brain. Within 40 minutes, half the effect of of nicotine is lost. This is the reason people feel the need to smoke another cigarette.
9. There are 1.1 BILLION smokers in the world!
10. They smoke 6 TRILLION cigarettes each year!!!
11. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 430,000 people die each year from tobacco use. Because people do have control over whether they begin to smoke, smoking can be viewed as the most preventable cause of death in the United States.

The first experiment we did was to give us a better understanding of what effect tar and nicotine have on the body. The lungs, for example, become blackened from excessive smoking.

We began with three glasses of water. We put cigarette leaves in  the first glass, a tree leaf in the second glass and nothing in the third glass (this was our control).

This experiment is supposed to be observed over the next few days, which we will do.

BUT, after only 15 minutes we could already see some results. Stay tuned for an update on this experiment next week.

We also did the following experiment to go along with this module. Again, it was to show how dangerous smoking can be.

**** Note: in order to minimize the harmful effects of this experiment, you may want to do it outside, like we did.

After the experiment was over, I did a very controversial thing. I let GB take a puff on the cigarette.  He didn’t really want to. But both my husband and I had had similar experiences when we were around his age. I had an aunt who smoked, and I thought she looked really cool when she was smoking. One day, she just handed me the cigarette and asked me if I wanted to try. Well, I wanted to look cool too. So, of course, I did try it. And she laughed so hard at my gasping, coughing, wheezing fit that she had tears in her eyes. The experience was so horrible for me that I never wanted to try them again. My husband had a similar experience with his Uncle Junior. In fact, when we are in restaurants, we can barely tolerate it when people around us smoke. And our older children have the same reactions. So maybe it’s just biological. Maybe we just have an extreme intolerance to cigarette smoke.

Anyhoo……… GB tried the cigarette and had the exact same reaction that I did. And kept trying to get me to admit, hours later, that it could still be affecting him. I doubt it, but that’s what he kept exclaiming.

Module 4

This module just goes to show that you never know what will spark interest in your child. As I write, GB is over at the kitchen table grilling my husband on the info and riddles that he learned from this module. I thought it would be boring to GB because there was no fancy activity. But he liked the one we did just fine.

First, we had to learn the basic differences between all the different kinds of drugs out there. We read the reading material included and learned about them. We researched some of them online. And then we made a venn diagram on our white board; which included Good drugs, Bad drugs, and drugs that could be either. We also went to our drug cabinet to examine our own stash of drugs.

The cards that were included in this module had riddles on them. And GB enjoyed figuring them out. Not hard at all, but he did like the format of them. It’s funny because he usually doesn’t like riddles much. But he’s been getting more into riddles and jokes lately. He wants us to think he’s funny. But he gets annoyed when we say he’s funnier when he’s NOT trying to be funny.

Here are the riddles:

• I am made from just a little bit of the same germs that can make a person sick. I help the body fight off those same bad germs. Children all over the world are safe from diseases like measles and mumps because of me.         Answer: Immunizations 
• I am produced by bacteria and molds. I can help a sick person fight germs and get better. Penicillin is a very common type of me.         Answer: Antibiotics
• I come from the oily liquid substance in tobacco leaves. I make the heart, brain, and other parts of the body work faster. I can raise blood pressure, make a person not want to eat, and even make a person sick to the stomach. I am a very addictive drug. I’m usually smoked, but can be chewed or inhaled.              Answer: Nicotine
• I come from many places. Sometimes I am made in labs, and other times I come from plants in nature. I change the way the body and brain work. People who use me might not be able to stop taking me, even if the become very, very sick. This is because I am addictive. There are laws against using me. I am very harmful to people! There are lots of different kinds of me, like marijuana and cocaine.               Answer: Illegal Drugs
• You can buy me in a pharmacy. I am a pill or powder that makes headaches and fevers disappear.          Answer: Aspirin and Tylenol.
• I am found in nature. I can be a gas like air, or a liquid like water. I make children’s teeth strong! I am in toothpaste, mouthwash, and even in the water supply.            Answer: Fluoride.
• I am a clear liquid with a burning taste.  I have been around for thousands of years. I’m possibly the world’s oldest known drug! The blood carries me all over the body. I can mess up parts of the brain that help people move, think, talk, and feel. I am very harmful to children’s growing brains.              Answer: Alcohol
• I come from the parts of some plants, like the coffee bean, tea leaf, kola nut, and the cacao pod. I make the heart and brain work faster. I also can make a person feel more awake. I am a drug found in coffee, tea, cocoa, and most soft drinks. I am also added to some medicines.              Answer: Caffeine.

After yesterday’s post, I thought I’d lighten up a bit and show you our moon from last night. Isn’t it pretty?

GB and I were totally focused on our Language Arts day. He had a spelling test, got new words for next week, learned about writing for the reader, and took a chapter test.

96%, thank you very much!

We also did some work in his Getty & Dubay Handwriting book.

And he did some more Complete-a-Sketch.

It was all going normally for a Language Arts day.

Until this guy walked across the floor and FREAKED me out!

Once suitably contained, we were able to observe him in relative safety. We quickly identified him as a wolf spider (Because we’ve seen them lots of times before). Then we pulled out the books and magazines we have that deal with arachnids. And we checked on our trusty computer. GB’s best moment of the day was when I screachingly yelled at  told him to NOT tilt the container so much. Good Lord! My heart!

Under our stereoscope, we noticed the joints on him.  Each joint looked like an open wound. And the stereoscope was really able to show off how much dust and debris he had gathered from my floor. I guess I need to vacuum again.

In this picture you can see the front part of his body, called the cephalothorax and the pedipalp, which is alongside his jaw and is used to hold his prey while he bites it with his fangs. Ugh!

A wolf spider has eight legs, which we all know about. But upon further research GB and I learned that they also have eight, yes EIGHT, eyes. This is why you can’t sneak up on the critters. The set furthest back, on top, sees UP. The set to the side sees SIDEWAYS, and the four in the front see FORWARDS. The picture above was taken with MY camera, and edited with numbers to show you the eyes. Seriously grossing myself out right now.

Funnily enough, I had a conversation just last week about wolf spiders with one of the moms in my homeschool group. I told her that I thought wolf spiders (because that’s all I ever see in this house) had been getting in GB’s bed and biting him during the night. And she insisted that that could not be true because wolf spiders were non-aggressive and harmless.

Harmless! OMG! How can you say that a spider is harmless? Don’t heart attacks count as harmful?

So while we were doing our research on the wee arachnid, I thought I’d look up some facts on it’s  toxicity. And I quote from this site:

Venom toxicity - the bite of the Wolf Spider is poisonous but not lethal. Although non-aggressive, they bite freely if provoked and should be considered dangerous to humans. The bite may be very painful. First aid and medical attention should be sought as soon as possible, particularly as to children or the elderly.

And more from this site:

Even though the wolf spider is poisonous, its venom is not lethal. The wolf spider is not known to be aggressive; however, they will bite if they feel like they are in harm or danger. They also move extremely fast when they are disturbed. If bitten by a wolf spider, the wound should not be bandaged but an ice pack should be placed on the bite so that the swelling will go down. And if necessary the victim should avoid any movement if at all possible. It is extremely important that one sees medical attention if bitten by a wolf spider or any other spider.

And from our own Virginia Cooperative Extension office:

Most homeowners have misconceptions about spiders-they are pictured to be poisonous (even deadly), and likely to attack at any time. Wrong. The only dangerous spiders we have in Virginia are the brown recluse spider and the black widow spider.

So she was kind of right, they do refer to it as harmless and non-aggressive.

BUT …… If it bites, and injects a venom……. that could be cause for medical attention………. when it is provoked….. like, say, rolling over on it while you sleep………… I think *I’ll* call that a BAD, harmful, agressive spider. I don’t like ones with fangs!

It can stay outside.

Which is exactly where this guy is going. Because GB would never allow me my first inclination, which is to squish.

So I guess we had a tiny little unit study today, impromptu. I suppose it was kinda cool.

No mommies were harmed in today’s studies.