Last Friday the 6th Age went on a "Continental Cruise". They visited many different countries! Take a peak below for video clips and photos.

Last week I had the pleasure of accompanying the 7th Age scientists to the Maryland Science Center! We had fun exploring the rooms inside the Science Center, ate a nice lunch outdoors (it was a beautiful afternoon), and even saw a 3-D Imax show!

This week the 7th Age scientists learned about oysters. We observed a special kind of oyster, the Easten Oyster. Eastern Oysters live in the Chesapeake Bay. We observed the inside and outside of the oyster with a hand lens, and even felt them with our fingers! Some describing words for the outside of an oyster included:
hard
bumpy
rough

Some describing words for the inside of an oyster included:
squishy
tan-colored
gooey
slimy

We measured our oysters to make sure they were a legal size. The legal size for an oyster is 3 inches. All of our oysters measured AT LEAST 3 inches in length- phew!

We also watched a video of oysters filter-feeding, and learned that oysters are the "lifeguards" of the bay! This is because they constantly rid the water of waste, ultimately cleaning it. One single oyster can filter 50 gallons of water per day! A long time ago when oysters were more prevalent, they could clean the Bay in just a week! Now the same task takes a year.

We enjoyed observing the oysters, and are looking forward to our crab dissection in a week!

Nice job, scientists!

After recently listening to the story Corduroy, by Don Freeman, the Pilots and I made puppets of the main character- Corduroy the bear, and 2 additional minor characters- Lisa and the Night Watchman. Today we used the puppets by putting on a puppet show and retelling the story. In the first video, a student retells the story with a twist- this time Corduroy visits the Eiffel Tower! The second video is quite animated- and funny!

Today the mathematicians learned about congruent figures! Congruent means equal in size and shape. The students worked in partners creating congruent figures with geoboards and rubberbands.

This week the 7th Age scientists made two separate concoctions: oobleck and flubber.

Oobleck might sound familiar (hense the beloved Dr. Seuss book: Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Written in 1949, it follows the adventures of a young boy named Bartholomew, who must rescue his kingdom from a sticky substance called oobleck.)

We made oobleck at school using the following ingredients:

2 cups of corn starch
1 cup of water
food coloring (optional)

We found oobleck to be slimy and gooey, with a consistency similar to thick milk or runny yogurt! The boys had an especially fun time feeling oobleck with their fingers!

We discovered oobleck was a liquid.

Later on this week we will make flubber. Here are the ingredients for you to make it at home:

Container 1: (mix together)
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups white glue
food coloring (a few drops)

Container 2: (mix together)
1 1/3 cups warm water
2 teaspoons Borax

Directions: Pour Container 2 into Container 1. Gently lift and turn the liquid until only about a tablespoon of liquid is left. What do you observe? The flubber will be sticky for a moment or two. Let the excess liquid drip off, and the flubber will be ready. What does the flubber look like? Is it a solid, a liquid, or neither?

Click here to read about the solstice moon illusion...