Testing Gases

Yesterday we did the tests for three invisible gases, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. Earlier in the week the boys had studied a chapter on this in their textbook. We also all viewed this demonstration on YouTube. (Video has background music)
Above we are testing for oxygen. We used a wooden skewer to show the oxygen relighting the flame.
Below is the test for carbon dioxide using limewater. Our chemistry set has limited equipment, so improvisation with a drinking staw was required!
I also demonstrated the presence of cabon dioxide in exhaled breath by blowing into some limewater through a straw.

I don't have a photo of the test for the test hydrogen, but we did the experiment quite a few times and got several "pop"s.We found that you need to be pretty quick getting the flame into the hydrogen to get a pop.
Below is another test for carbon dioxide we watched here.
The carbon dioxide is being made by a reaction between vinegar and baking powder. You pour the foam around, but NOT ON the lighted candle.


As more is poured in the candle dims,

then it goes out, because of the carbon dioxide now in the jar.

today, inshAllah they'll be writing up.

Food Groups

Ia is learning about food groups at the moment. The way I'm organising things this year means that she does a science topic session a couple of times a week. She is using a CGP topic workbook on Teeth and Eating. She actually really enjoys this workbook. The questions are kept pretty easy, there is not too much on any one page, yet the core facts for the topic are in place. The workbook functions as the base for the topic, but by itself it is too brief to allow for much retention or absorbtion of information.
I'm not too good at detailed planning ahead. I find that the pressure of "need it now" helps me come up with ideas. No pressure,and I could sit for ages unproductively mulling over possible activities to do. So, as we go along with this topic I think of what to add in.
Yesterday Ia used a couple of websites to help her learn about food groups:
BBC bitesize
and Crick Web's Healthy Eating activity.
Now she is old enough to read the text and any instructions herself it is a big help, maashAllah. I just have to find the pages, add them to the favourites links, then she can follow them up herself.
I think that food groups might make a good lapbook topic, nice andvisual.... maybe that will be our next diversion, inshAllah.

Clay art

Today I took the girls to an art workshop. The theme was clay sculptures. The artist leading the session had made a bird as an example, as well as a couple of pots. I explained that we Muslims do not make sculptures of birds and animals and so we had a go at other things instead.
We were using air drying clay and then natural things such as seeds, twigs, leaves and dried flower things. Easy to copy at home! Lovely and autumnal too.
In the photo above there is a tree stump, a nest a hazelnut and a cupcake!
Below are two pots, a tree stump and a nest. U enjoyed this session, maashAllah, this was the first art session she was enthusiastic about throughout!

On the table

Our table seems to be constantly loaded with stuff. As soon as I clear a space it fills up again. At the moment Hama beads are very popular with the girls. They like to take out all the designs they have made as well as the beads for working on. Then they work on their new design little by little through the day.

Other stuff on the tables would include piles of library books, sticker books, pencil crayons, various workbooks, not to mention H's work files which take their turn in the mix.

Somehow we squeeze the space to work and eat on there as well, alhamdulillah!

Science at KS3

The three school years from age 11-14 are called keystage three in the UK. Keystage three is a strange place to be. It is a kind of waiting area.
For science at KS3I have bought Galore Park's So You really Want to Learn Science book 2.It states that it completes the course for KS3. It is quite a thick textbook, divided into colour coded sections on each of biology, chemistry and physics. Many of the topics repeat and extend what we did in book 1, and I'm pretty sure the same stuff will come up all over again at GCSE level. This makes KS3 either a time of going through the motions while waiting for a GCSE course to begin, or a time to explore in ways that are off curriculum.
Obviously the school going child has no choice in this matter, but home educators do!
This year's science for us, therefore, is going to focus on chemistry, using the book as a base, but hopefully, inshAllah, exploring chemistry generally as much as we can.
Here are some places that might be worth exploring on the way.

Shrinkles

Today we tried out Shrinkles. I got a box of these for the girls as an Eid gift. They coloured the whole lot, then we watched them curl and flatten in the oven, until they came out shrunk and hardened up.

Does anyone else remember shrinking crisp (chip) packets in the oven when they were younger? I wonder whether the packets are made of the same materials now - or would I end up coating the oven tray with a sticky mess?

Quran half hour

As the children grow and change so I keep needing to adapt and change what we do. Also, a bit of a change and variety does us good.
This year I really want to do Quran for about half an hour in the morning and resist the temptation to do read aloud first after that. This would work better really, but it is hard to discipline oneself into not doing the easier option! But more productive is better than easier, plus it makes for a less stressful rest of day!
For the Quran half hour the boys don't just recite. They recite, review the surahs they know, read through duas with the intention of learning them and from this morning I'd liketo get them working on AyatulKursi. They don't find memorisation easy, so the effort is important.
I found this excellent tool for helping to learn Ayatulkursi.
In her half hour Ia can review her Quran reading lesson, review the words for salaah, read duas and review the last ten surahs in Juz 30, using the computer programme. U can listen along and do a little work on recognising the Arabic letters, inshAllah.
Today we got this done in the morning, first thing and it was better that way, alhamdulillah.
Nothing we do is ever fixed permanently in one style, method or time. Change keeps things fresh and is necessary to meet our changing needs.

Back

Eid Mubarak! May our deeds of Ramadan be accepted.
Time to get back in the HE mood! But of course little bits of learning go on all the time, like when the girls decided to weigh some kitchen items!