Week 24 & 25 - Marco Polo, Black Death, and Joan of Arc

Here are a few highlights from our week...

Art

Art for weeks 24 and 25 cracked me up...not because of the assignments the kids had to do, but because of the products they created. In week 24 art, the kids had been annoying each other and had just gotten in trouble when I handed out this assignment. So, none of us were in a very good mood when they went to recreate this image and, as you can tell, any attention to details went right out the window...lol!

When they were finished, I asked to see their work. I laughed so hard and this made the kids laugh too. Then we all stopped being mad and just laughed at what they had drawn.

Super skinny with short skirt...lol!

The tiny head of the joker on the body of  a fat man. My son's picture cracked me up the most!

In week 25 art, the kids had to recreate an image of The Crucifixion

and Lamentations

Look at the smaller faces on the side...hilarious!

LOL @ the little monster faces in the box ;)

History

When we started discussing Marco Polo and his journey to China, the kids immediately picked up on his name and the swimming pool game they sometimes play. Naturally, we looked it up...and according to most things I came across, this is where the game originated from. Interesting stuff!!!

A fun interactive map/game about Marco Polo's journey to and from China.

A video about Cheng Ho


We learned about the 'Black Death' and how recent studies show this plague may have been spread through airborne particles instead of fleas on rats.

Here are several videos about the plague.
Horrible Histories: Plague Report
Horrible Histories: Peasants Plague
Horrible Histories: Plague Song
5 Horrid Things about the Plague
Plague Song

We also learned about the history of the Battle of Agincourt through a short video and song, and learned about Joan of Arc through Horrible Histories and a song.
Science
The kids are learning about Venus in Week 24 and Earth in week 25. Aleeya is continuing with the planet painting activity. My son made the radar in astronomy co-op class and it really was worth all the work it took to make it...lol! It helped the kids (and me) better understand how scientists can tell what the surface of the planets look like without ever having to physically set foot on the planet.

MFW-ECC - Week 25/26 - China, salt/ocean experiments, and Valentine's Day

Our Week in Review

Art/Music

The tangram game was pretty fun. Click on the links be taken to a site where you can print off your own tangram puzzle pieces to cut out and play around with. Click here for large or here for small. There are also several sample puzzles (animals, people, abstract patterns) your kids can try to copy. Click here for those.

Science

This week was all about the ocean so many of the experiments we did this week dealt with salt.


Experiment #1 - Taste the saltiness of the ocean
*To do this, dissolve 1t of salt in 10T water and take a sip. Bleh! 


Experiment #2 - density of salt water vs fresh water
*Fill 2 large bowls 2/3 full of water.
*Add 10-20T salt to one of the bowl.
*Gently drop an egg into each bowl. 

The egg in the salt water should float.

While the egg in the fresh water sinks straight to the bottom.

Experiment #3 - Salt crystals
*Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a pan and remove pan from heat.
*Add 1T of salt at a time until salt no longer dissolves.
*Cool just a bit, stir contents of pan, and pour into clear glass jar. (I used a mason jar.)
*Tie a paper clip to one end of string and the other end of string to a pencil. 
*Place into the jar (the string should be about 1 in. from the bottom...ours ended up being a little more) and balance pencil on top of the jar. 

*Place in a sunny window and observe changes each day. 

This experiment did not really work for us due to the fact it rained EVERY. SINGLE. DAY this week. The sun did not make an appearance (not once...all. week. long). As I sit here and type, it is STILL raining. Oh well, perhaps you'll have better luck with this experiment.

Experiment #4 - Ocean Currents Distribute Nutrients
*Fill shallow rectangular pan with water.
*Gently blow across the surface of water (makes small waves and currents).
*Drop a few drops of food coloring into edge of water.
*Gently blow across the surface again and watch how food coloring is distributed (by "currents") throughout the water.

Geography

My sister visited China a few months back and sent us a postcard from there. We took some time to reread that card. She said the strangest thing she had to get used to seeing was kids' bare bottoms in public. She said many of the kids wear 'split pants' there and they just 'do their business' wherever they need to...even on the sidewalk :-O

She also said they eat a lot of chicken....FEET that is. Gross!

Aside from some of the crazy foods and potty training customs, she said China was beautiful including many of its structures like the Xi'an Tower they visited pictured above.

Bible

Gladys Aylward is quite an amazing woman! Every chapter has us on the edge of our seats. We can't wait to hear where her adventures take her next week :)

~Valentine's Day~
Because this week was also Valentine's week, the kiddos had some fun making cards for their Dad and their grandparents :)

I hope you had a great, but less rainy week as well!

This post has been linked up with Discover Their Gifts