Show & Tell: Adventures Week 23

Ever have one of those weeks where finishing strong wasn't as important as just finishing?  Welcome to my week.  :)

In history this week, we filled out state sheets for the next four states:  Maine, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan. 

On Thursday, Hannah sighed a big sigh when I got out the state sheet for Michigan.  Four in one week is a lot, and I'm very thankful that most weeks aren't like that.  :)

When we looked at Missouri on Tuesday, we talked about the Gateway Arch.  We read that it was a tricky structure to build because of its shape.  We read that if you measure a piece of string 9 inches long and hold the ends three inches apart, you can see the shape for yourself.  We used Greg's chain instead of a piece of string because it was accessible right when I needed it, and any homeschool mom will tell you that sometimes that makes the difference between an activity that gets done and one that doesn't.  :)

So far we have added 26 states to our U.S. map.  Here's what it looks like now:

In science this week, we continued our study of anatomy, focusing on the senses.  It's so fascinating to learn about the way our bodies are created.  God has so lovingly thought of every last detail!  (And we just skimmed the surface this week!)  We learned that when we touch things, nerve endings send signals to our brains; when we hear sounds, they are simply vibrations; and when we see things, our eyes see them upside-down and our brain turns them right-side-up for us.  We did several hands-on activities to explore taste and smell.

First, while Millie was in the bath one morning, Hannah made her breakfast with a twist:  red eggs and purple milk.

Adding a drop or two to get the eggs just the right shade of red.

 

Breakfast is on the table.  All that's missing is a clueless sister!



I love this expression!  I can just hear her saying, "I don't know.  I'm not too sure about this!"

But in the end, it's all good!  Normal scrambled eggs and milk, just a different color! 

Next I had the girls try a small taste of four different foods to see if they could determine sweet, salty, bitter, and sour.

They sampled lemon juice, vinegar, honey, and salt. 

Can't you read Hannah's mind here?  "Oh, Millie, you can go first!"  Because if it tastes really bad, I want to be prepared!

The lemon juice was really bad!!

But the honey made up for it!  :)

And finally, we did an activity that was supposed to show us that smell plays a large role in the way our food tastes.  I know this is true because my appetite goes way down when my nose is stuffy, but somehow our experiment failed miserably! 

First, I made a glass of chocolate milk and a glass of strawberry milk.

Then I blindfolded the girls and had them hold their noses while they took a sip from each cup. 

What was supposed to happen:
They were supposed to be able to tell that it was sweet, but they weren't supposed to be able to tell which was chocolate and which was strawberry. 

What did happen:
They both got both tastes right without even a moment's hesitation. 

What happened after that:
I figured they were either able to see or weren't holding their noses tightly enough, so I did it myself.  No doubt about it, the chocolate was definitely chocolatey, and the strawberry was definitely strawberry-y.  :)

Oh, and remember the science experiment that we didn't do last week?  Still not done.

And the quilt that looked like this last week?

Now it looks like this.

I'm pretty sure it's going to require a trip to Grandma's for me to muster up the motivation to help Hannah with it.  :)

I'm not sure why I felt like I was dragging this week.  Maybe because basketball season has been going on for three months now, maybe because of the extra preparation needed for co-op this week, maybe because I know Spring Break is just a few short weeks away.  Who knows?!  But whatever the reason, I'm glad the weekend is here and I intend to enjoy it fully!  :)