Wednesday, January 15, 2014

APPLES, BANANAS & VITAMINS.....OH MY! ~ NUTRITION CHAPTER

We stayed home with colds today.  Well, the girls & I did.  The boys were still full of energy.  I was determined not to lose another complete day of school as we did on Tuesday.  The boys & I managed to finish our science module and even had fun doing it.  Win-win.  They always love hands on learning and we inserted as much as possible into our reading today.

 First we read about proteins, bad fats, good fats, calories and energy.  Then we learned what that means in our every day lives.  The boys selected cans from the pantry and we talked about the nutrition labels.  They learned their importance and how to accurately read and understand them.  The second time around they went back to the pantry to select two new cans.  They had to guess which can had the most or least of specific categories without looking at the labels.  It was neat seeing how close they were in their guesses.


 We then went on to learn about different vitamins.  They have been taking extra Vitamin C lately and were curious about it.  This experiment caught their attention.  To illustrate the "powers" of Vitamin C we did these two experiments.  First we cut up and apple.  On one slice we poured lemon juice which was our Vitamin C.  The other apple we left alone.


 Here is Bugsy writing up the labels.




Next we sliced up part of a banana.  On 3 slices we sprinkled a crushed Vitamin C tablet.  The other slices were left plain.  We then waited to see what would happen to both our apples and our bananas.

 We noticed that right away the apple with no lemon juice started to turn brown.  We learned that it is because of the oxygen.  The lemon juice is an antioxidant.  It stops the oxidation process and helps to keep the cell walls from breaking down.  



The bananas did the same thing.  It was neat to see that the Vitamin C in both experiments, though in different forms, worked the same.  

Our next experiment will be to test foods for Vitamin C.  We will do that one as soon as I buy some Iodine.  We're all looking forward to it.  =)  What experiments have you enjoyed and learned from lately?


Monday, January 13, 2014

NORMAN ROCKWELL IN NASHVILLE

This was so exciting for us.  Norman Rockwell at The Frist in Nashville!  We used to live only minutes away from the Norman Rockwell Museum in the Berkshires.  And at one time we even lived in an apartment down the street from one of Rockwell's former studios.  I have been a fan of his since I was a teen.  My kids have grown to love his work as well.  It was like having an old, dear friend come to visit.  A couple of our friends joined us for our visit which made it even more fun!

 I wasn't able to take pictures in the gallery, of course, and I completely understand.  Take my word for it that it was incredible!  After touring the gallery we went to the children's hands on area.


 At first it was crowded as there were 2 school groups.  But soon they left for lunch and we only shared with a handful of other homeschoolers.  Perfect!



 The older girls sat down together to sketch.  They are both budding artists.





 They worked for quite awhile.  



 I believe this was Princess's favorite activity.




 This was Bugsy's and Elvis's favorite hands on activity.  You take pictures in still frames and then all of them are combined to make a short movie.  Such fun!


 Elvis making his movie.


 Still sketching!  =)



 Hee, hee, hee.


 Finished!  Didn't they do a wonderful job?



 It was pouring when we arrived but the rain had stopped by the time we were ready to leave.  I was very glad because I had really wanted a photo of the kids in front of the banner.  



 This sculpture was outside and made very odd noises.  The kids all had fun making up stories about what was really going on inside that thing. Hee, hee!


 When we arrived home they got to work on their booklets from the museum.  (Free)


 These are all our books.  I bought most of them at library sales when we lived in the Berkshires.  The kids had looked at them before our trip and recognized many of the paintings when we were in the gallery.


 Cheese!



This is the booklet.  It was neat to see it came from the museum in Stockbridge.

One of the things that is neat about The Frist is that they are very family friendly.  For our entire family to go see this exhibit only cost us $10 in admission and $4 to park.  For 7 people that is outstanding!