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Spring Science Ideas

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Spring Science Ideas | The Happy Housewife

By contributing writer Marci

Spring is an exciting time of year. The days are getting longer and warmer. The grass is getting greener. The flowers are blooming. It’s such a welcome change from the cold and snow of winter for many of us.

Spring is an exciting time of the year for science, as well. There is so much happening outside. You could spend every day studying something new. Here are a few spring science ideas to get you started.

Spring Equinox

The vernal equinox marks the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. On this day there are exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Research why this occurs only twice per year. 

Flowers

Nothing says spring like flowers. Research what blooms first in your area. Study their form and function. Flowers make a great, non-gross dissection project.

Rain

Spring flowers need those spring rains. Study the water cycle and why springtime tends to be the wettest time of the year. You can even set up a rain gauge or weather station and record your data. Keep recording into summer. Compare your rainfall totals and temperatures month to month.

Seeds

Spring is planting time. Start a garden of your own from seed. Take a field trip to a local nursery to find out what seeds grow best in your area. They can also tell you when and where to plant your seeds. You might need to start the seeds indoors first if it is too early in the season or too cold to plant them outside.

Bird Nests

Watch the birds in your yard carefully. In the springtime, you’ll see them not only foraging for food, but looking for nest materials. Some birds gather twigs while others gather string or grass. Do some research into what types of nests the birds in your yard build.

Do you have any other spring science ideas?

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Gardening with Kids

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By contributing writer Tabitha.

Over 18 years of marriage we’ve had the chance to plant gardens in many of the places where we’ve lived.  In each of those places, we had children to help out with the garden. I have to say, the kids were very involved in each of these experiences and seeing a garden through their eyes was one of the best things about all the hard work and dirt!

Gardening with Kids | The Happy Housewife

Samuel checking the tomato plants

 

Things I’ve Learned About Gardening with Kids

  • Keep it simple! Don’t try to plant everything or get the soil just right. Get something in the ground and take care of it. Especially the first year. Otherwise, you can get overwhelmed easily.
  • Research what grows well in your area, how to prepare the soil, etc., but don’t go overboard. There is such a thing as trying to control too much with a garden. Ask your neighbors what works for them.
  • Kids can handle more than you think. Give them some responsibility, and they will impress you.
  • Plants can go through a lot and still survive. Most are quite hardy. Go for it, and don’t let fear govern your garden.
  • Plant what you like to eat, and eat what you grow.  That being said…
  • Kids will be more interested in eating something they grew, so it’s a good time to try something new! We did okra… that was interesting.

Things My Kids Have Learned Through Gardening

  • The weather means a lot when you are growing a garden. You need rain, but you don’t want hail. You need lots of warm, sunny days, but it’s hard to water a dried out garden.
  • Pests are very real things. Bugs can eat your harvest before you even have it ripe. Deer are animals you want out of your garden.
  • Farmers work really hard to get food to the farmers’ markets and grocery stores. It doesn’t just appear in the stalls or on the shelves.
  • Growing things takes patience. A little seed takes a while to become your favorite vegetable or fruit, and work goes along with it.
  • Plant biology is fascinating and very cool to watch close up.
  • Eating your own harvest is awesome. Being able to give some away is even better.
  • Preserving food (freezing, canning, drying) is another neat thing to learn when you have extra that you want to enjoy later.
  • Different things grow better in different areas of the country. We’ve had gardens in Ohio, Texas, and Missouri, and in other states we have grown plants in containers because we didn’t have a yard.
  • Real work gives real results. Work hard.
Gardening with Kids | The Happy Housewife

Samuel in the Squash plants

 

Gardening is one of the best ways to show kids real results from working hard. There are other ways, but it’s wonderful to see the understanding of what goes into the food we eat. Even if only one of your plants produces anything, it’s still a success. It’s science, religion, work, and family time all in one activity. Grow a garden this year!

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Dental-Themed Worksheets: Free Printables

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Dental-Themed Worksheets: Free Printables | The Happy Housewife

By contributing writer Lauren

Since February is Dental Health Month, this month’s free printables all have a dental theme!  Each activity in this 4-page packet is written for first or second graders.

In this Dental-Themed Worksheet Set:

  • Dental Word Search – Find each of the dental-related words
  • Taking Care of My Teeth – Complete this fill-in-the-blank  worksheet with the provided words
  • How Many Baby Teeth Do Kids Have? – Complete the code to discover the answer!
  • Dictionary Practice: My Teeth – Practice alphabetical order in a variety of ways with the teeth-themed words
Dental-Themed Worksheets
Dental-Themed Worksheets
February Dental Hygiene Printables 2014.pdf
596.9 KiB
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Rubber Band Bracelets: Valentine’s Day Craft

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By contributing writer Colleen

Even though we homeschool, my kids love passing treats, letters, and little gifts out to friends and family. They especially love to give out Valentines.

I have to admit that I’m not usually good about making  fun Valentine’s Day crafts with them. Oh, I check out all the fun ideas on Pinterest and dream of a cozy afternoon making a bunch of sweet giveaways for friends and family. And then I realize it’s the night before Valentine’s Day, and I jump in the car and head to CVS to pick up a few last-minute boxes of tear apart cards and some candy.

Rubber Band Bracelets: Valentine's Day Craft | The Happy Housewife

This year, like so many others, we’ve caught the rubber band bracelet bug, and after making hundreds to send with a sweet friend to Ecuador to pass out on a trip with Samaritan’s Purse for Operation Christmas Child, I thought we could keep the momentum going and make rubber band bracelets for Valentine’s Day, too.

If you don’t have a loom, the bracelets are easy to make with two fingers or two pencils. The bands are inexpensive (but get everywhere — you’ve been warned) and come in so many fun colors and styles. Here are some simple tutorials:

For these super fun, and super cute Valentines, I had my kids make a bunch of bracelets.

Rubber Band Bracelets | The Happy Housewife

Then I created a little printable to print onto card stock.

Download the printable here or click on the image to download a copy.

Rubber Band Bracelets Valentine Printable | The Happy Housewife

We cut the circles with scissors at first, but soon switched to a 1 inch circle punch leftover from my scrapbooking days. We punched a small hole towards the bottom of the circle and threaded a bracelet through each one.

Rubber Band Bracelets Valentines | The Happy Housewife

I think they came out adorable! My kids are so excited to pass these out to friends at our homeschool coop in February.

What do you think? Is this a simple enough idea to try with your kiddos?

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Learning Dental Health

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By contributing writer Tabitha

The best way to learn is by doing. Our family is learning dental health by doing. Sure, we find books at the library about dentists and what a dentist visit is like. Sure, we watch children’s shows on the topic when they are on TV. For the most part, though, our entire education on dental health comes from participating in good dental habits.

Learning Dental Health | The Happy Housewife

Basic Dental Health

For example, when our 8th child, now age 4, was still very young, she was fascinated by all her older siblings brushing their teeth. She would find floss and try to imitate everyone else. She’d hear us talking about making dentist appointments and wonder what was going on. She’d see old dental x-rays (from a brother with a lot of interesting teeth) and think it was so cool.

She’s seen older brothers lose teeth and was told many times why this happened. She also saw a tooth that had to be removed by a dentist due to cavities, and what happens if we don’t take care of our teeth.

8 year old needed a tooth pulled- the new one was coming in behind it!

8 year old needed a tooth pulled- the new one was coming in behind it!

In December she had her first dentist visit. She wasn’t able to do x-rays but she was able to tell the dental hygienist all about brushing her teeth and trying to floss. She was excited to get her teeth counted and looked at by the dentist. She liked her teeth being ‘tickled’ (cleaned), and her favorite part was getting a new toothbrush and toothpaste and then picking a prize, all of which she’d heard about from older siblings who had done this many times before.

4 year old daughter, first time at the dentist

4 year old daughter, first time at the dentist

All of these things were ways to help her learn something new. She didn’t need a curriculum. She didn’t need a special class. She learned from real life. This is something great about homeschooling, to me, in that we can just live our lives and the pieces sometimes just fall into place.

Advanced Dental Health

My oldest two sons are Boy Scouts (and I have more coming up through the ranks). They had the opportunity to learn more in depth about dentistry by working on a Dentistry Merit Badge. The merit badge involves learning about careers but also what tools are used in dentistry and why, including things like building a model and then using it to teach the proper way to floss. It’s a great opportunity for them to learn by doing.

Enjoy how your family learns best. There are so many ways to learn. Use opportunities like dental visits and merit badges to help your whole family get involved with things like Dental Health month, which is good for everyone. Good luck!

More on Dental Health

More posts from Tabitha

Football Math

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Football Math | The Happy Housewife

By contributing writer Marci

Have you ever thought of football as a mathematical sport? Football is a game of numbers. Teams and fans keep track of yardage, tackles, and the score. It can be a great way to get your young football fanatics to become fans of math, too! Here are some ways to do football math with your kids.

Calculating the Score

Calcualting the score of football games can be a great lesson in addition and multiplication. You can give them different scoring scenarios for a game and let them calculate the final score.

First, you’ll need to make sure they know how football is scored.

touchdown = 6 points

extra point after a touchdown = 1 point

2 point conversion = 2 points

field goal = 3 points

safety = 2 points

Next, give them scenarios such as:

In the first quarter, the team scored a touchdown, an extra point and a field goal. How much did they score?

The team scored 4 touchdowns, 3 extra points, a 2 point conversion and a field goal. How much did they score?

You can make this as easy or as complicated as you want.

Football Scoring Sheet

You can also use this football scoring sheet to help them keep track of points as they watch a football game.

Football Scoring Sheet
Football Scoring Sheet
Football_Scoring_Sheet.pdf
239.8 KiB
Details...

Calculating Running Distance at an Angle

In football, when a receiver gets the ball, he will run straight to the endzone. The job of the defending team is to stop him. Odds are that the defender will have run at an angle to try and catch the ball carrier. The defender needs to do some quick math.

Football Math: Angle of Pursuit | The Happy Housewife

The defender will instantly have to calculate the angle of pursuit in order to intercept the ball carrier. This also means the defender will have to run a longer distance than the ball carrier. How much farther?

Football Math: Pythagorean Theorem| The Happy Housewife

Using the Pythagorean theorem, a² + b² = c²,  we can calculate the distance a defender needs to run to catch the ball carrier at a given point.

Let’s say the ball carrier is 30 yards from the end zone. Let’s say the ball carrier and defender start at the same point on the field. but 20 yards apart. If the ball carrier runs straight to the end zone, a right angle is created between the starting positions of the defender, the ball carrier and the end zone.

Football Math:Calculating Running Distance | The Happy Housewife

We can then use the pythagorean theorem to calculate the distance the defender has to run to intercept the ball carrier. If we say we want the defender to catch the ball carrier at the end zone, we know the ball carrier will have to run 30 yards. We also know that the ball carrier and receiver started 20 yards away from each other. Our calculation would look like this:

30² + 20² = C²

900 + 400 = C²

1300 = C²

take the square root of both sides: √1300 = √C²

C = 36.06 yards

To intercept the receiver at the end zone, the defensive player would have to run 36.06 yards. With the information you now have, you could even have more math fun and calculate the angle of pursuit.

On Your Own

What other football math calculations can you do?

  • Keep track of the passing yards of the quarterback and then divide that number by the total passes to come up with a yard per pass average.
  • Each time  your favorite receiver carries the ball, keep track of his yardage and then calculate his average yards per play.
  • Calculate the average points per quarter.
  • Find out how many people your favorite football stadium holds. If each person bought a hot dog and soda for $9 (or whatever amount you want), how much money did the stadium make?

Think of more on your own! Have fun!

More Math Ideas from The Happy Housewife

When the Homeschool Plan Isn’t Working

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It’s January. A time to take stock, look at what’s working, and what’s not. And, once you have an idea of what needs adjusting, it’s the time you usually decide to throw out the old and try something new.

What if it’s your homeschool that’s not working, though? You can’t really throw it out and do something else.

Or can you?  Maybe…maybe not.

When the Homeschool Plan Isn't Working | The Happy Housewife

You may not be able to throw everything out — curriculum costs money, and it’s not smart to switch to a new program every time it seems like something’s not working.  However, it’s not smart to stick with something that’s not working either.

One of the best thing’s about homeschooling in the first place is that you have the freedom to change things that aren’t working for your child to customize his or her education. But what do you do if it feels like nothing’s working?

Take a Break

Seriously, even if you’ve already taken off the whole month of December, and it feels like you’re completely behind where you should be — stop everything. Take a break and figure out what isn’t working.

It will not do anyone any good to push through something that’s not working in the first place. In fact, you may end up burning out and resenting your homeschool. Not an ideal situation.

Take Stock

While you’re on that break, take some time to sit down and reflect on your homeschool:

  • Why do you do it?
  • What are your goals for each of your kids?
  • What is your ideal schedule?
  • What do you love?
  • What can you cut?

Write down your answers to these questions in a fresh spiral notebook. Then, ask each of your children to write their own answers in the same notebook. You can ask them:

  • Do you like homeschooling? Why? Why not?
  • What are your goals?
  • When do you feel you learn best?
  • How do you feel you learn best?
  • What do you love?
  • What do you loathe?

Make a New Plan

Even if the curriculum itself can’t change, there’s probably something you can shake up to make everything feel fresh again. Can you try relaxing in the mornings and playing board games or enjoying a leisurely breakfast, and hitting the books harder in the afternoon for awhile?

Or, maybe try taking school on the road. Head to the library a few afternoons a week. Go to the zoo, break out the books and a picnic lunch, then head to see the animals after math is finished up. Go to a playground and have your kids hang upside down while you quiz them on their math facts.

Just choose at least one thing to tweak.

The goal isn’t to revolutionize your homeschool. It’s to break the monotony. To dig out of the rut you’ve fallen into. It’s to keep you from feeling like you need to throw it all out and send your kids off to public school.

Homeschooling can be a challenge — for you and your kids. Take a bit of time to put it all in perspective and change a few things. You’ll all fee better as you begin the second half of your year and head to the finish line.

What are some of your ideas for changing things up?

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photo credit: jimmiehomeschoolmom via photopin cc

By contributing writer Colleen

Free Math Worksheet Printables from Five J’s

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Sometimes the difference between me feeling homeschool dread or excitement in the morning can be as simple as a new resource. Make it a free resource and I’m ready to take on the week.

Free Math Printable Worksheets

Free Learning Printables

Fivejs.com has created a free 24-page set of math and learning printables. These sheets are mostly for your younger kids and can really help them have those “aha” moments. The set includes:

  • 100 Chart
  • Clocks- 3 different style clocks faces left blank.
  • Calendar- One with the days of the week filled out and one intentionally blank.
  • Coordinate Planes
  • Number Lines- Some with numbers filled in and others blank.
  • Graph Paper

They also have included a sheet of Number Bonds for older kids. All of these can be downloaded here.

I hope these breathe some life into your week!

Difference Between Music and Noise (with Experiments)

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By contributing writer Marci

We hear sounds all the time. The closing of a door. Footsteps in the hall. The click of typing on a keyboard. The refrigerator kicking on. We would call those sounds noises.

We also hear phones ring, kids singing songs, a guitar on the radio, birds chirping. We could call those sounds music.

Difference Between Music and Noise (with Experiments) | The Happy Housewife

The difference between noise and music is apparent to most of us, but have you ever tried to explain the difference?

Sound Waves

All sound is created by vibrations. For instance, when you slam a door, you vibrate the molecules around the door. Those vibrating molecules make the molecules around them vibrate, and so on and so on until the molecules in your ear vibrate. These traveling vibrations are called “sound waves.” If there are no molecules to vibrate, then no sound is created. That is why there is no sound in a vacuum or in space.

Once in your ear, those sound waves cause your ear drum to vibrate. This sends signals to your brain that you heard a sound.

Sound waves can be represented as a wavy line. Music and sounds associated with music such as bells and birds chirping create regular sound wave patterns such as this.

Difference Between Music and Noise (musical sound wave) | The Happy Housewife

Noises such as doors closing, traffic, or blenders make erratic wave patterns like this.

Difference Between Music and Noise (noise sound wave) | The Happy Housewife

The  real difference between noises and music is in the patterns of their sounds waves. We tend to find regular, orderly sound waves much more appealing and label them as musical sounds.

Sound Wave Experiments

Sound waves can move through solids, liquids, and gases. Sometimes, it’s hard to image sound as something that can move. Have you ever turned up the radio in your car so loud you could feel the beat in your chest? Or put your hand on a speaker and could feel the vibration? That’s the sensation of sound waves moving the molecules of your body.

Here are a couple more sound wave experiments to try.

Move The Flame

Supplies

  • round oatmeal box
  • utility knife
  • candle

Instructions

1. Using the utility knife, cut a hole about the size of a penny in the lid of the oatmeal box. Replace the lid.

2. Light the candle.

3. Hold the box on its side 5 or 6 inches away from the flame with the hole facing the candle. Tap the bottom of the box. You should see the candle flicker each time you tap the box.

The sound waves moving through the air are moving the molecules around the flame. It is possible to position your box just right so that the sound waves actually put the candle out! Try it!

Eardrum Experiment

Supplies

  • plastic wrap
  • 20 or so uncooked rice grains
  • large bowl
  • cookie sheet or metal baking pan

Instructions

1. Stretch the plastic wrap over the bowl tightly. This is your eardrum.

2. Place 20 or so rice grains on the tightened plastic wrap.

3. Hold the pan or cookie sheet close to the bowl, but not touching. Bang on the pan with your hand or large spoon making a loud noise. Watch the rice. It should jump each time you bang on the pan. The sound waves created should vibrate the plastic wrap making the rice move.

How can you make the rice jump more or less? Does the type of pan make a difference? Can any other sounds make the rice move? Can you move the rice with music instead of just noise?

Have fun experimenting!

Photo by Gavin Whitner

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