Week in Review - Sick Kids & Fun with Atoms!

This week has been a crazy one at our house.  Poor Ryan got sick over the weekend and had to wait until Tuesday to get in to see the doctor.  I thought he had a nasty cold, but it turns out he has strep throat and a double ear infection too.  Fun times!  Now we're just hoping he keeps it to himself and spares the other two.

I'm trying something a bit different for science this week...you know me, I'm always looking for something fun and exciting to do. Well, we are trying out Real Science 4 Kids from Gravitas Publications.  I'm impressed so far and the kids seem to really enjoy it.  I can totally see my kids picking up the text and reading it on their own just for fun.  Friday we did an experiment on atoms and molecules.  The kids used marshmallows to make molecules following the rules given on the lab sheets.  What started out as a fun way to learn about how molecules always follow the rules quickly turned into something completely different.  What can I say, when you give kids toothpicks and two sizes of marshmallows, you're bound to have some fun, right?

Ryan made some sort of really cool molecule with lots of connections.  He said it looked like a snowflake.  What do you think?

Adam did a better job of following the rules.  Haley on the other hand had a great time making molecule giraffes.  Here she's working on the baby giraffe.  See the mommy giraffe in the front?

Who knew that chemistry could be so much fun.  First you read something, discuss it, then you do a fun lab.  They were supposed to draw pictures of their "molecule creations" for their science notebooks, but they ended up eating them before they drew them.  This series of Science books is such fun!  I highly recommend trying it out.  There are 3 levels, and each level includes the text, teachers guide and lab book.  Each level includes biology, chemistry and physics.  You can sample all of the products online, and most everything is available as an instant download.  Gotta love that!  If you'd rather have a hard copy you can go that route too.  Their prices are very reasonable.  http://www.gravitaspublications.com/products

I think the funniest thing about learning about atoms was Adam laughing over his name sounding the same.  He kept saying "I'm Adam and I'm made from atoms."  Too funny!  Hope all of you had a great week as well.