December Classes

We only have classes the first two weeks in December. This week we will be focusing on Thomas Edison, and his many inventions.

After this week, we will start classes again on Tuesday, January 5.

November 10 Class

Today we talked about man's early attempts at flying, and spent most of the class working on parachutes.

November 3 Class

This week we focused on the Colonial trade of Silversmith. We watched a movie showing a silversmith's job, then the students had a chance to make their own "silver" projects from aluminum foil sheets.

Heads up for 3rd Tuesday in November

We WILL be having a History class on the 3rd Tuesday in November -- we will be covering Thanksgiving that day.

October 27 Inventors Corner

Today we discussed Ships and Boats:

What's the difference? (Mainly boats are smaller, and ships often carry boats (like lifeboats))

We discussed general types of ships/boats: canoes, sailboats, etc.

Why would you use a boat?
For traveling
For fishing
For war

Where would you use a boat/ship?
Ponds
Lakes
Rivers
Oceans

Then we worked on designs for our own ships/boats.

October 20th History Club

This week we talked about Williamsburg, maps, and clothing. We played a map game to learn about directions on a compass and navigating. We watched a video on Williamsburg, and one about the clothing of Colonial times. We finished up class by designing clothes for a paper doll. All the kids did great in class today, and listened well to instructions. They are a joy to teach!

Oct 13 Class -- Wheels

We discussed wheels, and their usefulness in transportation today. We listed things with wheels -- most of which fell in the transportation category.

We sorted 8 different transportation cards -- with and without wheels.

We looked at different types of trains, cars, planes, tanks, etc...

And then we set to work inventing -- something with wheels (didn't have to be transportation, but most were).

October 6 Building Forts

In class we talked about lots of forts in US history. We focused on Jamestown Fort. We talked about why, where, and how to build a fort.
We watched part of a video about early American colonies, and the Colonial Triangle (Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown).
Then the kids got a chance to build their own forts. When they were finished they had to tell us what kind of environment their fort was in, and what the purpose was.

Oct 6 Class?

Yes, we will be doing History/Geography class on October 6, during "Fall Break".

Next Week -- 5th Tuesday

Next Tuesday is the 5th Tuesday in September, so we will combine History and Science and do a class based on Leonardo da Vinci. It will be hands on!

September 22

We went over some of those great quotes on inventing, and the idea of inventing new things from old products.

Then we discussed and built homes again -- this time with the idea of making them windproof.

After much time building, we discussed the need for a foundation, a purpose, a budget, and the available materials, and how all those affect designs.

September 15 History Club Meeting

In our first club meeting we talked about explorers who came to the New World. We started with Columbus and went all the way to Jamestown. We talked about what countries they came from and what part of the continent they explored. We also discussed their reasons for coming. We continued with the theme from the Science club and talked about basic needs of life and what the explorers would need on their journeys. We split the class into teams with each team having a responsibility in Jamestown, and quickly saw how hard it is to get everything accomplished with a limited number of people.

Great Quotes about Inventing

Dee and I visited the American History Museum while we were in Washington D.C. two weekends ago. There was a great exhibit there on inventors and inventions.

The quotes there were inspiring:

""All sorts of things can happen when you're open to new ideas and playing around with things.”
--Stephane Kwolek, inventor

“I didn’t have the notion of being an inventor as a kid -- I was too busy inventing."
--James McLurkin, inventor

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play in one year of conversation."
--Plato

"To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
--Thomas Edison

"Legos are based on the idea that a limited number of structural units can provide almost unlimited opportunities for the imagination."
--Robert & Michele Root-Bernstein, historians

"You can't learn anything from experiences you're not having.
--Louis L'Amour, author

What is an inventor: "An inventor is someone who creates something new to solve a problem or address a need."
--Exhibit at American History Museum

Materials we could use donated

Several moms have inquired as to what they might be able to collect and provide for the Tuesday Clubs. The following is a start of materials we could use, and you may be able to think of others once you see our list! If we come up with other items in the future, we will let you know. As many of you have already figured out, charging only $5 per class per student (and even less for members) we aren’t really making money on these clubs – especially after we purchase materials. So any and all help with the following would be greatly appreciated:
Paper Plates
Paper Cups
Tin Foil
Popsicle sticks
Metal Hangers
Toilet Paper Rolls (empty)
Paper Towel Rolls (empty or full!)
Glue sticks
Yarn
Packing tape
Masking tape
Empty film canisters
Egg cartons (empty)
Cardboard (as in from new shirts, sheets, calendars)
Spools from spools of thread

1st Science Club—September 8

We started by discussing what are our “needs” – and listed such things as transportation, home, clothing, food and water. From there we discussed various types of homes – looking at the homes of different Native Americans. We discussed the considerations of temporary vs. permanent, cold vs. hot weather, and availability of materials. Then the students were supplied with a number of materials that they could choose from to construct a model home. Afterwards we shared whether the home was meant to be permanent or temporary and what type of weather it would have been appropriate for.

Tuesday Morning Clubs

I went back and forth on whether to add a blog for the History and Science Clubs. But after short consideration, we decided it would be fun to have a place to post even small notes about what we’ve covered in our Club times.