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.