Red Wagon Tutorial DVDs for Apologia

This fall with Biology, we will be using the Audio CDs since I think the kids need to hear the pronunciations as the book is read.
Whew!  Lot of big words!  ETA: I had to get the 2nd Edition books since the Audio CD is only available in 2nd Edition.  $igh...

We will also be using the instructional DVDs for the computer from
← Red Wagon Tutorials.
These are taught by Steve Rosenoff, one of Apologia's teachers, and are available for live classes at Red Wagon Tutorials.
There is more accountability this way for the student, but if you want to actually own the CD-Rom/DVD, (much cheaper, and this is what I did) Steve Rosenoff also sells some of them on ebay.  Search Apologia DVDs.

They are also available at Apologia and Christian Book Distributors. →

Do not confuse the DVDs with the audio CDs.  Big price difference!

I'm not sure about version 2.0 (good to check about this), but the 1.0 version that I bought must be played on a computer that can play a DVD.  If your computer will not play DVDs, you may be able to get a DVD drive put in.
Both versions are 2nd edition.  We are using 1st Edition books, but I think it will work fine, since he gives all the answers during the lecture.
There are 2 tutorials per Module.  There are printable tests, quarterly tests, and fill-in lecture notes that go along with Steve Rosenoff's tutorial.  He gives the answers after your child has had a chance to think of them.  I went thru one right after I had studied a chapter, written my blog post, and hunted and found helpful videos online for the kids to watch.  So I thought I pretty much knew a lot about the chapter.  The tutorial was an excellent review and I remembered/learned even more.  =D
I'm planning to have the kids do them each Friday after reading that half of the Module.  (Steve Rosenoff has a schedule on his site, so I knew which pages needed to be read before doing the lecture)

The Best Husband! ♥

Travis♥ is an amazing husband!  He puts up with ME! haha.

We've been married 19 years, and I couldn't pick a better husband.  He loves me, and he loves our kids.
He takes the kids places so I can stay home and do whatever it is I'm needing/wanting to do at the time.
Sometimes I just need quiet!  =)
The kids are old enough now that we'll leave them home while Travis and I go on a date. The kids love us to go on dates! ♥
The girls (and sometimes JohnDavid helps) will make their own supper, and they don't mind us going out.  =)

He takes time with the kids, and they love to be with him. 
Both my teenage girls "fight" and race to sit next to him on the couch, and sometimes he'll move to the middle so they both can.  It's typical if we're out somewhere, that both girls are hanging onto an arm as we walk.  I've made several pictures of this, but can find only one right now.
He takes them to all the revivals where they sing, and videos them every time.

He wrestles w/ JohnDavid, and does outdoorsy things with him.  He takes him to stores that have hunting stuff, knives, survival-type things, and went thru the hunter-safety course w/ him, even though he already had done it himself.  He doesn't care a lot about hunting himself, but has taken JohnDavid.  He videoed JohnDavid shooting his first deer!  =)


He videos the kids a lot.  Every piano recital, every time the girls sing somewhere, every karate tournament JohnDavid was in, lots of home movies.  We love to sit and laugh at old home movies from when the kids were little.  So fun!  =)


He talks to the kids a lot.  About everyday stuff, as well as about life.  Things they need to be considering as they grow up.

And he listens.
They love talking to him!  We have church at home, and it can get quite long because when we're done, it sometimes ends up with all of us just talking.  =)

He will cut up watermelon, or pour me lemonade, etc., without me knowing, and bring it over to me in the living room.
He does little things all day to let us know he cares.

He is a hard worker, and isn't lazy at all.  He will be somewhere and see something that needs to be done, so he does it.  He does the same at home.
He's unselfish, caring, thoughtful, my best friend.

I often see him studying his Bible.  He looks thru his tapes to put on good music to listen to, and sometimes will just put in a DVD of preaching to watch.  He really wants to serve God, and it shows in his everyday life. =)

I've got the best one!

Physical Science, Module 12, The Forces in Creation - Part 2

--Videos we watched for Module 12.
--Play  Quizlet.  Just scroll down and click on Physical, then scroll to find the Module you want.

We continued our study on the fundamental forces of Creation, and focused on the electromagnetic force - the force that exists between particles with an electrical charge. 
Experiment 12.1 - Electrical Attraction and Repulsion

This was a simple experiment, done with balloons rubbed in your hair.  Most of us have all done that as kids, and then stuck the balloon onto the wall.
This time, we also made 2 balloons repel each other.  (ok, I am prone to say "we", and one of my kids pointed that out.  If I accidentally say "we" it means I was there while the kids were doing it, haha!)
We They hung the balloon by a thread from the chandelier thing over the table, because the ceiling was too high.  =)  Two kids each rubbed one balloon in their hair - the hanging balloon, and another balloon.  When brought closer together, this caused the balloons to repel, because of the stray (negative) electrons the balloon picked up from the kids' hair.  The balloons now both had negative "like" charge.  Like the North ends of 2 magnets will repel.
Rubbing a balloon in your hair will cause the balloon to pick up negative electrons from your hair.  If both balloons are negatively charged, they will repel each other.
The first rule of electrical charge:  Like charges repel one another.

Then cousin C put a piece of Scotch tape on the table and quickly ripped it off, then held it with both hands, sticky-side toward the hanging balloon.  This made the balloon move toward the tape.  Ripping the tape from the table caused the tape to lose negative electrons.  Since it lost some negative charges, it's "net" charge was now positive.  When Cousin C held the tape near the balloon that was negatively charged, they were attracted to each other.   
The second rule of electrical charge:  Opposite charges attract one another.  Keep in mind that nothing loses or gains the positively charged protons (which are in the nucleus of an atom), but only loses or gains electrons, which are always negative.

↑ In this picture, the balloon is being attracted to the static in her hair!  It stayed there thru 3 pictures, and no, it wasn't taped on.

Experiment 12.2 - Making and using an Electroscope
We used a glass, a plastic lid, a paper clip, needle-nose pliers, and aluminum foil to make a simple electroscope, which is a device that can be used to detect as well as store electrical charge.  We also needed a balloon.
Each kid made their own.  (JohnDavid had 3 sets of pliers! =)  This kept them all busy, and when one electroscope worked better than another, I was very glad we had done three.  Finally another one started doing better also.  It all had to do with Rebekah's hair having a lot of static that day!  =)

(1)  After rubbing balloons in their hair, they brought the balloon near, but not touching, the paperclip.  This made the pieces of foil move apart as long as they held the balloon there.
(2)  Then they did it again, but this time they touched the paperclip, and when they removed the balloon, the foils stayed apart.
(3)  Then they touched their paperclips with one finger.  This made the foil hang straight down again.
(4)  Then while no longer touching the paperclip, they (a) brought the balloon close to it again, which made the foils move apart.  When the foils moved apart, they (b) touched the paperclip with a finger from their other hand.  This made the foils fall back down.  Then at the same time, they (c) removed their finger and balloon.  This made the foils once more stay apart.
This is the concise explanation!!!  It was actually more "busy" than this, with the kids trying the different steps multiple times, getting their timing right.  It didn't work every time on each kid's electroscope, except Rebekah's, the static girl, but each kid did see success with different parts of the experiment. 



The foil and the paperclip, as all other forms of matter, have both negative and positive charges.  The number of positive and negative charges are equal, so there is no "net" charge.  However, the balloon had picked up stray electrons in the kids' hair, and therefore had an overall "net" negative charge.

(1)  When the balloon was brought near the paperclip, the positive charges in the paperclip and foil were attracted to the negative charges in the balloon.  And the negative charges in the paperclip were repelled away from the balloon and traveled down to the foil.  Now both pieces of the foil have more negative than positive charges, and since like charges repel, the pieces of foil move apart.
(2)  In the next part, when they touched the balloon to the paperclip, this actually transferred some of the negative electrons from the balloon to the aluminum foil.  So when the balloon was removed, the extra negative electrons stayed, and the foil stayed apart.
(3)  Then touching the paperclip allowed these extra electrons flow into their bodies. (Not many!  They're okay!)  This caused the foils to be "neutral" again.
When something is charged up by touching an electrically charged object (steps 2 and 3 - the balloon charged the foil, then the foil charged their hands), this is called charging by conduction.

(4)  In the last part, they were actually able to make the foil have a positive charge.  Bringing the negatively charged balloon near made the foils have an overall negative charge.  Touching with the finger drew the negative charge from the aluminum foil.  Removing their finger and balloon at the same time actually removed most of the negative charges.  This left the foils with extra positive charges, making the foils once more move apart.
This is called charging by induction.


We also learned about electrical circuits: closed and open circuits, series and parallel circuits.
In Experiment 12.3 - Current and Resistance, they made a short circuit with a AA battery and aluminum foil.  This was similar to the way we made an electromagnet, and when they turned the page to see the next experiment, Rebekah eyes widened and she said, "No! That gets hot!"  LOL.  But she decided to do it anyway, and yep, it got hot!
They held a small length of foil to each end of a AA battery, and felt the heat on the ends of the battery as the electrons traveled from the negative end to the positive end.  This experiment was punctuated with small cries of "Ow," "That's hot!"  (I tried it myself.  They were in no danger, or great pain or anything. =) Then we tried a longer piece of foil, and it took a few seconds longer to get hot. A wide piece also takes longer to get hot since the traveling electrons are spread further apart
They discovered that the positive end of the battery got hotter, and learned that electrons were flowing in a circuit from the negative end to the positive end.  Since more were in the positive end, that was the hotter end!
Finally, (around 30 sec. in the video) I saw cousin C sneakily doing something while the girls weren't looking.  He then held his foil on the battery longer than the girls did, and said, "I can hold it forever!"  He did hold it a little longer that time.  It turned out that he had put tape over the ends of his finger and thumb to protect them from the heat.  haha!
I can't wait for JohnDavid to take this class!  It will be a fun year!  =D



We also talked about resistors, which is anything that slows the flow of the electrons.  This can be a light bulb, or any electrical appliance, or simply a resistor put in on purpose to slow the flow of electricity.
A plug has two prongs.  One for flow of electricity to the light, then the electricity goes thru the light, then travels back down and out the other prong.  The light will make some resistance in the flow.  Heat makes some metals get hot and some to glow.  In a light bulb, the filament glows.
I learned a lot in this Module!  =) 

New Resources for the Elements!

Here are a couple of new resources that I think are just Awesome!  They are now listed under Educational Links.

• The Periodic Table of Videos - Videos of experiments and discussion for each element. Good if you are specifically focusing on certain elements.  GREAT resource.
• The Periodic Table of Elements with pictures of each element.  =) 

And don't forget another one of my favorites:

• Jefferson Labs - L♥VE the Periodic Table Elements online interactive games!!!  Learn the elements; calculate the number of protons, electrons, and neutrons; balance chemical equations, and more!  Choose your level and # of questions.  AWESOME!

Physical Science, Module 11, The Forces in Creation - Part 1 (part A)

--Videos we watched for Module 11.
--Play  Quizlet.  Just scroll down and click on Physical, then scroll to find the Module you want.

This module briefly introduced the four fundamental forces of Creation, then focused on gravitational force.
*the gravitational force - the force of gravity
*the electromagnetic force - the force that exists between particles with an electrical charge
*the weak force - governs certain radioactive processes in atoms.  Physicists have said that this is a different facet of the same force as the electromagnetic force, and have combined the two names and called this force the electroweak force.  However, in this course, they are discussed separately as the mathematics required to understand how they are the same is rather intense.
*the strong nuclear force - the force that holds the center of the atom (the nucleus) together
These are called "fundamental forces" because all forces in Creation can be traced back to one of them.

Experiment 11.1, Force and Circular Motion
The kids had an empty pen tube, string, and metal washers.  They threaded the string through the pen tube, and tied one washer to the top, and two to the bottom.  They pulled out 6 inches at the top, and marked the string with black marker so they could keep it at that distance while swinging the top washer around in a circle.  It took a few tries and adjustments to get the hang of keeping it going steady so that the top washer stayed 6 inches out, but they did pretty good.

When each kid got it going and was ready, they would say, "Go!" and one of the others would use the stopwatch.  We wanted to see how long it took the washer to make 20 rounds.  We did several trials for each kid, to get an average number of times.  It was around 11 seconds, give or take.
Then we added 2 more washers to the bottom for more weight.  We discovered that with more washers, the downward pull was stronger, and we had to twirl more quickly to keep the string out at 6 inches.  It only took around 7-8 seconds.  The stronger the pull, the faster the top washer would need to go to stay 6 inches out.

Then the last thing we were supposed to do, and I forgot! was to go outside, wear safety goggles, stay away from the windows, and get the washer twirling.  Then one of the kids was to cut the bottom string with the 4 washers, allowing the top washer to fly free.

This was to be an example of centripetal force - the force that is always directed perpendicular ⊥ to the velocity of an object.  Centripetal force pulls toward the center of the circle.
When the washer flew free, it began traveling in a straight line, in the direction of it's velocity as it had been trying to do all the time, but was prevented since it was tied to a string.  The 4 washers hanging on the bottom of the string provided the centripetal force.  The force was in the center, and at any given moment, the direction the top washer was trying to go was perpendicular ⊥ to the center of the circle.

← Generally, objects try to travel in a straight line from in whatever position they currently are.  That can be changed by applying force.  If the force is perpendicular to the velocity of the object, the object's path will begin to curve.  If this continues, the object will move in a circle.  But to stay moving, force must be applied continually.  An acceleration must occur.  Just like if you are driving up a hill, you must keep your foot on the gas.  You may go at a steady speed, but you are still giving the car gas (accelerating).

The acceleration that must occur to keep an object traveling in a circle is called centripetal acceleration.

General principles of circular motion:

1. Circular motion requires centripetal force.
2. The larger the centripetal force, the faster an object can travel in a circle.
3. The larger the centripetal force, the smaller the circle of motion.

Here is a picture of how centripetal force works in our solar system.  Instead of traveling in a straight line, the moon travels in a circle because of the earth's gravity.

Consider the orbits of the different planets; they all travel at different speeds.  The ones that are closer to the sun take less time for their orbit.  Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, takes 0.24 years to orbit the sun.  Neptune, the farthest planet from the sun, takes 164.79 years!  Pluto, no longer considered a planet, takes 247.7 years.

We didn't do experiment 11.2, The "Bent Space" Theory of Gravity (Einstein's General Theory of Relativity) since I didn't have a bowling ball or other suitable really heavy object, as well as the simplicity of the experiment.  If you placed a heavy bowling ball on a couch cushion and rolled a marble around in the circle the dent created, that is Einstein's picture of gravity.  (You'd really have to read the book to grasp this!)  ETA:  We actually DID do the experiment later, LOL!!!!!


I tend to believe in the theory of gravity!  Yes, it's still a theory.  =)
But for some reason, I forgot about experiment 11.3, The Graviton Theory of Gravity.
Boy, my mind was not with me that day!  I've also had a hard time getting back into writing the science posts.  I've done other posts, but they required very little thinking!  =D

Joshua 10:12-13 (KJV)  
¹² Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
¹³ And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
This doesn't mean the sun revolves around the earth.  It just means that Joshua and the children of Israel thought it did!  This is simply telling us what happened from the people's perspective.
The Bible is the single most accurate historical document of its time.  As a historical document, it must quote its subjects accurately, and tell what happened from the perspective of those who made or watched it happen.

Beautiful!

The other day, JohnDavid stayed at his Grandma's while I took the girls to piano.  (The kids take turns skipping piano each week)

He saw a butterfly, and got it on his hand, and it just stayed there!  So my MIL took pictures. 
I love it!






Here are more pics:

Girls in the Rain! =)

Love it!

341 Days Til Camp!

My daughter had this written on her dry-erase board.  =)

My 3 kids!

This was taken a few weeks ago one night at VBS at my mother-in-law's church.  They didn't plan to coordinate, but since they did, I wanted a picture.  =)

My Rebekah

This was taken last night after the Youth Rally.  I love it when she leaves her hair curly!  =)

Camp, 2010

The kids look forward to camp all year!  They're always so excited.  This camp is one that I would recommend to anybody.  They have preaching every evening; the teen camp is always held during their revival.  There are also two other services during the day.
They have a time in the afternoon to memorize scripture to earn points for their team.  This year, Rebekah said 83 verses!  Yes, she may have already known some, and I'm sure no camper ever remembers them forever, but still they are getting the Word of God.  Just like a sieve that water runs through; it is cleaner afterwards.

There are plenty of games and fun, and my kids have said they wish camp lasted 2 weeks -- come home on the weekend to rest and wash clothes, then go right back!  Rebekah says at the end of the week, she's just not quite "done."  =) 
Seven campers received Christ this week!  That's seven the devil won't get!  And you never know what child may grow up to do a great work for the Lord - He values each one!  That's why I love this song so much that I videoed at the Friday night service when we went to pick up our kids.

At the end of the service, they gave out the awards, and recognized campers who got the Camper of the Day.  Bethany got it one day!  Then from those they chose a Camper of the Week, and those 2 campers received a trophy.  They choose campers who have a good attitude, show team spirit, are helpful to others, etc.
The boy and the girl who said the most verses each received a Bible.  I think the boy said 166 verses, and 2 girls tied with 155 verses each.
The theme was "I am a Christian Soldier."  The teams were Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta.  My kids were on Alpha, and they came in 4th.  I don't know what all games they played, but they play hard to win points!

They also got bonus points for memorizing The Christian Soldier's Creed, printed on the backs of their t-shirts:

I am a Christian Soldier true to the cross.

I will remain steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

If a fellow Christian be overtaken in a fault, I will remain spiritual so I may restore him.

I will endeavor to bear the burdens of my fellow comrades.

I will fight a good fight; I will finish my course; I will keep the faith.

I am a Christian Soldier!

I'm so thankful for people who love the Lord, and are willing to have a camp like this for kids.

2010

2009

P.S. - Only six loads of laundry this year!  =)
P.S. #2, Look who's taller ↑ this year!

Staples Deals

Got some great deals at Staples today!
When I first got my Staples Rewards card several years ago, I told them I homeschooled, and they gave me one that said "Teacher" on it.  I don't know if they still do that for all hs'ers, or just did it then.
But since I had the Teacher's Rewards card, I got some WAY good deals.  An employee checked and said my card was good for the Teacher's deals.
First, (with additional total purchase of $5.00) instead of being limited to two 8-packs of pencils for 1 cent each, I was able to get 25 packs!
Two hundred pencils for .25¢!  Wow! 

Then, instead of limit 10, I got 25 pronged folders for 1 cent each.  I'll be using some of these for copies of stuff for the kids who come to do experiments.  And it will be nice to have a cupholder of sharpened pencils as well.  =)

The next deal is for anyone.  I got two reams of paper for $4.99; after rebate will be 1 cent each.

I got two 6-packs of highlighters for $1.00 each pack.

I got a few other good deals, too, but these were the best.  =)
Woo-hoo!  
And an employee said I could take my stuff to the car, and come back to get more!
I didn't, though. I think I have enough pencils! =)


The 1-cent deals and other cheapies that are on the first page of their sale paper are typically good Sunday - Wednesday.
You can get register your email to get previews of upcoming sales at http://weeklyad.staples.com
If you're not registered and signed in, this link will probably show the previous week's sale paper.

GLAD Cookies!

Haha! The girls are going to a sleepover, and Bethany made 2 kinds of cookies - chocolate chip and peanut butter cup. Grandma Shelby and Grandpa Bruce picked up the girls on the way to sing at the resthome before dropping them off at the sleepover, and unknown to them, a box of cookies fell out onto the ground;  Bruce ran over them!
These were soft-baked cookies, and if you look closely, you can see the lid imprint saying "GLAD" in the cookies! hahaha!
Here's the cookies they WERE gonna eat!
JohnDavid called it "road kill" lol!