and I hope you're with me...

The Story of Jonah

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.
From the comments at the above links, this little girl has apparently memorized this from a video.  What talent she has!  =)

Gmail: multiple accounts - receiving and replying from default email account

If you use google mail, here's what you can do for free:
►have all emails forwarded to your default (main) email
►have all forwarded emails automatically labeled so you'll know to where they were originally emailed
►reply from your default email as "From:" any other gmail you own without signing in and out!
►get visual and sound notification when you receive email at any other gmail account(s) you own

If you don't have a gmail account, it's easy to set up.
Create a gmail that will be your main email.  The one you give your friends and family, or the one you will use the most. This is your default email.

A new email can be for your business, for your blog or website, or even for your children if you want to be able to see if they have email without signing out of your own account.
►1.  First sign out of your default gmail account.
Sign into your second gmail account, or if you don't have one yet, click Create an Account.  You are allowed to use the same password for multiple gmail accounts.
You may have several that you want to manage from your default account.  These will all be referred to as new email accounts to differentiate from your default account.

►Remember to always scroll down to see if you need to SAVE CHANGES.

IN THE NEW EMAIL ACCOUNT

►2.  Click the gear symbol at the top right, then Settings.  
In the menu that goes across, click Forwarding and POP/IMAP, click Add a forwarding address...
Put in your default email address (that you want mail forwarded to), and click Next.  It will tell you a verification has been sent.

►If you have several to forward to your default mail, sign in to each account, and do all those now before signing back into your default mail.
►Sign out of the new account and back into your default gmail.

IN THE DEFAULT EMAIL ACCOUNT
►3.  In your default email, for each email address you forwarded, you should have an email that says Gmail Forwarding Confirmation.  Open this email and click on the link to confirm request.  Then you may delete this email.
►Under the gear symbol, click Settings, Filters, Create a New Filter.  In the To: box, put in the name of your new email (like Martysahm@gmail.com) that you want forwarded to your default email. Click Next Step.

►4.  Check Apply the label, Choose Label, New Label, type in name of new email (but not the whole email address - like "MartySahm") OR the name of a person if you are managing another email account.  Click Create Filter.

Incoming forwarded emails that are set up to be automatically labeled will look something like this.
This one is labeled "Info Morsels" -- a blog I used to have.
Labels can be any color you choose.

►5.  You're still in the Settings, so click Accounts, click the circle Reply from the same address the message was sent to.   (If you have already set up accounts in this way before now, this circle should already be marked.)
►Click Send mail from another address.
►In the pop-up window, put in your name as you want it to appear to others for this new email, and type in the name of the new address.

►NEW - now there is a setting to Treat as an Alias.  In other words, if you reply as Sam, but your default email is Tom, it will tell the receiver that Sam sent this as Tom.

If you don't want this to happen, uncheck the Treat as an Alias box.  
If you have past accounts you have already set up in this way, you can go change all of them if you want to.  Read more here.
►Click Next Step, Send Verification.
►Close window.

You are still in your default email.
►Again, if you are doing this for multiple accounts, while still in your default email, repeat steps 3-5 for each email address.

IN THE NEW EMAIL ACCOUNT

►6. Then sign out of your default email, and back into the new email.  There should be an email for you to confirm that your default email can send mail "as" your new email.  Confirm by clicking the link in the email.
►Also, click on the gear symbol, and go back to Settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP, and make sure the circle is ticked beside "Forward a copy."  Save Changes.
Sign into and do this for each email you wanted to send mail as. 

 

Now sign back into your default email.

IN THE DEFAULT EMAIL ACCOUNT

►7.  Click Compose mail.  In the From:  line, click the drop down menu, and click on the new email address.  Now you are sending email from your new email while still in your default email.

All email including replies to your new email address will be sent to that new email address and forwarded to your default email account.
You're done!  =)

►You can also create labels for anything, and apply them to any email after you receive it. Videos, Pictures, Important, etc.  Just checkmark the email you want to label, click on Labels, create new, and type in your label name, then Ok.  Then if you want to Archive (file) an email, you can find it again by clicking on the name of the label in the sidebar of your email account.  This is like a folder.
Do not archive until you have attached a label, or it will be difficult to locate again.
Under Settings, Labels, you can decide which labels (folders) you want to show in your sidebar.

►To get visual and sound notifications of any new mail even if your browser is not open, get Gmail Notifier.  It displays an icon in your system tray that is white when there is no mail, blue when you have mail.  Notification sounds when you get incoming mail.  Now you'll know if you've received email in any gmail account you own!

Biology, Module 5, The Chemistry of Life

Quizlet Vocabulary Game, M5 
Videos, etc. for M5, Part A
Videos, etc. for M5, Part B

This module was a lot of fun!  We did 4 experiments and one game.  =)
We played a game as a preview before they began the module.  I knew they would need to really understand structural formulas of molecules or their eyes would fall out of their head when they turned the page and saw this! →
And that was just the small molecule!
You may be more familiar with the formula for glucose being written this way:  C₆H₁₂O₆

They played team against team, winning points for their 2nd contest.  Rebekah & Cousin C vs. Isaac & Cousin A.  We played the chain structure first, since it definitely was easier, then the ring structure.  Sometimes one team would be finished and I would check their work, and an atom was out of place and the other team would win!  They had a lot of fun.  We reviewed where to put the atoms a few times, then had one practice round.

Finally we began, and after 5 rounds, Rebekah and Cousin C's team won 150-100. The fastest time for chain structure was 21 seconds, but the fastest for ring structure was only 25 seconds! I thought it would be more.

Experiment 5.1, Diffusion was done at home.  The kids put a spoonful of sugar in a napkin and brought the edges up and secured with a twist tie, making a little sac so that no sugar could seep out.  This was immersed in a glass of water for a minimum of two hours.  The purpose of this experiment was to show that water molecules could flow freely through the napkin, and that sugar, once dissolved was able to flow through the napkin too.  This illustrated diffusion. 
In diffusion, both the solvent (water) and the solute (in this case, sugar) are able to flow through the fully permeable membrane (napkin).  Solutes naturally move from an area of high concentration (in the napkin) to an area of low concentration (outside the napkin).  Solutes moving from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration is diffusion.  In the end, the concentration of sugar to water evens out in the napkin as well as outside the napkin.  However, the water level inside the napkin (fully permeable membrane) and outside the napkin stayed the same.  Remember, this random movement of molecules will continue even after everything is equaled out. 

The next experiment was done at home as well.  It took several days.  In Experiment 5.2, Osmosis, the kids were to measure a raw egg, then place it in vinegar for 24 hours.  The vinegar dissolved the shell, and if it wasn't fully dissolved, they were to place the egg in fresh vinegar for another 24 hours.  Then it was to be measured again, and placed in Karo syrup for 24 hours.  Then measured again, and placed in distilled water for the last 24 hours.

This experiment showed the difference between diffusion and osmosis.  In diffusion, water molecules and the sugar that was broken down were both able to pass through the fully permeable membrane, the napkin.
In osmosis, only the solvent (water) has molecules small enough to be able to pass through the semipermeable membrane, the membrane of the egg.  The solute was the 'stuff' inside the egg.  When the egg was placed in vinegar, the water molecules that are in vinegar could pass through the membrane.  This made the egg grow larger.
When the egg was placed in the Karo syrup, not only did the water that was in the vinegar come back out of the egg, but water from the egg came with it.  This is why the egg had shrunk.  This shows something very important.  Water is not just leaking out... it is seeking the higher concentration of solute.  It is gravitating to the Karo syrup because it has a higher concentration of solute.  Just like if you lay a sponge on a puddle of water, it doesn't just wet the bottom of the sponge; it soaks up into the whole sponge.

Osmosis

The tendency for a solvent (the water) to move from an area of low concentration across a semipermeable membrane to an area of high concentration is osmosis. Solute cannot cross a semipermeable membrane, so in an effort to balance it out, the solvent (water) will cross the semipermeable membrane to dilute the solute as much as possible.
Water, a solvent, will always gravitate to the higher concentration area, trying to even out the solvent to solute ratio.  This is why when a person drinks ocean water, the water in their cells will move out of the cell by osmosis to the higher concentrated salt water, which can be fatal.
When placed in the distilled water, I bet you know by now the egg swelled up again.  But this time it grew much larger than it did when in the vinegar.  This is because vinegar has more solute than water in it.  We used distilled water to make sure there would be no solute in it.

choppin' cabbage

I was glad I still had the leftover distilled water, for it worked right in with one of our experiments this week, The Cabbage pH Indicator.  We had learned about pH, and I wanted the kids to see this amazing experiment.
They boiled red cabbage (cut into large pieces) in distilled water for about 10 minutes.  Cousin A labeled cups with the different substances we would be testing.  Some needed to be mixed with distilled water.  (baking soda, washing soda, salt, sugar, and lye soap)  For the dry ingredients, they mixed 1 Tbs. with ¼ c. distilled water, and for the lye soap, we just rubbed some off, maybe ½ tsp., and mixed until it melted.
I had them make sure to use a clean, dry spoon each time they measured or stirred.  Glad we were next to a sink!  =)
Other liquids we tested were milk, lemon juice, vinegar, ammonia (whew!),  distilled water, and my tap water.  We didn't have any rain water.
Then we strained the cabbage juice that had been boiling; it was dark bluish-purple.  They added about 1 Tbs. of cabbage juice to each of the cups.  In the videos, you can see it is still hot!
Isaac wrote down all the substances that were to be tested, then Rebekah wrote the results as they did them.  I made copies of this page for the all kids to use at home when they did their lab reports.
Here is what happened:








The end result:

The blue, bluish-green, and yellow-green are bases, and the pinks are acids.
I would say the salt is somewhat of a base, even though it is lighter, and a little bluish purple. 
The distilled water is neutral.  It is more clear than it appears in the picture.

We also did Yummy DNA!  I saw this last year at Applie's Place.  Here is the link to the original instructions.
The kids worked carefully, as they held their lives in their own hands, making sure to link the correct nucleotide bases together:  adenine with thymine, and guanine with cytosine.  They used different colored "backbones" to make the sides of our double helix, as our DNA is all different, right?  (and much tastier this way, too!)  The backbones of DNA are made up of phosphate groups (arrangements of phosphorous, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms) and deoxyribose (a simple sugar that contains 5 carbons).  These alternate down the sides of the double helix, but aren't shown in the experiment.
Click for a cool DNA game.  =)

We had a great time today!  Even with the smelly ammonia and cabbage, lol. 

Settings on Blogger

So if you've started a blog with Blogger, there are a few settings you may not realize you have.
Some are self-explanatory, and others, I'm still not quite sure, so I leave them alone!!  =)

At the top of your blog, click Design, Settings, then Basic.
Or, at blogger.com, click the down-arrow to the right of your blog, and click Settings.

►See the Permissions section.
Here you can choose who can view your blog.  Anybody, Only These Readers (they must have a gmail and sign in to view your blog each time), or Only Blog Authors, which is yourself, and anyone you add as a blog author. 
People you add as a blog author can post, but not change any settings or change your posts unless you add them as administrator.  But then they could remove you, so I don't recommend adding anyone else as administrator.

►The listings and search engine options are also found under Basic, then under Privacy.  Choosing Yes for each of these allows your blog to be found when someone does a search.
• If you want traffic, you should allow Anybody, and certainly you want the google searches to find you.
• If you don't want traffic, you might still want to choose Anybody if many friends and family don't have gmail and won't be able to sign in to view.  But you can check the blog listing and search engine options to No so a search by strangers will not pull up your blog.
Either way, I would definitely moderate comments before they are published for all to see.
• Changing the search engine and blog listing settings later to No from Yes may result in people still being able to find your blog with a search.  Once your blog is listed, it gets 'spread' across multiple search engines, not just google.  Start with No if you're not sure about it yet.
If you didn't do this to begin with, but your blog is fairly new, it can still work.  It just may take a few weeks.  I have StatCounter, and can see how people have found my blog.  After I changed the settings, my seeing that people found my family blog thru a search did get less and less and finally stopped after several weeks.

►Posts and Comments is where you can determine the number of posts that show on your page. You can also decide who is allowed to comment.  If you choose Anyone, I suggest also selecting Always for Comment Moderation.  You don't want someone to post really bad stuff for everyone to see!
• I chose not to have Word Verification so that my readers don't have to bother with it.  I'm going to be checking the comments before I publish them anyway.  I can delete any spam before it can post.
• I also chose Embedded for the Comment Location.  This allows me to Reply to a specific comment rather than having to comment at the bottom.
• If you choose comment moderation, you can be notified of any pending comments by putting in your email address under "Email moderation requests to."

►You're still under the Settings, so click on Language and Formatting.  You can decide how you want the date and time to appear on your blog posts.  Check to see if the time zone is selected correctly, so that your posts won't say 4:00 am when you were in bed asleep at 4:00 am!

Have a great time tweaking the settings and seeing what they do!

Privacy and Security Settings:
Under Basic:
"Permissions"  
Under Basic, then Privacy:
"Add your blog to our listings," and "Let search engines find your blog."
Under Posts and Comments:
"Comment Moderation" 

Are you a Homeschool Blogger?

Are you a homeschool blogger that would like to find other homeschool bloggers?
You can!  Beginning today, blog links are being added at Homeschool Blogger's Update , and you can even have your own blog added!

Just leave a comment here with (1) your blog link, and (2) what name you want added to your blog title.  For instance, if you frequent any homeschool forums, you can add your screen name so that others will recognize who you are.  You can include your first name too, if you wish.  (See blog links at HSBU for examples.)
Just let me know in your comment here.

I'd also like to know how you found my blog and a little information about yourself.

Non-homeschool blogs will not be added.  This does not mean you have to post only about homeschool.  It means that we will not post the cooking or coupon blogs of homeschoolers, for example.  It needs to be a family-type blog, and it should be evident on your blog that you do, indeed, homeschool.

Questionable blogs will not be accepted, or may later be removed later from HSBU if I see the need.

Your blog needs to be viewable by the public.  If at a later date I see a blog has been changed to private, I will need to remove it.  If yours has ever been made private then back to public, check to see if your blog needs to be re-added to Homeschool Blogger's Update.

Just trying to eliminate spammers or unsavory people, etc.  =)
sMiLeS,

Puff Mushroom!

We learned about different kinds of mushrooms in Module 4, kingdom Fungi.
This is one of those "puff" mushrooms, but I don't think it would be called a puffball mushroom.
Travis was throwing football with the kids this evening, and Rebekah found three of these in our front yard.  =)
Here's a video of Bethany "puffing" it w/ her shoe.

Here is one that is still whole.  Sort of.  Doesn't really look like a mushroom, does it?
It looks like an old, dried out moon pie.  lol.  (but don't eat it!)

Mold!

Biology Experiment from Module 4
I got the pictures Friday from the other young man in my class, but am just now posting them.
I kept Rebekah's and my bread a little longer also, to see how much more mold would grow.

I think it was on the 9th day that I looked at my bread and decided to add a little more water.  As I flicked the water onto the bread, it hit the mold, and spores swirled upward, looking like a thin stream of smoke.
And the smell!  I quickly shut the lid.  =)

Thinking back to the mold instructions to initially leave the food exposed to the air awhile before closing it up...
I'd already told my kids many times to not leave the cheese open on the table even while we are eating.  That is why cheese can get moldy way before the expiration date.
Now my kids will (hopefully) remember to keep all food containers closed.  =)

The Boys Won the Contest!

It was a close contest.  Really close indeed.
There were several factors that prevented the kids from doing ALL they could do -- illness, other engagements, various interruptions, etc, but all-in-all, I think per team it evened out.
The teams were Boys-Against-Girls, and in the beginning, the boys were just sure the girls would win.
But that ended up not being the tale!
Woo-hoo for the boys!
The girls had 2,887 points.
The boys had 2,979 points, winning by 92 points!
I'm really proud of these kids!  =)

Sahm-I-Am ♥

That Sahm-I-Am, that Sahm-I-Am...
       I like the kind of Sahm-I-Am.

 We have three kids whom I homeschool.

Some deem that to be uncool.

But my kids like it, though because

They sometimes go to grandma's and pa's.

If Dad is off of work one day,

The kids all know they get to play.

They love their Dad; I can't say nay.

We'll make up work another day...

They're not enrolled in formal sports,
We do other things of sorts.

Like go to church; the girls sometimes sing.

Of Jesus Christ -- He is our King!

God and family - those things will last;

While sports careers will soon be past.

When my kids are old and gray,

The Word of God will with them stay.

Sharing the Gospel, learning God's will,

These are important; these are real. 

Dad knows what to prioritize,

Pressing toward that Godly prize.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

We start our school at 9 am,

That time seems to work for them.

Bible, English, history;

Next is lunch and break, yippee!

Algebra and science I like best.

I'm aware some think I jest,

Or think I'm strange, and that is fine, 

All have their favorites -- these are mine. =)

We generally do our school at home; 

But sometimes take work when we're gone.

At piano, dentist, or while we ride, 

Work while waiting; learning applied. 

Spanish, writing, spelling rules,

Exponents, square roots, reciprocals,

Colonies, politics, Congress, wars;

Fungi, DNA, cells, and spores.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 

I don't require my kids to dress,

As long as they don't look a mess.

I don't avoid the video games,
I let my kids play in the rain. 

I don't do Latin; don't do French;
I would not progress one small inch.
I would not do them here or there;
I would not do them anywhere!

When asked if I do arts and crafts,

I said no, and then I laughed.

But we aren't dull; No, we have Fun.

We all play jokes on everyone!

Hunting, camping, staying up late,

They sew, do crafts; I think they're great!

They play piano, violin, and bass,

And even learned how to tat lace.

I L♥ve homeschooling; I'm never bored.

Watching them learn is a great reward.

If you don't think you can school this way,

Try it and you may, I say.  =)

That Sahm-I-Am, that Sahm-I-Am;                                                      
I kind of like the Sahm-I-Am.♥                                                      

Biology, Module 4, Kingdom Fungi

Videos, etc. for M4, Part A (introduction)
Videos, etc. for M4, Part B - 3 of the 6 phyla in kingdom Fungi
Videos, etc. for M4, Part C - the last 3 of the 6 phyla in kingdom Fungi
Quizlet Vocabulary Game, M4

We finally had a module that we could at least do part of the experiment.  Yay!
A magnifying glass is a far cry from a microscope, but we did our best and had fun anyway.

Experiment 4.1, Phylum Basidiomycota
We studied phylum Basidiomycota, which mostly has the kinds of mushrooms that form basidia on their gills.  The basidia then release the spores called..... basidiospores!  (wow, who would have thunk?)
I don't know if the puffball mushroom has gills.  If it does, they are inside where they can't be seen.  

The kids were to collect mushrooms to bring to class.  One young man found a huge variety, including shelf fungi.  He did say his mom and sisters and brother all trekked thru the woods with him.  But what finds! =)

He even brought in this beauty!  wow.  I bet they were excited.  =D

Some of Isaac's Mushrooms:


Isaac outdid us all!  Extra points for Isaac!  =)

While Rebekah and I were at the library yesterday morning, Travis called and told me there was a good-sized mushroom at his Mom and Dad's house.  He was over there helping his dad cut wood.
I'd already planned to pick up Cousin A on my way home, so the girls could practice for a church service they were singing at last night.
So Rebekah and Cousin A got to get this mushroom together.  Although the kids did find a few in the woods this morning (didn't have much time), this was the first and main one we found, so it was a big deal.
Just see:



They really seemed to like looking at the mushrooms.  They cut them apart to look inside, and we talked about the different parts of a mushroom, and that mushrooms that have gills are from the phylum Basidiomycota.


This is the mycelium from the mushroom that Rebekah and Cousin A found went with Travis to get.  The mycelium is not roots.  Mushrooms do not have roots.  The mycelium does not gather moisture and nutrients for the rest of the fungi like roots do for a plant.  It is the main part of the fungi.  The mushroom is just the fruiting body that is only produced periodically.  Like fruit!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We also talked about the mushrooms from phylum Ascomycota.


These form their spores in protective membranes (sacs) that are shaped like globes, flasks, or dishes.
Rain then splashes into the mushroom which releases the spores.

The organisms in this phylum that are single-celled are usually called yeasts.  We are most familiar with the yeast used in baking.  Here is some dough from when my girls have made yeast rolls. →

Experiment 4.2, Yeast and the Fermentation Process had the kids to mix one packet of yeast with warm water and sugar.  We got this one started first so it could do its thing while we did the other two experiments. 
Yeasts feed on sugar, breaking it down into alcohol and carbon dioxide.  Carbon dioxide is a gas and pushes its way out of the dough, making it to rise.  When the dough is baked in the oven, the yeasts are killed and the alcohol evaporates. (yay)

After the kids left, I got a better picture.  I guess the bubbles show up better since it is more watery than regular dough which has flour in it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And now.... for the MOLD!
(Oh yeah.  Mold-that-grows-on-bread-is-a-member-of-phylum-Zygomycota.)
Ok, now that I've gotten that out of the way....  =D
The kids grew mold, and yes, I did too!
This is my before picture:

And.... AFTER!
Yes, after 8 days, this is what I had.  My bread didn't do too much yet, but just LOOK at that tomato!  
I showed it to my sister-in-law when she came to pick up her kids.
She did not seem to appreciate the awesomeness, hee hee!  =D

And the grape did pretty good, too.  Just look at that fuzz.

♦Rebekah started her bread, jelly, and apple slice 6 days ago, and it had nothing to show.
♦Isaac forgot his mold, so his mom will make pictures to send to me later after it gets to growing pretty good.
ETA: Click for pics of his bread and of mine and Rebekah's after a few more days.
♦The cousins' started their experiment 7 days ago, and their bread had more mold than mine.  Maybe because it was white bread?  (but mine was already 2 weeks old.  I'd saved it for this experiment.  Guess white bread does better.)
Their fruit was.... soup!
Cousin C put slices of apple and banana in with the jelly.  So we have apple-banana jelly.

♦Bethany accidentally got in on our experiments.
She found a pink mushroom this morning while in the woods.  =)
And last week, she'd made biscuits one night when we had cooked apples (cooked w/ butter and sugar).  I guess these three leftover biscuits just didn't appeal to anyone after all the apples were gone, so we have some mold!  No preservatives, you know.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are three other phyla in kingdom Fungi, but there were no experiments for these, so I'll just list them and give a brief description.  To learn more, see the links at the beginning of this post.

.

Phylum Chytridiomycota is mostly saprophytic (feeds on dead things -- in this case, decaying plants), but there are some species that are parasitic (feeds on a living host).
This is commonly known as potato wart. →
These are different than other fungi in that they don't have spores to be carried by the wind or other means.
Instead they have flagella, and can move on their own.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phylum Deuteromycota consists of fungi whose means of reproduction have not been firmly established.  This phylum is called the "imperfect fungi."
It is from this phylum we get the antibiotic penicillin.
Other members of the genus Penicillium are useful because they flavor certain kinds of cheese.  These are not the same species as the one that produces penicillin; they are just in the same genus.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phylum Myxomycota is saprophytic and is harmless, but it looks gross!  They are typically called slime molds. No pictures.  =)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
This has been a fun module!  We aren't quite finished with the chapter, but we are done w/ the experiments, so I'm going ahead with this post.   
Next Monday will be our last quiz for this first 4-Module contest.  I think the kids are seeing the urgency to get all their assignments in!  Stay tuned for the winners!  =)