As a fairly unseasoned homeschool mom I’m still so excited when school just happens. Since I don’t like planning and schedules freak me out I do better taking advantage of all that life presents us to teach our children. I definitely look at homeschooling as a way of life instead of something we do for a certain period of time each day.
I wondered how the food would stay frozen and found out they ship with dry ice. I didn’t think about what cool stuff we could do with the ice until my 4 year old kept asking what it was made of. I knew it wasn’t water but didn’t know exactly what it was so I pulled it up on the internet.
What fun we had “doing science” that day. I learned all kind of cool stuff too. Dry ice is 110 BELOW freezing and is made of C2O. (Carbon dioxide) The website we used was www.dryice.com. Check it out.
We put the ice in water and made clouds (or smoke as my kids called it).
Then we put it in a balloon and watched the gas expand and blow up the balloon. I’ve included photos of our balloon and it’s expanding size.
Then we played with the ice on a plate with a fork. When the fork touches the ice it will vibrate and sing because the ice is so cold. It’s really more like a squealing sound. So cool.
Then we put the ice in a Tupperware container and watched it blow off the lid. Since I didn’t have a film canister around (which is what the website recommends) we had to improvise.
What a blast we had. I felt like a real teacher. I know I teach my kids every day but this was so much fun and I was learning too. Is homeschool always so adventurous? We are planning on putting the photos in our notebook so the kids can journal about the day and what each experiment showed us. And I get to tell you guys about it.
Do I sound excited? I am.
Well, that’s our supreme homeschooling moment of the week. Thanks for letting me share. Oh, and please read my next blog entry. I have some homeschool questions I need answered.
IN HIM,
Julie
We did this with a shipment of meat, also! We had a blast…but I did burn my hand. I thought the thin plastic would be enough, but it wasn’t. The kids found that just as interesting…the things we do in the name of science!
Aren’t days like this just the best of all?!!! : ) Looks like everyone had a great time!! Love your pictures, Julie!! ; )
Sounds like yall had a great day. You are so clever to think of that. I hope when Miles gets a little older I can be that creative. Makes me want to go find some dry ice so my husband and I can have all the fun you all did. Take Care and God Bless.-Mishelle
I’m very envious of your scientifically minded kids. Mine would have wanted to blow the “smoke” around on the floor and pretend they were in a rock band. Sigh.
Amazing! Wonderful! I want to do this! Thanks for the idea and the photos. Now just have to find dry ice. Thanks, Julie. 🙂
Oh, this is way too cool!! Hmmm, I wonder where I could get dry ice locally. That looks like fun for everyone. A hs friend of mine had some dry ice…she stuck it in an empty 2 liter plastic bottle and stuck it in the freezer. It literally blew the freezer door off its hinges, and she had corn kernels and lima beans embeded in her kitchen walls!
Owl pellets are fun! Would you believe we sell tons of them at the hs shows…they are heat treated and wrapped in foil. Some people think they’re candy, even though we have a sign up on the basket. Owls regurgitate what they don’t use, so you pick apart these “owl fur balls” (as i call them) and find the bones (including skulls) of the animals they ate. The heat treated ones don’t smell…I have no clue about the fresh ones, though!
WOW! that is awesome. That looks like so much fun! You are right, homeschooling is a lifestyle and it can be so much fun!
Shelley