One of the early experiments involves making a light hut in which to grow plants.
Experiments intimidate me. That seems odd because I have a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering! You'd think I would LOVE to do experiments.
I would really enjoy experiments with older kids...the challenge is coping well with little ones who want to get their fingers here, there, and everywhere :-). I must say that as Naomi and Lydia and Isaac have gotten older, experiments have been much more fun. Because they do do most of the actual work and I can facilitate and help the younger ones enjoy the experience without anyone getting hurt.
Another big issue for me is that many science experiment books claim that "this experiment will only use items found around your house." Ok, my house must not be like most houses, because I am ALWAYS missing some key ingredient to an experiment! I usually don't enjoy shopping and making a special run to buy one item drives me crazy. (It is also expensive, as our 15 passenger van is a gas guzzler. For those of you worrying about our fuel economy, let me assure you that we use very little gas for a family our size or probably indeed for any family. Our big van is rarely used more than 2 or 3 times a week and sometimes we'll go weeks without all going somewhere as a family, especially in winter. But I digress.)
For Apologia Botany, I realized I could purchase a kit which has almost all the items needed to do the Botany experiments. And I jumped on it. Yes, a little expensive. VERY worth it. I was so glad not to have to hunt all over for a flourescent light and the proper cords and connectors for the light hut.
So, light hut. Here are some pics!
Kevin donated a used printer paper box from work. Naomi lined the inside with aluminum foil. This reflects the light and also helps to insulate the box to keep the plants warm.
Here is the finished product. A light bulb is inserted through the top and uses a flourescent bulb (which is very efficient so can be left on all the time.) The aluminum curtain in front holds the heat in and reflects the light.
Joseph ably assisted Naomi in putting potting soil into our planters.
Naomi planted 4 kinds of seeds. The really funny thing is that we forgot to label the little planters, so we don't know which one is which!
While this is technically Naomi's experiment, she got a lot of attentive help from the others, especially Joseph. Joseph is a budding scientist. Well, to one degree or another, they all are budding scientists. They ask very good questions. But Joseph is a very "hands on" child.
Which reminds me...I really should try to prepare some experiments for him to do as he loves them. With items from "around the house". Sigh :-).
2 comments:
The light hut started shocking people so we aren't using it anymore.
We just completed our light hut and sowed some seeds. I wondered how it worked for you. Seems like ours is not getting warm enough inside. I put in a digital thermometer and it's hovering right around 71.8 degrees. In my search online to see if that's warm enough, I found your blog. Were you successful?
Post a Comment