Week 7 Review

Week 7 started with President's Day.  Instead of taking a day off of school, I went with my sister to a Junior Rangers camp about what life was like for our founding Presidents.  We made white-powdered wigs (but really it was just white  yarn), log cabins, and quill pens, and played games that the presidents would have played as kids.  I earned my fox badge by attending the camp.   I took the next day - Tuesday - off of school.

My mom and I have been reading a lot of books about our Founding Fathers - George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.

We discovered that you can go on a virtual tour of George Washington's home - Mt. Vernon.  You can see a 360 degree view of his estate and each room in the house.  There are tidbits of information and videos with tour guides.  I highly recommend you take a minute to visit this site.

George Washington's Mt. Vernon Virtual Tour

Later in the week I attended my homeschool nature club.  We focused on chemistry and made slime, putty, and elephant toothpaste.

My mom and I finished reading Sign of the Beaver, and now I'm working on creating a stop motion animated movie preview of the book.  I'll share that soon - I hope.

I also continued to work on fractions and grammar, and I watched the second to the last John Adams episode on HBO.

Until next week -
Ollie and Mom - out

Week 6 Review

Last week, which seems like a long time ago since we are writing this on Wednesday instead of Monday, we celebrated Valentine's Day in our homeschool.  One of my Valentine's Day assignments was to write a letter to Abigail Adams from John Adams using conversation hearts.  During their marriage they were often separated and kept in contact by writing love letters.  Here's how my letter reads:

To My Dearest BFF Abigail,

Dear Abigail, please say yes and come visit me in France.  I hope you are very happy at home with the kids.  I barely have the power to go on without you.  The Rebels have fought like a dream in the last few battles.  The British have fought with a lot of power too.  Ask me anything you want to.  That was some sweet talk.  Lots of xoxo.  From John Adams

I wrote all the things I love in a heart.

My mom and I read about the human heart and then I drew this model and wrote 5 facts I learned.  One of them relates to the experiment we did.  The average pulse rate for a man per minute is 71, for a woman is 80, and for a child is 85.  We used our blood pressure monitor to check on the health of our hearts.  

My stats are on the top picture and my mom's are on the bottom.  We both have healthy hearts.  Our blood pressure and our pulse rates are below normal, indicating our heart muscles are strong.  My mom's heart rate is far below normal because she is a runner.  

On Friday night, my family went to Reed Creek (where I have my nature club) for a program called Nocturnal Nightcrawlers.  We learned all about the adaptations animals have to help them be successful nocturnal creatures.  We went on a walk in the dark and the instructor gave us a piece of paper and a crayon.  He asked us to draw a house, a tree, and to write down the color of crayon and paper.  It was difficult to see in the dark, but I did guess the color of my crayon correctly.  

Other things I did last week include:

• Practicing adding/subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.
• Coding.
• Finishing my persuasive essay.
• Reading many books with my mom about: George Washington, Isaac Newton, Abigail Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.
• Reading Sign of the Beaver.
• Watching another episode of John Adams.

We are finishing up many of the books we are reading this week, so soon I will have a lot of cool assignments showing what I learned from the books.  

That's all for now - 

Ollie and Mom - Out

The American Revolution - Persuasive Essay

After reading George vs. George with my mom, I was given the assignment to write a five paragraph persuasive essay detailing which side of the Revolutionary War I would have chosen.  First my mom taught me how to write a five paragraph essay.  Then I had to outline the essay.  Then I wrote a rough draft.  Then I edited my rough draft.  Then my mom helped me edit the essay into a final piece.  Here is our work:

In 1776, The American Revolution officially started with the Declaration of Independence.  Americans were divided into two groups: those who supported independence from Britain, known as Rebels, and those who supported King George, known as Loyalists.  If I had lived then, I would have been a Rebel.

To begin with, Americans had their own debts to pay and should not have been taxed to pay Britain’s debts.  Americans were already paying their own debts off from helping Britain fight a lengthy French and Indian War.  Even though they had their own American taxes, the British started taxing colonists to pay the British debt from the war. One of the ways the British did this was through the Stamp Act.  

Secondly, Americans attempted peaceful measures to avoid war, but Britain would not cooperate.  After Americans boycotted the Stamp Act and imported British goods, King George sent Redcoats to patrol Boston.  They killed 7 colonists and 10 more were wounded.  They called this the Boston Massacre.  After the Boston Massacre, they shut down Boston Harbor because America was boycotting British tea.  This caused a lot of Americans to lose their jobs and go hungry.  Colonists felt angry with King George and Parliament.  

Lastly, I don’t think King George was called by God to rule America like many of the Loyalists believed.  King George thought he had a God-given right to control America.  The Founding Fathers and the Rebels thought we should have a free government where the people elect their lawmakers.  

In conclusion, Americans were already being taxed with American taxes and were upset that Britain was taxing them too. They were trying to send peaceful notes to King George to prevent a war from breaking out.  King George did not want to concede because he thought he was called by God to rule over America.  Colonists were left to decide if they wanted to form their own country where they would elect their own officials and be free from Britain, or continue to be subjects of King George.  I would have been a Rebel.  

What side would you have been on?

Ollie and Mom

Week 5 Review

When we write these weekly reviews, my mom and I are always amazed at how much we do every week!  I told my mom this morning that I keep having nightmares that she sends me back to public school.  I hope she never does.  I never want to leave homeschool, unless it's summer or vacation!

During week 5, I finished reading George Washington's Socks.  On a scale of 1-10, I give this book a 10.  I loved it because it was about a group of boys who time travel into history.  I learned a lot about The Revolutionary War by reading the book.

After reading the book, my mom gave me 10 vocabulary words from the book that I had to define and identify the part of speech.  Then I had to write a story using each vocabulary word.  Here's my story:

Samuel was indignant because his sister, Anna, hit him.  He went and told his mom, who told him to tell Anna to come here.  When she came, she conceded so she would not get in trouble for lying.  Her mom emphatically told her she was grounded.  Anna's friend tried coaxing her, but it did not work.  Instead, Anna was brusque with her friend.  Her mom said Anna was so vexed.   Anna tried to expedite her grounding by sleeping, but it still felt long.  When she calmed down, she wanted to exasperate her brother for revenge.  Then her mom told her she would not get any dinner!  Anna felt haggard.  When she woke up the next morning, Anna's mom was sick and became perplexed when Anna asked to play electronics.  In her state of confusion, she said yes.  Anna was happy.

Last Monday, the first day of week 5, was Groundhog's Day.  We watched Punxsutawney Phil on You Tube.  Apparently, on an overcast and rainy day, he somehow saw his shadow - which means 6 more weeks of winter.  YUK!  I learned some facts about Phil that I want to share with you:

• His first prediction was in 1887.
• He has seen his shadow 102 times and not seen his shadow 17 times (there are 9 years missing on record).  
• Accuweather reports that Phil is 80% accurate with is predictions.
• Groundhog Day celebrates the mid-point between winter solstice and spring equinox.
• A groundhog is another term for a woodchuck.

Another topic we spent a lot of time on during week 5 was Super Bowl science.  Unfortunately, my beloved Seahawks choked and lost the Super Bowl.  But, I got school credit for watching it because it was a real-world application of sports science and physics.  For our Super Bowl science, I learned about Roman Numerals, the physics of football, g-force, Newton's Laws of Motion, and concussions.

Here are some interesting facts I wrote down:

• The average defensive back in the NFL can produce up to 1,600 pounds of force when tackling.
• Virginia Tech studied the g-force (gravitational force) on players in the NFL by putting sensors and wireless transmitters into helmets.  They routinely recorded g-forces of 100Gs, and occasionally forces up to 150Gs.  
• An F16 jet roll produces g-forces of 9Gs.
• A concussion happens at 100Gs.

Here is a video I liked from You Tube that explains the g-force and physics of a football tackle.

Another big thing that I learned in week 5 was how to add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators.  I spent a lot of time with my mom on Kahn Academy and IXL.  I got it down now.  Here is what took up the rest of the week:

• Continued reading Sign of the Beaver with my mom.
• Wrote my rough draft persuasive essay on The Revolutionary War.
• Added a bird to my Field Guide.
• Progressed on Code.Org.
• Went to Nature Club and learned about rocks and minerals.
• Read A Dangerous Crossing about John Adams and John Quincy Adams' journey to Europe.
• Watched John Adams on HBO.

Until next week -

Ollie and Mom

Week 4 Review

I celebrated my 100th day of school for the year on Wednesday, January 28.  My mom downloaded a funny aging app that turned us into 100 year-olds.

We think we look great for 100 years old!  But we couldn't stop laughing :)  My assignment was to create any type of writing piece that highlighted what I would be like and/or what I will have accomplished at 100 years old.  Here's what I came up with:

Hello.  My name is Oliver.

We can tell you like colors, Oliver.  (In my notebook, I wrote this piece with many colored pencils.)

I do.

What have you accomplished in the last 100 years?

Well, I'm glad you asked that.  I have accomplished making it to the Major Leagues in baseball.  

How did you feel when you accomplished that?

Is this a question?!?  I felt great!!!

How many grandkids and great-grandkids do you have right now?

Sixty.  

Wow!  Did you hear that folks?  60!  What else have you accomplished?

Well, I did create a machine that takes the calories and sugar away, and the food still tastes the same.

Wow!!!  What kind of house do you live in?

I live in a mansion with many colorful stained-glass windows.  

Who are your favorite teams?

Always has been, and always will be, the Mariners and the Seahawks.

Other things I did during week 4 include:

• Reading a biography on Ben Franklin.
• Starting two new books about colonial America titled, Sign of the Beaver and George Washington's Socks.
• Outlined a persuasive essay about my opinion on The Revolutionary War, using the book George vs. George as my main reference.
• Learned how to write a persuasive essay.  My mom thinks paragraphs are like hamburgers.  They should have a bun, then bacon, cheese, and beef, and then another bun.  She's a wacky teacher.
• Finished my paper bag report on Woods Runner.
• Watched an episode of John Adams on HBO, and a documentary about The Sons of Liberty on the History Channel.  
• Learned about the physics of hitting a homerun and throwing heat from the book How a Curveball Curves.
• Continued chipping away on fractions and grammar on IXL and Kahn Academy.

Catch you next week,

Ollie and Mom