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