It's Turkey Time

     I am so happy to say that I am officially on break from school for 10 whole days!  Other than studying for a test we have when we go back, I plan on doing nothing school-related for a week.  That is, until I realize that I'll still have to pass boards before too long, hyperventilate, and start studying extra for the NCLEX.  Until that happens, though, my focus will be on many other things but school.  After today, Monkey will also be on break, so I have been planing a few projects to keep us both busy over the holiday.     We will be learning all about water and it's various properties.  Today we started with a project about why things sink or float.

    I started out by expelling to Monkey that to float means to stay on top of the water, and that to sink means to fall to the bottom of the water.  Then we pulled out a book that's been around since before I was born.  In fact, it was a hand-me-down from when I was a kid.  It's called "Why Does it Float?", and in spite of it's age, it explains displacement and buoyancy in a way that kids can understand.  I found a copy of it on Amazon for only a penny, if anyone is interested.

     Next I had Monkey run around the house to find items she wanted to experiment with.  Then she grouped them into the ones she thought would float versus those she thought would sink.  She got several miniature plastic toys, a leaf, and a cork.

 
    Next, I had her drop each item one-by-one into a bowl of water.  We used a glass bowl so she could see the bottom of the water.

     Next, I had her find differences between the items that floated versus those that sank.  She determined that heavy objects sink, and light object float.  We then tested a few more items, and she had to rethink her hypothesis when a pair of tiny Barbie shoes sank.  That's when we referred back to the book about buoyancy and displacement and determined that the Barbie shoes didn't have enough room in them for air in order to float.

"Weighing" floaters vs sinkers

     Finally, I had her record her findings in a journal.  And as a way to lead into the next set of experiments about freezing and melting, we put our bowl of water into the freezer to see which items will freeze on top, and which will freeze on the bottom.  Monkey also drew her hypothesis for that project.  Tomorrow we'll find out if her hypothesis was correct!

 
     Before she was out of school, I was getting Monkey ready for Thanksgiving by packing her a few festive lunches I'd like to share.  Let's start simple, shall we?


Turkey Sandwich...Literally

     This little guy was super easy to throw together.  He's a turkey sandwich that I cut into a circle.  For feathers I used pretzel sticks and bits of sliced carrots.  I cute out a little bowling-pinned-shaped body for the turkey, and I made a face using my food markers.

Turkey Taco

      This was another simple creation using a tortilla filled with turkey, lettuce, and cheese.  I folded it in half, quesidilla-style, and I drew a turkey using my food markers again.  I added some sides, including yogurt raisins, broccoli, and a "pumpkin" made from a bit of celery and a Halo orange.

Egg-cellent Pilgrims and Indians

      These little guys took a bit more work, but they were fun.  I started with two boiled eggs, cut in half.  I sprinkled a bit of paprika on two of the eggs (these would be my "indians").  Next, using sheets of Nori, I cut out the shape of eyes, noses, and mouths, and arranged them on the yolks.  Then I cut out the hats for the pilgrims, and the headbands for the indians.  Finally I added a "feather" for each indian's headband using a bit of celery leaf.  Then I cut the buckle of the pilgrims' hats out of ham.

Turkey Lunchables

     I decided to spruce up our usual DIY lunchables by making the crackers into a tiny turkey.  I cut out another body from ham, and this time I cut eyes, a beak, and a waddle from a sheet of Nori.  I then arrange some cut up carrots to resemble feathers.  I put the extra ham, cheese and crackers in another container for Monkey to assemble her own.

     Needless to say, I've had a lot of time getting ready for the week off, and I'm looking forward to all the fun I have planned for Monkey, J, and I.  Of course, I'm also looking forward to the whole no school thing.  Needless to say, I'm thankful it's turkey time :-)