Backyard Ballistics

When I was planning for this school year I asked the boys what they are most interested in. They both asserted that they would like to do more science, with more experiments, and more blowing things up. Not long after that I very fortuitously stumbled upon an excellent book, Backyard Ballistics, by William Gurstelle. Not only does Gurstelle explain in recipe fashion how to build such gems as "Cincinnati Fire Kites," and "Tennis Ball Mortars," the book succinctly explains the physics behind each fulfilling explosion.

As a bonus, each chapter highlights a famous scientist and his resume along with some very interesting history. This afternoon we read about Alfred Nobel, his invention of Dynamite, and how his subsequent concern regarding the danger of his invention directed him to the creation of a foundation whose goal is the advancement of peace and science, hence Nobel Prizes. My other major reason for endorsing this book is that I can confidently turn nearly 100% of this subject, save for a little planning, over to Johan.

This weekend, with big help from Johan the boys built a potato cannon. Here they are this morning; getting ready to show me what it can do. Yes, they are wearing pants and sweatshirts in early October, yes it did snow a little this weekend, and yes I am very, very sad to say farewell to the warm days of summer. I am feeling a little slighted right now, I am pretty sure we have just skipped fall. Yesterday afternoon when we checked on our garden, many of the big green pumpkin vines were withered and black.



Here is a shot of them building the contraption after soccer on Saturday.

The joints had to cure overnight before the finishing touches could be made and the project could be tested. It is really remarkable what a little aerosol hairspray as a propellant can do.

Explosions aren't really my idea of a good time... But the look on the boys faces when they came dashing in to ask me if I had heard the bang was priceless. Unfortunately I did not have my camera at that moment. And from the home school side, there is a whole lot of science wrapped up in all of this fun.

The potato cannon effectively demonstrates parts of all three of Isaac Newton's three laws of motion. In case you are curious:

1. The first law of motion tells us that after the potato is launched, it will continue to shoot forward until another force stops it. (In our case that is the large hill behind our house.)
2. The thunk of the potato against the hill is equal to the mass of the potato multiplied by the acceleration of the potato. (We're going to trust Isaac on this and save this math for six or seven more years.)
3. When the potato is fired from the cannon, an equal and opposite reaction is exerted on the support structure holding the cannon. (For us, it is Johan.)

Up next, "The Paper Match Rocket."

Government Grrrrrrrr...

Not far from our home there is a great little park. There is a nice playground, and a bike trail that goes right past it. Big trees provide shade in the summer. But this park has a major flaw, sadly it is encumbered by the fact that it falls under the jurisdiction of the government of the United States of America. Inside this locked building there are toilets, working toilets, with plumbing and running water. I know this because recently one of the mom's on my soccer team gained access to the building and flushed.... But alas, this building is not ADA compliant, as a result the law requires that this building be locked.



While the above building remains securely locked, the city parks department has made this fine accessible unit available.



For the scores of soccer and football practices that are held weekly at this park, there is a single handicapped accessible port-a-potty. I coach two soccer teams, a total of four weekly practices, at this park, for these kids, there is no place to wash their hands. But at least everything is perfectly fair??? Grrrrrrrrrr....

EGGcellent!!!

I am so, so impressed with our chickens. Look what they did in just two days! To be sure, the turkey and the ducks can claim some credit for the larger eggs, but to me this is absolutely remarkable. Yesterday the boys collected 37 eggs! All new since Monday.



Happily I can also report that consumption of these eggs is very good for you. So to our chickens I say THANK YOU, and keep up the good work.

In case you are interested in some of the science behind our desire to keep chickens, I'll quote at length from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon:

Shunned for several decades by orthodox practitioners as a high-cholesterol food wrongly believed to cause coronary heart disease, the egg is making the comeback it deserves....Properly produced eggs are rich in just about every nutrient we have yet discovered, especially fat-soluble vitamins A and D....Eggs from pasture fed hens have nutritional qualities that are far superior to those of battery-raised eggs and even many so-called 'free range' eggs. In particular,they contain a better fatty acid profile, one in which the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids exist in an almost one-to-one ratio; but in eggs from chickens fed only grains, the omega-6 content can be as much as 19 times greater than all important unsaturated omega-3. Other very-long chain and highly unsaturated
fatty acids-necessary for the development of the brain-are found in properly produced eggs but are almost wholly absent in most commercial eggs.

All Camoed Out

I believe that this started on Saturday when the boys went to an "Army" birthday party. The invitation said to wear camo. In the entirety of their wardrobe they have just one piece of camo clothing each. Both boys have a pair of camo shorts. Between Saturday and yesterday (Tuesday), K must have developed a fondness for camo, and realized that it is really a staple of many local wardrobes.

We were at the Grange Co-op (local feed/agricultural supply store) yesterday afternoon and we happened to pass the clothing department (think Carharts and camo). K was impressed. Then, looking for trash bags K spotted the shoe section. There was an ample selection of camo work boots. To which K remarked, while searching around, "Oh, Mama, if I could find some kid size camo boots I could get all camoed out." This he meant and said nonchalantly, almost as if it had been the purpose of our visit to grow our camo wardrobe. And, this he said while wearing shorts with navy blue rain boots. So the comment and his already very Klamath Fallsish outfit made me laugh. And C, not at all sure what was so funny but not wanting to miss the joke joined in. K was embarrassed and mildly offended as he had not intended to be funny.

So, yes the boys were looking a little rough. We were going to the site for clean-up immediately following the Grange, so we had to wear "work" clothes. Before we left the house I had suggested to the boys that they wear regular shoes to the Grange and then put on their rain boots when we got to the site. They staunchly defended their outfit saying, "We see lot's of people wearing these around town." Tough to argue with that...

Sheepdog Nationals!!!

The National Championship Sheepdog Finals were held in Klamath Falls last week. It seemed like a major event for our small town, so the boys and I did not want to miss it. Friday afternoon we headed out on what should have been a 15 minute drive to a ranch near lower Klamath Lake. Unfortunately, for the first time our GPS failed us in a major way. It took us way out to Merrill then had us on unknown dirt roads, at least one time through (possibly) private property, and finally into a cattle ranch. At this point, nearly an hour into an unwanted tour of rural Klamath Country, I decided it was time to take the bull by the horns, throwing caution to the wind I handed the GPS to C and we were navigating blind.

The GPS remained on, and we listened while she (female voice) announced repeatedly in a most perturbed voice that she was "recalculating." On another road trip somebody (Jill?) named her "Hillary" because of her spicy demeanor. On this day "Hillary" seemed too nice as a nickname.

At last our trek through the county was completed and we arrived at the National Championships. Unfortunately our car was covered in a measurable layer of dust. We saw the last three competitors of the day. It was A-MAZE-ING! Perhaps my astonishment can be attributed to the fact that our own dog only listens to us begrudgingly and then only some of the time. These dogs were working, at times over a quarter mile from their handlers, responding to whistle commands and moving the sheep quite effectively through a series of fences and into a corral!

Here are a couple of shots of the boys in front of the competition field. In the distance, and to right of K you can see a couple of the gates that the dogs had to move the sheep through.




I'm not sure why K quickly moved away from a visibly amused C.



I'm posting a short video of the dog at work, but it really doesn't do justice to the incredible ability of the dogs and their handlers. The boys really enjoyed watching the dogs work, mostly I think because of the large timer counting down the minutes for the handler and her dog to complete their tasks. Each handler started with 13 minutes. At that point the 4 sheep were about a quarter mile across the field. The boys couldn't stay in their seats, always leaning up to get a better view of the clock and to relay that information to me as the seconds ticked away.



On our way out we stopped to see the agility demonstration. As the handler was setting up she sort of tauntingly asked the boys if they thought they were faster than her dog. C got sort of shy, and hung back, but K was quite confident that he could beat her dog. The handler then asked if K would like a head start. K was unwilling to accept any unfair advantage...he should have. On the first try that little dog got out fast and never looked back. But on the second try, when he was offered another opportunity for a head start K accepted. This time he won, but not by much. Here is a video of K's second race. In the end you'll hear my voice saying, "Aw, she got yah." But positioned behind the lens, I didn't have the vantage of the handler who pronounced K the winner.

Bowling

To celebrate the completion of our first full week of homeschooling we took the boys bowling. If there is a correlation between the amount of dancing that occurs at the end of the lane and the number of pins knocked down, I think we proved it to be a negative one.

This first video is of C. I believe he is cheering for his ball as it makes it way down the lane.



Not to be outdone, K attentively watches his ball approach the pins. It is hard to spot in this video, but true to form, K's tongue is out and pointing to the left corner of his mouth. We get to see his tongue out in just about every athletic/physical event which requires any amount of concentration, soccer, basketball, etc.



Unfortunately this last video is not the original fist take. After I called out, "You were ROBBED!" K walked by me (with his tongue out) after one of his turns, then stopped and turned to explain to me what his pin had done.



Take one was so cute that I had to have him repeat the performance for the camera.

Bug Wars

Bugs are a very big deal in our house--both C and K love them. About two weeks ago we found a scorpion and promptly placed him in a jar for observation. At breakfast the following morning we found a spider. Some young mind thought it would be great to put the spider in with the scorpion for "SPIDER VS. SCORPION." It made for excellent breakfast mealtime entertainment, so we had repeat performances for a few days. Finding an unwilling participant to join the reigning champion scorpion was part of the fun.

Last week a friend from the neighborhood was over playing with the boys. The three of them decided to venture up the hill behind our house for some bugs. I gave them each a plastic container. When they returned they had collected, 1 praying mantis, 1 grasshopper, and 1 potato bug (potato bugs are absolutely hideous looking bugs). At another house the bugs may have stayed in their own respective containers, but at our house bug watching is a sport to be thoroughly enjoyed. The boys decided to have "PRAYING MANTIS VS. GRASSHOPPER." This proved entertaining for a short time, but even better is "PRAYING MANTIS VS. GRASSHOPPER AND POTATO BUG." Here is a shot of the boys enjoying the bug battle.



Unfortunately, the praying mantis did not work with the speed of the scorpion. The boys lost interest with their Romanesque arena and moved on. In the end, the sun was the only winner.