Mounds and Balloon Science

So I wanted to share the tastiest science treat we have made in a while. It was my mound cake. Not pound cake, no I'm talking mounds, like burial mounds. I had it in my plans for 18. Simply put it was a chocolate cake baked in two round pans stacked on top and I made some green cream cheese icing. 

I made one pan with less batter than the other (see picture below), so the base was wide but not as thick. Then for my third layer, I just took the sides (I trimmed) and stacked them on top. I'd get yelled at on Cake Boss for a mess like this- but who cares the overall project turned out great. :)

 It was eaten in no time. 

Even if you are past 18, you might think of reviewing the mound cultures during the break.

If you wanted to be a little more authentic you could stuff little plastic men in there as you are assembling the layers, but that day I was just glad I accomplished the cake before dinner. 

Books I actually found at my library for History lesson 19 were:

The Pueblo Indians by Pamela Ross ISBN: 9-780-736-800-792

I really like the simple non fiction book. They break it down into sections that are only one page long and if reading to a 5-6 year old can be easily read aloud. The sections are history, people, homes, foods, clothing, etc. Then in the end how to make your own adobe bricks if you're so inclined. I think I will plan to do this in the summer as a review week and will post pictures if it's accomplished. Key word..."if."

The Anasazi by Petersen (A New True Book) ISBN:0516-01121-9

It's old, but it's likely to be at your library if it's at mine. It's short enough to be a good read aloud but long enough for a 2-3rd grade reader to be interested. It has some classic pictures for the younger ones. Even though my kids are past this lesson, I'm still reading books from then as lesson 20 seems to be scarce in my library. 

Arrow to the Sun: A Pueblo Indian Tale by Gerald Mc Dermott ISBN: 9-780-670-133-697

He is the same author that wrote Anasazi and Zomo the Trickster, so if you read this, you are in effect covering one of the common core standards for all ages and doing an "author study." Thankfully, his books are covering our curriculum which is hard to find fiction authors who do that- so if you have the others available, be a "book hog" and check them all out. 

And last but not least, my happiest project of the day was a very simple balloon for Lesson 20.

This is my sample, I will post pictures of my kids making it on Thursday as I will test drive the lesson then, but it was so easy I had to put a sneak peak and some special resources to go with it.

My atmosphere layer balloon! 

(Can anyone tell my printer isn't working? I'm really having to be creative each week. )

So I drew the earth on the bottom and made the layers accordingly. My layer names are written in dry erase markers and my clues or hints are written in permanent. I did this so I could wet and erase them and ask the kids, "What goes where?" The pictures are "Troposphere" (which is misspelled when I took it- good thing it's not permanent ) with clouds and a parachute man. Then the "Stratosphere" is where we have the ozone rays (hence yellow rays), "Mesosphere" has comets, "Thermosphere" has the Aurora Borealis  and "Exosphere" has satellites (which can be in both Thermosphere and Exosphere).

I found three fabulous videos that you can share with your kids when teaching this lesson.

First, this is a great overview of the first two levels and it explains many things about them. It's long and not necessary to have them see the whole thing, I think the first 15min is great, the rest goes into volcanoes, thunder, lightening, etc. 

Earth the Power of the Planet

The second is actually from a friend of ours, his name is Manny Alsina. He and my husband went to school together and even though he's a doctor, he's as good as the photographers from National Geographic. He accurately explains what happens with the Aurora Borealis and has amazing pictures put to classical music. They were taken just a few weeks ago, on Feb 6th in Scandinavia. 

Here is the link to "Winter's Heavenly Night." I hope you enjoy! It's just over 2 minutes.

Here's a pic of Tony watching it and asking a ton of questions- even though my days of international travel have significantly paused, I'm so thankful that I'm able to plant some seeds of adventure and awe in him.

 I'd like to go see these one day, but I don't like the cold that much... do you think this would be a problem for a Texas girl like me?

The picture looks fake, but it's not. 

So amazing! Truly speechless when I watch this video.

The "Thermosphere" is my new favorite layer of the atmosphere. Yep I said it... I know,  "My name is Crecia and I'm a closet nerd."

And last but not least, have you seen this video of the International Space Station? It may not be exactly what we are studying this year, but I mean, heh, whenever you can bring in a cool space video- do so! If you haven't seen it it's an American astronaut that gives us a tour of the ISS. It's about 25 minutes, and well worth the time.

Here's a great link to all the atmosphere levels and summaries on each one.

I love this graphic I found on the website. You can download it to PPT and make a sheet for your memory board.

I love how this picture brings in two of our previous weeks, can you see where? 

Here's a break down of each layer...

Did anyone else know these before teaching this week? If so, in my book, you'd be called, 

"Muy Intelligente!"

Again, was I asleep in school or what?

I have a few more fun activities for Lesson 20, but will have to wait till another night to post them. 

It involves a jello and pudding mold and some great Mexican Revolution activities.

Much love to you all!

-Crecia