Five On Friday

1.  This week we got to see two very large insects!

This praying mantis was on our table out back.

And this millipede was in our driveway.  He was huge!  I decided to "rescue" him by moving him into the grass.  He didn't like being messed with and curled into a ball and squirted brown yuckiness all over the piece of cardboard I was using and my hand!  Apparently it is very foul smelling (I didn't smell it) but not dangerous to humans as long as you get yourself washed up.  It was really neat to see these guys!  They make critters big in GA!

2. We did a bunch of experiments this week too.

First we layered some liquids to investigate density.  (That's oil, water dyed red, dark corn syrup, and googly-eyed Jack!)

Then we played with iron filings.  We mixed them with salt crystals and then separated them with a magnet.

Next we plopped some effervescent tables in some water to watch them fizz.  We are learning about chemical and physical changes.

And lastly, we stuck burning sticks into small test tubes.  The kids REALLY enjoyed these experiments.  They were quick, easy, showed good results, and who doesn't like playing with burning things?

3.  In puzzle news, Puzzle Nation had a wonderful blog post about perspective.  You should totally check this out!  They have some really neat and mind boggling videos posted.  Here's a cool lego optical illusion...

4.  More puzzle news:  At the Barnes & Noble checkout they had a copy of Scientific American MIND.  It is a special issue all about optical illusions!  And they have some fabulous lego illusions too!  I don't think I've ever even heard of SAMind before.  But this special issue is definitely worth checking out, pricey, but cool!

5.  Last but not least....I've got some new products in my TeachersPayTeachers store!  I've been quite busy this week (I think the iron supplements are kicking in!) and have finally completed the "Balancing Act".

This is a set of task cards which helps young students understand the idea behind balancing equations.  There are a bunch of adorable aquatic animals from Pink Cat Studio.  These guys are the tokens that you use to solve the challenges.  Each animal has a value, and the challenges ask students to balance the given animals.  There are tokens, scales, task cards, recording sheets, instructions and answers included in this pack.  It's also great practice for adding from 1 to 10!

I also finished up a pack of puzzles to practice the Latin Number words from 1 to 10, including 100 and 1000.  These puzzles are great for first year Latin students of all ages!

And here's a sneak peak of something I should have ready by tomorrow...Halloween puzzles for kindergarteners!  These puzzles are designed 2 to a page and are easy to cut in half to make little booklets.  (Love the cute clip art from LittleRed)

And here's a picture of Jack "testing" one of the puzzles.  It's a color by letter.  He usually does homeschool in this position too, draped over his stool and writing on the floor.  That's just the way he rolls!  Jack and Ginny test all the puzzles I make, even the ones for younger kids.  Jack was oohing and aahing over the cuteness puzzles and I just heard Ginny giggle...must have been one of the riddles!  Look for this and other grade level Halloween sets in my store soon!

Have a great weekend!