Spooky Science

We're playing with dry ice this year... I thought I'd share.

Frozen carbon dioxide sublimates (changes from a frozen solid to a gas) when exposed to drafts, but it changes especially quickly when exposed to hot or warm water.
Fun! :)

Here are the rules:

• Never touch it with any part of the body. Use heavy gloves. Tongs are good, too. The ice temperature is -110F ( -78C). Cold enough to cause frostbite to your skin. (Note here: if you touch it super quickly, it won't burn you- much like touching a hot stove very quickly.)
  

• Never seal dry ice in a container... dry ice (as it sublimates) will expand into whatever space is available... if its contained in a sealed cooler, it could/will explode the chest. Always keep it cracked. Don't store it in a freezer, it will sublimate quickly in the air currents.

• Don't eat it. If you're carbonating a drink, wait until the ice is gone before drinking your liquid.
  

• Use it where there is ventilation.

The 'smoke' from the dry ice is perfectly safe to touch, just don't poke fingers down far enough in the water to touch the ice.

As the water cools, the ice will slow its effect, so just change the water, replacing it with warm again!

Now! Let's play. Here are our experiments.

• Put a piece of dry ice in a plastic beaker of warm water with a glowstick in it for an eerie effect.
  

• Place a beaker with warm water and ice in a jack-o-lantern... if it's a short beaker, the gas will come out of its mouth, a tall one will allow the gas to come out of its eyes, as well.

• Place colored warm water and dry ice in a plastic beaker, and add karo syrup. The syrup is heavier than water, so it will sink and encase the carbon dioxide. Bubbles will form in the syrup and water as the dry ice sublimates, as well as oozing fog out of the jar.

• With two balloons and a plastic soda bottle - blow up a balloon and tie it off. Using tongs, place small bits of dry ice in the plastic soda bottle, then fit the balloon over the top of the bottle. To have it fill with gas more quickly, create air currents by waving the bottle back and forth, causing quicker sublimation. When the balloon is inflated, take it off the bottle and tie it off. Toss balloons into the air... carbon dioxide proves heavier when it quickly falls to the ground.
• While wearing gloves and with tongs you can touch the first balloon with a piece of dry ice... what will happen?

• Using gloves and tongs, put a small piece of dry ice inside a latex glove and tie it. Watch it inflate, just like a balloon.

• We saw this one at the chemistry science fair just recently... Place dry ice in the bottom of an aquarium, and then blow bubbles into the aquarium... they'll float! They should also grow until they're too heavy and then sink...
• You can also do this with dry ice and warm water in the bottom of the tank, with the same results-- the bubbles will float on top of the carbon dioxide.
  

• Fill a plastic beaker with warm water, put in a piece of dry ice, and then add some dish soap. The ice will spill bubbles over the sides, the bubbles will carry the fog.

• For a noisy experiment, hold a warm spoon firmly in your hand, then press it onto a piece of dry ice. The spoon (or other metal) will scream loudly as the spoon causes the dry ice to sublimate quickly-- the pressure of the gas pushes the spoon away, then it makes contact again, causing a vibration... thus, a noise.

Fun!
Happy oozing.


added post experimenting:

• also try dropping a piece in a glass of milk (it doesn't need to be warm)

• we put a few pieces (that we could fit) into the opening of a balloon, and immediately tied the balloon. It blows itself up as the ice sublimates. Then compare it to a regular co2 balloon, and it falls much faster and heavier!

Cool!

october thirty:

Well.
So much for saving yesterday's treasures for Christmas.
:) But we saw that coming, didn't we?

Maddie got out the dough and letters while she waited for her crepes this morning.
mmmm, crepes with cream cheese and homemade jam...

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. (movie)

Star Wars legos
again and again

Blokus.Mama won.

JumpStart Preschool World

life lessons
(in the form of cinnamon toast)
Jumping play with Daddy for two of us
-while another sat with her notebook for a couple of hours ordering supplies and holiday goodies for the babes-
...first time order from Steve Spangler Science... seems to have reasonable prices,
big order from Discount School Supply... have you tried them? One of my two favorites-- particularly for art and craft supplies
and one thing from Home Science Tools (my other favorite place)
soooo excited.
Thank goodness they aren't all Christmas or Solstice presents... I'd never make it.

We've had empty (but treated and ready) petrie dishes in the fridge waiting for about two months, now.
woops.
One of them finally grew something. :)
Maddie and I checked that out.
It was actually really pretty and lacy.
When I went downstairs to get some dishes for growing crystals out of a crystal growing set of ours, I found a glass of tea that had molded.
So of course we -with Trev this time- checked that out. It had things moving around.
And then when I opened the fridge, there was a molding cheese.
Had to check out that, too.
Three very distinctly different molds! Cool.
When I got the slides from the bookcase off the kitchen, one of them that had been exposed was verra dusty. So....

We started our Rainbow Crystals.
Trevelyn chose Large crystals,
and Maddie chose to grow Super Crystals.After she was finished with hers, she asked if her Super Crystals would save the day. lol.
We'll let you know.

. . . . .

Our cauldrons are bubbling
and our jacks are grinning...

A Happy Samhain
a Merry Halloween
and a goodly New Year to you
G'night ghouls.

october twenty-ninth

the first thing we did this morning was make biscuits for our breakfast.
Maddie received a fine baking set for her birthday from Grandma, and this morning she put it to use.
we watched Johnny Appleseed... and actually learned a few new things.

it was decided yesterday that when we went to the movie (we've been trying for days), that we would also go to toys-r-us for a little window shopping.
Trev thought he'd count out some money take with him... there was a lego star wars set he had his eye on...
we popped Multiplication Vacation into the cdplayer.... and we were off!

today Ponyo was on our list of Must Do's.

what a film!! we all adored it.

We didn't see too many windows, but we did get a few things at the toystore.
I can't feel too bad about it... I've been wanting Blokus forever, and couldn't bring myself to pay $35 or so for it. Finally, today, on sale for $19 something. We also picked up Earthopoly, and some play dough with numbers and alphabet letters. For Maddie, of course. Right up her alley. If I can hold out I'll keep them away until the holidays. We'll see. I don't have much hope of that, though.

since we were in the area, and weren't pressed for time today, I asked the babes if they'd like to go over to the pet store and meet some little friends. of course they wanted to.
we admired turtles and a chameleon and lizards and parakeets and sleeping ferrets (that's the only way I'd be admiring them) and peeked at chinchillas and saw lots of rats and guinea pigs and hamsters and a mouse running on a wheel that we called Ralph and these fish that we were amazed by because we could see their skeletons!
we grabbed some dinner on the way home from our favorite lunch place, and we're getting tucked in with a new movie and legos and blokus and I don't know what else.


we're cheerful
and content,
and we'll see you tomorow.

october 27: good things

snow





puzzles



glass jack-o-lanterns

(six more)

medicines

(strained and ready)

baked apples
mmmm

hot cocoa

(from scratch)



the first real jack-o-lanterns
(from the garden)


Maddie's - Mama's

Trevelyn's

snowball fight with Daddy

reading

a movie and a cuddle.

That'll do.

... Since.

Well.
Let's see...
Maddie-Mine has gone through a rite of passage.
Maybe even two of them.
While shopping the other day (birthday, autumn's must-haves for the babes -- fleeces and undies, whatnot) Madeleine picked a pretty right off the rack and said "I'm getting this. Help me try it on."
Then she preceded to keep telling us to watch for people-- she was stripping down.
We convinced her that we could definitely get it in her size, and she didn't need to try it on.
Thank goodness her outfit was very cute (read: no plastics on the front or cartoon characters).... and on sale.

The second All Growed Up is that she has upped the ante on her Invitations. These are the scraps of paper that she cuts, decorates, and has me address to her friends, family, and favorite toys.
That child is good with scissors. I don't think Trevelyn uses them nearly as efficiently as she does.Not only does she make her invitations to Tea very fancy, but she has now started to put actual letters on them.
I blinked when I saw that.
And!-
She has drawn her first self-portrait.
With sunglasses. And she's happy because she's jumping on the trampoline with Daddy and Trev and getting high bounces.
And a portrait of her brother.Who wears Daddy's sunglasses.
Trevelyn tried to be honored and not offended, even though he had to explain.... "Look, Mom. It's not that I want to be rude.... but Maddie's pictures.... it's just that I like pictures of me to actually look like me, and not some pretend cartoon thing or something."
We had the "Practice" talk.
Not that I expect it to change his ideas about being able to do something easily and Right.....

We were invited to our friends' annual Halloween Party.



We had a blast.
Our hosts made me laugh when they greeted us at the door dressed as what one would expect of hosts in a typical home around here. :) Think Ward and Joan Cleaver.... though I was thinking Mr. and Mrs. Little.
I was trying to get a picture of my friend's bow when her husband came along and inserted himself into our picture.I appreciated the laugh. It made the blur worth it.

It's well and truly autumn, now.
Leaves and colour and rains and cold.


We're cleaning
and making Wish Lists for Santa


and making room for our new books
and rotating our shelves that hold our current projects and interests.




We're thinking trick-or-treating, carving jack-0-lanterns, an afternoon playing and experimenting and spooking with friends, and Panyo.

All is well, here.
We'll see you tonight.

got books? a story

Giddy, I tell you.

Want the whole story?
(That would be the In My Head story.)

So one of our neighborhood libraries (not The neighborhood library, but one of the six that we visit that is within five miles of home) is closing due to being torn down and completely re-done.
"Sale, sale, sale!", they said.
And it's not only that library, but it's being combined with the county's annual or semi-annual "clean up", as well.
"Rrrr?" lifts Mama's left brow -and ears- and out comes the ScoobyDoo sound.
First day (yesterday) I went... drug with me the babes and Eric, so's he could dance attendance at the adjoining park while I browsed and Dug In.
I thought it would be rather lax, and plenty of room for hemming and hawing, and the babes would shuffle, and throw things into the bag, saying, "I want this, Mama!" Fine. Then they'd be done while I looked at my leisure. Thus Eric and the park.
Don't know why I thought that. Looking at books is never "At My Leisure", so don't know why I supposed it would happen now.
But, you know. I did.
Ever the optomist, I spose.

There was a line.
A wait to get in.
A fifty-minute wait, actually.
I tell you this not to bore you to tears, but to wave my fist and stamp my slippered foot tell you to Persevere!, friends. :)
Anyway.
Got in there.
Behind the E-Bay people with their little electronic ticker gizmo thingies and Bins and Bins (truly) lying upon dollies.
Around me -in the line- were people fussing and mad at them...
I'm pleased to say that I did not play into the Fear, and thoughts of "They're going to be after Exactly what I'm after, and snatch it right out of my hands and cheat me" that seemed to be floating about the heads of the Crowd around me. Not a judgmental accusation, you understand... just an observation.
"You have twenty minutes!" called the Powers That Be.
Now twenty minutes sounds like a long time, doesn't it?
It's not.
Well, not in Mama World, anyway.
I swear I was in there for two, and they called "Ten minutes!"
There were people lined up down the block, you see, and we each got twenty minutes to pack our bags (or sixty gallon totes, as the case may be) with our treasures, then we get kicked into the checkout line.
No time to open the books and peruse the contents, if I saw something interesting, it went in.
I didn't do too bad. I ended up with one I would have skipped over under more leisurely circumstances.
"But where are the Science books???" I was thinking.
I ended up with Ancient Rome.
Babylonians.
And Superfudge
and Vikings
and Wetlands.
And lots more along that line.
Not bad.
Actually.... pretty great, as our Who's Who, places, and history library is embarrassingly shameful and practically non-existent pretty thin.
So...
Yeah. It's all good.
I can feel good about that.

But...
Let's go back later.
So I did.
(Why not? It's close. In the neighborhood. It's my birthday. I'm one of those funny souls who might just actually believe He Who Dies With The Most Books wins. I spent seven dollars the first time and got an armful that was too heavy to carry for long.)

The Powers That Be said they were rotating things in throughout the next two days.

A few more.
National Geographics.
More of the same, history and ancient history.

And yeah, I went again -third time- just before closing.
Nothing new in the children's section-- the same two piddly tables. Hmmph.
Not one book, that time.

I was thinking then that I wasn't sure I wanted to brave A Saturday.
But I came to the conclusion that those Science books (nature, animals, experiments, crafts, ecology, etc) had to be brought out eventually, and I may as well try again.
I figured since Opening wasn't so good the day before, it might not be strictly necessary on a Saturday afternoon... so I was pretty much relying upon any good Mojo or Karma I might have coming from the Universe.
Noon, I thought.
Lunchtime seemed a logical no-crowd time.
As it turned out, the center was closed.
For re-stocking.
Until 1:OO.
It was ten after noon.
Wanna wait?
(This would be the conversation starter in my head.)
"Uummmmm..."
Really? You might not find anything.
"Well... I'll stand here and wait until I decide."
I talked to the guy behind me. He was nice. And intelligent. And charming. And accepting that my husband and I were home educators. And not interested in children's books.
We talked about The Vultures (his word, but to which I did not object).... those souls that were first in line with their Bins -- the same ones from yesterday. We admired their incredible timing-- their ability to be very first in the door.
I still refused to be afraid.
I didn't have a ticker.
All I had was a homeschooing mama's instincts.

And that's all there is, Friends.
Just me
and my children
and the things I'd like to see Upon Our Shelves.

No timers, this time.
First in line after the re-stocking - well, technically I was probably #14 or so -
I waited for about forty-five minutes
and damn if I didn't get my books.
Yes I did.

Today's find:
(top to bottom)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (fiction)

Dora's Chilly Days (x 2 - the extra is going to a little friend)

Dora's Custume Party (fiction)

Earthsteps: A Rock's Journey Through Time

Awesome Dinosaurs: Armored Giants

Old Thunder and Miss Rainey (fiction)

Joan of Arc

Aladdin & The Magic Lamp (fiction)

American Girls: Samantha's Special Talent (fiction)

Rosa (Rosa Parks)

Games for All Year: 100 Games for Winter

Games for All Year: 100 Games for Fall

Pocahontas

Paddington Goes To Town (fiction)

The Minotaur

Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of Independence

Magellan

Community Builders: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

The Importance of Abraham Lincoln

Symbiosis

Helen Keller: Toward the Light

Thomas Jefferson

Oxygen

Young Scientist Concepts & Projects: Astronomy

Watching Desert Wildlife

Elephants

Geology Crafts for Kids

Science Starters: Magnets and Sparks

Children's Guide to Endangered Animals

DK Eyewitness Books: Evolution

Rocks and Fossils

Journey Under the Sea

Animals Under Threat: Peregrine Falcon

Death From Space: What KIlled the Dinosaurs?

Children Save the Rainforest

Outside and Inside Bats

Science Fair Projects: Chemistry

DK Eyewitness Books: Force & Motion

DK Eyewitness Books: Seashore

DK Eyewitness Books:Life

DK Eyewitness Books: Jungle

King Tut: Tales From the Tomb

Stacked on top of yesterday's find:

The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom In the Universe (from Barnes & Noble)

Five National Geographics

Zoo Books

National Geographic for Kids

You Are In Ancient Egypt

Pirate Diary (fictional)

Ancient Civilizations: Rome

Perspectives: You Are In Ancient Egypt

Growing Up In: Ancient China

The Vikings

Calliope - Exploring World History: The Babylonians

World History Series: The French Revolution

The Lewis and Clark Trail

History Makers: Rulers of Ancient Rome

Neil Armstrong

Mohandas Gandhi

Galileo Galilei

Beethoven

A Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison

Consider Love (fiction)

Superfudge (fiction)

Greece

Germany

Exploration into India

All About Wild Animals: Hippos

Hydrogen

Wetlands

History Dudes: Vikings

Alexander

Fast Forward: Egyptian Mummies

Illustrated History Encyclopedia: Ancient World - How People lived in the Stone Age, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire


* * *

Seventeen magazines
(5 National Geographics, 3 American First: Watercolor magazines, 2 ZooBooks, 1 Ranger Rick, 4 National Geographic Kids, 2 Spider magazines)

nine soft covers

and sixty-four hardbacks.

Heh.
Thirty-three dollars.

Dude...

Dude.

forty-one

ahem.
books.
if you count the national geographics (and I do so's I can get 41),
I bought (unintentionally) exactly forty-one books today.


now there's some synchronicity for you.

october twenty-two: and today?

quiet.
very, very quiet.

eric took the babes to the indoor pool and to the movies.

reading and just listening...
thank you for asking.

october twenty-one: snippets

"I made this bridge, see?" shows Madd."Aaah... a bridge between two lands?"
"And it's stabled. See? I put this right here in the middle so it's stable."

Reading.
Reading to herself.Reading to her animals.
Reading to Annabelle.
Trev and I used to play this reading game when he was her age (in the car, in the grocery store, wherever)... I'd say something like "I'm thinking of an animal that starts with the 'p' sound. (the sound, but not "puh", just a quick "p".) "Pig!" He'd say. "Right!"
Maddie hasn't been able to separate the sounds, yet, she's never understood it. "Mmmm is for lights!" she'd say. :)
Until last night.
Last night when we were lying on the couch, she went for an hour. "'ck' is for 'cup'. 'd' is for door. 'ff' is for 'fish'."
On and on. She has gotten it. She is on her way.

Trev's.

That'll do.