Lately...

 We've been using this Pizza game to work more on our fractions.  It's got several different games.  We usually modify them a bit to suit us.  It's so nice to finally be able to get back outside a bit to do some 'lessons'. 

 Who?  What?  When?  Where?  Why?  homework assignment from school. 

Where in the World is Mckenzie?

We've recently begun a project which is taking us around the world.  After completing his globe we're now embarking on the next phase of the project which is exploring parts of the world.  We are following an old season of The Amazing Race, keeping track of where exactly they go and what they're doing.  Mckenzie is following along as though he is on the journey himself. 

 We've made a little passport book for him and once he completes one leg of his trip he searches out the flag for that country, draws and colours it as well as writes the names of the cities, towns or villages he visits.  Then we use google maps to see where exactly it is in the world and in relation to us back here in Canada.  We zoom in, check out the environment to see whether it's set in the mountains, desert, grassy plains, etc.  We try to find out more about the climate in relation to what we see and where it lies in proximity to the equator.  I won't go into full detail here on the blog, but I'll do a quick summary of where he went and what he did.

Also please note this little disclaimer *** the photos below are not ours.  We found them on google.  I don't know who took them, the odd one may be watermarked but I don't claim them as my own - I wish I could!**

On the first leg he travelled to Lima Peru.

 You can see where Lima Peru is, marked by the letter A.

 From Lima we travelled North to a city called Ancon and visited Playa Hermosa Beach, below.  We even slept on the beach!

 After Ancon we flew to a mountain city called Cusco which is 11,000 feet above sea level.  The air was very thin up there snd I felt light headed and my heart was beating fast but we drank a special tea to help us with the altitude sickness.  We didn't stay in town too long, but rather took a taxi about 22 miles to a rural village called Huambutio and took an exciting zip line ride that was 1400 feet high. 

 While in Haumbutio I had the chance to rope a lama and bring it to it's pen, it was pretty hard, it didn't like me because it was spitting on me and didn't listen.  We also travelled in the back of a truck to the local market where they sold so many different things, it was very colourful. 

 

 When we googled Cusco we could see the writing that was on the hillside, we also noticed a picture to the right of it but it didn't really make any sense - until we looked up Peru's flag.  Can you see it?  (goggle photo above shows a better shot even though it's upside down)

Hope you enjoy our travel journal.

The Blodel Conservatory

Over Spring break we went to the Blodel Conservatory.  I had completely forgotten about it and had no idea what to expect.  Still I thought it would be bigger than it was, but with 3 kids it was big enough.  It was a very nice outing.  I just wish we had thought of it during Term 1 when I were learning about Diversity of Life in Science.  There are 3 different sections which are rainforest, desert and tropical I believe.  They also had a scavenger hunt which was fun, looking for different plants/ flowers or birds. 

Currently they are replacing all of the bubble shaped windows of the dome, hence all the scaffolding in the background.  However it didn't affect the inside at all.

 I'd like to go again once the outdoor trees, plants and flowers are in full bloom. 

 It's really incredible how large some leaves are.  You can't tell by the photos but they are massive. 

Catching up on blogging... and school

We're finally back into the swing of things after a long break.  We didn't do much at all during the month of March.  A little bit near the end but not a lot.  Now that the 3rd term has begun we're starting to work more with Equivalent Fractions.  I think he's understanding the concept for the most part but it's slow going. 

 

 Today we did these two sheets of math.  The one below was an altered Apple Crisp Recipe, which we will eat up tonight - the crisp, not the recipe.

 Here he is making some flavoured sugar.  Oh boy!  Good thing he's out for a bike ride now.

 And here are a few pages from our Building Thinking Skills workbook.