Transforming Electricity Into Sound

Today we looked at how electricity can be transformed into light, heat, motion, magnetism and sound. 
As we all know sound is all about vibrations, from the source to the air and finally to our eardrums.  So how does electricity transform into sound?

The example of lightning and thunder is a good one.  As lightning strikes, an electric charge shoots through creating heat in the air around it.  This heat caused the air to expand and contract creating an explosion of sound... thunder. 

A while ago the toothbrush company came out with a fun little toothbrush that plays songs.  While you can hear the music and the words just by holding the toothbrush, you can really hear the music while brushing your teeth, of course because the vibrations produced when the battery circuit is turned on travel along the toothbrush and through your teeth to your eardrum.  But how else could we transfer these vibrations so that more than one person can enjoy the music at one time?  Simple we find a conductor.  We tried a few things; the large metal bowl shown in the video above, a plastic ice cream bucket and our own heads/faces. 

We discovered that the metal bowl acts like a megaphone, taking the vibrations and 'radiating' the sound waves out through the large opening on the other side.  If we placed the toothbrush against the outside edge of the bowl it wasn't as loud as if we placed the toothbrush on the very bottom of the bowl. 
It also seemed that the plastic ice cream bucket was the best conductor and played the music the loudest. 
And our heads; we placed the back of the brush on the side of our face just in front of the ear.  This was a very good conductor but mainly to one person at a time.  Mike found that the volume could be controlled by different spots on his head however I didn't notice a difference.  You can also place the back of the toothbrush over the entrance of one nostril, then plug the other side and open your mouth and voila, you are conducting a sound that is not your own through your body, crazy!

Anyways, it's a fun little experiment.  Unfortunately the clip is very short since the moment I want to record video it sucks up all the battery and the camera dies. 

Prime and Composite Numbers

 Sorting Prime and Composite numbers

JRR Tolkien Artwork

After dissecting this poem by JRR Tolkien we completed our art project.  At first we didn't know what we were going to write but since he just finished listening to THE LORD OF THE RINGS audio book we thought a quote from Tolkien would be a fitting piece.

Printing

 

 The kids got a letter from their auntie yesterday inviting them to come for Spring Break.  It was a good lead into some Language Arts work.  We're working really hard to correct 5 years of poor printing habits, which means paying full attention to each and every letter written as it's written.  But oh how beautiful the finished product is when poor printing habits are replaced with good.  I know it will continue to be a long process but we both know he can do it so it's very encouraging.

The photos below are of his Science project that he brought to the learning centre to show his classmates.  We ran out of time to really focus on printing habits but he still kept it pretty neat so I was happy with that.

Zentangles Part II

I plan on having him do several of these and then I will compile them together on a larger black background.  Can you find the hidden monster and the car? 

It's amazing how stuck we can get sometimes; this is a good exercise to think more creatively.  I'm excited to see how they call come together.

Zentangles Art Project

 Like I've said before, it just feels like there isn't enough time to do everything I want to do and because of that Art has suffered... badly.  And I love art.  But it does seem to take a back seat to the other more academic subjects.  Hopefully though we can make more of an effort to squeeze in some time for art because it really is so important and good for you.  I found this idea on Pinterest.  I guess they're called Zentangles.  The idea seems to be that you draw some sort of basic divider through the blank page, either curves or loops, zig zags or lines; whatever you like.  Then you doodle in each of the spaces.  At first it seems like a challenge to think of lots of ways to doodle but it doesn't take long before more and more ideas pop into your head.  It's fun to mix simple doodles with complex and busy ones.  This is the first  piece he's done.  I hope to have him complete at least two more for this set. 

 I really loved how his tiny circles came out as well as the criss cross lines. 

Globe Trotting

Social Studies time.  On the right is his dark blue globe.  He's using both a globe and an atlas for reference.  His North and South America look great but they may be a little misplaced on the globe.  However I'm sure it will all come together.  It's tough to get all the ratios correct.  Perfection is not the key, but understanding the work better and where certain things like the equator, Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, Prime Meridian, etc... are the top things we want him to learn as well as a general idea of where continents and Countries lie in relation to one another.