Week 13

Language Arts: I did my dyslexia workbook lessons. I learned 8 ways to start an introductory paragraph. I did some editing practice on a couple of passages with mistakes. I am reading Marley & Me.

Math: In our math class we went over powers and how to switch back and forth between roots and powers. We also worked on the Unit 2 packet so we could see if we had any trouble areas. We reviewed Order of Operations and saw how switching the order can change the answer.

Science: In chemistry class we learned about balancing equations. For our science lesson at home we learned about center of gravity, did some experiments/activities and watched some videos that talked about it. One fun thing we did was figure out how to balance a potato on a glass edge by using two forks as the counterbalances.

History: In my We Didn’t Start the Fire class we talked about Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein who was the second president of Egypt and how he worked to modernize Egypt. Last week in that class we talked about Stalin.

Makerspace (Tech):  We did woodcutting this week. I made a batman charm for a necklace. My wooden puzzle didn’t work so I am going to try it again.

Programming (Elective): I didn’t work on this this week. I need to figure out what projects to work on.  A couple weeks ago I painted my ripstik silver. It turned out really good. I put a topcoat on it so it will hopefully stay nice looking for a while.

Videos we watched to go along with our science lesson

A balanced potato

Week 12

Language Arts: I reviewed commas in a series. I finished reading Wednesday Wars. I wrote a paragraph about why I like homeschooling. I learned about personification and had to write some examples of personification about a nature scene. I also wrote a paragraph about how I would not want to spend a summer with any of the characters from books I have read lately.

Math: I worked on chapters from the textbook. In our class we went over exponents and how to rewrite negative exponents as positive exponents. 

Science: In my chemistry class we made slime. We talked about different polymers and non-newtonian fluids. At home for science we finished up our discussion on flight and learned about birds and how they fly, and how it wouldn’t be possible for humans to fly with self-powered flight. We weight too much and don’t have the right kinds of muscles (big enough) in the right places. Birds have other adaptations for flight as well, including a keel (breastbone) to attach big muscles to, a fused backbone area, hollow bones, and no teeth.

History: We listened to the next podcast. It was about Sargon and how he created the first empire that we know of. He wrote an autobiography that said how great he was. The story goes that he was put into a basket as a baby, a lot like the Moses story.

Makerspace (Tech):  This week I designed some things that I am going to laser cut. They will be keychains or little trinket things. They will be made out of a thin wood, I can’t remember the name of it right now.

Programming (Elective): I am trying to drill a hole in metal but am not having any luck. I looked up info online but none of the different techniques have worked. I am not sure if I just don’t have the right drill bit or if I am doing something else wrong. I also had First Lego League this week. We are working on rebuilding a mission that some kid broke. My friend Heber and I worked on another mission finalizing the attachment parts to accomplish the task.

Week 11

Language Arts: I learned about mood and tone in poetry. I finished the third Star Man’s Son book. There is a fourth one coming out sometime soon, I think, but I wish it was already out. I did more lessons in my dyslexia workbook. I did some sentence diagramming.

Math: I worked on the Unit 1 packet and took the test. In class we went over calculating surface area on 3D rectangular shapes.

Science: I learned about solutes and solvents. A solvent is a substance that dissolves another substance and a solute is something that dissolves in a solvent.

History: We didn’t have a history lesson this week.

Makerspace (Tech):  In class we just had a party while people could work on their costumes if they wanted to. I didn’t dress up this year so I didn’t have a costume to work on.

Programming (Elective): We didn’t have First Lego League this week because the Rec Center was booked with their Halloween party. It was a busy week so I didn’t work on any extra projects at home either.

Other: I’ve been figuring out how to play the Super Mario Bros theme song on the guitar.