Science fun-Retaining the Right Amount

Farmers carefully choose which crops to plant where, and what type of soil to plant them in. Today we practiced our metric measuring skills in an experiment to learn about water retention in different types of soil.

First we added 160 mL water to 250 mL clay, sand, and potting soil, each in their own foam cup. Each cup had 10 small holes in the bottom to allow for drainage. After 2 minutes we recorded how much water drained from each.

Using the information we gathered, our next objective was to make a mixture of soil that had a water retention of 50%. We formulated a hypothesis that contained the amounts of each soil we would use. We then poured 160 mL over our cup containing 250 mL of our mixtures, and timed it for 2 minutes.

              

We learned that sand drained the fastest, clay drained the slowest, and we discussed what kind of mixtures we would need for different plants water retention needs.

Star Wars and Pumpkins and Games, Oh my!

Pictures!

Old Deerfield!

Four Girls, One Bathroom

Getting everyone ready and out the door for church this morning was almost comical. Good thing we don’t have to do this every week!

Science Fun!

Today we imagined we were geologists called to an earthquake disaster site to analyze rock samples. We measured each rock taken from the site, to learn the width, length, and volume of each one. Scientists could use this data to draw conclusions about the nature of the earthquake.

We used a ruler to measure the length and width of our rock, a scale to measure the mass, and a large measuring cup with water to measure the volume. Afterward, we traded rocks and took the measurements of a different one. We graphed the results while discussing the importance of collecting careful and precise data in science, which allows scientists to form correct conclusions.

Pink Party!

Tonight our church hosted a Pink party. While Katie was at youth group, Francesca and I decided to go check it out. We were glad we did!

There were fun games, crafts, yummy food and even a photo booth.

    

I loved just sitting back and watching her have such a blast. She got to spend time with old friends she doesn’t see much, and new friends she absolutely adores, so it was a good night.