Tick Tock Time

Here is the latest installment in our poetry series. It is a great, original poem!!

Great Medieval Website

I ran across a great website that I thought the boys might like to see. The information matches up very well with what we study, but this site goes much more in depth than our history book. Check it out at http://library.thinkquest.org/J002390/index.html

Trebuchets Day 2 and 3

Yesterday we did something that I have not done before...I brought in my drill press and let the boys drill the holes for the bolt that will hold the throwing arm. In the past I had done all of the drilling at home just holding the wood in my hand. This year I built a jig to hold the wood (after the drill spun a piece of wood I was holding last year) which works perfectly. In my trial runs at home I realized that it worked so well that the boys would be able to drill their own holes. I'm glad I brought the drill in because the boys loved using it.

Today we glued the first support piece which also went well. Below are some pictures from yesterday and today.

Day One of Trebuchets!!

One of the highlights of spring in the Ninth Age is the trebuchet project. Today was day one of construction. The boys started by sanding the base and the two main supports. Tomorrow they will drill holes for the cross bolt and glue the first support. We should be finished construction by the end of the week, and we'll be launching tin foil balls by next Monday.

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too

Here is the latest of our poets, who gives a great rendition of a Shel Silverstein

Have You Heard? Miss Lucy Had a Baby!!

Another poet has emerged and enlightened us about Miss Lucy and her baby.

18 Volts!!

Today's group of four started early this morning and worked every spare moment they had. By the end they had joined 45 pieces of fruit into one huge circuit. After about 30 pieces they hit 18 volts, but then something unusual happened. The count dropped to 12 volts and then slowly climbed back to 18 and seemed to stop there. I suspect that the presence of fruit juice on the table was causing a short circuit but it was hard to tell. Here are a few pictures from the day. The final picture shows the whole 45 piece circuit including the piece on the windowsill that is part of the circuit.

Another Poet!!

Today's poet read a whimsical poem by Shel Siverstein called Slithergadee. It has a rather abrupt ending. The poet fared much better than the Slithergadee.

A New Record

One of our scientists was absent today, but the three who were here worked in collaboration to build a massive, twenty battery circuit. The output generated was over 9 volts (9000 millivolts on our previous scale which may have been an incorrect determination. If there is anyone familiar with reading digital multimeters, I would love to chat so that I can be certain I am instructing the boys correctly.) We were able to see a dim light on an LED bulb hooked into the series of batteries. Here are a few pictures from today. The final picture shows the circuit which gave the reading of a little over 9 volts. Since our amps are low, the light does not light more. The formula P=VI is at work here. We have the volts but not the current (amps). The reading when I took the picture had dropped a little which always happens over the course of time.

Today's Scientists in Action

Today we had four new scientists at the table, and they had a great time. The knowledge that the fruit could be cut up into pieces yielding more "batteries" led them to make a veritable fruit salad on the table. Notice the change in the fruit from the first picture to the last. In their quest to get the highest volt count, they strung about a dozen pieces of fruit together and got a reading of 5,050. Once all of the teams have gotten to play around with the fruit, wires, pennies, nails, and multi-meter I will put together challenge questions to expand the boys knowledge and expertise. Look for those to start up next week.

The Tomatoes Continue to Grow

I took a picture of the tomatoes this afternoon, and they are getting taller. I continue to hope that the stems will thicken. Only time will tell.

Fruit Batteries

If all goes well we will be writing about the history and properties of electricity sometime in May. In order to get ready for this, we have begun constructing fruit batteries in class. I introduced the concepts involved on Thursday, and our first group of four got to begin experimenting on Friday. We will try using different conductors and different fruits to see which can generate the most milli-volts. The process and science behind our experiments are well described here. As you can see from the article, it would take more than 9,000 lemons to light a flashlight bulb, so the amount of electricity being generated is very small and therefore extremely safe. Here are some pictures from yesterday's group.

The Final Four Prizes

Today we celebrated all four of our Final Four prizes from the NCAA tournament last week. The boy in the chair traded desks with me for the day, and the boy holding the flag is on Day 3 of his five day stint as line leader. The boy holding the Spelling Book got to give today's Spelling test, and the boy holding the ice cream wrapper got to eat my ice cream this afternoon at lunch. Way to go boys!!

Another Poet

Here is the latest entry in our celebration of poetry. Well Done!!

Freezie Pops!!

There is a tradition in 9-2 that if the temperature in the room reaches 80 degrees we eat Freezie Pops to cool off. We topped out at 78 degrees yesterday(much to the chagrin of the boys), but today was much warmer. The boys know all of the rules including that if it reaches 80 degrees before noon, the Double Bonus is triggered meaning we get 2 Freezie Pops. The boys went off to science class at 11:45, and I told them I would take pictures of the thermometer so that they could see how everything turned out. Check out the pictures below which show the results. The number in question is the temperature at the bottom. The temperature above that one is the outside temperature. Notice how lucky I was to get a picture just before and just after the big moment. The final picture is the first Freezie Pop Fest of 2010. How many more will come?

The Plants are Growing Taller

The tomatoes are growing well, and the boys are doing a great job keeping them well watered.

Invictus!!

Our second student has stepped up and recited a wonderful poem. His selection was penned by William Ernest Henley. Although Henley gave the poem no title, it later came to be known as Invictus. To see a brief article about the poem click here. To see an awesome recitation of the poem see below.

The Tomatoes Are Growing!!

Here are two photos of the plants. The first is from Monday and the second is from Thursday. I will post more next week as the growth continues. I devised a unique way for the boys to water the plants which I will also show next week.