Graham Cracker Heart Model by Connor

Our most recent science experiment for the year was building a model  heart !!!We used   

Marshmallows, Graham Crackers, and red and blue frosting!! Our heart  is like a two

story house it has two top chambers and two bottom chambers, and the top chambers

are called the left and right atrium and the bottom chambers are called the left and right

ventricles. We painted the left atrium and the left ventricle with red frosting!! Then we painted

the right atrium and the right ventricle blue!! For the different chambers I just explained we

used Graham crackers!! We also have Arteries connected to our heart. The Artery on top right

chamber is called the superior vena cava which is one of the largest arteries in our body!! In the    

bottom right chamber is the pulmonary artery which brings deoxygenated blood to our lungs.

We colored this blue. And on the top left chamber is the Pulmonary veins which bring

oxygenated  air to the lungs!! We used Marshmallows which we painted red for these!! And last

but not least in the bottom left chamber is the ascending aorta which is the largest arteries in

our body!!! We painted this Marshmallow red. I have had so much fun with all these intresting experiments!!

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Science Experiments (Connor)

WE recently did a model of blood!!! WE learned abought the three  different parts there

are in blood!! We used candy to display the different parts! First we put in corn syrup which was to

represent Plasma. Plasma is actually 90% water and the other 10% is little Plasma Proteins which carried

to different parts of our body, And Plasma also carry’s waste !! And the second component was Red

blood cells we used Red Hots for those!! Red blood cells are 40% of the stuff in our blood they are the

reason are blood is Red!! They also help carry Oxygen With little things they make called Hemoglobin !!

For Hemoglobin we used sprinkles and Hemoglobin as I just told you carry’s Oxygen!!!! Hemoglobin also

is What makes are blood cells red!! And last but not least we put in the White blood cell!! For the White

blood cell we used a white jelly bean!! The white blood cells jobs are to protect your body from invaders

in our body such as germs and bacteria!! Did you know every 700 red blood cells there is one white

blood cell!! Well I had much fun with this model of blood and I can’t wait until  the next experiment!! 

Butterfly Rescue (Siobhan)

 ~Butterflies and Praying Mantises~

One of our favorite science projects each year is our painted lady butterfly hatching. We buy caterpillars from Insect Lore and watch them turn into butterflies.

We've always had great success with hatching our butterflies, but this time around we had one butterfly which was born with a broken wing. Shaila is an avid animal lover, and she immediately claimed it and took care of it. She named it 'Mephibosheth' (after Jonathan's lame son that King David took in.) We set all of the other butterflies free after a few days, but Shaila kept Mephibosheth because she knew he wouldn't do well in the wild. She fed him sugar water and tamed him so that she could walk around the house with him on her finger. When he had lived a nice long life, she released him into our flowerbed out front.

We also bought a praying mantis egg sack. We had almost given up on it hatching, and we woke up to dozens of little praying mantises crawling out of their container!

Shaila and Ethan let them free by our garden so they could eat all our pests 😉

Click here to see our other butterfly hatching posts!

Chemistry with Baxter and Ethan (Siobhan)

~Chemistry~

Baxter decided to 'help' Ethan with his chemistry. He loved watching his experiments and playing with the equipment...

Making sure it's the perfect temperature 😉

Three Science Experiments By Rus Tert and Filia (Aidan, Connor, and Shaila)

~Science Experiments~

Hi. This is Rus Tert and Filia. We want to tell you about some fun experiments that we have done. First was an egg experiment showing how much weight empty chicken eggs can hold. We put lots of books on six eggs that weighed 12 and a half pounds. This shows how eggs can hold up even the largest of birds. This makes it so chicks don't go extinct from being crushed by the mothers. Birds have hollow bones making them very light weight. Leo then took some heavy weights and laid them carefully on one egg. This egg alone held up to fifteen pound total! This shows that full eggs are very strong.

We tested the strength of eggs in other ways too! We all were given eggs to squeeze. If we spread the weight out around the egg, then they were impossible to break. If we focused our strength on one part of the egg, it would shatter. Have you ever wondered why mother birds fluff out their feathers before laying down on their eggs? They are balancing their weight on their eggs so as not to break them. Another way eggs cannot be broken is if you squeeze the very tip and bottom of the egg. This is literally impossible. This shows how God designed eggs to be very sturdy.  

We also learned about bats in science. A mother bat can smell her babies even in nurseries with millions of baby bats called pups. She can also hear her pups' special sound. For a few minutes we turned into mother bats. Mom dipped cotton balls in different scents and we chose our own "baby bat". Mom spread them all over the rug. Some smells were pleasant, and some...not so much. Some made our heads ache, and some not. We found our pups after a little sniffing, and searching. This experiment God designed mother bats very well. I'd rather leave smelling to mother bats!

Owl Pellet Dissection (Aidan)

Hi. I’m Rus. Two days before Mom and Dad’s anniversary, we did a very fun science experiment. We are studying flying creatures in our science this year, and one of the experiments was taking apart owl pellets. Connor, Shaila, and I waited a while for them to arrive in the mail, and we were very excited when they did. We could not wait for the evening when we could dissect them. I had never seen an owl pellet before, and I was surprised to find how much fluffy stuff was packed into it. Before we started dissecting, we laid newspaper out on the table, and took out Ethan’s dissecting set that he used for his science labs. Mom bought five owl pellets, so Ethan showed how to open them up with the extra one. We all took a pellet and began to dissect. As I slowly opened it layer by layer, I found many more bones than I had ever expected. My greatest find was a few jawbones and an almost complete bird skull. After I had ripped the whole pellet apart, I searched through the pieces for bones. Most of my time was spent searching, and finally, I could not find any more bones. I noticed while I was dissecting that the kids had taken off their gloves. They had not been so sure before, but they were very enthusiastic now. Ethan identified many of our discoveries, and he dissected two pellets because of his meager finds in his first. I laid out my pellets in one long line. After I finished my line, I sorted the bones onto paper. We had a great regional meal after that (Mom wants me to mention that we SCRUBBED the table first! J), but that has been posted about already. We had a lot of fun with our owl pellets.

By: Aidan
Age: 11 (6th Grade)

Post 24 Veterinary Exploring Group: Update (by Ethan)

~Post 24 Veterinary Group~

Having aspired for a number of years to become a veterinarian, I joined a New Hampshire veterinary group led by Exploring-- a nationwide organization that provides hands-on experience in a number of career fields.  As a part of this group, I have served as both Vice President and President, attending a variety of field trips, shadowing opportunities, and veterinary lectures.  Our Exploring Post is fortunate to be headed by an especially accomplished veterinarian, who not only specializes in three different fields, but is one of the few avian practitioners in New England.  During the two years that I have been a part of this group this veterinarian's versatility has provided me with some truly unique opportunities.  One such opportunity took place at our most recent meeting, when a bald eagle was rushed in for an emergency operation.  As fascinating as it was to see this beautiful bird up close, I couldn't help being amused as I watched technicians scrambling around to pick up a couple of stray feathers.  They later explained that, as property of the state, anyone found in possession of a bald eagle's feather could face a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.  While I was a little tempted to stick one in my pocket on my way out, I decided it wasn't worth the risk.  I look forward to more such opportunities as I continue to pursue my interests with this incredible program.

 

 This rehabilitated eagle is being released from captivity.  

Lunch Break and Pond Water at the Boat Launch (Siobhan)

Lunch Break at the Boat Launch

I just found these pictures from earlier in the summer.

Not many people can spend their lunch break going out to a boat launch to collect some pond samples, but that is exactly what we did!

 Leo and Elim have been doing Apologia Biology this year, and they were studying organisms that live in pond water. Elim, Leo, and I took all the kids and walked down the Northern Rail Trail (which is just a couple houses down our street) to the boat launch where we collected some samples of the water and took lots of pictures! 

The Boat Launch!

Above (left) is a picture of our jars for the pond water cultures. One was pond water in straw, another in egg, etc. 

 (Later Leo and Elim made slides of all the different samples of pond water and looked at them under a microscope.)

While Leo collected the samples, the rest of us walked on the beach.

 Little Lux is such a character! He takes after Tert with his silliness.

 Tert and Filia

Heading back home :)