Our friend Cynthia Ware sent us some of their family’s kid books that they don’t use anymore. This science experiment book was one of them. Being that I am more of the artsy type and not so much the science/math type, I’ve decided to incorporate this book into our homeschooling. I need the help.
My friend Abbi has been working through a cupcake recipe book, and she has inspired me to do the same with some of the books we have sitting on our shelves. (We’re doing this with art some too. I’ll have to share about that in another post.)
Right now we’re doing Science on Wednesday. Last Wednesday we did two experiments. One of them was with oil and water.
Love it that I actually managed to catch their surprised expressions. I must admit here, I was thinking science was pretty dang cool too.
And pretty! Who knew?
This was the second experiment. First we put a ball of clay in the water and it sank, just like the marbles did. Then we had to make the clay into a boat, so that not only would it not sink, it would also hold the marbles. I COULDN’T GET IT TO WORK! Every time I tried to put my clay boat in the water it would sink. Those horrible high school feelings came rushing over me. I instantly remembered when I failed my egg-drop physics assignment. I started hearing in my head, “See? You aren’t any good at science. What made you think you could teach your kids science?”
But I don’t give up easily, and my kids were cheering me on. So we finally figured it out. And can I tell you how excited we all were? It just takes some trial and error (much like art) and some creative thinking (totally like art.) I think I like this science stuff.
Luther was watching too. He’ll use anything as an excuse to stand on a chair. Eventually our boat filled with water and it sank. Then the kids all worked with the clay to try and fashion their own floating boat.
Tomorrow is another Wednesday. Another science experiment. Another challenge, no doubt, for me. But, I actually think it’s helping me as an artist to make my brain think in creative ways it usually doesn’t. I’m telling myself this anyway.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
You need to watch Good Eats and that could totally count as science! then you could make the food for more science fun.
Awesome! It makes me smile when you say I inspire you. I hope you know that you inspire ME every day. Sounds like a fun book! And I LOVE the shot of their surprised faces. How fun!
And…don’t feel like a science failure…how do you think most scientific things were discovered in the first place?! Trial and LOTS of error. I once read a biography on Thomas Edison. The man invented things we use in our every day lives and he talks over and over about the hundreds and hundreds of failures it took to make one working light bulb!
In fact, I’ve come to call my baking adventures “experiments”…that way, perfection isn’t expected. If something ‘fails’, it’s not a failure, just an experiment that gave me unsatisfactory results.
Try that lingo on for size. No more ‘fail’! 
You should try making flubber, that one is fun.
BTW, I love reading about your life! But it’s made even better by your wonderful images, especially the one of your kids with their surprised faces, their expressions are priceless!