Math Wizards Club

Alex has joined the Math Wizards Club. Each day a new math challenge is posted. Participants receive tickets for correct answers. Each week there is a winner. Plus, there is a monthly grand prize winner. Alex loves math, but I think he is really motivated by the prizes. If anyone is interested the link is below:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mathwizards4to8/

Sunflowers

Alex's plants continue to grow in his garden. The sunflowers are particularly beautiful.

The petunias and the carrots which can be seen in the background are also doing very well.

Flower Model

Alex is studying flowers in his botany class. He made a clay model of a flower to illustrate its various parts.

First he made a stem and a leaf.

Then, he made the calyx and the corolla (all the petals together).

Finally, he added the carpel and the stamens.

I was very proud of Alex's work on this project because he did it without any help whatsoever.

Good job Alex!

Acapulco

Tiffany had some friends visit from the States and we took everyone to Acapulco.


Alex was very happy to be one of the "big" kids.


When we all hit the beach, Alex decided that the "big" kids were boring. So, he and I played in the ocean while . . .

the others worshiped the sun god.

Later, the girls went dancing while Mommy prayed . . .

. . . and prayed . . .

. . . and then prayed some more.

We all had a great time!

Geologic Time

As part of Alex's history class, he has been studying geologic time. First, he did a project which helped him to understand time sequencing as well as the difference between numerical time and relative time. Alex examined several events in his life and placed them in order from earliest to latest. This gave him his sequential timeline. Then, he assigned a numerical date to each event giving him a numerical timeline. Finally, he divided the events of his life into time intervals, "Preschoolian" and "Schoolian" giving him his relative timeline. He really enjoyed seeing his life events placed into such grand categories and I enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

Alex also studied the concept of a billion. He calculated that if he saved $100 per day, it would take him 27,397 years and 95 days to save a billion dollars. This was somewhat discouraging for him. He also caculated that if he wanted to count to a billion, it would take him 95.12 years given that he was able to say a number every 3 seconds. He decided that he had no desire to do so.

Northern and Southern Hemispheres

The Journey North Mystery Class project continues. Today, Tiffany and Alex examined how the amount of sunlight changes in the northern and southern hemispheres during the year. After plotting their data on a master graph, they were able to determine which of the mystery classes are located in the northern hemisphere and which are located in the southern hemisphere. They also found that one of the mystery classes is located very near the equator while another is located near antarctica.

Football Practice

The coaches had a brief planning session and then practice began. Alex really engages in practice. He pays attention and then does his best to do what he is told. I wish that he would "engage" more at home. The focus today, after they did some drills to warm up, was how to hold and catch the ball. Alex really likes football practice. I think that he has found his "thing".

Crayon Etching

Alex just finished a project in his art class that he really enjoyed. The goal was to learn how texture adds detail and interest to a work. He first used crayons to color a large rectangle. Then, he covered the colored area with black paint. Finally, he used different "tools" to etch his drawing. I think he did a fantastic job!