A Much Better 2nd Day!

Today was a much better day!

Although before we even went downstairs this morning, Drew still told me he doesn't want to go to school or do school at home. I told him my normal answer to this...kids don't have a choice because you have to learn so many things. He assured me he already knows everything...ha! ;o)

We used these books to go along with our unit study of balloons today...Fire & Silk was about the history of the hot air balloon (first page). Two French brothers (last name Montgolfier) filled a paper bag with hot air and found that it floated up. A year later they had designed a larger balloon made out of silk and put 3 animals in the basket and sent it flying. We then read Hot Air which was a more fictional story based on the 3 animals who took that first balloon ride...a sheep, rooster & duck. The kids thought it was so funny the animals went up in the sky as test riders! :o)

After reading the stories, I had the kids design their own hot air balloons using tissue paper squares and crayons...
Drew's finished balloon...He told me the orange & green were a zig-zag and the red/white were another straight pattern.
For our science activity we used this book...Take One Balloon (25 cent garage sale find this summer).
1. Drew put a balloon on the top of each IBC rootbeer glass bottle - a blue one and a pink one (as I thought Kate would want to watch the experiment).

2. Drew placed the glass bottles in a pan and added 2" of water to the pan.

3. Mommy turned on the burner. You know...a little health lesson for burn/fire safety inserted here! :o)

4. Drew watched the water heat up - both balloons were lying flat and then one filled with air and the other followed a few seconds later.

After a few minutes the water was at a rolling boil & both balloons really expanded with the hot air! Drew begged me to find something to close the balloons with so we could take them off the bottles & see if they would rise up like real hot air balloons. I wanted to, but didn't know what to use to tie it off. The bottles were piping hot so taking them off by hand and tying them wasn't really an easy option. :o(
Drew learned that when air gets heated it takes up more space. I had him think through what was happening:

• the burner was heating the pan
• the pan was heating the water
• the water was heating the glass bottle making the air inside warm
• the warm air couldn't stay in the bottle so it went out and into the balloon

Both kids also did their reading & math work. Drew was so excited for Kate to read her first word today in Lesson #3...am!