Nicholas particularly liked all of the details in this book of cross sections of ships.
I have a book collection called Cornerstones of Freedom. These are great historical books and easy for elementary aged kids to read and understand. I was able to pull out my copy of "The Story of Old Ironsides" by Norman Richards for Nicholas to read during quiet time. He was really impressed to learn about this important ship and the role it played in the War of 1812 with Great Britain.
We learned about the boat Kon Tiki and its captain Thor Heyerdahl. Heyerdahl studied the historical artifacts of the Pacific Islands and South America then recreated an historical accurate boat that would have been made long ago in South America. It was named Kon Tiki for the Sun God. He and his crew sailed the Kon Tiki from South America to the Pacific Islands in an attempt to prove that the settlements of the Pacific Islands could have come from the east and not just the west, the Asia mainland, as was typically assumed.
We talked about the phrase "form follows function" and how God created ducks in just the perfect way to help them float and swim. They have oily feathers, flat bellies, and webbed feet for this purpose.
There were also several library books for Rachel. As usual, Nicholas read these to Rachel.
We had some fun with our study on boats and learned how to play Battleship. I found the game online HERE and it was easy to play.
I loved this game when I was young so it was really fun for both of us.
We also sang "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in a round as a family. I was too busy laughing to bother trying to capture it on video!
We took at field trip to a local marina so the kids could see boats in person.
This marina is really close to our house but I really just stumbled upon it.
It is rather small but perfect for our little outing.
There were a lot of ducks in the marina this day. This was perfect since we had just recently talked about ducks and how God formed their bodies in the perfect way to help them float in the water and fly in the sky.
The kids were really fascinated with watching the ducks fly around or pop their heads under the water looking for food.
My students in their classroom.
Nicholas sat down and sketched some drawings of the ducks.
Nicholas pointed out some glass floats that he had learned about in one of our library books. They are really just collector items today but they were once used by fishermen around the world to keep their fishing nets afloat. Today everyone uses styrofoam so these old glass floats were a neat find and I'm proud of him for recognizing them on his own.
A boat owner came in to the docks for supplies and he talked with us some while he was there. He talked with us about his boat and even showed us around.
Nicholas sketched a picture of the man's boat before he left.
He stopped at several other boats while we were there so he could sketch them in his journal.
Rachel just wanted to keep looking at the ducks and seagulls.
It was so peaceful out at the marina.
There was just the sound of ducks and the water lapping against the walls.
Of course, I couldn't relax too much because Rachel also liked to just run, run, run along the boardwalk so I had to run, run, run after her.
As we were leaving, there were several seagulls lined up on the handrail. My kids kept trying to sneak up close to them and then scare them off!
Thank you Twin Coves Marina for a wonderful afternoon learning about boats.
I found a great book at the library, Draw 50 Boats, Ships, Trucks, and Trains by Lee Ames. It gives step-by-step instructions on how to draw some really cool boats and ships.
Nicholas loves drawing and art work so he was excited to give it a try.
He did really well but next time he said he'll use a straight edge to help him make neater lines.
Not only is he learning how to draw but he is also learning details about how these different ships look.
We did a brief study on submarines. We used the dictionary to figure out the real meaning of the word - "sub" means under and "marine" means water.
Nicholas read two books about submarines. He learned about the early attempts at making submarines, some of the problems that had to be overcome such as buoyancy, fresh air supply, and dealing with carbon dioxide build up. He learned that the first submarine was built by Cornelius Drebbel in 1620 and it moved by human rowing.
Of course, you'll notice that there is a cool submarine LEGO creation here too. Nicholas designed this on his own after reading all about subs.
And we had a fun snack of Twinkie Submarines. Click HERE to see how we made these.
Next we'll be moving on to trusting the laws of God as they relate to flying, planes, hot air balloons, etc.
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