First Day of School

Well, the first day of school was yesterday but of course I didn't get anything posted here about it.  So I'm already a day behind!

Here's the "official" first day of school photos for Landon and Kennady:

He's totally patronizing me! 

Her smile is still pretty genuine!

Our first day went fairly well, with everyone (including Kennady - her first time using an alarm clock!) up on time.  We started off with the daily chores assigned, then Harrison went off to work on his assignments while I did school with the other three.  After a chapter of our current read-aloud (we took a long break, but are nearing the end of Prince Caspian), we got right into Science.  This year we are all studying Physics.  Harrison will be using different books and doing some of his work on his own.  The younger three are starting the year with God's Design for the Physical World: Machines & Motion

The first lesson introduced us to the topic of mechanics - naturally the kids were at first thinking about all kinds of motorized machines, so we talked about a more simple definition, and discussed mechanical advantage.  We also talked about the basic types of motion - straight line, arc and circular - and how gravity affects the motion of objects.  We completed a worksheet to help us observe different types of motion and assess what forces were in effect.

1.  straight line motion - was observed when we rolled a ball on a level surface.  The forces were forward motion from Landon's hand, and friction with the floor.



2.  straight line motion - was observed when we dropped a ball.  The force was gravity.



3.  arc motion - was observed when we hit a tennis ball into the open.  The forces were forward motion from the tennis racquet, and gravity.

4.  arc motion in opposite directions - was observed when we hit the tennis ball against a wall.  The forces were forward motion from the racquet, bounce (reflection) from the wall, and gravity.



5.  circular motion - was observed when we tied the ball to a string and swung it around.  There was some debate over whether it was straight line or arc motion when we let go of the ball.  The forces were pull on the string, momentum, and gravity.

Of course we did a little Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic too.



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