Be Careful What You Research

It May or May Not Pay Off

As part of our yearly activities, I have had the kids do a project on an animal of their choice. The first year, the kids made dioramas to incorporate what they learned. The second year, one of the kids wrote a comic strip full of facts they had learned. This year, the younger one filled in a traditional report (habitat, diet, etc.), while the older one made a presentation on all that she researched about hedgehogs. We had discussed the possibility of allowing her to get her own hedgehog, but that we needed more information. She researched everything from how to purchase one, how to feed one, to how much it might cost per month to care for one. What a great way to end this assignment with the purchase (she used her own money) of Blizzard, the newest family member.

This process definitely proved the correlation between interest and motivation and how we all learn.


(written March 20, 2015)

The Weight of It All

What is worth more, a pound of quarters or a pound of dimes?

The kids wondered if this were true. They set out to find out. Luckily, we had a dragon-coin-bank filled with coins. They separated out a pound of quarters and a pound of dimes. Then they added up the monetary worth of the coins. Their results showed that a pound of quarters and a pound of dimes equal approximately the same amount of money (about $20).

The numbers came out to be a little different, but very, very close. The kids new this would happen, but seeing it proven through their own actions was exciting for them. They came up with their own ideas as to why the two pounds of coins might not be worth exactly the same amount:

1: the scale isn't precise

2: the coins are all used, so some might be too old and thus "rubbed" to be less weight than a new coin

3: perhaps all the coins weren't made of the same materials, depending on when they were minted

It's definitely times like these when I see "it all working" the way it's supposed. They started with a question, a curiosity, or theory. They figured out how to investigate. They came to a conclusion. They accounted for margins of error. This experience was worth a lot more.

(written July 31, 2015)