Baking

This afternoon the children chose some recipes from their cook books. As usual their choices include cakes and biscuits. L made jammy biscuits and R made banana muffins.

The Georges River

Today we took a short bush walk at the Georges River. We trekked through the forest to the Basin swimming hole and stopped for a picnic at Simmo's Beach. The water is very cold at this time of year but will be lovely when summer returns.

The Basin

Simmo's Beach

Antony & Cleopatra

For the next couple of weeks we are studying Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare. We have started with this modern, easy read version. We'll be reading some of Shakespeare's original words soon and comparing the language to modern English.

The children summed up the story on these worksheets from "Better Than Book Reports" from Scholastic.

By R

By L

Jewels

The children have been using acrylic paints and fake gems to decorate some clay beads they made for their ancient treasure box. L also made a crown from metallic cardboard.

Golden goblet and coins by L

Pendants by L

Necklace by R

Amulet by R

Storm Surge

Today we attempted to model the effects of storm surge in hurricanes. The children made a model coastal landscape with play-doh and Monopoly houses. We then added blue coloured water for the sea. Next we needed wind. We tried the hair dryer but just blowing the water seemed more effective. The low lying houses were flooded out.

Air crushing Can Experiment

Today we did an experiment to see that the air around us has pressure that is even strong enough to crush a can.

You need to heat a small amount of water in a can until it boils. The water vapour produced pushes air from the can. Quickly invert the can into cold water. The water vapour inside the can will condense causing the pressure inside to lower. The higher air pressure from outside the can is enough to crush it.

Mummy and Me

Today R and dad were at a computer programming workshop. L and I decided to have some quality time making a piece of collaborative art. This mixed media piece uses collage, acrylics, watercolours, and graphite.