Gingerbread, Christmas Tree, and More Crystals!

Math:

This week we did more lessons on CTC math. I (Kaylee) am learning about different ways of solving problems- using diagrams, solving it in two parts, or solving them by solving a simple problem before the main problem. I (Landen) am learning about measuring distance in feet, yards, inches, and centimeters.

Language Arts:

We continued reading more from our book, The Lion of Mars. It is very interesting. In the story, on Mars, there are different settlements- US, French, Russia, etc. We learned that when people first started living on Mars, they made a rule that if you had any talents that could be useful on Mars, and you wanted to move there, you had to bring an orphan baby with you. They called it the Nanny Program. They had to drop the baby off at the US settlement (where the story is told), regardless where it lived on Earth, and then go to their own settlement. It was cool to learn about living on Mars. They got supplies from a robot-driven supply ship from Earth. They grew algae, which supplied their food and oxygen where they lived.

Science:

Spa Chemistry (Kaylee):

This week I made some candles. I forgot to put the wicks in the molds before I melted the wax, and so the wax was cooling while I stuck the wicks in the molds. If I took much longer, the wax would've been to hard to pour, but luckily I was fast enough!

Elementary Science (Landen):

I started the process for a new crystal. I measured and mixed the solution and placed it in a warm location. This one is in a geo mold. It will be cool to see how it turns out.

Tech:

Digital Photography (Kaylee):

This week I watched a Focusing Q&A quiz on CreativeLive. I answered along with the teacher's audience, and I got most of the answers right! I'm learning a lot!

Digital Art (Landen):

This week I used an engine for VisScratch. VisScratch is a visual novel engine on Scratch! If you don't know what a visual novel is, it's a project where you answer questions that effect the outcome of the game. It's like one of those choose-your-own-adventure books, but online. Most of the code was already done in the engine, but I changed some things, like the name, and I coded the game. I also put my name in the credits section in the project. You can find my What Color Do You Like More project here.

Elective:

Culinary Arts (Kaylee):

This week I made a Gingerbread Pull-Apart dessert from my Radish kit! I learned about the flavors of gingerbread: molasses, nutmeg, cinnamon, and, of course, ginger.

This picture is before rising. After rising, the balls were bigger.

First I made the dough and let it rise in a warm place- my room! Then I made a coating and rolled the dough balls in it. Then I made a glaze and poured in on top of the balls. Finally, I baked it. The glaze looks like barbeque sauce, but it doesn't taste like it, that's for sure! It was really good! Just the day after making it, it was half gone!

P.E. (Landen):

We went sledding with some homeschool friends and then played at the park. I also had my very last Jr. Jazz game on Saturday. 

Arts and Crafts (Emberly):

This week Kaylee printed off a coloring page for me. I colored the Christmas tree and the ornaments, then I cut out the ornaments myself and decorated it! I was going to decorate it more with the sequins we used for our masks for our September (Shakespeare) book club party, but the ornaments were big and there wasn't much room left for them. Still, it looks pretty!