Smart Play Home School Group

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 10, 2007

SCIENCE 2 - learned about pulleys. fixed pulleys don't move when you pull on the rope and moveable pulleys do move. it takes less force to move an object up and down using a pulley than just using your hands. we also set up a block and tackle with 2 pulleys to show how that works. they did well answering all the questions and taking the assessment. they had fun setting the pulley up outside on my playland - they all want to build a tree house now so they can set a pulley up there.

HISTORY 2 - learned about what Juvenal (a Roman satirist) called "bread and circuses" - a way for the government to distract people from economic hardship by giving them cheap grain and entertainment. the Circus Maximus was a large oval amphitheatre 7 football fields long where chariot races were held. the Colosseum was where Romans watched gladiators fight each other to the death. they also watched animals fight each other, gladiators fight animals, or people get thrown to wild animals as a punishment. the gladiators were mostly slaves and criminals who trained in order to put on a good show. a small number were actually volunteers who thought it would be glamorous to be a gladiator. the boys were upset that the Romans thought this was fun to watch and they were disturbed that most gladiators didn't have a choice about fighting. they liked the story of Androcles and the Lion because it had a happy ending - Isaac said it made him want to cry, it was such a nice story. we looked at a lot of pictures of the Colosseum and we made a small model of it. they have coloring pages they can finish in their folders. we looked at footage of a recent volcano erupting. they did pretty well on the unit assessment. they all did a great job on their presentations - they asked good questions of each other and did well trying to answer the questions. I'd like to do more of these- they seemed proud of themselves when they were finished.

PARTY - Can everyone make it to the Halloween party if we change it to Sat. Nov. 3rd? Scott has a work party on Oct. 27th. We could have it around 3 or 4 and roast marshmallows and wear costumes. Let me know...

Tonight's the big night - many prayers for an easy delivery Ranae! See you tomorrow - Rachelle