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Eagle

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Posts posted by Eagle

    Is Quark Chronicles secular friendly?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    It's not that I feel this "single verb choice is a 'subtle creationist reference' that will indoctrinate your children" ,in fact, I have absolutely no worry that my kids reading a book from a creationist point of view will be indoctrinated. However, it's not just "subtle creationist reference" it is an inaccurate portrayal of an important scientific point; flowers are not "designed that way" they have adapted in order to survive. And while I can simply insert this information in instances such as this, it makes me wonder what other misrepresentations might there be.

     

    Perhaps this might help. Here is a section from Quark Botany about plant adaptations. I believe the quote is small enough to be ok within the fair use laws, but if someone thinks I should cut it down please let me know. I want to ensure there is context.

     

    “How does that help us fight these carnivorous plants?†Tom asked. He was such a collector of facts that he sometimes had difficulty piecing them together into a coherent tapestry of understanding.

     

    “Consider all of their facets. Yes, I know you have stated that no such plant exists upon your home planet of Earth, but there are certainly consistencies. Take the bulb for instance. It’s filled with a syrupy liquid, which is the stored water and food of the plant. Many plants have the ability to store food and water for long periods of time. It is an adaptation that assists them in living in lands that have scant resources, or long, alternating periods of plenty and want, such as deserts.â€

     

    “Oh, like a cactus,†Joe said. “They can store up water when it rains to use during the long times when it doesn’t rain.â€

     

    “And they have a waxy covering that keeps their leaves from drying out and transpiring that moisture,†Sally added. “Otherwise all their ability to store water would be useless.â€

     

    “I get it,†Tom said. “So often a plant will have multiple adaptations that work together to aid it in its given environment.â€

     

    There are some plants that adapt to catching food and digesting it for nutrients when they grow in poor soil...

    “We’ve got this problem back on Earth with invasive species,†Tom interjected. “That’s when you take a species that has adapted to very harsh conditions and put it into an environment with conditions that are much easier. They thrive there and can out-compete the more native species, causing the losers to diminish or even go extinct...

    • Like 3

    Is Quark Chronicles secular friendly?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I looked it up myself because I was also curious.

    Thanks, that's the one instance I found too. It didn't seem like an intentional word choice to me to indicate the flowers were designed by someone, rather that the flower has that design. I thought maybe I had missed something big somewhere because I think it is wholly unfair to categorize the book as "not 100% secular-friendly" based on that. I have read the entire book and found no instance with any subtle (or not subtle) bias against evolution.

     

    (At the start of the year, my 8 and 9 year old could care less about plants. Now they are really interested in plants! I thank Quark for lighting that fire. :) ) Just my 2 cents.

    My kitchen and deck are littered with seedlings, potted plants, plants in jars, seeds germinating in bags, etc. My ds is so excited about plants that we are planning a fairly major yard project so we can create a garden space for him. This is thanks to Quark and Tops Science. I hate to think we might have passed on this book based on the comments in this thread. It is one of the highlights of our year and we hope to have the same success with Quark Zoology this summer (although I have pointed out to ds that we are not getting a lot of pets to go along with it!)

    Is Quark Chronicles secular friendly?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I am planning to use this for the next year botany class for DS9, so I read the book. Before reading, I also felt that there was no real need to include evolution. However, there was one chapter in the book that is a perfect place to discuss evolution, and it kind of tries to address different way plants adapt to conditions and competition, but instead of going there it says that some flowers are designed this way, and others are designed that way. It did feel a little wrong to me. So, it is not 100% secular-friendly, but I hope it's secular enough for my kids who after 3 years in a Catholic school turned into atheists and catch on every little bit of anything remotely not secular. So, I'll definitely use it, but not as a spine, but as an enticing book to kick-start the class.

    Can you please provide a page number to this section or a quote so I can read the portion where it references things being designed?

    Typing: How long did it take for your child to become proficient?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Ds (8) has been learning typing for about 15 months. The first year we were very casual about it and he made slow progress. Then at some point this year he became very interested in it and started to practice every day for about 20 minutes. He now averages 18-20 wpm with 97%+ accuracy. Being motivated to want to type really made a big difference in the effort he put into it. He wasn't just putting in the time, he was actively trying hard. (not saying your dc aren't trying hard, it is just a change I noticed in ds that corresponded with increased success.)

    Any Fort McMurray Boardies? Are you all right?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    There are so many stories of bravery and inspiration coming out of this tragedy, but this one really speaks to me about the heart of the community:

     

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/close-brush-with-flames-staff-at-alberta-school-bring-students-through-wildfire/article29933292/

     

    An elementary school needed to evacuate and the school buses couldn't get to the school due to all the traffic of people fleeing. The staff of the school used their own vehicles to get seventy students to safety (the others had been picked up by parents). None of the staff were able to go to their own homes to collect anything because they were helping the children. Their neighbourhood burned to the ground. I can't imagine how scared those children would haven been driving beside the walls of flame and not knowing where their parents were, and how frantic the parents would have been when they couldn't reach the school. They all made it out safely thanks to those staff members.

    • Like 5

    Which curriculum has really outstanding notebooking pages?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I found it was better for me to simply create a notebook page any time we needed one rather than go with a pre-made one that only partially fit what I wanted. I set up a few templates in Mac Pages (I'm sure you could do something similar on Windows) -- lined page with single photo in corner, lined page with photo and diagram, lined page with large drawing box, etc. I then bought a few borders which I can swap in depending on the theme.

     

    Ds loves picking a border and helping me use google images to select a relevant photo or diagram. Sometimes we grab an image from supercoloringpages.com to add a line drawing ds can colour.

     

    It isn't as quick as printing something ready-made, but it only takes a few minutes. In the amount of time I used to search for a suitable page elsewhere, I can now make a custom one that is exactly what we want.

    When you hate your kid's homework...

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    If it makes you feel better, my invention for that project in school was cookware that could be used in the microwave, on the stovetop and go in the freezer. Complete with rubber lids for freezer/fridge storage. My teacher gave me a mediocre grade because she said it would be impossible to have a material that could withstand stovetop heat and the freezer.

     

    I feel vindicated that I have a freezer stocked full of those containers today.

    • Like 12

    Your opinion: criminals who have served their sentence

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    There is a bit of a furor in a part of Canada right now because the citizens have just found out that one of the parents whose kids attend the local elementary school is an infamous criminal. She was convicted of abducting, raping, and murdering two teenagers as well as her own sister. She entered a plea bargain to help convict her husband and received a reduced sentence of 12 years (video tapes surfaced later that proved her willing involvement but by then it was too late). In any event, she was released about ten years ago and has since changed her name and had three children.

     

    Do you think people in the community have a right to know someone with this type of criminal past is in their neighbourhood, or should the person have a chance at a new life once they serve their time? Would you feel comfortable knowing your children were friends with a convicted killer's children and perhaps had spent time at their house?

     

    Here is a link to the story:

    http://www.edmontonsun.com/2016/04/19/quebec-town-upset-to-learn-karla-homolka-living-among-them

    • Like 1

    Botany Unit

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We just finished a similar study! We read through an ever growing pile of library books, did a few experiments, and made some notebook pages. I loved it and learned so much myself. I think my dc picked up a few things, too.

    Here is the link to my blog post showing what we used.

    Thanks for sharing your plant study Angela. I love the notebook pages your dc did! We do notebooking too and I love to see great examples like yours for inspiration.

    Physics of Flying (and Falling)

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted · Edited by Eagle

    The New Way Things Work (David Macaulay) has quite a bit of information about flight.

     

    We have the Usborne book 100 Paper Planes to Fold and Fly. It is not too difficult. There are only a few styles of plane to learn to fold, but lots of nice papers to make into your planes.

     

    Ds loved the book Galileo's Leaning Tower Experiment. It might go nicely with your egg drop experiments.

     

    I have The Flying Machine Book on my list to purchase for next year, as well as Flight by Von Hardesty.

     

    The picture book "Rosie Revere, Engineer" is adorable, contains a great message, has a female engineer main character, and is about a flying machine!

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