Van Gogh in the Making

Delegate Count

Water Cooler Cannon

I can see one of my students inventing this. I am almost
surprised none of them hasn't thus far. Tuesday night at our
Science World's Fair I can't wait to see what they have imagined!

This new cannon uses water coolers. To blow down walls. Hum..

I have requests to do the Egg Drop Contest next or I might
have to try something like this. It has me thinking...
Chris

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,335801,00

Time for the Peeps

The first Peep met his fate in 1M HCl (gastric acid strength).
The second Peep met his fate in 18M Sulfuric Acid. This did cook the sugar
coating into a black carbon uck factor.
The third Peep bobbed happily in Acetone and the fourth bobbed almost as
happily in Lye.

As usual none of the Peeps dissolved over the 2 hour period of time.

Now do YOU want to eat one of these?
Chris

Revenge of the Peeps - Sacrifice of the Gummy Bears

This year I brought Gummy Bears to see if they could stand up to the chemical treatment we had put the Peeps to in the past. The green Gummy Bear faced his demise bravely and hung on for 2 hours in 1 M HCl (about the same at Gastic Acid). However, the red Gummy Bear #2 did not fare nearly as well and dissolved almost immediately in 18 M Sulfuric Acid. The next two Gummy Bears survived much longer in Acetone and Lye. The Peeps seemed much relieved to be watchers on for the time being - but now it was their turn..Part II upcoming....

Curving Space and Time

Not that I entirely understand this myself...

"The more I study science the more I believe in God."

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

"The deeper one penetrates into nature's secrets, the greater

becomes one's respect for God."

"I want to know how God created this world. I am

not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum

of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the

rest are details."

"We are in the position of a little child entering a huge

library filled with books in many different languages. The

child knows someone must have written these books.

It does not know how. It does not understand the

languages in which they are written. The child dimly

suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of

the books, but doesn't know what it is.

That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most

intelligent human being toward God. We see a Universe

marvellously arranged and obeying certain laws, but only

dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds cannot

grasp the mysterious force that moves the

constellations."

Albert Einstein

But, then as I study sometimes, I think I too should go back to
playing in mudpuddles! I understand them oh so much better than
the grand scheme of the universe.
Chris

Psalm 19

"The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour out speech;
night after night
they communicate knowledge.
There is no speech; there are no words;
their voice is not heard.
Their message has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends
of the inhabited world.

In the heavens He has pitched a tent
for the sun.
It is like a groom coming from
the bridal chamber;
it rejoices like an athlete
running a course.
It rises from one end of the heavens
and circles to their other end;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

The instruction of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy,
making the inexperienced wise.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
making the heart glad;
the commandment of the Lord
is radiant,
making the eyes light up.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are reliable
and altogether righteous.
They are more desirable than gold -
than an abundance of pure gold;
and sweeter than honey-
then honey dripping from the comb.
In addition, Your servant is warned by them;
there is great reward in keeping them.

Who perceives his unintentional sins?
Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
Moreover, keep Your servant
from willful sins;
do not let them rule over me.
Then I will be innocent,
and cleansed from blatant rebellion.

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to You,
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Amen. Pax.

I've Been Tagged

By De'Etta and I'm supposed to posted from page 123 of the nearest book

(which will have to be the current book I'm reading nearby because I am in

the book/computer room and it is FULL of books) -

RULES:

Open book to page 123. Find Sentence number 5. Post the next

three sentences. And then tag 5 more people.

My Book is "A Field Guide to Germs" by Wayne Biddle.

Sentence 6-8 (this is on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever)

"...A physician in Great Falls, Montana, with the perfect name of

Earl Strain, first perceived an association of the symptoms with tick

bites in 1902. Then the illustrious...."

(I won't leave you hanging...the next illustrious guy to study it died

from it..)

I tag: Beth

Debbie

Liz

Ginger

Jen

Golden Book of Chemistry

This is the book that unleashed it all. I started my love of Chemistry with this book. But it is not a simple Childhood book - there are no comparable books on the market today like it. The experiments described in this book are demonstrations that might be done by a High School Chemistry teacher

like myself (and I do some from this book!) but only with the greatest

caution would one want a child to do them. The chemicals used are now

almost impossible to get but in the Sixties one could still buy these sorts of things.

I bought my supplies from Spivey's Hobby Shop in West End or from

the Drug Store. When I was in the 6th grade my then 11th grade

cousin called to ask if I knew how to make any rocket propulsion and

I told her a nice chemical formula (that I still know and will refrain from

writing out for fear someone will try it - it is very simple to do IF you can

get the chemicals). She called back a few days later to tell me her

Chemistry teacher was quite alarmed and asked her where she got the

information. She told him and he told her to go take my

Chemistry set away from me. She was laughing. I was not.

I still have my copy of this book. It is now worth between $400-$500.00.

On Ebay they are calling it the book they Banned in the Sixties.

(I didn't know that). It does have one strange page that shows

1) how to make Chlorine gas and

2) a picture of how to smell the stuff.

Now even *I* knew that was flat out stupid. I never tried that one.

Recently I finished reading "The Radioactive Boy Scout" by Ken Silverstein

and the young man in this book also got his start from reading

"The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments".

However he didn't decide to go to college and major in Pharmacy as I did..

He decided to build a nuclear reactor in his back yard. He had no siblings

so I guess he could do this undiscovered. My sister or two brothers surely

would have been my undoing should I have tried something like this

plus I did not have the money he did to buy the batteries, smoke detectors,

etc to take apart to get the necessary ingredients.

It was interesting to read how much he did and where he found

all the "stuff" he needed. (From a parent's point of view -

Where WERE THEY??) While he never got his reactor up and

running suffice it to say the neighborhood glowed for quite a while

and the clean up was costly.

It was sort of a trip down memory lane but with a totally different outcome.

Thank God for that!

Chris

Science Fair Time Again

That time of year again.

I provide the guidance and supplies. I have Jessica get the idea. And this year she came up with a good one - I never want to eat fast food again - well at least for a while. She is seeing how

clean various places in town are/might be. We ate at

Chick Fil A on Friday night, McDonalds on Satuday morning,

Taco Bell for lunch and at Arbys for supper. Ugh. I gained 100 pounds. She swabbed the table top, the condiment counter, the restroom door handle

and the outside door handle. Four places. Now we wait to see if any bacteria grows. She will photograph each day. Her technique was good and I had her prepare the petri dishes (I only provided the bare dishes and the agar and the sterile swabs. Hometrainingtools.com!)

Of course if this turns out badly, ALL of us may never eat at these places again!

smiles, Chris

The Election

Liz G. and daughter Kate design but MY idea (ahem). I wasn't serious
but apparently Liz liked the idea. (Come to think of it now that I'm staring at
it so do I but I don't even think I can influence the Almighty to come back a wee bit
earlier than He plans to. So I shall write in Jack Bauer. Just a fill in for the
time being. Sort of. NO comparison I mean ...at all! (I don't want anyone to be
confused about my theology!) Chris

A Trip to the Post Office

Today I took a load of books to mail to
the Post Office. When I walked in there was only
one postal clerk there. Fortunately she only had
one customer. Unfortunately before she had finished
waiting on him, seven other people walked in behind me.
She called for help from the back (but I know from past
experience just how quickly sometimes they are to
actually COME from the back) so I started telling
people to go ahead of me as I had a LOT of boxes and
none of them had much of anything - most wanted stamps.
After a couple, a new clerk came out and all moved to her
window....all but one little old lady. I looked at her and she
looked at me. She said, "I just need a stamp." So I said to
her, "Of course, please go ahead of me." So she hands Kay her
"envelope" and Kay puts a stamp on it and tells her, "41 cents".
The lady acts stunned. The little old lady says loudly, "But it's
a post card!" (It didn't appear to be a post card.). Kay tells her
it was folded over and thus needed a letter stamp. Lady fusses that
it SAYS it will mail for post card rate. Kay gives in and takes stamp
off and asks for 26 cents. I'm growing older by the minute waiting.
Lady then says, loudly, "I HAD stamps at home. But I didn't have
Post Card postage so I came to the Post Office to save money. If
I thought I had to pay full price I could have mailed it from home.".
(Now there are no houses near enough to the Post Office that she
could have walked...plus it was like 40 degrees outside and dropping
and raining. SO she had to DRIVE in a car to get TO the Post Office...)
And by now you HAVE to be thinking the same thing Kay and I both
were thinking...Right....

Chris

Spreading Germs

Today in the 6th Grade Science class I sprinkled the top of an iceberg head of lettuce with "germs" (actually glow in the dark powder). I then cut through the lettuce with a "dirty" knife (also sprinkled with powder). This was to demonstrate how easily the germs are spread into the lettuce and then when we eat the lettuce - into US. I may have turned the kids against salads which was NOT the point - I told them to make sure the veggies and fruits were washed well before cutting. (Of course they love the black light!). Chris

Alabama vs. Auburn Women's Basketball

Sunday Afternoon, Jan. 28th, Tuscaloosa AL
We took Jessica and two of her friends to T-town to
a women's basketball game. Amy met us there.
With tickets only $5.00 each we felt like this was a
College sport we could afford and there was a fairly
nice crowd. I even went dressed in red and white -a first
for me. It was hard to not really cheer for Auburn though
and sadly I didn't really succeed. Auburn's team is
very good (See final score). Our "point guard" - the tallest
woman on the team just about - is very good and
Bonner scored her highest score ever - 27 points
on Sunday. I thought she might want to apply for the
Auburn's men's team because they could use her help.
(See photo her shooting on my photo blog).

The girls had a lot of fun anyway and we ate at some local
"famous" wing place.

I tried to teach them a new cheer but they weren't
interested in learning, "It's great to be an Auburn Tiger.."

We tried to tell Amy she didn't have to come but she did
anyway. Photo is of her reading her book. She did look up
at the game now and then. I rather think she enjoyed it too.

The guy in front of me had the War Eagle shirt on.

Nice friendly crowd. Men's basketball is a lot rowdier.
(Is that a word??). It was nice to SIT for a game...
Chris

A Visit to Tuscaloosa

A Lesson on Motion

The Physical Science class had fun with the idea of "balloon powered cars" and Newton's 3rd law (for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction).

But I got a lot more action and QUICKLY in Chemistry. I had finished lecturing on

the quantum model of the atom and had dealt out cards to pairs of students

for them to try to duplicate how Mendeleev made the

original Periodic table. They were working hard to

figure it all out when one student looked outside

and noted with great exclamation that it was snowing!

Top photo is what happened next. I lost my class. All I

had left were cards on the table. (It didn't stick and it

didn't last but it IS cold here tonight. Maybe more

will fall tonight..)

Chris

Hitting a Sale

For the Book business. Boxes are getting to be a big expense.
Well, one of those office supply stores (I will withhold names) was
having a sale this week. Buy 2 boxes and get 1 free. So I bought 10
boxes of various sizes and got 5 free. Only when I got to the checkout
line with my 15 boxes the cashier was very concerned. She vowed I was
cheating myself. That at buy 2 get 1 free I should be getting an even number
of boxes. I assured her I was fine. She kept telling me to go get another box
of each size. I kept telling her I was fine. People were lining up fast behind
us. They were staring at me. I was trying not to laugh.
She called the store manager (I'm not making this up.)
The store manager comes over. She repeats - This lady is buying 2 and getting 1
free - shouldn't she be getting an even number of boxes? The store manager
agrees with her. I looked at them both and said, "Look, I'm happy. Can I go now?"

They let me go.

Should I have taken advantage of them or not? I wouldn't have been able to
live with my conscience. I know they made fun of me all day. On the other
hand I have another, "It's better to homeschool" story.
Chris

This and That

I babysat again the other day. I read "Madeline" to Darcy - five times.
She asked a LOT of questions. And I'm sure she will be asking her daddy
to put one of those nice cranks (old hospital bed cranks if you haven't read
the book in some time) on her bed as she thought that was a really neat idea.
"Why are all the other girls afraid of the lion?" "Are you afraid of lions, Darcy?"
"No - we need to go to the zoo" (Yes we do when it warms up).
"What did the doctor do with her appendix".
"He threw it away"
"In his doctor's trash can?"
"Yes, Darcy"
"Oh"

Not the sort of questions I would have thought of (like why is the nun dressed so
differently). I shall take more Madeline books next visit. This could be fun.

Later I went to the Thrift Store only to discover they had let the new book stocker
go (she actually "quit" but I'm sure it was under duress). I knew she wouldn't last.
She was much too intelligent for that store. Imagine wanting to keep the
educational books! That visit and once more yesterday are the only 2 times I've
been in since she's been gone. Both times the floor manager has come up to me
to express how great the new book stocker is. (They know I'm one of the best
book customers and they know I liked the former stocker.). Well, I've said
absolutely nothing to the floor managers each time but the cashiers say it all.
They've snorted each time the managers walk off.
I've met the new stocker (once). She's mexican. Now I have nothing against the
hispanics but she speaks no English. I'm wondering how on earth she is going
to stock English title books. Neatly I guess. And with no flack back to the
managers.

I shall be driving to Midfield where they actually care about books more often.
It's 30 miles but worth the drive.
Chris

Another Sunday Visit

Our Sunday visits are always interesting but I love the photos I got yesterday. The unspoken "talk" between mom and Darcy. The book reading that Jeremiah is sharing with Uncle Michael is precious...Jeremiah has really taken to books now. All 3 little ones love their Uncle Michael and I'm not sure he knows what to make of it all. He is so serious and they are not. And they are loud and will make SURE they have your attention. Jeremiah kept throwing books at him wanting him to read. Michael didn't get the hint until finally Jeremiah just crawled into his lap and opened the book. I had to read about 4 books to Darcy and Jacob as well. (It was a bit hard to photograph that..). I'm glad we have books. Of course Darcy WANTED to fingerpaint but I convinced her we'd do that another day.

All of Creation..

"This most beautiful system could only proceed from the dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being" Isaac Newton

"My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour." Isaac Newton