ODONTOLOGY forensic science day

SAFETY FIRST includes:

a clay nostril covering to avoid burnt tooth powder odor.

So glad to be at THURSDAY!
here is our day:I swept the back porch after stepping on a thorn. barefoot.
9AM- Ninja Training. our Magic Number was 15. We did Push Ups, butterfly Sit-ups, Floating Leaf, Frog Stretches, The Mantis Pose, and jump rope.
10AM- Odontology: each boy had a tooth to investigate. Draw a detailed picture, label areas, name tooth type, cut tooth open and use magnifying glass to look at internal structure.All boys did a great job. They used different magnifying apparatuses and drew good pictures. they identified their teeth. Connor had a canine, the others had premolars.

KI

The Above Drawing is Gavin's
http://www.uic.edu/classes/orla/orla312/PREMOLAR.htm

Dremel was used. I think the boys had a lot of fun! They tried a tiny hacksaw and chisel and hammer. it was good to start the cutting with the dremel then use the chisel to finish the job. It was cool! They found the pulp chamber and what looked like a left over nerve or vessel sticking out. Shining the UV light on the teeth, esp the insides, was neat, too!

GAV

CON NOR

Plus we scraped the cavity tooth and looked at the decay under a microscope- after looking at the cavity with magnifying glasses and writing down some details. THIS was NEAT!!!! but, no pictures. sorry.
I found the mold/cast of the teeth- the dentist gave me.. but I can NOT find the X-ray! darn darn. We made our own casts and checked out X-rays online and found cat teeth Xrays.
Ki made Brownies.
Gavin made Guacamole.


That was the fun part of the day. Now they will do their math and reading on their own.
MORE FORENSIC POSTS: ** Pics of making our own Fingerprint powder and using it: CLICK HERE

** Click to see our "real Crime Scene Processing" CLICK HERE

** Check Out Pictures from our Cake Mystery and Shoe Impression by clickingHERE (shoes, foam, & cake).

** Our Tool Mark Analysis Activity -> CLICK HERE

** Blood Forensics --> CLICK HERE

** Anthropology --> CLICK HERE

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UN-DAY

Today I asked K to make dinner for me. I then sent G to the store to get a few things for dinner. I had no cash, so I told G to use his own money & dad would pay him back. I think that means I am no longer in the running for Mom of the Year.
Today I jumped out of bed at 8AM and drove to the store to get berries and whipped cream to go with the crepes Ki made for breakfast. Thing is, I needed a shower, had mismatched clothes, and was still asleep, so I took Connor with me. It took the kid almost 20 minutes to find strawberries and whipped cream! I should have taken a fast shower and gone myself!
Today, I was wishing Starbucks delivered. Instead I rode my bike there, bought a Venti Toffee Nut w/ extra espresso, and carried it home. on my bike. I learned that I am not good at braking with 1 hand. I only lost 1 sip though.
Today I planned some school for next week. It will not be unschool this month. I will be having G use a Writing Essentials CD Rom to brush up on his grammar. C&K will be using a Writing Master CD Rom. I am having them start with chapter 5: Creative Writing. It sounded the most fun interesting. In Other areas of School: MATH. G&C will be doing www.aleks.com. G's Math Goal for next week: so some math everyday and have mastered 8 new topics by Friday. C's assigned math is 45 minutes a day on Aleks. Ki will be doing Life of Fred with me daily.
Today I did some of the Writing CD Roms myself so I could accurately tell the boys what to do and where to click. I use to think I was good decent at grammar. Alas, I do not understand what a FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE verb is. (but I know gerund phrases and predicate nominatives!)
Today I found the memory card for my camera on my bookshelf. But I did not take any pictures.


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aMAZEing Day

OH My,but it is chilly. All that Eastern Snow Storm activity must have finally made it out this way. It is a mere 65 degrees today.

Where are my fuzzy bunny slippers??

(ha, just kidding, I do not like/wear/own fuzzy slippers.)

The boys did a few things on the computer this morning. Gavin's main assignment was correcting a written paragraph. It took quite a few tries and retries.

Then I sent them a youtube to watch:

and a link about Chinese New Year:

http://www.guy-sports.com/humor/christmas/chinese_new_year2011.htm

** I made homemade Chai**

Then we printed some BRAIN MAZES that our friend in Florida draws:

*CLICK the MAZE to go to his website - then you can click the word "MAZE" -or his other areas*

Ki enjoyed it so much he printed out more mazes. Connor decided to try his hand at making mazes on the computer. Gavin asked David about his process for maze making,then researched handheld rail guns... or something like that.

Ki used a Turkey Baster to suck the ickies from the bottom of the aquarium. Until the tadpoles get big enough to easily scoop out, he cleans th tank with a turkey baster. Brian made sure I wrote FROGS! on the turkey baster, so I don't get confused and use it to, say, baste a turkey. I have never basted a turkey or used a turkey baster for cooking- ever. I can see how it is still a mix-up to avoid.

I also sent THIS video to the boys, that explains how much $100 million is (that Obama said he'd cut spending for our budget).

Gavin then looked up about a jet fighter and how much just 1 costs and how many have been produced. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor

Gavin could spend his entire day reading at wikipedia.

Ki researched DAGORHIR.

Connor researched Plastic. Yes, plastic.

Then we all went outback to squeezed oranges:

And throw them at the wall:

and take macro pictures of insects:

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"The Queens we use would not excite you"

I love that song."One Night in Bangkok" by Murray Head. (youtube here)
Actually is is "Our Song". Some couples have love songs as 'their song.' We have a geeky chess playing song...

"I'd let you watch. I would invite you.but the queens WE use would not excite you"
This post has little to do with "Our Song". it is more about "The queens we use would not excite you." For that is what comes to mind when I think about the things make me happy...
***I find it necessary to warn you that I still do not have my lovely camera, and using Connor's little video camera in Still Shot mode***
hearing my son say; "MOM! Bring the blood testing kit. I picked a SCAB!"

Things like: Posting as my Facebook status:"Time to get the skulls out for school"



Here is a video we watched today:


Which, of course, leads me to watch a video on facial transplants:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f63V2Y8N58s&NR=1&feature=fvwp

After watching videos (a totoal of 3 forensics and the 1 transplant), the boys were given instructions to do the "C.S.I. " facial reconstruction Kits.
as always, as most kids, as male of the species; they want to dig in, figure out how to do it all on their own and "We don't need no stinking instructions" is always the motto.
As an "quasi-unschooler" I see huge value in doing things on their own, figuring things out on their own, 'trial & error'.....BUT- I also see huge value is learning how to following instructions, being able to read a How-To Manual and follow it.So, when we do these things with preprinted instructions, I emphasize to the boys this is NOT a "find out on your own" thing. This is an activity to practice the fine art of Following someone else's Instructions.
So this activity is "less unschool" and "more Quasi"
What Activity? Why, FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION, of course!!


let's face it (ha! 'face' ...); unless you are self employed (and even if you are sometimes), you need to follow someone else's instructions often!!

I just called out to the boys; "If anyone has an extra eye, give it to Gavin. His is missing and he needs one."


Ki said that if he was an CSI person, this would be the job he'd want. (playing with clay and putting in skulls, it's preschool all over. "Pass the Playdough, I have a skull to reconstruct before nap time!")

THE FINISHED SKULLS:

Ki did the middle one. He followed the instructions well on making the reconstruction. But at the end, he decided to put male facial hair on it, instead of solving the crime (it was a female skull, all missing people listed were female).

so, if we were giving grades he'd get an "A" for technique, but only a "C" for solving the crime (he did try to deduce which one of the listed females his man looked like ....) and maybe another "A" for being true to himself..... maybe. But if it was a paid job, he may have gotten fired or suspended....

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TACO TUESDAY

My 3 young men are in the kitchen helping with dinner. I made guacamole. Gavin diced and sliced and made a HUGE bowl of salsa! Connor is cooking the meat. Ki cut lettuce and put the cheeses into bowls. I sliced onions and peppers to sauté and Ki said he'd sauté them for me! (he likes to sauté things).
A few minutes before this I had 2 wild hyenas. After they finished cooking, they went back to being hyenas and got their father involved in the cacophony.
I think I might move. I wonder if Starbucks has a vacancy.....
Something bad happened. Please do not let the news devastate you too badly. Brace yourself.
Are you sitting yet?
Okay. Here it is..... :::::sigh:::::::
I lost the memory card for my camera. And I can not find the spare memory card for my camera.
I thought about crying. But crying is an awful lot of hard work and I am too lazy for that.
ON A HAPPIER NOTE..... We are all going to LA for the weekend! Feb 18-21. There is a gaming convention ( Orccon ) and I met the man in charge of marketing at the last event. He helped me figure out what we all could do as volunteer work to get free badges for the con. He didn't have anything for Ki to do, but said he could give Ki a free badge, too.
I decided to do pilates 5 days this week. Starting yesterday. (because I always have to start things on Mondays). I have decided that today is on of my non-pilates days already. So I have really wedged myself in for doing plates the rest of the week.
In School News......... we are having a down week. just finishing up some Forensics. Next week, we (they) will start back with daily math and doing the Chemistry Unit.
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