Showing posts with label natural science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural science. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

MrBaby learned About Friction Today

We took one of those opportunities that life throws at you and learned about friction. MrBaby kept grabbing onto my shirt, and I asked him if he wanted me to pull him, and he said YES. Well, that isn't good for my clothes, so I got him a lid from his play doh to sit on. That worked a bit, then we made ski handles from carboard tubes, tape, and clothesline. Then we tried it with MrBaby sitting on top of the rectangular sheepskin. That didn't work too well. We tried it with MrBaby sitting on top of the upside down smaller dish drainer rack, with the sheepskin on that. That was a lot better. I pointed out that plastic bottles are very smooth and have very little traction, the wooden bookshelf has a bit more friction to it, and the floor has even more. We talked aobut how the carpet is smooth when MrBaby pulls his toys on the rack over the carpet, but that when it has more weight, it presses down into the carpet, and that keeps it from moving easily. I asked if the foam mat would be good to pull on, or would the wire of the upside down dish rack dig into the foam too much, and MrBaby's eyes lit up, and said it would dig in and not pull across. Very smart little boy.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Mean Mama Fish Died Today

The planaria were hard at work, cleaning up. We are wondering what the skeleton will look like. We'd have a funeral, like we have with the others, but I think it is time to see what is inside the fish, if possible. I'm not sure how dense the skeleton is in a fish this small, so MrBaby and I will learn something together.


You can see one of the planaria climbing up on the front of the aquarium in three of the pictures. The other one shows Mean Mama Fish, plus some of the planaria around her.