Camel Caravans, Mosaics, Weaving, and Robots

We have been busily working, but not sharing.

With our Afghanistan study,

we made these caravan in a sand storm pictures.

With our Persia study, we made mosaics.

And one of the kiddos

thought of this basket weave

for our study of Turkey.

Then after reading Andy Buckram's Tin Men

this was the project of the weekend...

We have three robots now.

Oh and then there was the face in the apple...

We've veered a bit from the curriculum this week.  :)

Wishing you homeschool blessings,

Bethany

Marco Polo Study: Mongolia

Mongolia

~photo courtesy of Google maps

Marco Polo called the Mongols, "Tartars." He says that they never remained fixed. In the winter, they went to the plains for pasture for their cattle. In the summer, they went to the cold mountains. He reports that they had the best falcons and dogs in the world and wore defensive armour made from buffalo hides dried by fire to make them extremely hard and strong. The wealthy dressed in cloth of gold and silks with animal skins.  

"Their huts and tents (yurts or gers) are formed of rods covered with felt, and being exactly round, and nicely put together, they can gather them into one bundle, and make them up as packages, which they carry along with them in their migrations, upon a sort of car with four wheels....the entrance front is to the south...they have a superior kind of vehicle upon two wheels, covered likewise with black felt...drawn by oxen and camels."

See a blownout image here.

The Mongols traditionally moved from place to place (4 times a year) so their homes were portable tents made of wood, canvas, and felt. We made our own yurts with little people. There are terrific directions here.

The Mongols subsisted mainly on meat and milk, but they also ate yogurt. They had camel hair rugs, yak wool, and lapis luzuli.

lapis lazuli

We read  Marco Polo: A Story of the Middle Ages Ch. 9.

Photos courtesy of wikipedia.org. See our References for more information.

I am working on a year long series on the Polo family travels and thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy and please post any additional information you have for us or corrections.

Previously: Afghanistan Next Up: China

Wishing you homeschool blessings,

Bethany

Fairy Moss

We haven't had much snow this winter.

Which provided us with a
terrific opportunity
to dig some moss.

We used lids 

of the large, pickle jar variety.

Added colored sand around the edges

and decorated with rocks from our collection.

Can you find the fairies?

Wishing you homeschool blessings,

Bethany



Marco Polo Study: Afghanistan

Afghanistan

~photo courtesy of Google maps

Afghanistan has cold mountains with air so pure and so "salubrious" that many go there to recover their health. In fact, Marco went there when fighting an illness himself. The mountains were full of precious stones and metals to be mined: Balas Rubies, lapis lazuli, chalcedony, jasper, silver, copper and lead. The air is so thin that cooking fires do not give off the same amount of heat. 

Balas Ruby

Marco noted the horses of superior quality and great speed. Their hoves were so hard that they did not require shoeing. He saw the Saker falcon, goshawks, and sparrow hawks. The trout and other fish were in plenty.

Saker Falcon

There were many gardens, orchards, and vineyards. The land produced barley, wheat, rice, nuts, sesame (they make nut oil and sesame oil), cotton, flax, and hemp.

sesame seeds

There roam wild sheep of 400-600 in a flock. A large type of sheep having horns, up to six palms in length, was found in this area (upon its verification of existence it was named Ovis Poli after Marco Polo). The horns were used as "ladles and vessels for holding vituals." Fences were constructed out of them as well, to protect the cattle from wolves.

Ovis Poli

The men were good archers and excellent sportsmen. They wore skins of wild animals. The women wore pendent rings of gold and silver, adorned with pearls and precious stones. In other areas, the women wore a kind of garment out of fine cotton cloth that was gathered or plaited at the hips.  In one area, the people were "afflicted with swellings in the legs and tumours in the throat." This tumor affliction seems to be goitre. We now know that goitres are caused by a lack of iodine.

lapis lazuli

Camels were used in preference to other beasts of burden when making a trek over sandy plains or barren mountains. Traveling through this area, people are often inflicted with "extraordinary illusions." Marco states: "During the day-time, any persons remaining behind on the road, either when overtaken by sleep or detained by their natural occasions, until the caravan has passed a hill and is no longer in sight, they unexpectedly hear themselves called to by their names, and in a tone of voice to which they are accustomed. Supposing the call to proceed from their companions, they are led away from the direct road, and not knowing in what direction to advance, are left to perish. In the night-time, they are persuaded they hear the march of a large cavalcade of people on one side or the other of the road...at times...the air (is filled) with the sounds of all kinds of musical instruments, and also drums and the clash of arms."

Bactrian camel

Activity: Make a caravan in a sand storm. Here's our caravan.

We read  Marco Polo: A Story of the Middle Ages Ch. 8.

Photos courtesy of wikipedia.org. See our References for more information.

I am working on a year long series on the Polo family travels and thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy and please post any additional information you have for us or corrections.

Previously: Persia  Next Up: Mongols

Wishing you homeschool blessings,

Bethany

Non-Stained Glass-Tissue Paper Windows

The view this time of year is rather blah.

So I pulled out this neat idea

from Family Fun: Non-Staining Glass.

It works perfectly to cover windows with a less than perfect view.

The supply list is simple:

plastic wrap

painter's tape

glue stick

tissue paper

We did it just like the website suggests. Our windows were 7 1/2 X 12.

They learned so much more than I could have imagined doing this project.

First, they started talking about how the colors blended along the edges to make new colors.

Then to my dismay the heater kicked on and sent pieces that I was trying to glue up out of my reach.

What a game that turned out to be; however, they tried different sizes. Some were too heavy and some went so high they stuck in the window over the door.

Then another inspiration struck.

These will look too cute framed.

Wishing you homeschool blessings,

Bethany

{this moment}

Extreme Weather: Tsunami

Tsunami

~photos courtesy of NASA

Interesting Tsunami Facts from Virtual Tsunami:

1. A tsunami is a sea wave caused by an underwater earthquake or landslide displacing the ocean water.
2. Tsunamis have nothing to do with tides.
3. Often the seismic waves are unnoticeable until the energy of the wave reaches the shallow waters of the coastlines.
4. When a tsunami approaches shallow water, it can reach as high as 100 feet or more.

Physics of a Wave Chart from Virtual Tsunami:

Tsunami Video (turn volume down):


Next we did a version of this experiment:

We used an old ice cream bucket and didn't cut out a hole.

Wishing you homeschool blessings,
Bethany

Upcycle Challenge: Make a Playhouse and furniture

Challenge Number 7: Make a playhouse.

We made our playhouse out of a cardboard box, scrapbook paper, and leftover scraps of material. 

Then we made furniture from egg cartons and boxes.
We found some great directions at House & Carton: Furniture Workshop.

Kitchen

Living Room

Bedroom

Nursery



Would you like to join us?

We want to see what you made. Post your upcycled playhouse here.

Wishing you homeschool blessings,
Bethany