February the 1st 2010

Elective

Time: 60 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business, which was very interesting.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 30 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I read chapter seven and worked on the first exercise, which was on making my own tessellation and was quite hard.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

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English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly walk under a mostly clear blue sky, with only a few cirrus and cumulus clouds drifting overhead. The wind was blowing quite hard, but it wasn't as chilly today as it has been. Maybe it is warming up. I hope so. Anyway, there is very little snow left on the ground today, as it has melted away since we had our latest snowstorm. The sun is very bright but doesn't seem to make it any warmer. We saw a Blue Jay, some crows cawing in the trees and heard a Red Tailed Hawk.

Resources

My Computer

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Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the sixth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good.

Resources

Fluenz French

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Elective

Time: 90 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Waves of the Danube on the piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

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Social Studies

Time: 120

A Study of Physical and Political Geography

Reflection

When everyone had arrived for our Geography lesson, we began by going through our homework from last time, which was to draw fictional 1900s adverts for bananas. Everyone did really good adverts, and I feel that many of them would have been appealing to people in the 1900s. After that, I went through my survey to find out whether people are influenced by slogans in advertisements. Funnily enough, they were. After that, we started on the lesson. Today we looked at Guatemala, a country in South America whose primary export is coffee. We began by reading about the history of coffee and how it got to Guatemala. Then we made a timeline of important events in Guatemala. Lastly, we looked at the economy of Guatemala, and how they are horribly in debt, and finished up.

Resources

Get It! Geography Course

My Mom

Other Students

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February the 2nd 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business, which was very interesting.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 50 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I read chapter seven and completed the first exercise, which was on making my own tessellation and was fun! I then continued by watching video 10 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly walk under a cloudy gray sky. The sun wasn't visible at any point today, and all we could see in the sky were rolling gray stratus clouds from horizon to horizon. There wasn't as much wind today, which made it feel a little bit warmer, but it still felt pretty cold. Today is Groundhog Day, but I doubt the groundhog will see his shadow. Hopefully, that means we will have a short winter. In terms of bird life, we saw some starlings in a tree, a worried looking mourning dove and some turkey vultures overhead.

Resources

My Computer

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Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we finished the sixth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good.

Resources

Fluenz French

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Elective

Time: 90 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Waves of the Danube on the piano, read the first chapter of Elementary Harmony and did the quiz at the end.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

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Science

Time: 60 min

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we studied the physiology of the mouth, esophagus and stomach. To start with, we watched a video lecture about these areas. After that, I answered two questions about them, and finished up.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/anatomycourse_stomach.pdf

Resources

My Computer

My Mom

Teaching Company Human Anatomy and Biology DVD

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Social Studies

Time: 40

A Study of Physical and Political Geography

Reflection

For my Study of Physical and Political Geography, I wrote an article about the Dominican Republic Coffee Industry.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/DominicanRepublicCoffee.pdf

Resources

Get It! Geography Course

My Computer

Websites

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Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on formatting my Terror of Porridge book on Lulu.com at Mr Pete's house.

Resources

Computer

Photoshop

Book-Editing Software

Mr Pete

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February the 3rd 2010

English

Time: 10 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book, using the prefixes dyna-, dynamo-, forc-, fort-, pot-, vali- and valu- to complete some sentences.

Resources

Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book

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Elective

Time: 20 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business, which I found very informative. I did a small quiz in the book.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 50 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I read chapter seven and completed the next two exercises, which were on making my own tessellations using translational and rotational symmetry. I then continued by watching video 11 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, and working on the lesson in the book.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/tessellation2.pdf

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a warmer walk under a bright blue sky. There were quite a few clouds drifting above us at the beginning of the walk, but most of them had moved away by the end and the sun had come out from behind them. There wasn't that much wind this morning, and all the snow and ice is melting away in the sun. Drips of water kept falling from the trees into my shirt. We saw a little woodpecker in a tree near the meadow, some turkey vultures flying overhead and a squirrel.

Resources

My Computer

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Elective

Time: 20 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we listened to the podcast for the sixth lesson of Fluenz French. They taught how us to roll our Rs properly.

Resources

Fluenz French

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Elective

Time: 40 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by writing a back-story for the main character of my play, Claude. He feels a bit more fleshed out to me now.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/Backstory.pdf

Resources

My Computer

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Science

Time: 120 min

Physical Science

Reflection

In our Physical Science Class today, we started off by reviewing what we learned about electricity in the last lesson. We talked about how the atom is probably not like a little solar system, and probably more like a cloud of bees or points in a block of jello: they wobble around and can rotate. This explains why you can charge a plastic rod to pick up bits of paper; when you do so, all the positive charges move to the other side, leaving one side negatively charged. Since the paper is positively charged, they are attracted. After that, we looked at Coulombs and Ohms, and did an experiment to learn about meters, resistors, wires and batteries. Below you can find a spreadsheet with our results. (The colors on the resistors are supposed to show the resistance, but they are really hard to see and a lot of the colors look the same!) Lastly, we learned about charge, including a look at lightning and electrical safety tips.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/resistors.ods

Resources

The Joy of Physics

My Science Book

Charts

My Dad

My Partner, Nathaniel

Electrical Kit

Materials

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February the 4th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business, which was very interesting.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the next two exercises for chapter seven, which were on making my own tessellations using glide symmetry. I then continued by watching video 12 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a warmer walk under a completely clear blue sky. The wind was a little bit chilly at the beginning of the walk, but by the end the sun had warmed me up. The snow has almost entirely melted in the meadow, but remains frozen in the woods, because it gets more shade there. It is supposed to snow tomorrow, so we'll see if the snow will just come back again. We saw some jays, a woodpecker in the woods, and a Red Tailed Hawk with prey in its claws flying overhead. We also saw some bluebirds on one of the nesting boxes.

Resources

My Computer

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Elective

Time: 20 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the seventh lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It is a revision of all the things we learned in the first six lessons.

Resources

Fluenz French

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Social Studies

Time: 120 min

United States History

Reflection

For our United States History Study, we watched the third part of the PBS series Liberty!, which today was on the final battles of the revolution and the birth of a democratic nation. After General John Burgoyne's defeat at the hand of the Americans, the French had joined the American cause and a stalemate had begun in the northern and middle states. The British saw the Southern States, a place of racial tensions and feuds; a place they could seize power. They took control of the area and gave power to their loyalist allies, who were generally poor immigrants who had been looked down upon and treated badly by the native Southerners for years. Unfortunately, the loyalists saw this as a chance to get revenge on their Southern enemies, and began to prey on families all throughout the countryside, committing acts that shocked even the British. The rebels responded in much the same way, and the situation soon spiraled out of control. That's when Washington sent one of his top generals, General Green, down to the south to break the British rule there. Green realized that the key to conquering the South was to make both the loyalists and the rebels dislike the British more than they did each other. He did this by leading the British troops on a wild goose chase through the countryside, losing every engagement but forcing the British to pillage the storehouses of both loyalists and rebels. In doing so, the public feeling towards the British turned to anger. Eventually, worn out, the British general and his troops returned to Yorktown, where they were defeated thanks to a brilliant American and French siege and attack. After this, it was only a matter of time before the British signed a peace treaty with the Americans and pulled their troops out. But after the revolution was over came the task of turning the very individual states into a nation, and creating a government in which everyone had a say. After several debtors' rebellions, where mob rule forced Congress to cancel all debts, Congress realized something had to be done. They held meeting after meeting, and eventually created a document that gave birth to the American government that we have today. After some people rallied against the document, arguing it gave the government too much power, a Bill of Rights was created, which gave everyone certain unalienable rights (apart from black people, women and children, of course) and satisfied the people who had been against the idea before. Finally, the collection of states was turned into a nation, and the United States was born.

Resources

Liberty!

My Mom

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February the 5th 2010

Community Service

Time: 60 min

Community Service

Reflection

I worked at the Selah Adult Day Care Center, where I played Bingo with the members, with the help of the other volunteers.

Resources

Selah Day Care Center Helpers

Other Volunteers

Members

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Elective

Time: 240 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by working with Mr Perry, the artist who does the backdrops for the Growing Stage Productions. We worked on the legs, or the side entrances, for Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, the newest production at the Growing Stage. We started by priming the six boards, which were to become buildings, painting them with primer on both sides. After that, we drew lines on them to mark where the windows would be, and painted the brick areas brown to create a sort of watercolor look.

Resources

Mr Perry

Paints

Cardboard

Charcoal

Other Tools

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February the 6th 2010

Elective

Time: 120 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Waves of the Danube on the piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

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English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

For my Creative Writing today, I wrote a poem for a contest in Cricket Magazine.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/SchoolOrchestra.pdf

Resources

My Computer

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Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I did some stamping in the first part of a church lock-in (I didn't stay for the night).

Resources

Materials

Stamps

Pat Hawkins

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February the 7th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. I showed him some of my songs and we worked on some scales and Waves of the Danube! We also looked at my progress in Elementary Harmony, and Tom said I was doing well.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

Notion 3

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English

Time: 30 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

For my Creative Writing today, I wrote a poem for a contest in Muse Magazine.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/WalkingRobot.pdf

Resources

My Computer

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February the 8th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business. I learned about cutting costs.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the next exercise for chapter seven, which was on making a tessellation using glide symmetry and two different tiles. I then continued by watching video 13 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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Elective

Time: 300 min

Local History Study

For my Local History Study today, we began by going through our homework from last time, and from the time before, when corrections had to be made. After that, we looked at the geology of the earth, and also the geography. We saw how the land-masses have changed over the eons, and watched a short movie that showed this process very sped-up. We also had a look at glaciers, and how they changed our area. After that, we were given our homework, which for me was to write about the soils in our township and how they got here.

After lunch, we headed out to Jenny Jump Mountain. A very nice guy, Gil, who runs the observatory at Jenny Jump, let us into the observatory area to look at the meadows from a lookout point there. He also showed us some of his telescopes. After that, we drove down to Jenny Jump State Park, where we went for a nice walk to see the erratics, lumps of rock dropped by the glaciers. Some of our group got lost, but we all got to the erratics in the end. When we got back, we very quickly went through a slide show on the Soil Conservation Poster Contest, and got some more homework: to draw a sketch for our poster.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/LibertySoils.pdf

Resources

Computer

Other Students

My Mom

My Dad

Gil

Jenny Jump State Park

Liberty Township Environmental Resources Inventory

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February the 9th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business. I learned how to know when to sell.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the next exercise for chapter seven, which was on making a tessellation using translational symmetry and two different tiles. I then continued by watching video 14 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly walk under a blue sky, with clouds forming as the walk progressed. It is supposed to snow tonight, but it looks very nice at the moment. The wind is not as cold as it has been, and the sun is warm. The snow is melting, and it feels very nice outside, at least while wrapped up in a coat. It is warming up, for now at least. We saw an enormous amount of starlings this morning. The sky was literally full of them as they streamed across. The noise of them all squawking was deafening! We also saw a bluebird, a jay and a squirrel nibbling a nut.

Resources

My Computer

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Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the seventh lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It is a revision of all the things we learned in the first six lessons.

Resources

Fluenz French

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Science

Time: 90 min

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we studied the anatomy of the pancreas, liver and biliary tree. To start with, we watched a video lecture about these areas. After that, I answered two questions about them, and finished up.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/anatomycourse_digestivetract.pdf

Resources

My Computer

My Mom

Teaching Company Human Anatomy and Biology DVD

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Elective

Time: 120 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Waves of the Danube on the piano, read the second chapter of Elementary Harmony and did some composing!

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Elementary Harmony

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Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on formatting my Terror of Porridge book on Lulu.com at Mr Pete's house. We've ordered a copy of my book!

Resources

Computer

Photoshop

Book-Editing Software

Lulu.com

Mr Pete

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February the 10th 2010

English

Time: 10 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book, using the prefixes ann-, enn-, chron-, dai-, din-, jour- and tempo- to complete some sentences.

Resources

Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book

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Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business. I learned how to market a product.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed chapter seven, making a tessellation using rotational symmetry and two different tiles. I then continued by watching video 15 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly and wet walk in a snowstorm, where the only thing I saw (apart from some dark-eyed juncos) was snow, snow and more snow. It was blowing quite hard and I had to look down all the time to avoid getting snow in my eyes. The roads were being plowed, but they were still covered in snow. A snow day for the schools today, I think! The sky was full of drifting stratus clouds, although I could barely see it amid the blinding snow.

Resources

My Computer

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Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the seventh lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It is a revision of all the things we learned in the first six lessons.

Resources

Fluenz French

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Science

Time: 120 min

Physical Science

Reflection

In our Physical Science Class today, we started off by reviewing what we learned about resistors in the last lesson. Then we began a new experiment, where we tested resistors in parallel and resistors in series and showed their equivalent resistances. We showed that the equation for equivalent resistance in parallel resistors is 1/R (R= equivalent resistance) = 1/R1 + 1/R2. Then we showed that the equation for equivalent resistance in series resistors is R = R1 + R2. You can see my working and the proofs for these in the scanned images. Anyway, armed with those two equations, we got my electronics box out and tested this. First we calculated if the voltage (in this case, six volts) was safe for the resistor (so it wouldn't burn out). We found that the power loss (P = V(voltage) x i(current) ) had to be less than a quarter of a watt for it to be safe for any resistor. We also looked at the resistances and the maximum safe voltage (which we could calculate once we knew the equation for power. (I should mention that there are three equations for power, using 1) voltage and current, 2) resistance and current and 3) resistance and voltage.) Lastly, after we finished that experiment, we had a quick look at the next chapter, where I saw Kirchhoff's Loop Rule: Around a loop in a circuit, looses in potential = gains in potential.

• Derivation for series resistors
• Derivation for parallel resistors

Resources

The Joy of Physics

My Science Book

Charts

My Dad

Electrical Kit

Materials

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February the 11th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business. I learned what things not to do, and how Steve Jobs was thrown out of his company.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the first exercise for chapter eight, which was on making a tessellation using rotational symmetry and a triangle as a base. I then continued by watching video 16 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, which was on the dark night sky paradox, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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Social Studies

Time: 120 min

United States History

Reflection

For our United States History Study, I read The Revolutionary Soldier, a very good book about life in the American army during the revolutionary war. I also worked on the first lesson on the Liberty! website, which tested what I learned from the video.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/AmericanRevolution.pdf

Resources

The Revolutionary Soldier by C. Keith Wilbur

Liberty! website

My Mom

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Elective

Time: 20 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we finished the seventh lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was a review of all the things we've learned thus far.

Resources

Fluenz French

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English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly and beautiful walk in the snow. It has stopped snowing, but the drifts of snow in the woods must be nearly a foot deep! It was tough work getting up the hill in it. It is still quite cold, but the snow wasn't blowing in our faces like it was yesterday. The sun shone brightly against the snow, and I was glad I had brought my sunglasses with me. There was very little animal life in the woods, and the only things we saw were lots of annoying starlings perched in the trees, squawking and flying around.

Resources

My Computer

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February the 12th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

For my Theater Arts study today, I sang my song for my singing class, Seize the Day from the musical Newsies.

Resources

My Computer

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Math

Time: 30 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching video 17 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, which was on the possible shapes of the universe, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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Community Service

Time: 60 min

Community Service

Reflection

I worked at the Selah Adult Day Care Center, where I played Bingo with the members, with the help of the other volunteers.

Resources

Selah Day Care Center Helpers

Other Volunteers

Members

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I drew a sketch for my entry for the 2010 soil conservation poster contest. First, I researched native plants and planned out my design, then I did a rough sketch in my sketchbook.

Resources

Computer

Papers and Pencils

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February the 13th 2010

Elective

Time: 120 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by walking into my Musical Performance Lab. We began by doing a short warm up, which, as it was dance today, was a bit more involved than last time's warm up. We worked on keeping our backs straight, and the teacher introduced many stretches to help with this. Then we learned the seven basic steps of dance. After that, we began on a short choreographed piece, where we did a box step, an arm movement, another box step and a kick-ball-change. After doing that to music, we did another piece, where we walked, turned and spun.

In my Actor Speaks class, which was a full class today, we began by reading through our homework from last time, which was to write the back story for the main character of our plays. After that, we talked for a bit about the questions "Why?" and "How?" and used them to probe deeper into our character's stories. Then we did a writing exercise, and wrote whatever came into our minds for ten minutes straight. Lastly, we got our homework, which was to try and show a character's emotion in a scene.

Resources

My Teachers

Other Students

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February the 14th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. I showed him some of my songs and we worked on some scales and Gypsy Dance. For next week I am going to move on to the quiz for chapter 2 of my Elementary Harmony book.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

Notion 3

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February the 15th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business. I learned how to keep customers.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the second exercise for chapter eight, which was on making a tessellation using rotational symmetry and a triangle as a base. I then continued by watching video 18 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, which was on the fourth dimension, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the seventh lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It introduced the words near, far and goodbye and the phrase "I don't understand."

Resources

Fluenz French

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English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly and beautiful walk in the snow. It is supposed to snow later today, but from the gently drifting cirrus clouds above us, it doesn't feel that way. The wind was cold and blew intermittently, but it is definitely getting warmer. Maybe by the end of the month it will be getting even warmer! Anyway, on our walk through the woods this morning, we saw no birds, no animals, just the sky and snow everywhere. Apart from being a bit dull on that front, it was a lovely walk.

Resources

My Computer

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Social Studies

Time: 120

A Study of Physical and Political Geography

Reflection

When everyone had arrived for our Geography lesson, we began by going through our homework from last time, which was to write about the coffee industries in different countries (mine was the Dominican Republic) and compare them to Guatemala's coffee industry. After that, we started on the lesson for today, which was on the Colombian flower industry. We started by looking at the types of export products that could be grown in Colombia, and decided which would be the best. You can see the chart below for the pros of each one. I chose flowers as the best export product. After that, we looked at an act which removed tariffs from South American countries' exports to try and stop the drug trade. We also looked at how this negatively affected people selling those products in America.

Resources

Get It! Geography Course

My Mom

Other Students

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Elective

Time: 90 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Gypsy Dance on the piano and made some music in Notion 3. I also worked on quiz for lesson two in my Elementary Harmony book.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

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February the 16th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I finished The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business. It was just a wrap-up of all the things I had learned today.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the third exercise for chapter eight, which was on making a tessellation using rotational symmetry and a triangle as a base. I then continued by watching video 19 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, which was on patterns within patterns, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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English

Time: 40 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

For my Creative Writing today, I wrote a book review of The Young Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting and Running a Business by Steve Mariotti. I also wrote book reviews of The Legacy, Siege of Darkness and The Sea of Swords by R A Salvatore.

Resources

My Computer

The Young Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting and Running a Business

The Legacy

Siege of Darkness

The Sea of Swords

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Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the seventh lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. We worked on the words near, far and goodbye and the phrase "I don't understand."

Resources

Fluenz French

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Science

Time: 60 min

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we studied the physiology of the pancreas, liver and biliary tree. To start with, we watched a video lecture about the physiology of these areas. The video included footage of an operation to remove an infected gallbladder, which was really interesting! After that, I answered two questions about those areas, and finished up.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/anatomycourse_Digestion2.pdf

Resources

My Computer

My Mom

Teaching Company Human Anatomy and Biology DVD

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Social Studies

Time: 30

A Study of Physical and Political Geography

Reflection

For my Study of Physical and Political Geography, I wrote some notes about the flower industry and wrote some interview questions for the What in the World (a local fair trade store) staff when we go to visit them.

Resources

Get It! Geography Course

Article on Flowers: http://www.ewg.org/node/26534

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Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on my gargoyle painting at Mr Pete's house. Today, we working on adding lights and shadows to the gargoyle.

Resources

Paints

Brushes

Mr Pete

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February the 17th 2010

English

Time: 30 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Language is Served grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I used similes to describe different characters.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/similies.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the fourth exercise for chapter eight, which was on making a tessellation using glide symmetry and a kite as a base. I then continued by watching video 20 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, which was more on tessellations, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Gypsy Dance on the piano and did some composing.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Elementary Harmony

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Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the eighth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. We worked on the words near, far and goodbye and the phrase "I don't understand."

Resources

Fluenz French

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly walk in the snow once again. The sun was mostly covered behind clouds this morning, although it did pop out for a little bit at the end. The sky was mostly full of stratus clouds. The snow hasn't really melted, and some more came in yesterday, so it is still quite deep. The wind was cold, but it wasn't harsh. In the woods today, we heard some birds chirping to one another, and while walking down the road we saw some puffed-up sparrows in the bushes.

Resources

My Computer

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Elective

Time: 20 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by writing a short scene to show an emotion. Mine was on remorse, with maybe a little bit of anger mixed in.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/Actinghomework4.pdf

Resources

My Computer

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Science

Time: 120 min

Physical Science

Reflection

In our Physical Science Class today, we started off by reviewing what we learned about electricity and resistors in the last lesson. Since Nathaniel wasn't here last time, due to there being a snowstorm last week, we did an hour long recap of last time's lesson, where we took a look at resistors in series and in parallel. After that, we began to learn about magnetic fields, which are similar to electrical fields but not quite the same. The fundamental difference is that in a magnetic field, a force is only felt if the charge is moving, and that isn't true in an electrical field. One other difference is that in a magnetic field, a charged particle that enters, experiences a force that is at right angles to its current direction and the direction of the field. But when it starts to move in that new direction, it is compelled to keep moving at right angles to that direction, so it keeps moving in a spiral and is stuck in the magnetic field.

After that, we learned a bit about high energy physics, which has recently culminated in the creation of the Large Hadron Collider. We saw that the earth has a giant magnetic field surrounding it, which deflects charges that come in from the sun to the North and South poles, where they create the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis, one of them taking the positive charges and one of them taking the negative charges.

Lastly, we looked at how you can use an alternating current in a coil to create a constantly changing magnetic field, which in turn can induce a current in another coil. This is called a transformer, and it can convert a very high voltage and a very small current into a very small voltage and a very current.

Resources

The Joy of Physics

My Science Book

Charts

My Dad

My Partner, Nathaniel

Electrical Kit

Materials

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I followed a tutorial for blender, my 3d program, and learned how to create clouds and make volumetric renders.

Resources

Computer

Blender

Tutorial

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February the 18th 2010

English

Time: 15 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Language is Served grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I used similes and metaphors to describe different characters.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/similies2.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

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Social Studies

Time: 90 min

United States History

Reflection

For my United States History Study today, I worked on the first lesson on the Liberty! website, which tested what I learned from the video. I answered the rest of the questions and wrote an article comparing the French and Russian revolutions to the American revolution.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/AmericanRevolution.pdf http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/Revolutions.pdf

Resources

The Revolutionary Soldier by C. Keith Wilbur

Liberty! website

My Mom

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February the 19th 2010

English

Time: 10 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book, using the prefixes vers-, vert-, rot-, tort- and tors- to complete some sentences.

Resources

Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the last exercise for chapter eight, which was on making a tessellation using glide symmetry and a kite as a base. I also worked on the vocabulary. I then continued by watching video 21 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, which was on fractals, and working on the lesson in the book.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/tessellation4.pdf

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

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Community Service

Time: 60 min

Community Service

Reflection

I worked at the Selah Adult Day Care Center, where I played Bingo with the members. The members like Bingo a lot!

Resources

Selah Day Care Center Helpers

Members

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Social Studies

Time: 30

A Study of Physical and Political Geography

Reflection

For my Study of Physical and Political Geography, I made an illustrated title for my History of the Products We Buy folder, and put it together with my Mom's help.

Resources

Get It! Geography Course

My Mom

Graphics Tablet

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Elective

Time: 120 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on a fighter jet in Blender.

Resources

Computer

Blender

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Gypsy Dance on the piano and did some composing.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Elementary Harmony

---

February the 20th 2010

Elective

Time: 120 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by walking into my Musical Performance Lab. We began by doing a short warm up, which, as it was singing today, was more to warm up our voices than anything. We just focused on loosening everything up in preparation for singing. After that, we got a new song, called One Short Day, which was really fun to sing and had a great harmony. Then I got to sing my song, Seize the Day, with the girls echoing several of the lines. I think I did pretty good. Lastly, the girls sang their song, and we finished up!

In my Actor Speaks class, which was a full class today, we began by working on a writing exercise, and wrote whatever came into our minds for ten minutes straight. Then, we read through our homework from last time, which was to write a short scene to show, not tell, a character's emotion. I messed up a little bit on that one, but so did everyone else. Lastly, we got our new homework, which was to write a scene for our play which would show an emotion.

Resources

My Teachers

Other Students

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on coloring my fighter jet in Blender.

Resources

Computer

Blender

---

February the 21st 2010

Elective

Time: 150 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. I showed him some of my songs and we worked on some scales and finished Gypsy Dance, moving on to Musette! We also looked at my progress in Elementary Harmony, and Tom said I was doing well. Lastly, I did some composing.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

Notion 3

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Elective

Time: 40 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by writing a scene in my play that would show, not tell, what the characters were feeling.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/Actinghomework5.pdf

Resources

My Computer

---

February the 22nd 2010

Elective

Time: 40 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Clipper Ship Strategy, which was about the injection effect, monetary hot spots and the different functions of a business.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Clipper Ship Strategy

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working on my tessellations CD, where I looked at different ways artists have used tessellations. I then continued by watching video 22 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, which was on graphing, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

---

Elective

Time: 300 min

Local History Study

For my Local History Study today, we began by going through our homework from last time, and from the time before, when corrections had to be made. We also covered the other part of our homework, which were question sheets on worms. After that, the Watershed Ambassador, Lisa Dunne, who was visiting us today, refreshed our knowledge of what a watershed is, what point-source and non-point-source pollution are, and what types of pollution fall into what category. She also explained how a soil test works. After that, we had lunch.

After lunch, we watched a short movie about the Dust Bowl, called Surviving the Dust Bowl, and how the wheat farmers there, through bad farming practices, destroyed the land and made it incredibly vulnerable when a drought came. This drought lasted for an incredibly long time, and the farmers began to despair, as they couldn't make enough money to feed themselves or their families. We also looked at a short slide show about good farming practices that would preserve soil. Then we went outside and did some experiments to show that a cover crop is the best thing to reduce soil erosion from water and wind, showing that it drained water the best and that is didn't splash up as much earth when raindrops hit it. Lastly, we watched the final episode of Surviving the Dust Bowl, which was about what people did to make the bad situation better, and discussed our soil posters with Lisa. It was a great class!

Resources

Computer

Other Students

My Mom

My Dad

Materials

Lisa Dunne

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Elective

Time: 60 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Musette on the piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

---

February the 23rd 2010

Elective

Time: 40 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Clipper Ship Strategy, which was about the injection effect, monetary hot spots and the clipper ship strategy.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Clipper Ship Strategy

---

Math

Time: 80 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the first two exercises for chapter nine, which were on making a tessellation using rotational symmetry and a triangle as a base. I then continued by watching video 23 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, which was on topology and a rubber world, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we finished the eighth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. We worked on the words near, far and goodbye and the phrase "I don't understand." After that, we listened the audio CD.

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Elective

Time: 40 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Waves of the Danube on the piano, read chapter 3 of Elementary Harmony and worked on the first part of the quiz.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Elementary Harmony

---

Science

Time: 150 min

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we studied the anatomy of the small intestine, colon and rectum. To start with, we watched a video lecture about the anatomy of these areas. After that, I answered two questions about those areas, and moved on to our new course on the brain, which was about the history of neuroscience today. I answered the questions in the book, which were more philosophical than scientific today.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/anatomycourse_Intestine.pdf http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/brain1.pdf

Resources

My Computer

My Mom

Teaching Company Human Anatomy and Biology DVD

Teaching Company Understanding the Brain DVD

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Elective

Time: 50 min

Local History Study

For my Local History Study today, I wrote a short article about the Best Management Practices for preserving our soils, and why it is important to do so.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/BestManagementPractices.pdf

Resources

Computer

My Mom

E&S Slideshow

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Elective

Time: 40 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on a short prototype for a Terror of Porridge game in Unity.

Resources

Computer

Unity

---

February the 24th 2010

Elective

Time: 40 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Clipper Ship Strategy, which was on how to profit from the injection effect.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Clipper Ship Strategy

---

Math

Time: 90 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the next two exercises for chapter nine, which were on making a tessellation using translational and glide symmetry and a triangle as a base. I then continued by watching video 24 of my Mathematics from the Visual World Course, which was the last lesson and was on the shape of geometry, and working on the lesson in the book.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

Mathematics from the Visual World

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we finished the ninth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. We worked on the question "Where are you from?"

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Science

Time: 120 min

Physical Science

Reflection

In our Physical Science Class today, we started off by reviewing what we learned about Tesla's AC current and Edison's DC current, and briefly discussed the "Current Wars", where Edison tried to convince the public that AC was harmful. Then we moved on to the lesson on electricity. First, we got a little look at a motor, and took one apart to show that it really works by using moving charges in a magnetic field to turn a mechanism inside. We got to see electrical current in Dad's oscilloscope, which not only showed us the frequency of the current but the shape of it's curve when graphed. It looked rather pretty. We saw that AC current's frequency is 60 hertz, and packs quite a punch at 220 volts when it comes in off the lines, which is why your computer has a transformer, which brings the voltage down to a level where your circuits won't blow out.

Next, we had a little look at capacitors and inductors, which both cause an inertia effect in a circuit. Capacitors store volts, and inductors store current, which means that, with a capacitor, the voltage doesn't want to start, but once started, doesn't want to stop. It's the same thing for inductors, but with current. We saw on the oscilloscope that this caused the graph of the voltage or current to lag behind what was coming out of the battery. Lastly, we tinkered around with my electronics kit for a bit, learned how to use some of the oscilloscope's interesting functions, and learned about when resistors lose power under AC (any time you're using them, really).

Resources

The Joy of Physics

My Science Book

Charts

My Dad

My Partner, Nathaniel

Electrical Kit

Materials

---

Elective

Time: 80 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Musette on the piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

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February the 25th 2010

English

Time: 40 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Language is Served grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I made a food chain, by linking words and making sure the last letter of the first one was the same as the first letter of the next one, and so. I got to 50 words.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/foodchain.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I read chapter ten and worked on the exercises, which were actually quite easy.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly and wet walk in a snowstorm. The snow was whipping around us, muffling the familiar sights in a white blanket of snow. The sky was invisible behind looming gray stratus clouds and the constantly falling snow. It isn't snowing particularly hard, but it is constant, and it seemed to blow in our faces both on the way there and on the way back. We didn't see that much in the way of bird or animal life this morning, although we did hear a crow. All in all, it was a wet and uneventful walk.

Resources

My Computer

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the ninth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. We worked on the question "Where are you from?"

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Elective

Time: 50 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Musette on the piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

---

Social Studies

Time: 90 min

United States History

Reflection

For my United States History Study today, I worked on the second lesson on the Liberty! website, which tested what I learned from the video. I answered the six of the questions and made a comparison of the reasons to and not to rebel against England.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogFeb2010/AmericanRevolution2.pdf

Resources

Liberty! website

My Mom

---

February the 26th 2010

English

Time: 10 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book, using the prefixes intellect-, intellig-, mem- and sens- to complete some sentences.

Resources

Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book

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Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I read chapter eleven and worked on the exercises, which were actually quite easy. I am now done with the book!

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

Elective

Time: 180 min

Local History Study

For my Local History Study today, I drew my soil poster in pen and ink, and colored it in using prismacolor pencils. It looks really good!

Resources

Computer

My Mom

Pens and Pencils

Light Box

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February the 27th 2010

Elective

Time: 120 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by walking into my Musical Performance Lab. We began by doing a short warm up, which, as it was dancing today, was quite involved and involved keeping our backs straight. We then went over the basic steps of dance, and did all of them in rapid succession. After that, we did some movement across the floor and started on the dance steps to One Short Day that we learned last time, and added on some steps. Lastly, we practiced a great audition piece, and finished up. I think I did reasonably well today, although I could do better on some of the steps.

In my Actor Speaks class, which was a full class today, we began by working on a writing exercise, and wrote whatever came into our minds for ten minutes straight. Then the acting class came in and read our scenes, which were about showing an emotion without telling the audience the emotion right away, trying to get them to figure it out. All the plays were really good, and the actors did very well for a cold reading. Lastly, we learned about suspense, irony and empathy, and got our homework.

Resources

My Teachers

Other Students

---

Elective

Time: 90 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Musette on the piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

---

February the 28th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. I showed him some of my songs and we worked on some scales and Musette! We also looked at my progress in Elementary Harmony, and Tom said I was doing well.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

Notion 3

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-- JackW - 01 Feb 2010