Powerhouse: Natural Food Preservation

We learned how to make fresh water last week, so this week in our Powerhouse science studies we talked about natural food preservation.

We found out that there are LOTS of ways to preserve foods by natural processes: freezing, canning, packing in oil, packing in salt brine, fermentation, smoking, salting, pickling, drying and sugaring.  In our class today we used two of these processes.  First we used the Powerhouse greenhouse to turn an apple into a chewy treat.  All we had to do was slice an apple into thin pieces, stick them on a wooden skewer and place them in the greenhouse.  Then we set them out in the hot (104 degrees)Texas sun for a while.

.... 8 hours later we had homemade fruit snacks, from the sun!

Okay, they didn't taste too good- but we could still eat them if we had too.

Next we tried out a little fermentation- making sauerkraut.

All we needed was some cabbage, some salt and a glass jar.  We put layers of shredded cabbage and salt into the jar, tightly packing them down after each layer.

A liquid started to collect on the top (that's the brine).

After a few hours the fermentation process started and we could observe small bubbles rising to the surface.

Now we have to wait 10 to 14 days for the fermentation process to stop (when the bubbles disappear) and then put it in the refrigerator for a month.  We'll try to remember to update on how it turns out!  

Next week in our Powerhouse class we will learn about heat absorbers and how to cool our house.

Mason: Weekly Blog Post

We are all gathered here to say good bye to Jone, he was a good friend to me and to all of you.  When we were kids we played out on his back yard, we played hide and seek and tag.  When he grew up he worked as an artist and painted paintings for all of us.   How he died was his house was set on fire.  We will all miss him.

Avery: Weekly Blog

Bertram was a great guy.  He always loved to make people laugh and have lots fun.  He came up with the funnest ideas all the time.  His imagination never stopped for even the slightest second.  I remember when Bertram decided he didn't like his name.  So he changed it, he changed it to Voldemort. What still confuses today me is he never liked Harry Potter.  Didn't see the movies, read the books, he didn't even let anyone talk to him about it.  But he chose that name.  It made everyone laugh very hard when someone called him Voldemort.  We found it to be the funniest thing, but we still went with it.  He was a great man and he will always be in my heart.

Connor: Weekly Blog #2

     He was a funny guy, always making goofy faces when his picture was taken.  He got a job as a clown, which was the one occupation everyone had recommended for him.  He passed away doing what he loved, making people laugh.  Gregory F. Bone had brought laughter to the town of Humorless.  It's unfortunate that we will never hear his laugh.  We will never again see his most hilarious pranks.  We will never again hear his jokes.  His legacy of hilarious antics and wonderful comedy have died with him.  I'm sure he is still playing pranks in heaven.

Kiki: Weekly Blog Post

We are here today to say goodbye to our friend, Dove.  Dove had such a great job, he had the job of a wood cutter.  We used to go play games up in his tree house when we were younger.  Sometimes when we went up there we would play so long that we fell asleep in the tree house.  When we once went to the park to go watch birds we saw one bird that was eating a squirrel.  We caught a bird and I gave it to Dove for his birthday.  When Dove become a wood cutter he decided that he wanted to make a wooden chair first.  He made his wooden chair and carved him name into it and kept it forever.  When he made that he made another chair for me.  I tried making a chair once, but it didn't work because I didn't know how to make one.  It was so sad how he died, he died because he was on a train that crashed into a tree.  I will miss Dove.

8/6/2012 Weekly Blog Post

For today's blog post, I want you to write a eulogy to read at the funeral of the person in the picture above.  A eulogy is a speech that someone gives at a funeral that talks about the dead person's life and the things they liked and admired about the person.  So for this post, pretend that you were the best friend of the person in the picture and write out your eulogy.

Marney: weekly blog post 2

     The Three Gods 

By Marney

     One day there were three girls, their names were Jane, Jack and Charlie.  They all wanted to become famous and they were all thinking of ideas.   

     Jane said, "We could tightrope-walk over a giant cliff and try not to fall." 

      Jack and Charlie thought Jane was crazy so they both said  "No way."  They all went on a walk together and thought of a perfect idea.  

     Jane said, "We can do gymnastics and become famous for it."  Jack and Charlie both thought if they can become famous from doing gymnastics and they thought for a very long time.  Then the ghost like thing came down from the sky. 

     The ghost said "I am not a ghost, I am a goddess and I am a goddess of gymnastics."  The girls were all surprised that there was a god right in  front of them.  They all ran away until they got home and they ran to their beds.  Then another god showed up in the middle of their room. 

     She said, "I need to get you guys out of here fast, run out of your room now."
     Then the three girls ran out of their house and went to their friend's house until they were safe.  Then they practiced their gymnastics over and over again until they got it right.  Then they went out in the street to show it off.  Then they got it right and got over 1000 dollars and got on America's Got Talent and went to Hollywood, they were all very happy.  They got all the money they could ever win.  Then they went to Hollywood and started to show off wherever they want to.  They were so happy.

Marney:Weekly Blog Post 1

     The tallest building in London is the Shard, also known as the London Bridge Tower.  The Shard is 309.6 meters tall.  It became the tallest building on March 30, 2012.  The Shard opened a month ago and had a laser show for the opening.  It is the tallest building and is right next to the London Bridge.
     The London Bridge has been standing for 2000 years.  The London Bridge is about a sixth of a mile long.  A bunch of movies are made on the London Bridge.  Ever year they celebrate when it is the day of the London Bridge's birthday.  About 40000 people go over the London Bridge daily.
       British Museum has a free entrance and has a bunch of things from prehistoric times in it.  The whole roof is a sky light.  There are a bunch of mummies in the building.  The mummies have had 5.8 million visitors in this year so far.  It is open daily and it opens at 10 o'clock.
     The Big Ben is the big bell in London.  They ring the bell sometimes but not much.  The big bell is not very famous, what is is the tower the big bell is in.  The tower is very old and it is pretty.  At night they have big lights in the tower that light up.  

Gabe: Blog Post 1

     The London Eye is a ferris wheel in London.  It took seven years to build.  When you are at the top you can see 25 miles around.  3.5 million people ride it a year.  It can carry 800 people at once.
     The London Bridge is in London.  It took seven years to build.  It crosses river Thames.  It is 882 feet long.  It has five lanes on it.
     The Queen of England is 86.  She always goes out with a hat on.  Her name is Elizabeth.  Her husband's name is Prince Philip.  Her dad was George the 6th.
     The Olympics are in London this year!  The basketball arena is completely recyclable.  My favorite sport in the Olympics is soccer.   London has a lot of wonderful things.   

Gabe: Blog Post 2

The Goddess of Control

By Gabe

     Thousands of years ago a pebble fell into sand and a grain of sand stuck to it and that fell in a pond and created the Goddess of Control.  The Goddess of Control was happy she had the the whole world.  She could control anything.  Anything but one thing, time was the one thing that she could not control.  She had 3 out of the 4 crystals.  She had the Earth one, the water one and the air one.  But she did not have the time crystal.
     You have to be the best, most truthful god in the world to get the time crystal.  So she started creating men, some were nice and some were mean until she got to Thrash.  Thrash was very nice but also very strong.  Everyone was happy.
     Everyone started building and having fun.  She created some animals.  She also made a castle.  They made a nice town.  Thrash just left to go get the crystal.
     Everything was very good until this happened.  Everyone started rebeling because they wanted her powers.  Everyone just pulled out knives, ready to stab her.  Right before a man stabbed her, Thrash threw the crystal and she caught it and stopped time.  She changed the gods into people and put them on earth. She and Thrash stayed gods.

Connor: Weekly Blog #1

    London is the name of two cities in England.  The first of these two cities was founded by the Romans.  The second on the other hand was once called Westminster.  The city of London is located within London currently and has a longer history than London.  The city of London is surrounded by a wall or the remains of a wall.
   Because the monarchy and the city of London couldn't exactly trust each other, the castles from that time period, and practically ever since, were made to protect the monarch from the people of the city of London. The city of London is considered its own county and houses some pre-Anglo-Saxon monuments.  The wall that surrounds the city is of Roman origin.  The city of London is also run similarly to how it was back before Rome fell.
  London has more of the famous monuments however.  Big Ben is just one of the many monuments that are found in London.  Over time Westminster grew to incorporate smaller cities and the name changed to London.  While London has its mayor and its laws the City of London is different.  They select separate mayors and have different traditions.  The City of London even has a different flag from London.
   The city of London has been around for many centuries.  The motto of the city was most likely adopted in the 1600s and the coat of arms can be seen in several places throughout both cities.  The city of London has a crest that features a dragon's wing bearing the cross of Saint George.  Both cities hold monuments and can be considered part of the same city, while also being separate cities at the same time.  Because both cities hold lots of smaller monuments and the wall itself is a monument.  Coupled with the fact that the city of London is within London.  Thus London has a lot of monuments all throughout itself.

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Enchanted Feathers

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Enchanted Marble

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Enchanted Spoon

Powerhouse: Water Desalinization

This week in science we have returned to studying the Powerhouse!  We worked with this kit last summer but never finished, so now that the temperatures are up in the 100's again we thought it was the perfect time to try it out again.  The Powerhouse is all about how to use the environment to your advantage to save on energy in various ways.

In this lesson we learned all about water desalinization: the process for removing salt from water to create clean drinking water.  First we created a small thumbtack scale from tea light cans so that we could measure our salt in grams.

Next we measured the salt out (10 grams=40 thumbtacks), added it to our water and mixed it up to create our salt water.

Then we took everything outside and poured the salt water into the greenhouse area of our Powerhouse and closed it all up.  We inserted a thermometer so that we could keep track of the temperature in the greenhouse.  We started out at 30 degrees C (86F).

Two hours later we had a small amount of fresh water and some dry salt.  The temperature in the greenhouse went up to 122F during our desalinization process.  Next we learn more about cooking without a kitchen.

Avery: Weekly Blog #1

       For my report I looked at the top ten biggest attractions in London, England.  Number one being The Tower of London.  The Tower of London has been many things before.  It has been a prison, jewel house, place of execution, a royal palace and even a zoo!  When you walk through it you go through exhibits full of crowned jewels.  Big and little ones, crowns, things of gold and silver.

       Another very popular thing in London would be the London Eye.  It is like a giant ferris wheel in a way. You are in a small pod and you can sit on the benches they have on the sides of the pod, or you can stand up and look down below you.  They have a tinted glass that you can look through that covers the whole entire pod.

       The London zoo is said to be awesome by many tourists.  It opened in 1847 as a scientific zoo and is still that today.  They have over 720 different species living in their giant zoo today.  They have a ton of exhibits.  The Butterfly Paradise is a big sized green house full of flowers, cactus and beautiful butterflies.  The most popular exhibit is called "Into Africa".  It is full of unusual animals from Africa.
       One really cool place to visit in London is the Chislehurst Caves.  The caves continues for a full 20 miles and you can take a tour of the full thing or just half.  The Chilslehurst Caves have been there for 8,000 years. The tour shows you how the people of England kept it together for so many years.  These caves have also been featured in TV shows such as Doctor Who and Randall and Hopkirk (decreased).
       That is what I found interesting in London, England.

Avery: Weekly Blog Post #2

The Gymnast Gods

By Avery Jones

       There once was a little group of gymnasts.  But not just any gymnasts.  They were gymnast gods.  They had the powers to do any yoga pose, flexible trick and anything from gymnastics.  They would compete in all  the national competitions. 

       One day while they were practicing for the state competition, they got a good look at all the other competitors.  There was a large man with long shaggy hair and short stubby legs.  A tall, fit woman with crystal blue eyes and a weird shaped face.  She was very nice, yet very competitive.  Like most of the people there.  Last there was a 3 year old who had crazy flexibility skills and has won some of the biggest competitions. 

       When it was time for them to go onto the stage they were upset.  They didn't want to let the little girl down.  She was very sensitive and was said to pout for 2 days straight.  They went on and did their normal routine.  A few flips, tricks, spins and bends.  They got to the point where they all had to stand on each other's shoulders.  The person on the bottom purposely slipped and made everyone fall.  They were out of the competition.

       The next day they had heard that the little girl had won and was rewarded with a huge golden medal.  The goddesses were happy to hear that, but were very, very sore from falling.  They healed strangely fast though.  That being because they were goddesses of course.

THE END

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Character Resume- Rapunzel by Gabe and Kiki

Harry J. Towers ( Stage Name: Rapunzel )
1408 Lettuce Lane,
Thorny Fields

Employment History
    When she was in her mid-twenties she worked as a hair trimmer for 4 years at Quick Trim.  She cut hair off of 158 different people.

    Later on in life she worked as a thorn picker for 18 years at Thorn Be Gone. She pick 50,000 thorn plants.

Special Qualifications
Great Hair
Her hair is long and nice and wavy.Her hair is great to fight with.

Magic Eyes
Her eye water can save people’s lives.

Education
Homeschooled by an evil witch until college.

Went to University of Towers for college.

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Character Resume- Little Red Riding Hood, by Mason and Avery

Razzy Red (Stage name- Little Red Riding Hood/Lil’ Red)
1414 Pine Tree Rd.
The Forest

Employment History
Worked at Ready Freddy’s clothing store as a children’s fashion designer.  Judging children’s clothes and finding better (expensive) clothing.

Delivered bread and cookies to the senior center on Big Bad Lane.  Making the elderly feel safe and happy every day.

Worked at Hairy Wolf’s Country Club as a rapper.  Amusing customers with her fast singing voice.

Special Qualifications
Joy Keeper
Bringing joy to families in need and children who are bored.

Delivery
Being able to deliver foods and drinks in under two minutes.

Crime Fighting Kid
Can destroy anything in the way, so not distracted from jobs..

Education
Little Helpers Service Club (Grades K-6)
Grandma Lilly’s High School (Grades 8-12)
Big Wolf College for 5 years of pure education in cooking, running, karate, english and the language of the animals.

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Character Resume- Alice in Wonderland, by Connor and Marney

Alison Q. Hearts (stage name Alice)
550 Madhatter Drive
Wonderland

Employment History
Worked five years as a rabbit hunter, captured several criminal rabbits and turned them over to the Queen.  

Worked ten years as a salesperson at the Mad Hatter hat shop.  Went door to door selling the craziest hats in Wonderland.

Special Qualifications
Curiosity. Keeps asking about things she doesn’t or never will understand no matter how stupid.

Falling in rabbit holes.  Persistently keeps trying to capture rabbits who break the law using their front doors.

Education
White Rabbit Elementary (grades k- 5)
Cheshire Cat Middle School (grade 6-8)
Queen Of Hearts High (grades 9 - 12)
Wonderland University. Major in Psychology, minor in WonderLand Logic.