Math Monday - Making a Number Scroll

Photo Credit

This idea comes from a friend of mine who teaches second grade.    I was telling her about Gman, who seems to pull something mathematical out of everything we do.   He has a strange gift for remembering dates from long ago, and can compute complex math problems rather quickly.  I always search for ways to keep him enthused!  


My friend, Meri, showed me this summer how her son (the same age as my son - 6) had been filling in blank 100s charts, then taping them together.  His goal was to get to 1,000.   Well, he has gotten to 1,000 easily and is working his way towards 2,000.


When my little guy heard about this he insisted I get a copy of the blank 100s chart and let him work on this project this week.  I'm happy to oblige, so I copied the chart and put it into one of the folders in his workbox.    Since I don't have any pictures (yet!), you'll just have to imagine an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper with a 10x10 grid on it, for your child to write 1-100.  When they finish that, they do another sheet and number it 101-200, etc...   Each sheet is taped to the next to make a huge number scroll.


Not only will it be fun to see how long the scroll will be, but it might be a good exercise in multiplication for my oldest (if one of the papers is 11 inches long, how long will a number scroll to 1,000 be?  What about 2,000?   Etc....)       


Lots of patterns are going to emerge during this activity as well.    If you have a child who is math obsessed like I do, they're going to get a real kick out of seeing how long they can make the scroll!  I'm pretty much thinking the teaching possibilities with this scroll could be ENDLESS!


Here is a link to a blank 100s chart.  

Linking to Math Monday:  

Science Sunday - An Easy, Independent Activity

When I first learned about this idea over at Superheroes and Princesses, I sent myself an email (I do that a lot!) to use this activity during the first week of school.  It was SO MUCH FUN!   It was also EASY and something my children did INDEPENDENTLY!    After further investigation, it actually has lots of scientific merit.  Lo and behold, Steve Spangler has an article on his blog about this very activity.   If you've read my blog for a while, you'll remember Steve Spangler's Color Changing Milk experiment we did last year.  Everything he suggests is fun!  


Here's the video:

                               Supplies:

Does it get any better?  24 colors of Sharpies!

White Bandanas (ours were purchased at Hobby Lobby for $.99 each)

Sharpies (I got a huge pack of them at Sam's - we love Sharpies!)

Rubbing Alcohol

Large plastic cups

Rubber Bands

Medicine Dropper

It was so easy, really!




Spread your bandana over nine plastic cups, and put a rubber band around each cup -- making 9 circles (you will draw your designs in these!)




Draw a design in each circle -- it's fun to experiment with what kinds of designs work better.  I would recommend buying several bandanas if you really have crafty kids!  My daughter cut up an old dust ruffle to make more of these so she could keep having fun.

Drop a few drops of rubbing alcohol on each circle and watch the magic happen!  

Let dry for about 30 minutes, then you can put them in a warm dryer to set the color.  You can wash them easily -- remember, water doesn't remove Sharpies!  

It was so much fun that my husband did it again with the kids while I was at a meeting the next day.  It's not very often that daddy gets pulled into a craft project like that.  :-)


You can use them to put on your head (Miss B said that Laura Ingalls wore them when she was working!), or you can use them to cover up your daddy's eyes when you're having a blind fudge taste-test! (that's another blog post, too!)  

   
For the fun of it, check out lots of other things you can do with Sharpies at 100 Ways To Start Something With Sharpie.   (I realize the thought of Sharpies may spark fear in some homeschooling mamas, but if you're brave, go for it!)


Has there been an activity in your homeschool recently that just "worked"?  I love it when that happens!!


*Linking up today with Science Sunday - a great place to get more ideas!