Thursday, July 22, 2010

And, today...

...Trevor studied density. I asked him what is the density of his head. He didn't test that, but he did test the density of a golf ball.

And, Devin made a coil bowl and a spider out of clay. He also came home covered in paint.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Father

We had a tornado warning tonight. So, being a good okie, we stayed outside.

It was getting a little ugly for the the non-Okies in my immediate family, so John took the boys back to the car before it started to rain. I stayed outside filling out a form so Devin could play Fall Soccer. Just as I was wrapping up, the storm started flinging a light persistent rain my way. So, I ran back to the car.

When I got to the car, Devin asked if I had dodged all the rain drops like him.

And, I said, "no, you must have gotten that magical power from your father."

He said, "which one?"

What he's learned

This morning, Devin complained of a tummy ache. I hope it was for nothing. And, I offered him some milk, telling him it would coat, soothe and relieve his upset tummy. Trevor piped up and said, "that's right! Milk is neutral and will neutralize the acid in your stomach."

Is this true? I don't really know. But, I think milk is slightly acidic and therefore is unable to neutralize acid. I'll let him know later today. He may have been getting milk confused with milk of magnesia...

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

How to tell the difference between an acid and a base

Both of the boys are attending summer day camps this week at Penn State. Trevor is attending a science camp and Devin is attending an art camp.

This morning, John quizzed Trevor on acids and bases because that is what on the agenda at his camp today. Trevor came up with an example of each. Maple syrup is a base and lemon juice is an acid.

One way you can tell the difference is if you get lemon juice in your eye, it stings. And, if you somehow "randomly" (that's what he said) got maple syrup in your eye, it wouldn't sting.

I sure hope he's wearing safety glasses today.

For the record, he insisted that he knew that this is not the right way to test the acidity of an item. He strongly insisted, in fact. But, I still thought it was pretty funny.

Here are some pictures from his summer camp.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Career goals

After our trip to Cape Cod, the boys both have new career aspirations. Trevor wants to be a marine biologist who teaches fighting in his spare time. Devin wants to be a surfer who entertains people, and when he's done doing that, he'll do something else.