Attentiveness Unit Study

Our next unit for Homeschooling has been Attentiveness.  The theme is paying attention to detail and observing the world around us.  For the first section in this unit, we studied the ear.  The kids discovered the parts of the ear, and how they work to help the brain interpret sound waves.  Inside your ear, you have short hairs and long hairs.  Shorter hairs pick up the high pitched sounds because the amplitude of the wave is able to reach them better, and the taller hairs pick up the lower pitched sounds with their reduced wavelength.  Sound is directed by the cartilage in the outer ear into the ear canal where it strikes the ear drum vibrating it at the frequency of the instigating sound wave.  The ear drum, in turn, causes the hammer, anvil, and stapes to vibrate at that frequency.  These vibrate the air in the cochlea at that same frequency.  It is there that the hairs of different lengths pick up the frequency and transmit through the auditory nerves to the brain.

We talked about causes of deafness and then we talked about Helen Keller and watched the Miracle Worker which the kids really enjoyed.  We played different memory games to help with concentration.  For their writing assignment for deafness, we had them make up an advertisement for hearing aids so that they had to investigate how hearing aids worked so that they could convince people to buy them.

We discussed Alexander Graham Bell and his contribution of the invention of the telephone.  We discussed sonar and how ships and bats use sound to navigate obstacles.  We discussed the story of the Greek Nymph Echo which deals with how we hear echoes.  Then we began a discussion of musical instruments and orchestra and went to our friend Ellie's house.  She pulled apart her piano, violin, and marimba and we discussed the different parts of each and what they did.  We discussed different percussion instruments as well.  Then we talked about orchestras and how and why they are set up in a specific way.

We talked about rhythm and tempo in music as well as music dynamics.  Throughout this whole portion of the unit, we introduced them to different, well-known classical symphonies and talked about different composers.  Meagan's favorite of the new music she had never heard previously was "1812 Overture" by Tchaikovsky, and Jacob's was "Bolera" by Ravel.

The next section we covered was the eye.  The kids learned the parts of the eye and how they function to help the brain interpret light waves.  The rods on the sides of an eye see only black and white, and the cones in front see colors.  Jacob really enjoyed finding the blind spot in each eye and how the iris reacts to changes in light intensity.  For Meagan's writing project, we discussed myopia (near-sightedness, or the inability to see objects that are far away) and hyperopia (far-sightedness, or the inability to see objects that are close).  For Jacob's writing project, he compared the eye location of several types of animals and the pros and cons of each.  We talked about glaucoma, cataracts, and night-blindness.

For the last section, we discussed tracking.  We talked about Lewis and Clark's journey with Sacajawea (or the Corps of Discovery Expedition) to survey the land purchased by Thomas Jefferson known as the Louisiana Purchase.  We discussed the Louisiana purchase, and why it was made.  We talked about who it was purchased from and what we hoped to gain.  We talked about the Mormon Pioneers that crossed the Great Plains to Salt Lake City.  We plotted them on the map of the continental US with string. 

We discussed how these explorers and pioneers survived during their treks.  We called in the wilderness expert (Grandpa Stumm) and talked with him about bears.  He talked about how you hunt them & how bears live.  We had them each make a fictional "Explorer's Journal"

Jacob's journal is called "My Research About the Mokele Mbembe".  It is the lore of the last living dinosaur and is from the Congo.  He wrote about trying to find out the truth of the legend.  Meagan's is called "The Ghost of Union Bay" and is the legend of a haunted island and her attempt to discover why it is haunted.

We discussed a little bit about the War of 1812 and why it happened.  We discussed England's trade embargo of our goods via shipping, the impressment of merchant sailors into the Royal English Navy, their support of the Indian tribes against American expansion, and the American interest in annexing British territory.  We discussed the Star Spangled Banner and it's origin in Fort McHenry and Francis Scott Key's observations there.

Meagan's favorite things this unit were the memory games and guessing the orchestral piece from hearing a part of it.  Jacob's was studying the eye and how it works.

Next up: Patience.  Stay tuned for gardening, growth, and more!

- Josh & Sarah