Wanna heat up the summer for
your homeschool students?
Check out this June
teaching theme — Hot Air Balloon Day is June 5th. This is a great
way to incorporate a physical sciences and meteorology into your curriculum.
Have the children construct a “lighter than air” balloon from materials
around the house. PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) offers a wonderful
site dedicated to hot air balloons and races. The site includes teacher
resources, interviews and a virtual balloon flight. Additionally, many
communities offer hot air balloon rides that can serve as a reward for the
successful completion of this unit.
Now that you’ve heated it up, cool it down with a June
teaching theme for your homeschool that focuses on the wonders of frozen
dessert. It’s National Chocolate Ice Cream Day on June 7th! This is
a great June teaching theme for your homeschool that focuses on chemical
science. Ice has to absorb energy in order to melt, changing the phase of
water from a solid to a liquid. When you use ice to cool the ingredients for
ice cream, the energy is absorbed from the ingredients and from the outside
environment (like your hands, if you are holding the baggie of ice!). When you
add salt to the ice, it lowers the freezing point of the ice, so even more
energy has to be absorbed from the environment in order for the ice to melt.
This makes the ice colder than it was before, which is how your ice cream
freezes.
So, whether you are running hot or cold this summer,
there is a June teaching theme for you!
