Saint Inspired Science~ Engineering

Today we had our science get together and instead of doing our experiments at someone’s house, we decided to head to a science center nearby to do our engineering experiments there! Wow! The girls were over the moon about the trip. We started our learning off in the cafe reading a book about St. Patrick. He is the patron said of engineering because he helped teach the Irish people build churches and buildings. So after our story, we talked about what engineering is. One definition that I read that made the most sense was: Engineering is combining math, science, and experience to build something that is useful. After some quick learning, we headed into the engineering “department” to work on some of the experiments that were available. We started off working on building buildings that could withstand an earthquake. We tested them by using the shaker table. We also built bridges using sheets of paper, we build a 7 ft. arch with large blocks, played with wind and propellers, and built an arched bridge that we could walk over. There was a lot of thinking and the team work was amazing! They were able to talk through their ideas and there were no hurt feelings! They are all getting so big! The girls worked especially hard on the paper bridge and they almost gave up. But they managed to get it worked out. One thing that we discovered is that little changed make a big difference! Always try to make a small change first! After doing the experiments, hunger set it and it was time to eat. We packed lunch and we were those fun parents at the tables. It was build your own lunch! Cheese cubes, pretzels, grapes, strawberries, and crackers made for an engineer inspired lunch! For dessert we had gumdrops, Twizzlers, and toothpicks to create masterpieces to eat! There was, surprisingly, a lot more building then eating!  They loved it! When we finally got food in our bellies and the mess tidied up, it was off to explore all the other parts of the science center for fun! Lots of giggles, running, and exploring!

IMG_7635 IMG_7637 IMG_7644 IMG_7646 IMG_7685 IMG_7679 IMG_7658 IMG_7660 IMG_7692 IMG_7694 IMG_7701 IMG_7702 IMG_7705 IMG_7739 IMG_7717 IMG_7730 IMG_7747 IMG_7752 IMG_7708 IMG_7724 IMG_7755 IMG_7757 IMG_7767IMG_7794 IMG_7800 IMG_7802 IMG_7806 IMG_7823 IMG_7824 IMG_7815 IMG_7812 IMG_7826 IMG_7835 IMG_7837 IMG_7838 IMG_7844 IMG_7850 IMG_7858 IMG_7860 IMG_7867 IMG_7872 IMG_7886 IMG_7892 IMG_7908 IMG_7946As you can see our day was fun, busy, and educational! And if I am honest, I was pretty tired! 😉 I was so glad that we got to have a chance to try out so awesome experiments while having fun! Now off to the rest of my busy week! I hope to share with you some of the other things we have been doing here in the next few days! Happy Schooling!