Fabulous 500 Unit Study; Celebrate 500 Views With Us!

It’s a party celebrating 500 views here at Noah’s Ark Homeschool Academy! What better way to celebrate then studying the number 500? What a challenge this is to put a whole Unit Study together on just one number. This Unit Study could serve as a model to put together your own Unit Study on any number that you want to celebrate.

How about learning the card game 500 to start. Click the link and you will learn about the origins of this interesting card game and all the rules so you can teach it to your children and play. What a fun way to learn about the number 500 and put your Math, and Thinking Skills into action.

Have you ever wondered what was going on in the year 500? Well here’s your chance to find out!

Learn all about the Number 500 itself!

The Colorado 500 is a charity off-road race. You can learn all about this amazing charity that has donated $1,000,000!

2012 Fortune 500 List! What a neat thing to teach your children about. There are lots of opportunities for math here. You can compare the companies numbers, learn about the companies themselves, see how many of the companies you children recognize and if they know what they do. Have the children think up their own company as a group after studying what makes the Fortune 500 companies successful. Hold a mock interview for one of the companies for older students. They can research and prepare for the interview, including their numbers and growth information. There is so much to learn and do here.
They have had some great Fortune 500 Covers over the years and here are some of the favorites to check out and compare. After viewing these have your children design and create their own Fortune 500 Cover!

Do you have kids that love cars? Studying the Fiat 500 is a great way to integrate something they love into what you want them to learn. Have your children build and price a Fiat 500 and make adjustments to stay within a budget you set for them. They will enjoy picking the features, and you will enjoy the math they are doing. Have them learn all about the different features of the car including gas mileage, safety features, and so son. Older children can write a report on if they would purchase a Fiat 500, and why or why not. Younger children could create a Fiat 500 cardboard box car.

While your inspiring the car lover in your family why not study the History of the Daytona 500? Here is another link to study the History of the Daytona 500. Here is a list of the winners of the Daytona 500 throughout history. This is a great opportunity to compare the cars they drove, or how much money they won. The lesson opportunities are almost endless here! For fun you could hold your own Daytona 500 with Hot Wheels cars. You could make your own race track on cardboard, or create a race track out of Hot Wheels track pieces. Have them calculate the points.

For a creative writing project have your children describe what the world might be like in 500 years. They could also come up with an invention that would be useful in the world 500 years from now. If they are too young to write have them draw pictures of what they think the world will look like in 500 years.

The Roman Numeral for 500 is D

Have your children answer these Math questions:

* How many 100’s are there in 500?

* What would you buy at Target if you had $500?

* What groceries would you buy for an entire month for your family with $500? Have the children either go to the grocery store to get prices or to the website of the grocery store you normally shop at. They could shop the sale ads or even use coupons. They may need to make a menu plan to make sure they are getting enough food.

* What is half of 500?

* What is 500+500?

* Where would you be if you traveled 500 miles South of where you live?

* Where would you be if you traveled 500 miles North of where you live?

* Where would you be if you traveled 500 miles East of where you live?

* Where would you be if you traveled 500 miles West of where you live?

* How many yards are there in 500 miles?

* How many feet are there in 500 miles?

* How many inches are there in 500 feet?

* Take 500 steps and measure if it is actually 500 feet or another number.

* How many pennies are in $500?

* How many nickles are in $500?

* How many dimes are in $500?

* How many quarters are in $500?

* How many $1’s are in $500?

* How many $5 are in $500?

* How many $10 are in $500?

* How many $50 are in $500?

* How many $100 are in $500?

* What day on the Calendar will it be 500 days from now?

* What day on the Calendar was it 500 days ago?

500 Years ago it was year 1512. What was it like 500 years ago? What did they wear? What did they do for fun? How did they get around? What jobs did they have? What were their living conditions like?
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Now do a venn diagram comparing Today with the year 1512. If you want to expand you can also compare what you think it will be like in year 2512 also or even in the year 500.

This will conclude our Celebration of the Number 500!

Thanksgiving Unit Study

 

 

Please head over to Noah’s Ark Homeschool Academy on Blogger to view all the amazing FREE Thanksgiving resources that I have put together for you.

 

 

Lego Unit Study

 

Welcome to our Lego Unit Study!

First head on over to my other blog to check out the links list I put together with lots of FREE Lego learning resources.

There will be continuing updates on this post including free printables and project ideas!

Click this link to download Noah’s Ark Homeschool Academy’s FREE Lego Unit Study Notebooking Pages!

Lego Quests
* Car – build a car using your imagination only (no instructions aloud).

* Monochromatic – The only rule is that it has to be all one color.

* Vessel – Look up the definition for vessel in the dictionary, there are several different meanings for the word, then pick one and start creating!

* Two Dimensional – You can create anything you want as long as it only has the dimensions of height and width.

* Tool – Make a tool that already exists or create a new one.

* Creature – You can build a creature (a non-human living organism) that already exists or one you just discovered. This would make a great extended writing project.

* Collaboration – The only rule this time is that you work with someone else. It can be your whole family or a friend.

* Your Favourite Book – Create anything from your favourite book.

* Maximum Height – Build a vertical structure that has nothing holding it up, and then measure it.

* Spring – Create something that reminds you of Spring.

* Shadow – Create something that would cast a great shadow and then take a picture of only the shadow.

* Mixed Media – Combine your Legos with other objects to create whatever you like.

* Earth Day – Use your imagination to represent Earth Day. Could you invent something new to make the Earth a better place?

* Ancient Monument – Try and recreate an ancient monument, or use one for inspiration.

* Kinetic – Challenge yourself to create something that has at least one moving part.

* Bird House – Design a bird house and maybe even a bird that lives in it.

* Metamorphosis – Can you make a Lego design that transforms from one stage to another? This may be something from real life, or a brand new idea!

* Flags – Replicate a flag design with Legos or make your own flag creation.

* Wrapped Object – Make any Lego creation that you want, then wrap it with another object until no Lego’s are showing.

* Repair or Replace – Improve or fix something in your environment with Legos.

* Buoyancy – Can you create a Lego vessel or structure that actually floats? Keep trying until you get it right!

* Display Your Art – Design something out of Lego that will display your art.

* Cityscape – A cityscape is an urban landscape. This is a great opportunity to study a city, write a report, then build it with Legos!

* Illumination – Creat anything you would like, but have in mind how you will incorporate light into your design.

* Bridge – Make a simple bridge or you could study the engineering behind the bridge building and try to construct a sturdy bridge or make a replica of a famous bridge.

* Playground – Create you dream playground and test it out with your minifigures.

* Archeology – What do you know about archeology? Use what you know or learn about archeology in the building of this Lego Quest.

* Fall Harvest – (This is an alternative Halloween) What reminds you of Fall? Make a list of everything that comes to mind and create a fall scene or just one of the listed items.

* Two Cups of Random Bricks – Create something awesome with 2 cups of random bricks. Remember, you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.

* Map – Making a map of Legos would make a great geography lesson, or you could even make a treasure map. Another idea would be to study the different types of maps and create a map in each type.

* Holiday Scene – Create a scene or object that reminds you of Christ’s birth and how your family remembers and worships him.

* Coral Reef – Study coral reefs and create one out of Legos.

* Favourite Hymn or Worship Song – Can you create something out of Legos that remind you of the meaning of the song or could convey the meaning to others?

* 30 Pieces – Click the link and use the exact pieces that are described, but in any color you want.

* Maze or Labyrinth – Design you own maze or recreate one.

* Food – Recreate anything that represents something edible.

* Natural Disasters – Read a few books on natural disasters and then create a scene that depicts a natural disaster in action and/or the aftermath.

* Wearable LEGO – Create something out of Lego that can be worn.

* Occupation – Represent a job that you would like to do with Legos.

* Country – Create something that reminds you of your favorite country or of a country you are studying.

* Garden – Read the description of the garden of Eden and create what you imagine it to look like or create any garden you like.

* Aircraft – The sky is the limit! Create the ultimate flying machine (or just a plain old plane)

* 2×2 Bricks Only – Build anything you like as long as you ONLY use 2X2 bricks.

* Surrealism – Create something that couldn’t happen in real life. Think outside the box.

* Self Portrait – Create something in the image of yourself.

* Modern Marvels of Engineering – Engineer a modern man-made marvel.

* Micro-Scale – Make your Lego creation smaller than a normal Lego creation.

* Functional – Make something out of Legos that serves a purpose and is a useful household object.

* Growing – What can you make grow in a tree or in the ground that you create with Legos?

* Macro Scale – Pick a Lego and then use as many Legos as you want to create that Lego on a larger scale. Make a large replica of a Lego.

* Olympic Event – Recreate your favourite Olympic event or sport with Legos.

Can You Teach Thinking Skills?

What are thinking skills? Well, the simple answer is the ability to solve problems. More importantly is this a subject that can be taught? The answer is yes and no. In my “expert homeschool opinion”;-) every subject you teach should require problem solving along with allowing your children the opportunity to solve their own problems. For example; A math curriculum that requires a child to memorize formulas but doesn’t required the child to understand why they work is not going to teach your child to problem solve. Another example would be that when your child gets stuck up in a tree you automatically rescue them instead of talking them through how they think they might be able to get down. The emphasis should be on the process of solving the problem and not the answer. At the core of every subject and life experience should be an element of problem solving because that is true education. A child that only memorizes might sound smart, but if they don’t understand the inner workings of what they memorized they won’t be able to apply that knowledge to useful tasks. Many children are bored with their education because they see no use for what they have learned. Memory doesn’t last, it fades into the background with all other things your brain deems worthless. When I look at curriculum my main requirement is does this teach application, and if it doesn’t I see it as a waste of money and time. Thinking Skills as a separate subject isn’t enough for most children to apply it to all learning opportunities. Thinking Skills are a way of life, a thread that ties all subjects and life experience together. All the way down to your children’s toys and games, try to choose wisely. Choose things that require problems solving and imagination. Toys that tell you how to play with them or are too specific are not wise choices for promoting thinking skills.

Chess is a wonderful game to incorporate into your everyday life. The whole family can play it together and challenge each other to grow in skill. If you don’t know how to play yourself Activity Village has a printable chess game with a description of where all the pieces can move. It is worth learning.

Dominoes can be used in so many ways, but just playing the different varieties of the game are a good place to start. You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel.

Along the lines of dominoes, card games are also a great way to cause your children to be problem solvers. Poker with Monopoly Money is one of my favorites for 3rd grade and up.

Crossword puzzles are another great way to exercise your brain.

Scrabble is the best way to teach spelling. You can encourage using words off of a spelling list. This is an endless spelling curriculum that grows with the child. Activity Village has FREE printable scrabble tiles that could be printed on card stock and laminated for multiple uses, although I do believe the wood scrabble tiles would make a fine investment.

Timberdoodle sells Geopuzzles which are great geography thinking skills for K-3rd.

There are so many wonderful problem solving opportunities in Math. Tangrams are an excellent example of this. Base Ten Blocks can carry you through many years of math over a plethora of subjects. Using math manipulatives in vital especially in the elementary years. Sudoku is a problem solving challenge that motivates you to keep trying, it’s not the worst thing your children could be addicted to, right?

These are just a few of the many ways you can incorporate thinking skills into your child’s everyday education. I am aware there are many more, and I would love hear your amazing and creative ideas you challenge your kids with.

Family Fun Night

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As a family we realized that being homebodies to help our budget wasn’t a realistic goal for our lifestyle. We absolutely delighted in family outings, but our bank account suffered for it. As a result we challenged ourselves to make our own fun at home. We soon realized our family was socially centered and we craved that interaction with the outside world.
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It became clear that we would never become homebodies, and we needed a budget friendly plan to get us out of the house and back to our fun-loving selves. My plan was to make a qualifying check list that would weed out outings that would sink our ship. I began to break down the cost of a typical family outing for us and realized that gas was one of the major expenses. Staying in town became our first qualifier. We live in a fairly small town so naturally our first qualifier eliminated a lot of choices. The next logical question was, what family activities are available in town? When I really dug deep I came across a lot of untapped opportunities. Before I considered any of them they needed to pass another test. Only activities that have low entry fees and low extra fees would pass the test. The cream that began to rise to the top was the local highschool sports events and plays.

Our children are homeschooled so I had never considered going to a public school event, but after thinking about it, it wasn’t any different from going to a pro football game so why not. Soon after making this discovery we attended the last home football game of the season. It was the most fun we’ve had in a long time. Not only did we watch the football game, but we heard the band and watched the half time show, and we admired the skill of the cheerleaders.

Splurging is the icing on the cake of a family fun night and we splurged on hot chocolate, nachos, and hot dogs. Boy oh boy was it sweet to have such a great family night out with splurging and all at a total cost of $28 for 6 people! Even though I planned it, I couldn’t believe we could have so much fun and never leave town and spend less than $30.

I would encourage you to take a look around you and see what untapped opportunities you have around you and get plugged in.