My little guy is studying renewable energies in school so I put this little bit of a lesson together - partly so that he learns more about what inspires him and partly because I wanted to make a windmill :-) Enjoy! Wind Power is energy that is made directly from the wind. The wind turns a windmill:  which then turns something that needs to be turned - like a flour mill (grinding the flour): Or pumping water: But the windmills that are corporate windmills that we see today are called wind turbines. They are set up as "wind farms" that use the wind to "farm" or create energy.  Meet the wind turbines! These mighty machines stand over 300 feet tall with blades that are over 100 feet long! How big is that? Well the towers are are as tall as the statue of liberty and the blades as long as well - this fire truck ladder! The gist of how a turbine works is that is works the reverse of a fan; instead of the blades pushing the air like in a fan - the blades are pushed by wind

 This week we are starting a trip around Europe from the comfort of our own home! We will learn - eat and craft to create experiences that will help us learn about the amazing diversity of our world! First up is Portugal - that little bitty county on the tip of the Iberian Peninsula! The circle is showing the Iberian Peninsula and the arrow shows the country we are focused on: Portugal. Although Portugal is a country and Spain is a country - they share a lot of history because of their location - on a peninsula, separated from the rest of Europe by the imposing Pyrenees Mountains. Check this out for some cool views of the Pyrenees mountains:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCX1A2lkq-o The pre-history of Portugal begins with the Homo heidelbergensis: And it continues with the neanderthals:  And then the homo sapiens arrived! They carved petroglyphs  and built stone circles:  For thousands of years, they lived as tribes of people; some even developing a language.  Then the Romans arrive

Welcome to the forbidding and very ancient Pyrenees Mountains! These mountains are older than the Alps and form a natural barrier between France and Spain. This ancient mountain range is divided into the "Western Pyrenees", the "Central Pyrenees" and the "Eastern Pyrenees" and in the Central Pyrenees is a little country called Angora. It is mostly known for its ski resorts. The Pyrenees Mountains have a number of unique geological features.  The first are the high mountain raging rivers! These are called "gaves" and they often create spectacular waterfalls: Then there are the cirques - these create the "hanging valleys" of the Pyrenees. AND there are sulphur and saline hot springs. Cue the science experiment! The science experiment demonstrates how hot water "rises" and cold water "falls". When you mix hot and cold water, if the hot water is on top - then it will remain on top but if the hot water is on the bottom -

 My kids enjoy watching movies with their friends over google meet but they often need a bit more to inspire conversation so I will sometimes put together a fact sheet for one person to add into the chat. It gives them something to laugh over and comment on and makes a movie a bit more fun!  Tangled was the most expensive Disney movie in the cartoon category at $260 million! Tangled was the first Disney "princess movie" to get a rating of PG. Flynn's character came from the "Hot Man Meeting" where the female workers of the studio attended a meeting where they designed Flynn by giving their opinions on hair, eye color, body type etc. Eugene is 26 and Rapunzel is 18, a difference of 8 years. Rapunzel's parents never speak. In the opening scenes, Rapunzel looks at her mobile which has a chameleon hanging on it (like her pet Pascal), a rubber ducky (like the bar named the Snuggly Duckling), a cupid (a character that is in the Snuggly Duckling), a horse (Maximus

 I was chatting with my high schooler and she mentioned that due to the condensed school year (Covid strikes again!), that she will not be reading Load of the Flies . So like any good mom who may not have actually read that book in high school but recognizes the title and thinks that there may be a movie night involved - I suggest that we all read the book and have our own little book club! Since reading is oddly new to me (it took me until I was firmly into adulthood to enjoy reading) - I have never been a part of a book club. Cheers to 'firsts'! The author of Lord of the Flies is this handsome man:  He grew up in England, the son of a science teacher. His mother ran the household and also campaigned for woman's suffrage (the right to vote for women). His mother would often tell him ghost stories from her own childhood in Cornwall.  Cornwall is full of ghosts and ghost stories - check these ghosts out!  https://youtu.be/gajWPreXZDc It is the perfect place for ghosts and t