Q continues with her chemistry and has moved onto Ionic bonds. I loved inorganic and organic chemistry in undergrad so its fun to share it with Q.

I am getting more impatient for warmer weather to come so that we can do a life-cycle or seasonal study of the life around our house.

As it is, we are in for something like 18 inches of snow this weekend. The Joys of New England. At least we dont live in tents like our ancestors used to or even the old drafty houses that people used to build around here, with no insulation, yikes.

Resources on Ionic Bonds

Covalent and Ionic bonds

Ionic bonds at Wiki

Ionic Bonds tutorial – 1

Ionic Bonds tutorial – 2

Ionic Bonds tutorial – 3

Whew, our baby-safe office has been cleaned up and the fixed machines replaced! I have a better view now too

Just a note, my machine that has Photoshop on it is down for today (has been for a few days) and am hoping to be able to get back to blogging about our homeschooling in the near future (tomorrow?!)

Sorry for the delay.

Today we are extendng our knowledge about geography by working on a lesson plan on Mapping Mars from National Geographic.

National Geographic Xpeditons is an amazing online resource for k-12 lessons and fun online activties.

The overview of today’s lesson is:

Overview:
This lesson introduces students to some common map projections and representations (e.g., globes or close-ups) and asks them to consider the ways that each representation can be used to show specific features of Mars. Students will draw three different representations of Mars and will illustrate each one with details of research they have conducted on the planet.

Some of the online resources for this lesson include:

• Xpeditions’ Globe Projector
• Maps of Mars at the MapMachine
• National Geographic: Return to Mars
• NASA: Mars Exploration Program
• Red Album activity
• Return to Mars
• NASA’s Mars Exploration Program site