A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Middle School

Creative Friday: Junk Drawer Engineering

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Do you like doing STEM Challenges with your students or children?   Aren’t they fun to do?   Do you sometimes get concerned that it will cost you an arm and a leg to do STEM activities?    Bobby Mercer comes to your rescue in this great book I’m reviewing today called Junk Drawer Engineering.

Three Chapters entitled Energy, Structures, Waves.  Each chapter has several projects listed such as windmill challenge, egg catch or mirror, mirror on the wall.

Each project lists what you need and then walks you step by step what you need to do to complete the project along with pictures. 

The pictures are all in black and white, but they are clear enough to show the builders what they need to do.  How to bend the paperclip, or how to attach the elastic and so forth.   Little things that might not be as easy to explain in words are readily apparent in a picture. 

I found that for many of the projects he provided images for how you might engineer the project a bit differently.   For instance using the bottom of a can or a ninja star or a plastic cup to make the windmill.   Bobby Mercer also explains the science behind the projects and gives age appropriate ways to guide the student engineer.  

These different STEM projects are a boon to the learning of any middle school and up student.  Upper elementary students could complete many of the projects as well.

Junk Drawer Engineering: 25 Construction Challenges that don’t cost a thing
Bobby Mercer
Chicago Review Press
Ages 9 and up

208 pages
Type: STEM Challenges, 
Trade Paperback
Series: Junk Drawer Science

Reviewed for: Chicago Review Press

Where can you find this helpful book?
Amazon.ca: Junk Drawer Engineering: 25 Construction Challenges That Don’t Cost a Thing (Junk Drawer Science)

Amazon.com:  Junk Drawer Engineering: 25 Construction Challenges That Don’t Cost a Thing (Junk Drawer Science)

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Three Great Middle School Reads

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Recently Raincoast sent me a three middle school chapter books.   I thoroughly enjoyed them though they had completely different styles.  Affiliate links will be used in this post.  Thanks for blessing my family. 🙂

I Love You Michael Collins, The Journey to Dragon Island and Ten: A Soccer Story.

TEN: A Soccer Story, is the shortest of the three.   The story involves a young Brazillian girl who ADORES soccer, and has the gumption to start up a girls soccer team, in a time and area when “girls don’t play soccer”.   We are brought into her family difficulties and how she tries to solve them.   It is a well written book with excellent character development, showing growth in her and her brother, seeing how her team came together to play good soccer.   

 Maya, an odd ball girl, eleven years old, learning to stand up for
herself, and for her family.  Learning to love up on her expanded family
even if they don’t “get her”.   It’s a nice book that should appeal to a
broad range.  🙂  It’s a good upper elementary/middle school book.

I found this clip of her favourite soccer player and the moment, as talked of in the book, where he didn’t get his penalty kick.

176 pages, published by  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, geared for 10-12 years old.  Softcover.

 Amazon.ca: Ten: A Soccer Story

Amazon.com: Ten: A Soccer Story

Oh..this book, The Journey to Dragon Island, made me laugh, oh my.  🙂   It could have been my quirky sense of humour though. 

It was a great story.  A group of pirates in a world of magic. 
A rescue to undertake, a meaning of home to understand.

Brine, Peter, Tom, Cassie and the whole gang.. would they solve the mystery?      Would the figure out where the dragons went?

It’s a great read that I am eager to see if my son likes it as much as I did.  🙂

Written for ages 8-12 and published by Henry Holt and Co, it is the second in a series by Claire Fayers. 304 pages in length each chapter is predicated by a short verse. 

Amazon.ca: The Journey to Dragon Island

Amazon.com: The Journey to Dragon Island (The Accidental Pirates)

I have to admit that I don’t know if my son would like this book, “I Love You Michael Collins” but I am fairly sure a couple daughters of a friend would.   Mamie is a young lady who knows her own mind.  She isn’t the most popular child in school because of it, but she and her best friend are indeed the best of buds.  Set in the 1969 when the first planned landing on the moon is in the works.  Her school class is given an assignment, write to one of the astronauts.    Mamie chose “the forgotten astronaut” Michael Collins. 

This book is her series of letters to him, talking to him about her life and asking him questions.   It is written in conversational tone, you could just see a 10 year old lass writing like this.  🙂   

Part of the conversation in this book is how to handle a fractured family, teen angst, selfish of a variety of people, and how family matters.

Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, 204 pages long, written by Lauren Baratz Logsted, it’s a wonderful piece of history.  Walking us through the divergent opinions of putting a man on the moon, how families interacted, and wonder of astronauts in space for middle school students.. I thoroughly enjoyed this read.   Geared to youth 9-12 years old.

Amazon.ca: I Love You, Michael Collins

Amazon.com: I Love You, Michael Collins

 

Review: SchoolhouseTeachers.com

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Affiliate Links are used in this post. They cost you nothing & help me with my family needs. 

I’ve been a member at SchoolhouseTeachers.com for so long I can’t even really remember when I started, I know it was from before I started working with the Homeschool Review Crew.    I have used different program with them throughout the years and each year they add more courses to their Yearly Membership.   

Recently I wrote a post talking about the courses I am planning to use with my son this year, You can find that post here.  It will be good to round out our studies with these interesting courses. 

I got to reading through some of the other courses, looking for anything that might interest me and guess what?   I found a couple.

This one on Digital Art and Product Designs for Small Business. 50 Lessons once a week to put my creative skills to good use learning to make better graphics for my blog posts.   Doesn’t that sound great?   I feel rather inadequate sometimes as I lack confidence and natural eye for making graphics.

I have a lad who enjoys history so I’ve been questing around for a history program I can use once he’s gone through all the Veritas Press history program.    To that end I’ve discovered a what I think will be a good gap program.   This Day in History.  Learning on new history fact a day/week depending on how I use it.   Just the kind of thing to intrigue the lad.   

It’s actually rather hard to choose as there are over 300 courses that you can take.   ALL for one low yearly fee.

Just look at all these different categories!

 
Divided into Elementary, Middle School and Highschool for your ease in finding courses that interest you.    I am thinking they might want to offer some adult courses as well, though I have to admit those grade 12 courses are intriguing.  🙂


SchoolhouseTeachers.com has never let me down in the quality of what they offer.  They have so many different courses to choose from, that you can even use one to compliment another.

Their recent upgrade lends itself to a beautiful website, that is easy to navigate. One of the nicest features is the “can I help you” customer support button.   Ready and willing to help you at varied times throughout the day.  One night I was working at it was past 9 pm. and someone was there to help!  I was stunned!   Kind helpful people willing to help you find just the course you want.

The Homeschool Review Crew has been busy reviewing this company and it’s yearly membership.   Do check them out by clicking the image below or by following this link.

http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/high-quality-self-paced-online-homeschool-resources-schoolhouseteachers.com/

Social media Links: 
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Discount Promotion Graphics

Beautiful new look, easier to use and over 300+classes and tutorial videos to help you get started.

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Use Code:CHRISTMAS for $9.95/month or CHRISTMASYEAR for $90/year.

50% discount on upcoming price increase ends: 15 January 2017

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