Operation Burglar Alarm

Clayton and his friend, Alex, teamed up on a physics project.  They had to build a "Rube Goldberg" contraption using at least five simple machines.  It also had to be portable - something they could pack up and take to school.  This is a lot harder than it looks.  It took these guys hours to come up with a plan and even more hours to get it to work.  Thankfully we had a lot of great stuff already on hand - legos, marbles, dominoes, marble tracks, hex bugs, blocks, string, and a bell.  They named their contraption "Operation Burglar Alarm" because it begins with a string attached to a door and is triggered when the door opens.  Here's their cool video.

 Their written plan.

And this is the coolest part.  When I checked up on the boys, I asked them if they were making sure to use the six simple machines.  Clayton laughed and said, "Actually most of them are in the very first contraption." and then pointed out the pulley, the wheel and axle, the lever, the wedge, and the inclined plane.

The dominoes proved to be the most frustrating part.  Next, the lever that opens so the hex bugs can get out.  Getting these contraptions right is a lot harder than it looks!

The hero of the day, or I guess the villain, was Isaac.  He played the part perfectly and ad-libbed his lines whenever the alarm went wrong.  He was hilarious.

Berlin

The 3rd graders this year got to pick a city to research.  Isaac, our WWII buff, wanted to do Berlin.  At first I discouraged it and tried to persuade him to research a city. . . uhh. . . a little more uplifting (i.e. something not so Nazi headquarters-ish).  But he insisted.  And it turns out there is a lot more to Berlin's history than I thought. I enjoyed learning about the Prussian Empire and the Berlin Airlift. Isaac pretty much took the lead with all the ideas for this project.  It was fun to watch him in action.  Check out his "Time Machine" video.  It's his best one yet!  His superb acting makes this film!

Here he is presenting his project at school.

  Great job Isaac!  You're imagination, flair for theatrics (love of costumes), and your incredible knowledge of history and geography amaze me. 

We learned so much!  Way to go, kiddo.

The Red Baron

Isaac did his 2nd grade research project on Manfred von Richthofen, also known as The Red Baron.  He, of course, played the part perfectly and over the past month has become a walking, breathing World War 1 encyclopedia.  As part of the assignment, Isaac was supposed to tell why he chose this particular person to research.  He wrote, "I chose Manfred von Richthofen because of my love of military history and  because The Red Baron is still considered the most famous and well known fighter ace of all time."  Turns out, Manfred von Richthofen is not that well known since most of the kids in his grade (and some teachers) could tell you more about Red Baron pizza than World War 1.   But no matter, Isaac set the record straight with his detailed description of WWI aircraft, military history, and geography.  He even impressed his teacher's husband by precisely explaining the complicated mechanics of the Fokker DR-1 triplane.  The question was, "How do the machine guns fire without hitting the propeller?" A good question - obviously the man knows planes. Isaac rattled off the answer without hesitation.

 He designed his tri-fold display board to look like the cockpit of The Red Baron's airplane. It looked awesome.

 Here's the movie we filmed - the last part (the bloopers) is my favorite.  The whole thing was a big hit.  And I actually learned a lot from Isaac.

Here he is at the 2nd Grade "Wax Museum".  He held this position until someone pushed the red button on his shirt and then he'd come to life.  I was surprised by how seriously he took this.  Isaac became the Red Baron.

All the projects were impressive and these 2nd graders really new their stuff.  Nate and I had so much fun. Here are a few of the Red Baron's friends. . .

Jackie Robinson,

 Einstein,

 and Wilma Rudolph.

Lucky us, right? To get to hang out with all these famous people!

 I could not have imagined a better Red Baron though. 

Look!  Isaac even knows how to pose like the Baron!

  Ha!  But don't be too fooled.  He's still Isaac underneath it all.

 
"Fight and fly on to the last drop of blood and the last drop of fuel and the last beat of the heart.  Fly on." 

- Baron Manfred von Richthofen

Way to go, kiddo. We love your passion and exuberance and incredible knowledge (especially of military history). Thanks for always keeping life fascinating. Fly on!

Lego Art

Legos continue to be the toy of choice around here.  Especially after Nate brought all his childhood Legos (boxes full!) back from Seattle.  I'm always amazed at the things the boys make.  Even Eliza's "tall tall towers" are starting to have more style and dimension.

  Some of my favorite words are, "Mom, come see what I made!"  and then, "Can you take a picture?"  They are so proud. . . as they should be.  Check out what Clayton, Isaac, and Brig have been building recently.

This (I'm sure you could guess) is my favorite.  This miniature Lego baby grand can fit in your hand.  The top actually opens and closes.  Clayton, you are amazing.  This is truly a work of art.

 This next Lego statue is another of my favorites.  It is a self-portrait of sorts.  It's Clayton.  But I love how he portrays himself wearing his church suit and tie (that moves up and down) carrying his scriptures.  There's a secret drawer that opens underneath.  It opens smoothly and evenly which surprises me because Legos are bumpy.  This is way cool, Clay.

 Isaac and Brig are master ship builders.  There is always some sort of ship under construction in the play room.  I love it.

 This one is a submarine.

 They have also become expert aerospace engineers.  I love hearing about all the (many) specifications of each airplane.  They are in constant flight around our house.

Isaac gave Brigham "Lego lessons" one morning.  They made Lego people.  When Eliza saw them she fell in love and demanded that they be her dolls.

 Here's a train Clayton built - better than any of the official Lego train kits.

 I love the detail and contours - even on the back.

 Brigham always said he wanted a dog.  I have to admit, this one is pretty cute.

 Even when I ban weapons from our house, Isaac builds Lego blasters that look like the real thing.

 Clayton's picture puzzle stumped us all.  Even Nate had a hard time figuring it out.

 Clayton will demonstrate in this video.  It's pretty cool.  This kid really needs to be introduced to Tetris.

 And then there's the army of Lego robots that are constantly in the making.

 This summer Clayton took a class at the Science Museum on programming.  He learned how to build and program his Lego robot.  It's quite a complicated process actually. . .

 He has dozens of programs - tricks and tasks - his robot can do.  One of the most entertaining is this one.  Where the robot moves in a circle until it detects motion within a few feet. As soon as you're in range, it's alarm beeps. Which means it's about to hunt you down and fire seven Lego cannonballs at you.   Clayton also programmed it (which you'll see on this video) to play Lydia's favorite song, Haydn's Surprise Symphony.

 Lydia is fascinated by this moving, talking, beeping, clicking thing at ground level.  She and the Lego robot have become such pals.

Hooray for the invention of Legos!  Where would we be without them?