The Sixth Day of Christmas

On the sixth day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me, six websites to explore art.

The National Gallery of Art has some GREAT interactive activities like the paint box and the Collage Machine.

While you are there, be sure to check out the family and children's guides to different artists.

The Met's guides for children are also very cool. They have more than the NGA and it includes guides like "The Art of Chess" and "Behind the Scences at the Met".

Their latest interactive learning exploration "How Van Gogh Made His Mark" is nicely done; a lot of reading.

The Allentown Art Museum has a nice interactive educational website, The Renaissance Connection.

The Museum of Modern Art has a site for kids and one for teens. At first the kids one looked hoaky, but as I got deeper into it, it was original and valuable. You can make up poems about a work of art, match colors in the painting, or learn facts about the artist. It is all narrated, so even younger children can follow.

I know, that is technically seven links.

Fifth Day of Christmas

On the Fifth Day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me five websites about the Tang Dynasty of China!

See objects from the Tang Dynasty in this on-line exhibit (video interviews with curator as well).

Check out some Tang Poems (most are very short)on-line.

See if your library has this gorgeous book of Tang Poems for Children: Maples in the Mist

Chinese Calligraphy during the Tang Dynasty - read about it and see images here.

The silk road was in full swing during the Tang Dynasty - here's a piece from NPR about a modern musician that draws from ancient sounds.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas

On the Fourth Day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me four websites about owls and their pellets!

Owl pellets are not gross, they sound gross, but they aren't. Kids love them, they are inexpensive and investigating them will touch on many science topics.

Where to get your pellets - I get mine here:
Genesis, Inc.

Where to learn about owl digestion and more:
The Owl Pages

Virtual Owl Pellet Disection at Kids Wings

Owl Movies from the Barn Owl Nest Box at Cornell.

Have fun!

Third Day of Christmas

On the third day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gave to me three websites about the physics of light and color.

I used these sites in a 4 week homeschool co-op class on light:

The easiest and most accessible is this first one. Lots of experiments to try with easy to find household things.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/iconlight.html

The second is text heavy, but they also have some really neat java tutorials that allow you to learn about color.
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/lightandcolor/index.html

Got a useless cd lying around? Why not make a mini spectroscope?
http://www.uwm.edu/~awschwab/specweb.htm

Got any ideas for upcoming days of Christmas? Leave a comment!

Second Day of Christmas

On the second day of Christmas the Fieldlearning blog gives to you, two websites about mathematics.

Visit the American Institute of Physics to find out about math connections to the 12 Days of Christmas song. How many gifts were there, anyway?

If you want to explore it further, especially with older students, using Pascal's triangle by visiting the Leadership Program in Discrete Mathematics.

If you do this little exercise, you'll know how many websites I'll have to post in order to stay true to the song myself (don't count on it, but I may try!)

I'm back

I didn't mean to take such a long break without any posts. But, here it is more than 2 weeks later. I don't have much, but I thought some might find this link interesting.

Christopher Berg has designed these really cool mazes that are also drawings of famous objects and places. My 8 year old son has been enjoying them. I did one as well: it was a challenging enough puzzle. The site is Amazeingart.com.