Nasa

 https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/what-did-hubble-see-on-your-birthday

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/you-are-going/

March Weather Arrival results: In like a Lion/ Out like a Lamb

 Although it isn't March yet, Feb 25th to be exact Barron, dad, grandmother, and myself are making a prediction about the arrival of the month of March.

This proverb may have evolved into the weather saying we have today by first relating to the heavenly stars above. It is believed that this saying has more to do with the month beginning with the constellation Leo. Leo (the lion) rises in the east to start March and ends the month with the constellation Aries (the ram, or lamb) setting in the west.

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Here is why March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb (usually)

Tom Sater

By Tom Sater, CNN Meteorologist

Published 3:12 PM EST, Tue March 2, 2021

20210226-March-Lion-Lamb

Alberto Mier/CNN

CNN

 — 

If March’s weather is anything like what roared through Texas and the rest of the central and southern US in February… we’re in deep trouble. Often, March’s weather can be this ferocious.

Have you ever heard of the saying, “March comes in like a Lion and goes out like a Lamb”?

While the saying most likely started as a reference to astronomy, referencing the position of the constellations Leo (a lion) and Aries (a ram, or lamb) in the night sky – it quickly evolved into a succinct summation of March’s changing weather as the seasons change from winter to spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

This well-known proverb means that March is a month in which you can experience a Lion’s fierce roar of frigid cold, the long white teeth of biting winds that can cut through flesh; and the gentle softness, the warmth of fluffy white fleece, and the innocent kiss of sunshine like a docile newborn lamb.

It turns out proverbs like this one hold a lot of weight, and are many times accurate. Here is why.

The proverb has stood the test of time

Like many proverbs for the month of March, it can be traced back to Thomas Fuller’s 1732 compendium, “Gnomologia; Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British.”

Fuller compiled numerous proverbs and studied weather lore across many countries through the late 1600s and early 1700s.

Farmer Almanac_1

VIDEO

How useful is the Farmer's Almanac?

Weather folklore contained in books like Fuller’s were often ways to help people prepare for typical weather conditions that lay ahead, often times in reference to planting and harvesting of crops, and can often be accurate, thanks to prevailing winds and weather patterns.

Typically across the US, the month of March is still in the grip of harsh winter realms, providing more of the same brutal cold, wind and snow, especially in the first days of the month. But as the transitional month moves along, it often leads to glimpses of spring’s beauty and warmth.

In the beginning, it might not have had anything to do with weather

This proverb may have evolved into the weather saying we have today by first relating to the heavenly stars above. It is believed that this saying has more to do with the month beginning with the constellation Leo. Leo (the lion) rises in the east to start March and ends the month with the constellation Aries (the ram, or lamb) setting in the west.

leo aries constellation SPLIT STOCK

Shutterstock

It is believed that this saying was adapted to include the weather, with its wild swings we generally expect for this transitional month.

It didn’t take long for early American colonists to realize that the New World’s weather pattern was much like their native lands across England and surrounding countries, where extreme weather shifts could profoundly affect their livelihoods from one week to the next.

The Northern Hemisphere shares the same jet stream, providing similar swings in weather, in America as they do across Europe.

A similar pattern of mainly westerly influence with cold, harsh north winds bringing heavy snow and bitterly cold temperatures are common in winter, while warm winds from the south can bring tranquil warmth more frequently as the month progresses.

Different variations developed for different locations

Some may be familiar with a reverse version of the proverb: “March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion.”

This “reverse” of the proverb is hard to trace in its origin, but definitely makes sense if you consider those who traveled westward with the American expansion to Western states.

These western states can have incredible temperature swings this month as the polar jet stream moves from it’s preferred position near Canada over the winter to a more southerly route during the spring. This tends to cause many states in the Western US to experience some of their heavier snowfalls from the end of March and into April – thus the lion (and the harsh weather it represents) coming at the end of the month.

In Scotland they say, “March comes in with adders’ heads and goes out with peacocks’ tails.” An Adder is Scotland’s sole venomous snake. A timid creature and unlikely to bite unless threatened. Again, showing a feared image of winter, with the beauty and splendor the weather at the end of March can bring.

In the Netherlands, they say; “Maart roert zijn staart,” which means “March stirs its tail” – evidence of the variety and extremes that can come day to day this time of year. All the same for the roller coaster of wacky weather we call March.

The history of weather lore

Weather proverbs have been passed down from generation to generation. A simple saying, a rhyme, a limerick, etc., help us forecast the weather for the coming days or season.

Many are Old English in origin that have found their way to America and the early colonists searching for a new world.

Weather proverbs also originate from days gone by from almost every country in the world. But, only those with similar weather patterns usually hold true where you live.

Weather lore itself can be traced to Greek philosophers’ works; those who studied the stars and astrology; those who studied the seas for navigation and the winds to farm.

Many are geared toward certain months of the year, and some for “days of the year” as in those for patron saints, thanks to the Middle Ages. Whether it was the farmer in a field, the sailor on a ship or the poet in the woods … these proverbs continue to ring true.

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Here is why March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb (usually)

Tom Sater

By Tom Sater, CNN Meteorologist

Published 3:12 PM EST, Tue March 2, 2021

20210226-March-Lion-Lamb

Alberto Mier/CNN

CNN

 — 

If March’s weather is anything like what roared through Texas and the rest of the central and southern US in February… we’re in deep trouble. Often, March’s weather can be this ferocious.

Have you ever heard of the saying, “March comes in like a Lion and goes out like a Lamb”?

While the saying most likely started as a reference to astronomy, referencing the position of the constellations Leo (a lion) and Aries (a ram, or lamb) in the night sky – it quickly evolved into a succinct summation of March’s changing weather as the seasons change from winter to spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

This well-known proverb means that March is a month in which you can experience a Lion’s fierce roar of frigid cold, the long white teeth of biting winds that can cut through flesh; and the gentle softness, the warmth of fluffy white fleece, and the innocent kiss of sunshine like a docile newborn lamb.

It turns out proverbs like this one hold a lot of weight, and are many times accurate. Here is why.

The proverb has stood the test of time

Like many proverbs for the month of March, it can be traced back to Thomas Fuller’s 1732 compendium, “Gnomologia; Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British.”

Fuller compiled numerous proverbs and studied weather lore across many countries through the late 1600s and early 1700s.

Farmer Almanac_1

VIDEO

How useful is the Farmer's Almanac?

Weather folklore contained in books like Fuller’s were often ways to help people prepare for typical weather conditions that lay ahead, often times in reference to planting and harvesting of crops, and can often be accurate, thanks to prevailing winds and weather patterns.

Typically across the US, the month of March is still in the grip of harsh winter realms, providing more of the same brutal cold, wind and snow, especially in the first days of the month. But as the transitional month moves along, it often leads to glimpses of spring’s beauty and warmth.

It didn’t take long for early American colonists to realize that the New World’s weather pattern was much like their native lands across England and surrounding countries, where extreme weather shifts could profoundly affect their livelihoods from one week to the next.

This “reverse” of the proverb is hard to trace in its origin, but definitely makes sense if you consider those who traveled westward with the American expansion to Western states.

These western states can have incredible temperature swings this month as the polar jet stream moves from it’s preferred position near Canada over the winter to a more southerly route during the spring. This tends to cause many states in the Western US to experience some of their heavier snowfalls from the end of March and into April – thus the lion (and the harsh weather it represents) coming at the end of the month.

In Scotland they say, “March comes in with adders’ heads and goes out with peacocks’ tails.” An Adder is Scotland’s sole venomous snake. A timid creature and unlikely to bite unless threatened. Again, showing a feared image of winter, with the beauty and splendor the weather at the end of March can bring.

In the Netherlands, they say; “Maart roert zijn staart,” which means “March stirs its tail” – evidence of the variety and extremes that can come day to day this time of year. All the same for the roller coaster of wacky weather we call March.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/02/weather/weather-proverb-march-lion-lamb/index.html

We purchased this product:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lion-Lamb-of-March-FRENCH-2417211

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lion-and-Lamb-March-Weather-FREEBIE-587686

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/March-Writing-Like-a-Lion-Like-a-Lamb-English-and-Spanish-7838241

April Fools - early prep

December 28th is 'Día de los santos inocentes' or 'Day of the Innocent Saints' and is very like April Fools Day in the UK and USA. People try to trick each other into believing silly stories and jokes. Newspapers and TV stations also run silly stories. If you trick someone, you can call them 'Inocente, inocente' which means 'innocent, innocent'. 28th December is when people all over the world remember the babies that were killed on the orders of King Herod when he was trying to kill the baby Jesus.

New Year's Eve is called 'Nochevieja' or 'The Old Night' in Spain and one special tradition is that you eat 12 grapes with the 12 strokes of the clock at Midnight! Each grape represents a month of the coming year, so if you eat the twelve grapes, you are said to be lucky in the new year.  Source:  https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/spain

In France:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poisson-DAvril-April-Fools-Day-French-Colouring-Page-FREEBIE-3680863

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poissons-dAvril-Activity-April-Fools-Day-Activity-Tell-a-Lie-Day-Activity-6743983

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/France-April-Fools-Day-6734232

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/April-Fools-Day-Poisson-dAvril-635441

Feb 22 Pink Shirt Day

Ash Wednesday and Our Lent Journey

 This is the beginning of Lent for us, it is our first with Dad, however Barron and I have tried to participate once before and possibly one more time before that however I am a bit uncertain. This year we had a blunder by consuming a meatball sub because we have not in quite sometime and I was worried about iron levels. In the future we will improve upon this however it is still not too late to practice along with others not to consume meat on Friday of every week of Lent.

We found a wonderful lent offering box called an almsgiving box: http://www.drawn2bcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/AlmsgivingBoxCarrier.pdf

Barron collected about 100.00 in change or more so this is where we have helped during Lent. To Holland Bloorview we gave 100.00 snd Barron got a nice cape. We donated to the Ted Harrison Fund, The Hedy Bohm holocaust survivor fund, 

This is where Lent 100 will go: To support Johanna Bedsford request: https://www.johannabasford.com/christmascard2021/

we paid it forward of $  to the ArchieFoundation: https://archie.org/donate/

Mardi Gras

 Celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans | National Geographic

https://youtu.be/EkIZwXbSh-Y

Want to know a secret? Every king cake comes with a surprise! In New Orleans, king cakes are baked with a tiny plastic baby inside. The figurine represents good luck. Whoever finds it in their slice of cake gets to throw next year's Mardi Gras bash!

In some celebrations, finding the Mardi Gras baby also means you’ll be crowned king or queen for the day. 

King's Cake: https://www.cbc.ca/kids/articles/what-is-a-king-cake-and-what-does-it-have-inside

https://todaysmama.com/food/traditional-kings-cake-recipe

Jan+Feb Reading

https://www.readbrightly.com/january-reading-challenge-for-kids/

https://www.readbrightly.com/february-reading-challenge-for-kids/

https://www.readbrightly.com/reading-tracker-bookmarks/?ref=PRH61DBB402E8B4&aid=randohouseinc45338-20&linkid=PRH61DBB402E8B4

The Myth of Pygmalion and Galatea and Artemis | Ancient Greek Mythological Stories. Starship Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NCak93uE3tM. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3wxyN3z9PL4

The main difference between statue and sculpture is that statue is always a figure of a person or an animal whereas sculpture can be either a representative or abstract figure. A sculpture that contains a human or animal figure can be termed as a statue. While all statues can be termed as sculptures, not all sculptures can be termed as statues.  https://pediaa.com/difference-between-statue-and-sculpture/#:~:text=The%20main%20difference%20between%20statue%20and%20sculpture%20is,not%20all%20sculptures%20can%20be%20termed%20as%20statues.

https://www.artyfactory.com/egyptian_art/cartouche_lesson/cartouche_lesson.htm

Acartouche is an oval frame which surrounds the hieroglyphs that make up the name of an Egyptian God or royal person. Our illustrated example is based on the cartouche of Tutankhamun.

A cartouche represents a looped rope which has the magical power to protect the name that is written inside it.

It was meant to protect against evil spirits both in this life and the afterlife.

Cartouches can be arranged both horizontally or vertically depending on the best layout for its design.

Presidents Day

President's Day was Monday February 20th this year

 https://teachingsecondgrade.com/abraham-lincoln-hat-weave-activity/

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/

https://sunshinewhispersshop.com/collections/1-deals/products/if-i-were-the-president-printable-pack

Chiefs Get the Crown+ Happy Canada Flag Day Feb 15

Our favourite gentlemen won the SuperBowl LVII- The Chiefs! Kansas City Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles became the champs we aways called them on Sunday, February 12, 2023 the score was 38-35. Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. The 49ers tied the score, 10-10, after quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo found fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a 15-yard touchdown pass to end the firs

Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers, 31–20.

Canada's Flag day is a fun event .

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/flag-canada-etiquette/flying-rules.html

Our pretend Vellichor

It refers to the appealing mystique of an old bookshop.  Imagine walking outside noticing the petrichor of the neighbourhood. You begin to make your way toward our vellichor at the end of the street where we welcome you to join us every friday for a delicacy of the written poetic words.

Petrichor the distinctive smell that the air and the ground take on after it rains.

 https://cultivatinggrace.libsyn.com/5-reasons-you-need-poetry-in-your-homeschool

Figuarive Language

 Today we learnt about figurative language. We learnt about Similes, Metaphor, Personification, and Hyperbole. 

I love you like a love song.

The floor is lava.

I'd climb the tallest mountain and swim the deepest sea just to have you next to me.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kids-Brain-Dump-Worksheet-8992766

Pancake Day

   This year Pancake Day or "Shrove Tuesday, which is 21 February this year, people will be tucking into plenty of pancakes in a tradition that has lasted for centuries.r Taditionally, Christians would eat pancakes on the last day before Lent begins, to use up foods like eggs and milk, before starting 40 days of fasting for Lent. Now, Pancake Day is celebrated by people all over the world, and some people even hold pancake-flipping competitions." Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/14169054 We enjoyed our pancakes a bit early thank yoy to McDonalds. This is a nice video on the topic: https://youtu.be/yjomqb2Tz9A 

Pysanky

 Pysanky/ Ukrainian Eggs:  https://easter-ideas.blogspot.com/2020/03/blue-ukrainian-easter-eggs.html

https://craftingagreenworld.com/articles/we-made-pysanky-eggs-and-so-can-you/

One Night in Toronto Hotel

What a time we had during this move, if it was not for Barron's Dad we could have been lost at sea. We were misinformed when we went downtown to the Chelsea Hotel where we thought we would be for 30 days. We did have one magical night in downtown Toronto. Although there was stress there was still magic moments. The city of Toronto in the downtown sector will always be a special place. I am happy Barron was able to enjoy it even if it was only one night of magic. We were able to reproduce a scene with the baggage trolly from our favourite song by the group One Direction called Perfect, you can view it: https://youtu.be/Ho32Oh6b4jc

Our last apartment photos: 

These are some pictures from our hotel stay: 

We are now in Mississauga, Ontario where we were originally from and am very grateful to Garnet for allowing us to share his room. We don't have much however we have everything because we have each other's company and friendship. Wherever you may be, whatever you may be going through we hope that you have support to get through it. 

Our first family outing had us going to KKD as Barron calls it, Krispy Cream Donuts:

February is Black History Month

 Each day of the month we will be educating ourselves on the lives of Influential Black Heroes. To begin the month we will focus on President Obama. In Toronto we had a lovely book we read: 

Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States and the first African American to be elected. He was born August 1, 1961 in Honolulu Hawaii. In 2009 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for strengthening international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

Obama's father Barack Obama Sr was from Kenya and his mother S. Ann Dunham was from Kansas Texas, Washington, and Honolulu. They were wed one year later after meeting in 1960. They met in  a Russian language class at the University of Hawaii however there love dissolved in 1964 and they divorced. Ann remarried to Lolo Soetoro from Indonesia and they had a girl named Maya. The family moved to Jakarta where Obama went to school. He returned to Hawaii in 1971 and stayed with his grandparents. In 1979 Obama graduated from Punahou School, an elite college preparatory academy in Honolulu. He received his Bachelors Degree from Columbia University in 1983 in Political Science. He was a writer and edirot for Business International Corp in Manhattan and in 1985 he became Chicago's community organizer for the Far South Side. He went back to school and graduated from Harvard law school in 1991 and became the first African American to serve as president of the Harvard Law Review. In the summer of 1989 he was an associate at a Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin where he met Michelle Robinson who was a lawer at the firm and they married in 1992 and have two daughters. He also taught law at the University of Chicago. In 1996 he was elected to Illinois Senate and in 2004 he was elected to the U.S Senate from Illinois. In 2007 he decided to run for President of the USA and in 2008 the Democratic Party chose him and on November 4 he was voted in over John McCain. He was swprn in as president on January 29, 2009. In 2012 he was reelected. He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.

This is a nice biography about them: https://youtu.be/1-IgxSn21jU

https://luckylittlelearners.com/martin-luther-king-jr-day-activities-videos/

Feb 2 is MLK or as we have leart Michael Luther King Jr. 

Seasame Street does a nice video: https://youtu.be/NGd6J-jwzV8

King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929. At age 15 he entered Morehouse College in Atlanta. He graduated in 1948.

King studied for three years at a seminary (school for ministers) in Pennsylvania. There he learned about nonviolent protest. King received a doctorate from Boston University in 1955. While in Boston he met Coretta Scott. They married in 1953 and had four children.

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Introduction

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Martin Luther King, Jr., led the civil rights movement in the United States. He used nonviolent, or peaceful, protest to try to get equal rights for African Americans. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Early Life

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King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929. At age 15 he entered Morehouse College in Atlanta. He graduated in 1948.

King studied for three years at a seminary (school for ministers) in Pennsylvania. There he learned about nonviolent protest. King received a doctorate from Boston University in 1955. While in Boston he met Coretta Scott. They married in 1953 and had four children.

Civil Rights Movement

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In 1954 King became pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1955 an African American woman named Rosa Parks refused to give her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white man. She was arrested for breaking a segregation law. Such laws were meant to keep Blacks and whites separate. To protest her arrest, King encouraged African Americans not to ride city buses. This was called the Montgomery bus boycott. The boycott was successful. In 1956 the U.S. Supreme Court banned racial segregation on public transportation.

In 1959 King visited India. There he met with the followers of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi had used peaceful protests to demand Indian independence. The trip strengthened King’s belief in nonviolence.

King had organized a group called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957. The SCLC led many nonviolent protests against segregation. In 1963 King joined a demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama. Police turned dogs and fire hoses on the protesters. King was put in prison. In the Birmingham jail, King wrote a letter explaining that he would continue to protest.

In August 1963 King and other civil rights leaders brought together about 250,000 people for a huge protest called the March on Washington. There King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

King’s actions helped get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. The act outlawed several types of discrimination. In 1965 King led a march in Selma, Alabama, in support of African American voting rights. Soon the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed.

In 1966 King turned to other problems. He fought racism in Northern cities and spoke out against the Vietnam War. He planned a Poor People’s March to Washington, D.C.

In 1968 King went to Memphis, Tennessee, to help city workers who were on strike. On April 4 a white man named James Earl Ray shot and killed him. King was only 39 years old.

King’s reputation grew after his death. In 1986 the United States set aside the third Monday in January as a holiday to honor him.

Feb 3 is Rosa Parks featurette. She was born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Growing up she lived in segregation which means separation of the races. In 1932 she married Raymond Parks. She became the leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) branch in Montgomery. On December 1, 1955, Parks was riding a then segregated Montgomery city bus. She was sitting in a section where whites had first pick of seats. A white man wanted her seat, but Parks refused to move. She was arrested, jailed, and fined.

The city’s African Americans then decided to boycott, or not ride city buses until the segregation law was changed. The boycott was led by Martin Luther King, Jr., who was then just beginning his career as a civil rights leader.

The Montgomery boycott went on until 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the U.S. Constitution did not allow segregation of buses. This gave hope to people who wanted all kinds of racial segregation to end. Within the next 10 years much progress was made.

Parks was fired from her job and threatened by white people. She and her family moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1957. She then worked in the office of U.S. Representative John Conyers, Jr. She was honored with two of the country’s highest civilian awards: the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1996) and the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor (1999). Rosa Parks died in Detroit on October 24, 2005.

From Homeschool Pop we watched this informative clip: https://youtu.be/7sqiZ7agt4Q

https://www.pinkstripeysocks.com/2016/03/kids-flip-flop-artwork-summer-craft.html

Feb 4 we focused on Mae Jemison. A great storybook can be enjoyed: 

https://youtu.be/uuxkz6FFd1Q

https://www.pinkstripeysocks.com/2014/03/cardboard-space-shuttle-craft-template.html

Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to become an astronaut. She was a part of the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, which orbited Earth for more than a week in 1992.

Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. She was the youngest of three children. When she was 3, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois. Even as a young girl Jemison was deeply interested in science.

https://www.thewaldockway.com/product/mae-jemison-unit-study/

Feb 5: Ruby Bridges  HomeSchool Pop:  https://youtu.be/sytZGGs5sRs

A nice book about her: https://youtu.be/MRfy2xs8Xpg

Feb 6: The USAF selected Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., on June 30, 1967, as a member of the third group of aerospace research pilots for the MOL Program.  Lawrence thus became the first African-American to be selected as an astronaut by any national space program.  Of the significance of his selection Lawrence said with his typical modesty, “This is nothing dramatic.  It’s just a normal progression.  I’ve been very fortunate.”

Born in Chicago on October 2, 1935, Lawrence graduated from high school at 16, earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bradley University at age 20 and became an Air Force officer and pilot.  Lawrence was a highly accomplished pilot with 2,500 flying hours, 2,000 in jets, and earned a PhD in physical chemistry from The Ohio State University in 1965, the only selected MOL astronaut with a doctorate.  He completed US Air Force Test Pilot School in June 1967 and was immediately assigned to the MOL Program.  While serving as an instructor for another pilot practicing landing techniques later used in the Space Shuttle program, Lawrence perished in a crash of an F-104 Starfighter supersonic jet on December 8, 1967, at Edwards Air Force Base, CA.  Although both men ejected from the crash Lawrence did not survive, the promising career of the pilot-scientist suddenly extinguished.  He was survived by his wife Barbara and eight-year-old son Tracey.  Fellow MOL classmate and later NASA astronaut Don Peterson recalled in an oral history, “Bob was a super guy.  His death was a terrible tragedy.”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iqH3TYkVrQo

Feb 7: Bessie Coleman https://youtu.be/zDProFrAcgI

Feb 8: George Washington Carver is our hero for today. He was an amazing scientist, giver, and artist. We found an activity that blends art and science thanks to the creative innovators at: https://deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com/2016/01/how-to-make-paper-flowers-bloom-art.html

To learn about GWC these three videos are excellent: https://youtu.be/ArAwUq8HVAk and

https://youtu.be/6mYW0pkvYWA and https://youtu.be/hq_H7Oa90aU

Barron has loved GWC since he first discovered him. We were lucky to find a neat poetry lesson for free at: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-notes-peanut-june-jordan. In this lesson we examined the following poem:

Notes on the Peanut by June Jordan ( 1936-2002)

                    For the Poet David Henderson

Hi there. My name is George

Washington

Carver.

If you bear with me

for a few minutes I

will share with you

a few

of the 30,117 uses to which

the lowly peanut has been put

by me

since yesterday afternoon.

If you will look at my feet you will notice

my sensible shoelaces made from unadulterated

peanut leaf composition that is biodegradable

in the extreme.

To your left you can observe the lovely Renoir

masterpiece reproduction that I have cleverly

pieced together from several million peanut

shell chips painted painstakingly so as to

accurately represent the colors of the original!

Overhead you will spot a squadron of Peanut B-52

Bombers flying due west.

I would extend my hands to greet you

at this time

except for the fact that I am holding a reserve

supply of high energy dry roasted peanuts

guaranteed to accelerate protein assimilation

precisely documented by my pocket peanut calculator;

May I ask when did you last contemplate the relationship

between the expanding peanut products industry

and the development of post-Marxian economic theory

which (Let me emphasize) need not exclude moral attrition

of prepuberty

polymorphic

prehensile skills within the population age sectors

of 8 to 15?

I hope you will excuse me if I appear to be staring at you

through these functional yet high fashion and prescriptive

peanut contact lenses providing for the most

minute observation of your physical response to all of this

ultimately nutritional information.

Peanut butter peanut soap peanut margarine peanut

brick houses and house and field peanut per se well

illustrate the diversified

potential of this lowly leguminous plant

to which you may correctly refer

also

as the goober the pindar the groundnut

and the ground pea/let me

interrupt to take your name down on my

pocket peanut writing pad complete with matching

peanut pencil that only 3 or 4

chewing motions of the jaws will sharpen

into pyrotechnical utility

and no sweat.

Please:

Speak right into the peanut!

Your name?

We discussed what invention Barron would create and he said binoculars and telescopes to view the world far away. I would invent a time travelling machine. Barron wants to invent this because it would be neat to see each other and outer space and the world. I would invent this so we could spend time with loved ones or people we miss from our past. We examined two pictures and immediately Barron was drawn to the colour blue in the sky since that is his favourite colour, I was drawn to the center picture because the green was vibrant. When we looked at the second picture we found our attention going to George and the seed. We think these murals (paintings done on a wall) are aimed at people who are farmers or people who might want to know more about peanuts in the industry. Comparing the images we noticed that the colour was different, we were only shown a portion of the scene, and the painting that was zoomed seemed to have more of our attention whereas the larger mural had a sense of movement and wonder in it. We feel that these pictures relate or are connected to the poem because they talk about George Washington Carver's inventions and importance of the peanut, he mentions how he tried to capture the exact hues in a famous Renoir painting by using peanuts. The hues in the two paintings were different perhaps one is more accurate to what it really looked like when being there touching or observing the wall versus looking at a picture. We understand how this can happen because we took a picture in the mid afternoon with the flash on and suddenly it appeared a sunny day in our photo. Why the murals, well they show the beauty of the peanut, the soil, the importance of the farmer, and the advice of George. The lesson then asked us to examine the phrase

“lowly peanut” and “potential of this lowly leguminous plant” which we used our dictionary to find out that lowly means uncommon, not important or grand. We felt the audience of this poem might be to change the mind of people who think peanuts are nothing special or important. The first phrase says a peanut isn't much, however the second phrase asks you to think of what the common peanut could become, to seek the greatness in it. We still think the poem is talking to people who are farmers or gardeners. The lesson mentions that the poem uses hyperbole (exaggeration) and we found this as an example:  "I have cleverly pieced together from several million peanut shell chips" although it may have taken a lot of peanut shells to make the exact paint colour we think several million is an exaggeration. On this topic we started wondering if we could figure out if George Washington Carver really liked Renoir or if that was the poet June's preference or what she thought George may like. We are familiar with GWC as a painter as we found some similarities between him and Georgia O'Keefe in an earlier post on this blog. We learnt that, "Carver’s story is fascinating, and his life was so clearly influenced by both art and science, that it’s clear why the California African American Museum’s exhibit “World Without End: The George Washington Carver Project” will be included as part of “Pacific Standard Time: Art x Science x LA”. It doesn’t take place until 2024, but it’s something to look forward to if you’re in California." Source: https://cloudistro.com/george-washington-carver-was-an-artist-long-before-he-became-a-peanut-scientist/

The images we were referring to are found at: https://www.loc.gov/resource/highsm.07051/?r=-0.071,-0.094,1.111,0.473,0

https://www.loc.gov/item/2010638461/ 

Feb 9: James Hemings 

Feb 10:

Feb 11:

Feb 12:

Feb 13: Edna Lewis.   https://youtu.be/J43s-Qy0qOI