Figuring out summer plans

Chana's schedule was a bit much for her this year, and she's looking forward to a quieter summer.  We discussed whether or not she would want to spend some more time on her math (studying for ACTs), and if she would focus more on the Bio book that she enjoys but often isn't in the mood to do.

She said she'd really like to focus more heavily on Chemistry.  I came across this blog post and requested the All Lab, No Lecture book on Chemistry (perfect for a kinesthetic learner, I hope) and here is the kit that goes along with it, that I haven't purchased.  I also requested The Disappearing Spoon from the library.

We'll see if she ends up pursuing this.  If she reads the beginning of the lab book and wants the chemistry kit, we'll do that.

Back to Chemistry for a couple of days

Well.  So much for skipping some of the more mathematical parts of Chemistry and just moving on to Biology.  Chapter 3 in the AP Bio textbook is all Chemistry.  Luckily, the work we did in chemistry this summer provided an excellent foundation and it gave us no trouble.  But now we are up to molarity and molality.  I skipped a few of the more mathematical topics in Chemistry specifically because we couldn't find an enjoyable book.  So today I was scouring the internet for websites that would explain moles in a fun way.  It took me a few tries, and I consider myself a champion googler.  I can't remember which search finally hit jackpot.  I was searching "fun chemistry moles" "easy chemistry molarity" "chemistry is fun" but nothing gave me that perfect blend of technical math and clear explanation like I discovered with Mr. Parabola Guy.

I gave up and went back to the textbook, only to turn back to the internet for another attempt.  This time we got lucky and found this site, which looks like it will be helpful with the math.  But it wasn't fun and basic enough so I bookmarked it for after we finish with this, which looks fabulous, but it sent us to an even more basic page about what a mole is.  We did half of that today after scientific notation, and I'm looking forward to using it to explain the relationship between moles and atomic mass tomorrow.

I love how all the sciences are interrelated and we can just pause in the middle to spend some time digging a little more deeply into some background information in another branch of science.

I love that we have no time pressure and no test pressure and are exploring what Chana wants to know.   I love that we can take 2 years to learn Biology and take detours into chemistry and physics.  I love that we found a great website for explaining the chemistry we were looking for.  I love the internet.  I love how Chana's mind has expanded.  I really would like to start thinking about how to introduce her to Torah on a deeper level.  We are in Nitzavim now.

chemistry lishma

We did our third day of chemistry.  After looking through all the books that I requested from the library, it turns out the one I bought I like the best.  We are using that as the basis.  A lot of chemistry is coming back to me as we go through this, so I'm jumping off and explaining things.

It is so much fun!  And it feels so real.  It feels like Chana and I are learning about what human beings have learned about how the world works.  I hope we continue to enjoy it.

summer plans

What is Chana planning to do this summer?  Finish Devarim (hopefully) and learn Chemistry.

I stumbled upon this post a few months back when I asked Chana what she would prefer, Chemistry or Biology.  So now summer is around the corner and I went to the library to request the books I thought would be best for us.

The library had all of them except I had to get a different biography of the founder of Modern Chemistry, and I decided to buy What's Chemistry All About by Alex Frith because the library didn't have it and it wasn't that expensive.

Here are the books I requested:

(Ignore the Feynman one and the Dragon Tattoo; those are for fun).

Hopefully by the end of the summer, Chana will have an educated layman's understanding of chemistry.