Baseball on Swan's

 Went to Swan's a couple weeks back.  It was interesting disembarking from the Sunbeam this time around.  We've never had to climb up over the bow of the boat before.  It was the only angle that could get us close enough to the dock due to the low tide. 

 As usual, we were up for the challenge. 

 Leah, the phys. ed. teacher at Swan's Island School gathered all the kids together on the field.  She told them to line up on the white line so they could pick teams.  What did the Frenchboro kids do?  Huddle together like a pack of puppies at the far end of the line.

 With some cajoling, they did at least scooch down the line a bit to *sort of* join the others.  Hilarious.  They warmed up once we got going.  Started out with some catching drills and then the game began.  It was fantastic to have 19! kids to play ball.  The two hours positively fled by and too soon we were back on the bus with Leah's dad, Paul, at the helm.

These kids LOVE the bus.  It must be a universal kid thing...get to the back seat.  They were chatting and giggling the whole way.  Riding the bus is something so mundane for nearly all kids across the country, but these guys are still thrilled by it.  I think they might like the bus ride as much as the actual game!

Dr. Rob and Amanda Visit

Our favorite New York City emergency room doctor, Rob Gorski was up for his second visit to Frenchboro School.  Mr. Finn and Rob go back to college days at Northern Michigan University.  They kept in touch over the years and Dr. Rob is always willing to come out to some wind swept island that we happen to be living on at the time, be it in Alaska or Maine.  This time he brought his special lady, Amanda, with him.  She works at the Museum of Modern Art.  I know!  So impressive.  Two for the price of one this time around. 

Dr. Rob started the day out right, by showing everyone nasty ER pictures he's accumulated over the years.  The kids' faces were priceless.  Especially at the "draining" of the cyst.  ARGHHH!  It was so gross, and we all squealed.  One of those, "Cannot....look....away" moments.

Then we got down to business and suited up.  Booties and all.

Masks, badges, gowns...the works.  Even the masks with the splash guard to prevent "fluids" from getting in the eyes. 

Dr. Rob did an awesome workshop on suturing.  Suturing duct tape is surprisingly similar to the real thing.  In Alaska, we just happened to have a fetal seal in the freezer for suturing.  Here, not so much.

Brody, Myron and Austin were all old pros, volunteering their services right off the bat.  As Dr. Rob said, "See one. Do one. Teach one."  Whoa.

Just in case the duct tape squirted...

After watching the big kids, the little guys got in there with gusto.  They were naturals.  Future surgeons we've got out here.

Surgeons who wear camouflaged Bogs.

With suturing all taken care of, it was time for surgery.  Saylor, Myron and Cadin all suited up with the hair nets.  You don't want hair dropping in your open wound, now do you?

And masks...to keep in the drool of course.

Scrubbing up.  It's not every day that the patient gets to watch the scrubbing process.  Amanda was our guinea pig and Jayde had not yet administered the anesthesia. 

The surgical team scrubbing in.  I love using all this doctor lingo.  Too much ER, House, and Grey's Anatomy for sure. 

Then Saylor assisted the doctors with their gloves so they wouldn't contaminate their perfectly scrubbed paws. I am happy to say the surgery was successful and Amanda no longer has an appendix.

On to the casting, our favorite part!  Last time just a few kids got casts.  I think perhaps the parents were not amused when their children came home with fully casted arms.  This time, they were better prepared to have all of their children immobilized.  EVERY student got a cast.  I love Seth's eyes in this picture.  He wasn't sure what Dr. Rob was going to do with those scissors.

There was such a whirlwind of casting that in just 15 minutes, all 11 students had broken their arms, been to the emergency room and received the proper care. 

What goofballs.

I've never seen kids so happy to have broken a bone.

They couldn't stop giggling and laughing

Even the doctors were cracking up.

What do you do after you get a cast?  Have everyone sign it, of course!

....by old friends,

and new ones.

Not to mention a teacher or two thrown in for good measure. 

We finished the day with Amanda telling us about her job at the Museum of Modern Art.  I always wonder what these kids will remember later in life as they have been exposed to some of the most amazing folks out here.  We had a woman visit from the Museum of Natural History and do a lecture on early ceramics and now we've had a lecture on typography from Amanda.  SO cool!  Thanks to Dr. Rob and Amanda for visiting our little schoolhouse.  So great to learn from you both. 

Accelerometers

 Where do you go after the speed equation?  We made accelerometers to demonstrate that acceleration is a change in speed or direction.  Most folks know about the speed part, but the direction is equally as important, and often not thought of as acceleration.  We made some quick basic examples of accelerometers and Mr. Finn reviewed speed, forces and introduced the new concept, as they worked on their models.  Then he demonstrated.

 It was cool to see the acceleration and deceleration as he walked around, turned, and stopped.  The card had to be oriented correctly to work as you want it pointing in the direction of movement so the washer can move freely.

 Then we tried them out.  Luckily it was a beautiful day.  We always love another reason to get outside!

There were some train wrecks as everyone was so busy looking at their accelerometers that they weren't watching where they were going!

3...2...1...Blast Off!

 All systems were a go to launch our rockets.  Everyone had two engines to use so all together we had 22 launches ready to take off.  We couldn't wait to see those puppies blast away.

 It was a riveting process.  Mr. Finn set up all the equipment first.

 Then it was time to count down and push the button.  The rockets were ALL successfully lauched...TWICE!  It was great.  The kids all ran out to the field to chase down the falling rockets.

We kept track of the time it took from launch to when the cone popped off at the peak of its arc.  Then we could use the data later to figure out the approximate speed of the rockets.  Next up: rocket cars!

Calculating Speed

 We gathered some data on our charts of kids hopping, walking, speed walking, and walking backwards both for 5 meters and 10 meters.  Then we worked on the speed equation S=D/T.  You remember that, right everybody? 

 Well, the kids did fabulously well with all their calculations and they made sure their partners got the same answer that they did before filling in the chart.  It was interesting to analyze the data after the chart was completed, as it was much more common to have the second 5 meters faster than the first 5 meters.

 The kids hypothesized that the difference was that starting from zero took more energy to get up to speed and get moving versus already being in motion.  Pretty cool.

 There was a lot of "click, click, click" noises as they busily calculated and compared notes.

Tyler and Seth may just be 6, but they are very competent with the calculators.  It doesn't hurt to have a buddy nearby to help, either!

Rockets!

 Since we finished up with Newton's Laws and simple machines, we were on to other forces and motion, namely: rockets!  Everyone got a kit to put together their own rockets.  We have a launch pad and everything.

 It was good practice in following directions from a manual.  All those steps and pictures!

 We were very serious and concentrated.

Everyone did successfully get their rockets put together.  Next up: Firing them off!