Flame Test Science with Sam Gibbs

One of the topics under Forensic Science (what we're doing at Co-op) is Flame Test. We thought it'd be better to find a teacher to teach this rather then messing with fire ourselves. We were fortunate that Mr. Sam Gibbs was in town and he agreed to come do the class for us. Boy was it a fun, crazy, fiery class. This is the second time we've attended his class. The first was during the aerospace workshop in TUDM with him last year, kids loved it so much! Well, needless to say, they stayed tuned during his whole session, had lots of laughs, and learnt lots!!

Spectrography

Learning about atoms, photons, energy and elements.

Flame test...guess, which element in here?

Children having a go at flame testing

(@ All photos above taken by Lena Q)

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 WE've also covered topics such as Chromatography, Soil Analysis, blood typing, hair analysis, analysis of teeth and footprints,
                             

 Crime Scene analysis

 Finger prints

and DNA

Too many details, so this summary will suffice. Basically, kids love the hands on learning, especially when it involves experiments, and solving crime!

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014

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A Walk in FRIM with Prof Ille Gebeshuber

Well, we were supposed to head to the canopy, but alas, we found out that FRIM's canopy closes at 2:30pm, and we arrived at 2:30pm, too late. :(  In the end, FRIM was nice, in that they allowed us to book a nature guide on the spot. Cost was RM120.

So off we went to the jungle....oh such a lovely break to be in the cool jungle after being stuck at home  for days with no water (water rationing) and horrid haze on the outside. The best part of it all, was barely 10 minutes into our walk, it began drizzling, then pouring like crazy!!! Oh...the children gleefully jumped through puddles, collected large leaves to use as umbrellas, laugh, observe, play...twas so much fun.

I told my kids, that was the best fun I've had in ages, the rain sure melted away the grouchiness that I've accumulated from being stuck indoors.

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014

Muzium Negara- Orang Perak

Our Science Coop has been studying Forensic Science for the past few months. The wonderful thing about forensic science is that it introduces lots of sciences to the children, from the study of human anatomy to flame tests in chemistry to calculation of density etc.. A topic we'll be covering soon will be the study of bones in forensic science. So in relation to this topic we decided to visit the National Museum for a class session on the Orang Perak. You can find out more about their classes on their website.  The best thing is that, the session is entirely free, and you gain free entrance to the museum too.

They provided three activities which were cave painting, making accessories with ancient shells (which were found buried with the orang perak), and excavation as well as information about the orang perak.

Jewelery making, taking about accessories used in ancient times.

Cave painting, with charcoal. Reminded me of a session I did with my kids a long time back, where we painted with real soil

Learning about Perak Man and excavation, which was an interesting talk.

The children really enjoyed this field trip!

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014


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Kuda Kepang

Feb 16th  -Publika Black Box

I've always wanted to watch a Kuda Kepang show, to find out more about this particular form of dance. So when we found out that a Kuda Kepang troupe from Johor was gonna perform at Publika, we went. Well, I won't describe in detail what my children thought of the show, but basically, they preferred the Wayang Kulit outdoor show that we attended at Rimbun Dahan last year.
 I guess, burning of incense and smoking among performers indoors made the Kuda Kepang show a little unbearable. I found the show intriguing but a lil "chaotic" three quarters through when the performers began going into trances. Anyway, a few photos from the show.

Kuda Kepang

Sharing a cigarette before the show

Holding a coconut, and eventually biting husks off as performer gets into a trance.

Female performer in a trance

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014

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Art- Sculpting horse with Paper clay

Happy Cap Goh Mei, and Happy Valentines Day!!

We spent our morning creating fun art which the children really enjoyed. When the kids begged to do art, I thought, it'd be nice to do something about horses, since according to the Lunar Calendar, it is the year of the Horse!

Well upon googling, I stumbled upon the works of Deborah Butterfield, who is famous for her sculptures of horses made out of wood and metal. Since that might prove a little too difficult for us, I thought paper marche and twigs would be nice.

So we googled for a recipe, and found a really great recipe for Paper marche clay meant for sculpting here.  (I'd advice adult supervision if younger children are making the clay as it has contents like wall filler/ putty, and PVA glue, and make sure to wear gloves when making it.)

Based on the recipe, we made our own clay out of tissue paper, wall putty, PVA glue, flour and oil. To add texture, we added sand, twigs, dried grass etc to into our homemade clay.

Our clay all ready!

The children then drew a picture of a horse on their paper, painted the background, then began filling up the horse area with clay.

Nel sculpted her clay with her hand and the back of a brush.

My work in progress

Jo just couldn't work with gloves and decided to work with both hands. She used the blade on a pair scissors to help her get fine lines. (I made sure she washed her hands thoroughly after!)

To finish of the art, we gathered more dried stuff from the garden and decorated the background/horse with it. Our final product.

My completed work.

Nel's. Simple and beautiful..gives me the feeling of a horse on a hill on a windy day.

 Jo's (pic a little blur.)....a flying unicorn of course! :)

 Happy Year of the Horse and may the year be a great one for you!

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014

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I'm proud of my girls who rescued these abandoned babies...4 of them, from skinny scrawny (almost drowned) creatures, to these beautiful four kittens. They did well...stuck to their responsibility of feeding and cleaning regularly. Today, somebody came and adopted all four. It was with heavy heart we let them go. The older one cried all night, but was happy we found them a good home, and is joyful now, knowing we can still visit them. The little one is upset....but we knew it was best they went together so they'd grow up together. I'd say, animal rescue has taught my girls a lot of things, especially compassion, kindness and responsibility.

 @poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014

Exploring with dear friends from the USA

On the 26th of Dec, some very close family friends arrived from Michigan. We spent 2 weeks with them exploring our country and city. Needless to say, it was wonderful reunion time and we do miss them very much now!

Just some highlights in simple photos now. (I've been spending very lil  time on the computer and plan to keep it that way. So not much photo editing.)

 Pulau Ketam

It was a rainy day when we got there.

A friend on the island showing us how dried shrimp is made.

Mini Road Trip to Melaka and Port Dickson

Nothing melts the stress away like a few days by the beach. Here's my sandman.

At play while the sunsets.

Melaka Unesco site.

Of course we all had to ride on the beca (pronounced bay-cha). Only now they come with LOUD booming music!!

Spent a whole day shopping at Jonker Street, and all the girls bought lovely patchwork skirts which we wore together.

At the famous A'Famosa Fort.

To cool the day off, we boarded the boat for a river cruise. Enjoyed the lovely graffiti here.

Visit to Royal Press Melaka.

Our very knowledgeable tour guide

First thing that captivated me were the old beautiful air wells and windows.

The longest serving worker there, showing us how printing was  done long time ago. She told us that to print a page of paper could take as long as 2 days to prepare.

Batu Caves

yup we managed to climb the steps, all 272 of it.

Saw this couple carrying her baby up in a yellow cloth, tied to sugar cane. They say this is to give thanks for answered prayers for a child.

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Till we meet again dear friends.

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2013

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013 was eventful. After spending 3 weeks in December taking turns falling sick with a horrid flue virus and high fever, we eventually recovered on time  for Christmas. We had some lovely friends and family over for a simple dinner.


On the menu was Cheese and Crackers, recipe gotten from an American friend whom we visited during Christmas as well. Well, their cheese looked like a snowman. I attempted doing one as well, and I don't know why mine turned out looking like a bird!
Anyway...what I put in it.....
   ~ 2 packs of Cream cheese
   ~Cajun seasoning
  ~ chopped Pecans
  ~ bacon (stirfried and chopped up)
  ~Garlic powder
  ~Dill
 ~Walnuts

Kids decorated the house before guests arrived and made this sign.

After a wonderful time catching up, I decided to bring out some gingerbread cookies for the children to decorate. It was well....interesting watching the difference between how a 2 year old and an 18 year old decorate. I'm sure you can tell which age decorated the cookie below. I kinda call it "The death of the ginger bread man." hehe....

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Nel and Jo were both involved in the performing arts for Christmas.
Proud to say that Nel danced well, despite the nervousness she felt. After the third performance she even smiled while dancing, which is a great achivement for the introvert that she is.
 And Jo enjoyed being part of the choir so much.
@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014