Tuesday, May 2nd
We are knee deep into our Botany unit study this spring (if you can call it spring, it is still quite cold here), and today we learned how different types of seeds spread to reproduce.
One thing I didn't know was that pine cones (which is just an armor casing for seeds) split in half when exposed to high heat, releasing the seeds. This is why forest fires can actually be beneficial to the reproduction of old growth forests.
So I thought, shoot, let's do an experiment!
I sent the boys out to the woods to collect some pine cones of various sizes. Then we filled out a "Scientific Method" sheet of the experiment, what we are doing, what we hypothosize will happen, and the results.
So, according to the internet, you put the pine cones on a baking sheet at 250 degrees for however long and they split open. I knew that the pine cones were wet and it would take a while, but five hours later they were dry, not splitting, and only as warm as if they were sitting in the sun on a moderately warm day.
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| Still waiting five hours later.... |
This experiment was a bust.
Meanwhile, Camden was in charge of dinner tonight. On the menu is a sausage and rotini dish with peas and white sauce. The sauce called for two cups of heavy cream, but we only had one cup, so we improvised with milk, sour cream, and cream cheese (to thicken it up).
That experiment was a runaway success. The pasta dish was so rich and creamy and flavorful. I could eat it every day. It's definitely going on the regular rotation.
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| So good. SO good. |
I was reminded that May the Fourth is coming up and we had no time to lose! So we watched the Phantom Menace with dinner, with the plan of watching Episodes 2 and 3 tomorrow to catch up and Episode 4 on May 4th, of course.
We take our Star Wars holidays seriously.
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