Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Granite State

We have enjoyed learning about the state of New Hampshire.


Good Night New Hampshire by Adam Gamble and G is for Granite, A New Hampshire Alphabet by Marie Harris are the books we read. C and R were surprised to learn that the windiest spot on earth is at the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. A wind speed of 231 miles per hour has been recorded there. You can find this fact, and many other great facts about the most extreme places on Earth, in the book, Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest by Steve Jenkins.

Since that fact was so appealing to C and R, we conducted our own wind experiment.

R covered a piece of cardboard with petroleum jelly. There was no way that C would ever touch something that slimy and sticky.


We hung the cardboard from a tree limb on a windy day and left it there all day to see what might be blowing in the wind.


It is not easy to see, but there were seeds, specks of pollen, and even a few insects on our cardboard. Hmmmm.....C and R were not the least bit impressed with this experiment.

10 comments:

Annette W. said...

Sorry for my lack of comments lately...I've been reading, but trying to limit my time on the computer.

This is great, even if the experiment didn't work. I loved Mt. Washington!

Susana said...

This is a fun experiment and state study too. I can't wait to start our state studies next week! I will be using your books and state posts for references for each of our studies!!

MamaGames - Alexa C. said...

~laughing~ I'm sorry C and R were unimpressed by the wind experiment. I think JediBoy would love trying it - maybe several times in several spots in the yard!

Thanks for sharing your great state resources. :)

Growing and Learning by Leaps and Bounds said...

I think that was a cool experiment i've done it with clear contact paper!

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice said...

lol they r so funny! well they may not have been impressed but I am! I think that was a cool idea!
Interesting about the wind. I am shocked. would have thought like a desert in Africa or something..

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

Well, Anna would probably expect to get a bird or something like this, but I liked your experiment quite a bit. We just talked about wind speed by looking at our small wind vane in the yard.

Rebecca said...

I cant wait to start learning about each of the states when my kids are a little older. This got me so excited, haha! The kids may not have thought so, but i think that cardboard idea is great! Maybe i will try it this fall

Lynn said...

It looks like a fun experiment to me! I have to admit I get a kick out of it whenever you post about your kids lack of enthusiasm for projects. Today's art class was a bit of a flop too, as the kids were fading fast. We left halfway through.

Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog said...

I love reading about all your learning with the states. Sorry to hear the kiddos were hard to impress... tough crowd!

Jenny said...

That is funny that they didn't get into the experiment. I think that's kind of cool!