We are back from Joshua Tree in time to Celebrate our Planet and her Amazing Diversity of Life: Plant, Animal and Geological.  I will be hosting an Earthday Show & Tell.  Kids can bring or share special memories of their planet, or how they have made it better.  Here are a few ways my family and our involved friends have made a difference by protecting as well as enjoying Earth. 

One way we can is by planting seeds, growing our own food, and experiencing the cycle of plantlife. 

The craft for Earthday is PLANTING. 

We will need: Seeds and Seedlings you wish to share. And a stack of Newspapers so I can show everyone how to make biodegradable potters to bring your plants home and put in your indoor or outdoor gardens.  If anyone has Milkweed plants which is the only food for Monarchs, bring those to share too.

My family has taken many conservation “walk-abouts” with Tracker Rob.  In conjunction with the Tree people, we have taken out invasive plants and planted indigenous species.  As members of the Topanga Wildlife Youth Group, my children participated in a sacred red-tailed hawk release as well as helped biologists record, research and remove invasive crayfish from the Topangacreek. For several years, I volunteered by going out around midnight to count the elusive grunion fish that come ashore to mate during sprint and summertime full moons. Find out a way that you can get involved to help protect your environments and the your personal web-of-life.  Your family will have a sense of pride and an added connection to the world outdoors.  This is one of the best ways to prevent cynicism and complacency from taking hold of a human being.

“Calling all Inventors! Calling all Inventors!”  Is there an inventor in your family, a designer or innovative builder? Well this week we will learn about patents to protect your design and brainstorm for the 2015 SPARK Lab Invent It Challenge.

But don’t forget from 11:30am-12:30 is our monthly Potluck.  Go ahead and be inventive with your family’s dish too! To keep our carbon footprint low, bring your own dishes, utensils and more.

Now, given that a few inventors of the kids’ boardgames last week had filed for patents, this week we will be learning about Patents.   How  you can apply, why  you should as well as the “poor man’s patent.” Click on the image below for the Kids Section of the US Patent Office website.

Bring anything you own that had a patent.  And if you can, go to this link for the US Patent office online and see if you can find the patent number, the date it was assigned and/or print out a photo of the design.

Bring Newspapers

A great link that makes baskets with vines from blackberry brambles, very close to what we will be doing with newspapers.  Here are some shots of basket making from our Trip.

Just bring a small shoe box (and any extras if you have ‘em) Parkday opens at NOON. Project starts at 1:30pm.

Once we make our Abacus-in-a-Box, I will share with everyone how to use them. Some will catch on quick, some will take a bit longer, but we will all get there.  And for those who enjoy it, they can help inspire others.  Come join the Math Party.

Due to the Fall weather’s return – Parkday opens at HIGH NOON.  And this project will start at 1:30 Sharp.   And as a bonus, I will hopefully get a MATH MAGICIAN to come along and show off a bit!

October dues are $5 per family. This helps cover the costs of the supplies.

Bonus:  Tutorials on how to use the Abacus

Difference between Chinese Abacus & Japanese (Soroban)

Tricks/Formulas on  How to add with Soroban (from a girl)

Tutorial on Multiplying with Soroban (drastic confusion unless you understand how to add with it first).

Bonus Math* Using visual lines to solve Multiplication.  Next way to visualize math to be going on in my home.

Due to the heat, we are meeting at  Calabasas Tennis & Swim Club

We will learn about the evolution of the mechanics of the modern Lighthouse, fascinating stories of LightHouse keepers, and bring THREE items for the craft, Make your own Lighthouse: please BRING a Cereal box and scissors (tape, art supplies & battery lights are being provided).  Littler kids can make a simpler Lighthouse with just cups and tape.

Join us Sept 14th @ 10 am for a tour of Point Vincente Lighthouse in Palos Verdes followed by a group picnic at the end of Bluff Top Trail near the Hidden Terranea Beach Cave .

Lighthouse keepers were a strange breed who preferred isolation to town and the demanding tasks required in all types of weather.  I will share the some fabulous Lighthouse stories, including that of Emily Fish, “Socialite Keeper,” who commanded a post at the Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove, CA from 1893-1915.

If you were the daughter or wife of a Lighthouse Keeper, you had a good chance of taking over the occupation, in a day and age where women could either be mother, teacher or nurse.  And some lighthouse keepers were all four.  Ida Lewis gained her reputation for being “The Bravest Woman in America,” for her daring rescues of crashed sailors and others near her post at Lime Rock Lighthouse in Newport, RI.

Lighthouses offer up almost as much intrigue, as Pirate ships.  This week, learn about the evolution of lighthouses and their mechanics as well as how their purpose has changed over the years.  By 1990, all Lighthouses were automated, except for the one in Boston Harbor.  It will forever remain manned in order to honor the lives and dedication of all lighthouse keepers of the past.

And if you really like Lighthouses, for $101,000 you can purchase the Graves Island Lighthouse to live in.

For $101,000 your family could live here!

The lighthouse lens was invented using prisms.  Prisms bend the light making it visible for many miles.
Sometimes, however, you cannot see the light due to fog or bad weather, and because of that lighthouses have bells or other things that make noise to warn ships under such conditions. Some lighthouses use sealed-beam lamps Sealed-beam lamps swing around like a search light.  It can be seen many times if the light is rotating fast.  These lamps can be shown through rain, fog, and snow.

With just a small drinking water bottle and a sock you can make BUBBLE SNAKES (above).

With a few extra ingredients (10 cups distilled water, 1 cup of dish soap and 1/4 cup of glycerin (or 3/4 cup of corn syrup), will make bubbles that BOUNCE.  Make your mixture 24 hours in advance and airtight and you’ve made sturdy bubbles.  (I brought a batch). And of course,  help kids understand HOW that can be Physically possible.  Check out the HowToons poster below to get a head start on the cool physical science of it all.

And for the artists, we made some lovely bubble prints. (copier paper, dish of bubbles, straw and food coloring or natural dyes).

A kiddy pool and a hula hoop you can make GIANT bubbles to lift above your head.