Homeschool Class Descriptions

We will choose from the list below (unless you have a suggestion that seems more interesting). Depending on the students’ interest, we may spend more time on certain topics and omit others, so actual lessons covered in the class may differ from this list.

Spring 2010 Teen Class (age 11-16):

We have all sorts of dangerous machines, chemicals, and people around us. We can either try to isolate ourselves from them to stay safe or we can learn how to deal with them. At Rock-it Science we feel that it is very important to learn how to deal with dangerous situations.

Note: During classes dealing with the more dangerous materials, we will expect self-control and awareness of other student’s safety. The regular “Three strikes and you are out” becomes “One strike and you are out”. Those who strike out will have to sit and watch. We will need one parent volunteer at each class to be an extra pair of eyes.

Acids: Students will do dangerous things with acids and will learn how to handle them safely and neutralize them. We will be working with automotive battery acid (sulfuric) and swimming pool acid (hydrochloric).
Bases: Students will do dangerous things with bases and will learn how to handle them safely and neutralize them. We will be working with lye (sodium hydroxide) and ammonium hydroxide.
Drool, Stink, and Flames: Students will experiment with road flares and will discover how they can be used safely. (By the way, isn’t it odd how they name dangerous things? Road flares are called"‘safety flares")
Cutting Metal with Flame: Students will use an oxygen/acetylene torch to melt and then to cut through steel. They will also test it on other types of metals.
Caps and Gunpowder: Students will experiment with toy caps and other types of exploding noise-makers. They will then test different types of gunpowder to see if they act as expected.
Chemical Reactions and Electricity: Students will make reactions happen and will then throw them into reverse with electricity.
Water Power: Students will experiment with power washers to see what 3,000 pounds per square inch of water can do to common and not-so-common items.
Owl Pellets: Students will experiment with ways to discover what the owl had for lunch without painstakingly removing each piece with tweezers. A smelly, disgusting, foamy time is guaranteed for all!
The Sun: Students will look for sunspots, try to keep the reflection of a square mirror from becoming round, and will experiment with the plasma in mercury vapor.
We Are All Going to Drown!: Students will experiment with ice, rock, and water to see if global warming is going to destroy all the low-lying cities.

Spring 2010 Middle Class (age 7-12):
The classes for Younger (age 5-8) and Mixed Ages (age 5-16) will cover the same general topics as the age 7-12 class, but the presentations and experiments will be adapted as needed for the students’ ages and skill levels.

Curveball: Students will try to make ping-pong balls and tennis balls fly in a curved path.
Hula-Hoop Science: Students will test hula-hoops of all sizes, shapes, and weights to see which one works the worst.
Balloon Shapes: Students will test many shapes of rubber and mylar helium balloons to see which ones will carry the most weight.
Parachutes: Students will drop parachutes from a high place and experiment with ways to make them fall the slowest.
Erosion: Students will test various types of rocks to see which ones erode the most when blasted by a 3,000 psi pressure washer or by a sand-blaster.
Bendy Tubes of Air: Students will use leaf blowers in an attempt to make a tall, skinny, cloth tube stay straight up.
Hot and Sticky: Students will experiment with ways to make a wet thermometer read the same as a dry thermometer. Then we will sit in a hot, high humidity tent to see how it compares to a hot, low humidity tent.
Trouble!: Students will use pool balls and try to predict how they will bounce off a wall.
Slow-Motion Pinball: Students will start a marble at the top of a table and will try to make it take as long as possible before it falls to its death.
The Big Eye: Students will make a giant eye and then see if it can actually see a candle in a dark room.