Week 16 & 17: Germany

Welcome to our study of Germany!

We also learned about Austria & Switzerland. We especially enjoyed the Passport To Europe DVD our librarian found for us. We watched a section each day during lunchtime. We also watched The Sound Of Music and Grimm's Snow White.

We made homemade soft pretzels (with the help of our bread machine) and they were delicious! Lindsey selected a recipe for apple custard cake from German Cooking Made Easy and it was wonderful served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. We also discovered German Chocolate Bears at Aldi, we love trying chocolate from other countries for the sake of learning ;)

Science -

In ecosystems we studied lakes, ponds & rivers. The pond skaters and surface tension experiment was fun! It took some practice setting the paperclips on the surface of the water. Lindsey liked seeing how many she could float without breaking the tension.

Art - 

After reading about Gutenberg we used rubber stamps to print bookmarks. (I forgot to take a picture) We discussed how the printed image is reversed from the image on the stamp so letters are backwards on the stamps just like on Gutenberg's printing press. The letters and images on the rubber stamps are also raised like the letters used on the printing press. We also discussed how much time it would take to set each letter individually when preparing a page for print.

We skipped the beeswax & pressed flower projects. We didn't have the necessary supplies. We may try the pressed flowers in the spring.

Music -

We learned about Beethoven and Mozart. We listened to music from both and compared them. Lindsey preferred the more cheerful music of Mozart, but liked both.

Books We Read -

Rumpelstiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky

From The Good Mountain : How Gutenberg Changed The World by James Rumford

Ludwig Van Beethoven by Noemi Vicini Marri

Play To The Angel by Maurine F. Dahlberg

Knut : How One Little Polar Bear Captivated The World by Isabella, Juliana, and Craig Hatkoff, & Gerald R. Uhlich ; with photographs by Zoo Berlin

The National Geographic Traveler : Germany by Michael Ivory

The Juniper Tree, And Other Tales From Grimm

If I Lived In Germany by Rosanne Knorr

Welcome To Germany by Meredith Costain

German Cooking Made Easy

Passport To Europe [DVD] : Germany, Switzerland & Austria