Weeks 25 & 26: China

Welcome to our study on China!

We had fun playing Chinese Checkers while learning more about China. We also like Chinese food and ate it for lunch several days during our study. Aldi's had a good selection including sweet & sour chicken, mini egg rolls, different packages of rice and noodles, and even little cookies with pandas on them :) I also bought some frozen chinese vegetables and made stir fry for dinner one night. We got out the dragon Lindsey made for Chinese New Year, and our Chinese lanterns decorated the table.

Art -

Some of our library books had Chinese characters and their meanings, and we looked some up online. Lindsey practiced writing them and pronouncing them. Then we made Chinese lanterns from construction paper and used markers to decorate them with pictures and Chinese characters.

Science -

We had fun with the salt water experiments. After learning about the Dead Sea, we took 2 bowls and filled one with fresh water and one with salt water. We placed an egg in each bowl to see if it would sink or float. The egg sunk to the bottom completely submerged in the fresh water. The egg in the salt water floated with part of it rising above the surface of the water due to the salt water being denser.

We made salt crystals. We started by boiling water then adding salt until it wouldn't dissolve anymore. Then we poured it into a mason jar and hung a string weighted with a paper clip from a pencil across the top of the jar. We placed it in a sunny window and checked it each day. As the water evaporated cube shaped salt crystals formed.

Field Trip -

Since bicycles are a popular form of transportation in China, I took Lindsey to the park with a trail she could ride her bike on. There was a lot of bamboo growing along the trail. To our good fortune, there was a Chinese family with twin babies at the park and we talked to them a little while we were resting in the shade. We also heard them speaking Chinese to each other.

Books We Read -

We read Gladys Aylward every night before bed, and this has been our favorite missionary book so far. Her determination to reach the people of china was incredible! Parts of the book held us in suspense and others made us laugh - a very good read.

We also found several great books at the library including a childhood favorite of mine,
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack.

Panda Rescue : changing the future for endangered wildlife by Dan Bortolotti

Chinese Fables : The Dragon Slayer and other timeless tales of wisdom by Shiho S. Nunes

The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy

Eyewitness China by Poppy Sebag-Montefiore

Dream-of-Jade : The Emperor's Cat by Lloyd Alexander

The Art Of China by Shirley Glubok

Tibet : Through The Red Box by Peter Sis

The Emperor And The Kite by Jane Yolen

Hong Kong by Wendy B. Murphy

Zen Ghosts by Jon J. Muth

Lin Yi's Lantern : A Moon Festival Tale by Brenda Williams

A Taste Of China by Roz Denny

Lon Po Po : A Red-Riding Hood Story From China by Ed Young

Traditional Crafts From China by Florence Temko

Daisy Comes Home by Jan Brett

Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet

Inside China by Ian James

Other Media -

The Butterfly Lovers [compact disc] ; Three Chinese violin pieces. by Zhanhao He

5000 years of magnificent wonders. World wonders beyond time [DVD]

Wild China (watched on Netflix)

The Dragon Pearl

Kung Fu Panda

We also watched Disney's Mulan and Mulan 2.

We watched this Geography of China video on Youtube: