Adventures in Geography: Ireland

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/flags/flagtemplate_ei.html

Today is Saint Patrick's Day.  That is a good time to learn about Ireland. People in Ireland have read my Bubble Painting! and Education.com Challenge posts and My Favorite Things About School: First In Math post, a lot. Did you know that my ancestors were Irish and that I love Irish dancing. I want to learn to dance like that. My great great grandmother once kissed the Blarney Stone in Blarney Castle.

First, Saint Patrick's Day. Here at my house, we wear green and we wear silly hats every year.

Me in Kindergarten

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated on the 17th of March. It is about Saint Patrick, an catholic saint who is known for bringing Christianity to Ireland.  Green wasn't always the color for Saint Patrick's Day. It used to be blue. Shamrocks are used because he used them to talk about the trinity. Ireland is one of a few places in the world that makes St. Patrick's Day an official holiday. It is celebrated by lots of parades, festivals and feasts. 

Ireland, or Eire, is a really interesting place. It is the twentieth largest island on earth, a little bit bigger than West Virginia. It is divided into The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is Part of The United Kingdom. It is across the Irish Sea from Great Britain and Scotland. It is part of Europe.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/maps/maptemplate_ei.html

There 4.5 million people in The Republic of Ireland and 1.8 million people in Northern Ireland. It's nickname is The Emerald Isle because it is so green.  It has four provinces and not very many cities. To become a city, the government has to make a charter, it isn't based on population like it is here in the US.

http://www.buyimage.co.uk/ireland/index.html

Here is a picture I made of my favorite pictures that I found while looking for Ireland stuff.

Thanks for looking at my blog. I hope no one pinches you today.

Super Science!

Yesterday, I went to an online science class, Supercharged Science. It was about light waves and so much fun. I learned how to make a microscope out of two magnifying glasses. Did you know that there is an owl on a dollar bill? I found one with my microscope.

 The teacher told us why a pencil looks broken in a glass of water. It is because light waves change speed when it goes from air to water. It looks different with different liquids because the light goes at different speeds in different liquids. I used water and dish soap for my experiment.

She also showed us how to see radio waves using a tv remote and a digital camera. It doesn't cost much but we can't afford to pay for the course every month. I wish I could though, there are so many neat experiments to do.

I can read!

I took a reading test today.

At the beginning of the school year I read at kindergarten or first grade level. I have worked hard all year. I do Headsprout reading and I read to mom, we have over 40 books downloaded on the computer. My teacher gave me special classes every week to help me read and spell better. She is always so nice.

I passed my test!

I can read at my grade level!!

 I love my school!
 I love my mom!

It is still hard and the letters get mixed up, but I am trying. I want to read all my own books this summer.

Happy Birthday Dr.Seuss

Today we celebrated the coolest author ever, Dr. Seuss, or actually Ted Geisel. Here is a good page to learn more about him.

Theodor Seuss Geisel - "Dr. Seuss" Biography

My favorite books are the normal books like "The Eye Book," but my mom read "The Sleep Book" to me a lot when I was really little. My favorite story is "Green Eggs and Ham." My mom reads it with me using funny voices. We giggle a lot when we read it. What I like best about it is that mom says her mom read it to her when she was little using the same kind of voices. Every night before we go to sleep we say, "Good night, sleep tight. Don't let the zipperopperzuzus bite." It's how my grandmother tucked Mom in when she was little. It sounds a like a Dr. Seuss creature. 

I really like green eggs and ham. We celebrated today by having that for breakfast. We even had green butter for the toast. It doesn't look very good here but it was really delicious.

I got mom to read the story with me. It was lots of fun. I can't get the video to load here but this is the link. I even made the video almost by myself. That is the best part. 

Green Eggs and Ham