Geography Lesson Pt 1 The World

For geography, we were asked to keep track of the times of sunrise and sunset for 5 weeks. Yeah, right! Instead, we used a website called sunrisesunset.com to enter our zip code for the times. The website allows you to include moon cycles as well as daylight hours. After all, time is a man-made concept. I printed four calendars:

December 2015 (present month)

December 2014 (this time last year)

June 2015 (six months ago, to compare seasons)

December 2015 for our previous zip code in Limestone, Maine 04750

Austin did a little math by finding the weekly average for every week. Then we compared our findings. Comparing the daylight hours of Maine to North Carolina was particularly interesting.

We then used youtube to find a video on why these hours are practically an hour off in the same time zone. This video is called, "Mechanisms of the seasons." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLRA87TKXLM

We watched the video. Then I told Austin to be earth. I had him note where specific landmarks might be on his body and spin on a axis. He then spun around me (the sun) in an imperfect circle, "Oh, you're further away. It must be winter." It was quite interesting. We noted that he could not realistically turn 365 times for real. 

Over the next few days, we found a globe at the local library and used a paper bookmark (string would've been better) to compare the globe to maps. Austin noted that the main focus on a map was quite larger than the true size of land masses surrounding their focal point, despite their sizes and distances on the globe.

On Monday, we learned about the sun's analemma. I couldn't figure out how to read the chart until Austin showed me piece by piece. The analemma is a figure 8, with a heavy bottom. It is used to accommodate the earth's axis as well as the not-so-circular orbit of the earth around the sun. I haven't found any good instructional or explanatory videos that I felt would be understood by a pre-college student. We may learn more about this later.

We also started discussing the 6 time zones of the US. We learned that there is 15* of space between each longitudinal line - 24 hrs x 15 = 360* aka a circle known as earth. Austin and I made jokes of time travel learning about the Prime Meridian. If either of us ever becomes very wealthy, he will make sure he uses his jet to keep us alive forever lol. He certainly does understand that a calander date does not change biological aging, but boy wouldn't that be nice?! 

We're still reading, so I will be back......

DuoLingo Language Learning App

Today, I want to share DuoLingo with you. This is a free Apple App that lets you study language by listening, reading, typing, and speaking. The app keeps track of your progress, so that you repeat lessons for memorization. I am learning Spanish and Austin is learning German. We use the same device, but different login names. There are lots of language options and users submit advanced forms, so the app evolves as the language does.

With Spanish, I started out learning words like apple, door, window...etc. then these words were introduced in sentences that I listened to. I needed to remember their possessions, like la or el, Las, or Los. Then I was I troduced to sentence structure, like we and they. It's pretty easy, but I do forget some things, so the refreshers are nice. Austin has some issues with speaking to the app, but I think his voice cracks are recognized as accentuations. He's having trouble grasping sentence structure, but he's determined.

I've been having fun with this app ever since it was shared with me. The teen that told me of it started with French and recently added another language to her list of languages to learn. She checks her known languages for refresher updates and then proceeds to the next language. Wow, such a smart cookie!

This app is amazing! The last time we went to a mexican restaurant, I asked if they sold REDDs Apple ale in Spanish and responded 'No, much thanks. I'm driving an automobile to my home' all in Spanish. I also practiced spanish with my dear friend in Mexico City, who moved back to Mexico and opened a slew of video rental stores. He just had a baby with his wife. I miss my friend so much! It's nice to be able to say a few words to him in his primary language.

This app is a great resource to learn a second language. I found it to be a lot more helpful than Spanish in Three Months (audios and book kit at B&N for $12). I cannot believe it's a free app. Download it for yourself, try it for a few days, and let me know what you think.