Status Updates From Archimedes and the Door of ...

Ch. 11-12 Archimedes is a bit like da Vinci and Michelangelo. When their cities were in danger, they put their talent to work. The results of what Archimedes did was nothing less than spectacular. His death is so tragic. I got the same feeling as I did when I read that Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed 3 weeks before Hitler killed himself. It’s also tragic that some of his writings are lost.

Ch. 11 I just realized that a lot of what I teach in middle school math is in this book! How fun is that. My favorite site for teaching 3D shapes is https://www.polyhedra.net/ and I even have hollow plastic solids that you can fill with water to check volume calculations.

Ch. 9 What a fun chapter! Making mobiles to understand center of gravity looks like a lot of fun.

Ch. 9 More math! Woo hoo!

Ch. 8 covers what I normally do with my middle school class on pi day. I think it’s silly to do activities that aren;t really math. So, we use the methods that Archimedes used to calculate pi. Jeanne added a few more to my list. WIN-WIN!!!

Ch. 7 Short but sweet chapter on mathematics, his first love. Mine, too. This chapter is excellent for notebooking for students could draw 2D shapes and 3D solids and write what they are. I wonder if the next person to touch conic sections after Archimedes as Blaise Pascal.

Ch. 6 There’s a great overview of how different ancient cultures viewed the shape of the earth as well as how the Greeks figured out aspects of astronomy without the tools that we have today. Three important habits are careful observation, wonder, and curiosity. The chapters mentions names I know from math, literature, and Plutarch: Macrobius, Erastothenes, Cicero, and Eudoxus.

Ch. 5 Pardon the pun but this chapter is DENSE because it is loaded with HEAVY material about specific gravity. She breaks it down with very simple explanations that are good to notebook and exploring ideas with simple activities. This will be a fun chapter to explore.

Ch. 4 is jammed packed full of things to learn and explore. I can definitely see notebooking opportunities as well as activities to go with it. They could have one page per class of lever. Diagram what the lever is and then list items that go with each. Plus a page of things that are not machines. They may HELP us but are not machines. Other lists would be tool, generator, and motor.

Ch. 3 I love the weaving of history and science. Some chapters are heavy into science and some are more history and background. Since the primary purpose for me is science, I hope I can spread out the science more and read more quickly through the background.

Ch. 2 I love how, in the process of telling of his boyhood, she weaves in the habits of body and mind that made the Greeks great. She shares a lot of fascinating details about Greek childhood plus I saw some activity and notebooking opportunities for the class.

I read this a long time ago with my kids. Ch. 1 was a breeze and yet she really inspires the reader to be amazed at Archimedes’ contributions to the world of science.

This book is supposed to teach me not make me laugh 😂😂😂

This is a fun book! So much cross curricular content and activities!

We started this, but got sidetracked with life. Now, we're jumping back in from the beginning. Just who is this father of science? #historyofscience @beautifulfeetbooks

"Nobody is really sure what gravity is." Chapter 10, Page 99

The author has been lately talking about Archimedes and the centers of gravity. It is basically about how Archimedes had the first thoughts of gravity, not Sir Isaac Newton.

The author is currently talking about Archimedes early life and about some of his early inventions. Apparently, Archimedes only had basic knowledge about the worlds of mathematics and science; such as, he knew that the shortest length from one place to another is a straight line.

Good

I'm really enjoying this so far.

I'm reading this one with my son.

This is how everyone should learn math and science. Learn about it, then learn to apply it.