Mad Science, Clay, and Cartoons

Yesterday's Mad Science class was about being a detective and learning how to classify evidence found and put clues together to try and solve crimes. The kids learned about "circumstantial evidence" and worked on their memory skills, too. Trash left by 4 different "suspects" were collected in bags and the kids needed to remember who left what and what the suspect might have been doing at that time. The next mystery-solving-activity was matching up different scents to 5 new "suspects". The kids were given bottles of various scents and then has to smell each of the suspects (stuffed animals) and match them up. It's so fun to work in groups like that. W's table has 4 or 5 boys who all work together really well. Looking forward to next week!

W is also still focusing heavily on claymation. A new batch of clay and a downloaded computer animation program has lit an even bigger fire. He has already made over 15 8-second movies starring characters such as "Big Mouth" and "Crazy Bug-Eyed Pointing Guy". He explained to me how he does it - repeating things the instructor from the Museum of the Moving Image said. Ha! I knew he was paying attention. He spent hours and hours on this the other day, getting so excited that it actually worked. He makes the characters and adds various props. I can't figure out how to save his movies, but when I do I'll post one or 2 here.

W's fascination with cartooning hasn't waned at all either.