To complete our Then and Now unit in History, we learned how trains used to be.
We started our lesson by browsing through some books about steam locomotives and learning how they work. (In case you were wondering, according to Asher, he is dressed like a policeman.)
This was my favorite of the books (though it wasn't as exciting for the kids). I learned a lot from it and was able to summarize bits of information for the kids... and the sketches are beautiful.
While we were reading, we were letting some water boil on the stove. When we were done reading we were able to observe the steam leaving the pot, and even got to see the power of steam by watching it move the pot lid and the styrofoam cup (a.k.a smokestack).
After our learning and observations, we recorded our findings. Here, Karis is making steam.
We even let our "boiler" run out of water... a steam locomotive can't move without it.
Malachi was able to complete his findings: First you can see the fire, then the boiler pipes with water, then steam. Finally, the piston and wheel:
Steam locomotive playing was a necessary end to this lesson:
Malachi was excited to show Daddy how his piston actually moves his wheel.
Hopefully, we will have a field trip tomorrow to see trains of the present-day!
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