Apologia Astronomy Supplements: Netflix Movies

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Astronomy ~ Auroras

December 1, 2011 in Homeschooling, Science with 3 Comments

While studying lesson 2 about the sun in Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Astronomy, we read about auroras. I decided to do a quick search to find a video to help illustrate. I found this video. Take a look:

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Stunning. Simply amazing.

I learned some interesting things during our study of the sun. Solar flares cause these auroras. And did you know that sun spots (cold spots on the sun) help regulate the earth’s temperature and rainfall? With the intricacies of the sun and relationship to the earth, how can anyone deny that there is a Creator?

What have you learned lately?

I’m linking up with my friend Kathy and sharing what I as a homeschooling mom learned this month!

Astronomy ~ Don’t Stare at the Sun

November 17, 2011 in Homeschooling, Science with 4 Comments

Did you know that you’re not supposed to stare at the sun? Do you know why?

As part of our lesson on the sun in Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Astronomy, Jonathan was supposed to give a presentation on why you’re not supposed to stare at the sun. We decided to to one of his favorite things – make a video!

Here’s Jonathan to tell you why you shouldn’t stare at the sun:

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There you have it. Don’t stare at the sun.

Review: Star Walk iPhone and iPad App

October 4, 2011 in Homeschooling, Science, Technology with 0 Comments

Jonathan loves using my iPad, our iPhones, and our iPod touch. He’s an Angry Birds addict like his daddy. There are so many great apps out there that can reinforce our homeschool studies. I’m on a mission to find some!

I came across the Star Walk iPhone and iPad apps a few weeks ago through Moms with Apps. When I saw it, I knew it would be a perfect addition to our Astronomy studies.

Josh and Jonathan have taken the telescope out a few times to play and explore. Here are a few things that we liked and observed about the app

Josh felt like the Star Walk iPhone app on my iPhone 3GS performed better than the Star Walk iPad app on my iPad 2. My guess is that this has something to the installed hardware and GPS.
We live somewhat in the country, but we’re still too close to the city of Charlotte. There’s a lot of city light that comes through at night making it difficult to see some of the stars. Obviously, this doesn’t have much to do with the app except that we are thinking about planning a trip somewhere and take the app and our telescope where it is darker at night.
I have a hard time visualizing the constellations. This app made it easy to “see” the formations in the stars.
Jonathan had a lot of fun with it. He keeps asking to take my phone and the telescope out at night. That’s a win in my opinion!

Here’s a screenshot of a constellation on the from the developer’s Flickr stream:

Here’s a video from the developer showing you some of the features of Star Walk:

Can’t see the video in your email or RSS reader?

Star Walk for iPhone is available for $2.99 and Star Walk for iPad is available for $4.99 in the Apple App Store.

Bottom line? We we will using this app a lot this year as we continue to study Astronomy. A great app. Highly recommended.

Note: At my request, Vito Technology gave me promotional codes for Star Walk for iPhone and iPad in exchange for an honest review. Prices notes were accurate at the time of posting and are subject to change.

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Apologia Astronomy Supplements: Netflix Movies

August 18, 2011 in Homeschooling, Science with 2 Comments

We started Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Astronomy yesterday. We don’t “officially” start our school year until Monday, but Jonathan and I were so excited about our science that we just couldn’t wait any longer. We had so much fun learning about what the universe is, why the planets are important to Earth, and that ancient people used stars and constellations to tell time as well as direction.

We don’t have cable at our house (and haven’t for several years), so we love our subscription to Netflix. Since we are big movie watchers, including documentaries, we love to find movies to go along with what we’re learning in school. We like to watch movies at lunch time and/or for afternoon quiet time.

{Disclaimer: I have not watched all of these yet and am not responsible for their content. Use your discretion and watch with your children. I personally have tried to avoid any that are overly non-creationist in their viewpoint or am careful to explain things from a biblical point of view as we watch together.}

We started watching this BBC series yesterday and found it fascinating: