I get many questions about homeschooling. I have a feeling some are under the impression that the kids are just goofing off most of the time. Others are wondering why we don’t just send them to school. I am happy to be transparent about it.

As for my part, I sit with the kids 2-3 mornings each week reading and discussing the texts and other resources in biology, geology, geography, history, and culture. I won’t say it’s the easiest job, but it’s one of the most gratifying things I’ve ever done. It’s amazing how much they can absorb at this age in a relaxed environment. The state (PA) mandates that we cover certain subjects, but the curriculum is entirely up to the parents. I do my best to integrate the learning with our travels.

Today was the last day of school for 2016. We did an oral quiz covering some of the learnings from this semester. I thought I’d share the quiz questions below. If you’re interested in the resources we’ve used, I’d be happy to share those as well.

Kaia & Charlie semester review questions (with answers) 12/22/2016

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Kaia (gr 2)

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1. Name of the Canadian province where L’anse aux Meadows is located

Newfoundland

2. There are more than 100,000 of these types of large land mammals living in the wild in Newfoundland

Moose

3. Name the type of whales we saw on the whale boat trip in St Anthony

Humpback whales

4. What type of fish they were eating?

Herring

5. What is one of the favorite traditional instruments of the people of Cape Breton?

Fiddle; Bagpipes

6. Name a type of wind instrument

7. Name a type of string instrument

8. What is unique about the big body of water between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia? What is it called?

Bay of Fundy; highest tides in the world- 50′

9. Fortress of Louisbourg – name two types of animals they kept there

Sheep; goats

10. Name one type of fossil you saw at Joggins Fossil Cliffs

Giant millipede

11. A guitar is an example of what type of instrument?

String

12. What type of instrument did we see someone playing by the lake in Cape Breton? What kind of instrument is that – percussion, string, wind, or brass?

Bagpipes; wind

13. Who first developed the theory of Natural Selection?

Charles Darwin

14. What is an example of a type of creature that adapted to its surroundings in modern times? Why did it need to adapt?

Moth adapted its color; Industrial Revolution ==> soot

15. What are examples of animals from two different species, who live in similar environments and adapted a similar shape?

Shark; dolphin

16. What does extinct mean?

Species that died out

17. What is a good way to describe what DNA is?

Recipe in living things

18. Where did the Pilgrims land? What year?

Plymouth Rock; 1620

19. What was the name of their ship?

Mayflower

20. What type of mammal can be seen in the water along the coast of Cape Cod?

Seals

21. How many people were killed in the Boston Massacre?

5

22. What was the event that kicked off the American Revolution?

Boston Tea Party

23. Who rode the “midnight ride?” What is he thought to have announced on this ride?

Paul Revere; “The British are coming!”

24. What is a Red Coat?

British soldier

25. Who was named first postmaster of the colonial postal system?

Ben Franklin

26. Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson

27. What happened at the battles at Trenton and Princeton? What led up to them?

Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware and surprised the Hessians on Christmas

28. Who said “Give me Liberty or Give me Death?”

Patrick Henry

29. What is the name of the famous house in Pennsylvania that’s built into a waterfall, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright?

Fallingwater

30. What story describes the heroic feats of a Geatish warrior, who battles a monster, the monster’s mother, and a dragon?

Beowulf

31. Who wrote The Waste Land?

T.S. Eliot

32. Who invented the telephone?

Alexander Graham Bell

33. Who developed the theories of Relativity?

Albert Einstein

34. What is the speed limit of the universe?

Speed of light

35. What was one of Einstein’s first jobs?

Teacher; patent office clerk

36. What was your favorite thing we studied this semester?

37. What was the hardest thing to learn this semester?

38. What are your favorite memories of our travels so far?

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Charlie (gr 4; all of the above questions, plus the following)

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1. Name the European people who settled L’anse aux Meadows. What were their lives like? What were their dwellings like?

Norse; seafaring people; seafood diet; warrior / adventure culture; sod and timber longhouses

2. What year did they settle there?

~1000 CE

3. What indigenous people lived on the west coast of Newfoundland before the Norse arrived?

Dorset – 3800-1000 BP

4. Name the Gros Morne site where earth’s mantle is exposed. What is significant about this?

The Tablelands; normally the mantle is submerged below the crust

5. Describe how the whales were feeding along the cliffs at St Anthony

They pin the herring against the cliffs and then take big mouthfuls.

6. Name a type of percussion instrument

7. What is the name of the huge lake in Cape Breton?

Bras D’Or Lake

8. Name one type of fish that inhabits this lake.

Mackerel, etc.

9. The Europeans who originally settled Cape Breton – where were they from?

Scotland

10. What do you call someone who works metal in a hot forge?

Blacksmith

11. What is the name of the big body of water between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (not an ocean). What is significant about it?

Bay of Fundy; highest tides in the world – 50′

12. What is the time period of the fossils at Mistaken Point?

565 mya

13. What is the time period of the fossils at Joggins Fossil Cliffs?

315 mya

14. Describe the theory of Natural Selection.

Adaptation to environment, often over a long period of time, through genetic mutation.

15. What is a transitional fossil? What is one example of a transitional fossil?

Fossil that demonstrates a between-state in the evolution of a species; Archaeopteryx is one example.

16. Researchers recently discovered an example of a dinosaur tail with a special feature. What was that feature?

Feathers

17. Genes are made up of this type of chemical.

DNA

18. From what country did the pilgrims sail?

Holland

19. Describe what life was like in the early pilgrim colony.

Agricultural; small community; simple wooden dwellings with earthen floors and indoor fire pits.

20. What was the primary reason the pilgrims came to North America? Where did they get the money to travel to North America and set up a colony?

Religious freedom; investors

21. What was the name of the native people who lived alongside the Pilgrims?

Wampanoag

22. What did their diet include?

Seafood, corn, other produce

23. Who was one of the instigators behind the Boston Tea Party? Why were the colonists upset?

Samuel Adams; they were being taxed without representation in Parlaiment

24. Who took Fort Ticonderoga?

Green Mountain Boys

25. What happened at the 2nd continental congress?

Colonial army was formed & George Washington was appointed to be in common.

26. What is a Tory?

Colonist who was loyal to the crown.

27. What date was the Declaration of Independence signed?

28. Who were among the signers of the Declaration?

Governors & other colony representatives

29. Who wrote the widely circulated pamphlet that convinced colonists to declare independence? What was it called?

Thomas Paine / Common Sense

30. What do architects do?

31. Who designed St. Peter’s Square?

Bernini

31. Who designed the Eiffel Tower?

Gustav Eiffel

33. What modern day country was once home to the Geats mentioned in Beowulf?

Sweden

34. What’s involved in the scientific method?

35. Besides telephones, what else did Alexander Graham Bell experiment with?

Kites, planes, boats

36. What type of motion is addressed by the Theory of Special Relativity?

Uniform motion

37. What happens to an object’s mass as it speeds up?

Mass increases

38. What is one of the common themes among many of the origin stories we read this semester?

Earth-diver motif; humans formed from wood or mud; creator’s skull becomes the sky, etc.

39. What was your favorite thing we studied this semester?

41. What was the hardest thing to learn this semester?

42. What are your favorite memories of our travels so far?