Brandon lectures from the front of the classroom.

I sit by the computer and interrupt him constantly to ask questions and interject when I am not taking photographs.

 

 

 

In our class we have two teachers: myself (real, so far as I’m concerned) and Brandon (virtual, IMO, but he probably perceives himself as real); two students: Iris and Akiva; and two pets: Brook the Dog and Hammy the Hamster. Hammy belongs to the neighbors and has a different name when she’s at home. At our house, she’s Hammy, and like everyone else, she is homeschooled.

 

 

 

While building with pattern blocks and focusing on radial symmetry, one generally finds it quite easy to build forms in the regular-hexagon family. This is because most of the blocks are fractions of an equilateral hexagon. The squares and beige rhombus pieces are not fractions of the hexagon and can sometimes be a little trickier to work with. One reason I own so many pattern blocks is because I was wanting to work with square radial symmetry, but we kept running out of squares. Off to Ebay! (NOTE: I tried ordering new Hand2Mind blocks, but the sides that were supposed to be one inch long on both the blue and beige rhombuses were cut short, making them unusable.) Having more squares lets us build bigger square-base patterns. One neat thing about the 21st Century Pattern Blocks is that they, too, have pieces that would be useful in making square symmetry. Unfortunately, as noted two days ago, they don’t have enough of them. Further ranting about that issue won’t get me anywhere, so I’ll leave off.

 

 

 

 

Here you can get a tantalizing peek at what one might create in square symmetry using 21st Century Pattern Blocks.

If only…

 

While studying causes of the symmetry and structure in snowflakes, Akiva and I built a snowflake out of pattern blocks.

The non-standard shapes here (light blue quadrilaterals, pink right triangles; medium and large green equilateral triangles) are from the 21st Century Pattern Blocks and Upscale Pattern Blocks sets respectively, produced by Math for Love. Unfortunately, the sets always include about 50% old-style pattern blocks consisting of dark blue diamonds, red trapezoids, and yellow hexagons of which I literally have hundreds (thanks, Mom & Ebay). Dan Finkel (founder & director of operations) doesn’t plan on selling the new styles solo any time in the near future despite my pestering, and purchasing six boxes of each just to get enough of the new styles is out of my math manipulatives budget, so we’re out of luck. I’m particularly annoyed because I LOVE the new shapes, but 50% old shapes is just cocaine cut with talcum powder and I’m not falling for that old trick!

 

 

 

To learn to build your own custom snowflakes from real water, watch this video featuring Dr. Ken Libbrecht, world expert on snowflakes, designer of custom snowflakes, snowflake consultant for the movie Frozen, and snowflake photographer extraordinaire.

 

For to view snowflakes with greater beauty than can be made from pattern blocks of any sort, visit Ken Libberecht’s website, Snow Crystals.

In science, we are studying water. Water, like everything else I can think of that is larger than a single molecule, is made up of multiple molecules. I happen to have three molecular modelling kits (thanks, Mom!) with largely interchangeable parts, tho according to Akiva, the bonds in the newest set function more easily than the bonds in the others.

 

Akiva quickly moved beyond constructing boring ol’ H₂O.

He looked at molecular diagrams to build molecules with cyclohexanes and phenyl groups and whatnot.

I’d have to look in the booklet to see what he built.

 

 

 

Iris, the mad scientist, focused on symmetry.

This unidentified carbon molecule eventually absorbed all carbons in three kits into its crystalline structure.

It was lovely.

 

 

For our final inspection of the solar system, we visit the observatory museum and telescope at Mont Megantic National Park. We took an educational tour of the museum, then we drove up to the telescope at the top of the hill. Sometimes, they have sky shows at night. We didn’t see one.

 

They have a larger and more permanent model solar system than the one that we built. We found all the rock planets and Ceres, formerly known as a rock planet, now classified as part of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The English language version of the interpretive sign reads as follows,—

 

 

 

SOLAR SYSTEM

in a Model Scale

 

Welcome to the Solar System of the Mont Megantic International Dark Sky Reserve. Designed to scale by size and distance, spread out along the Summit Drive, this is one of the largest models of this type in the world!

 

Measuring hundreds of millions of kilometers, our Solar System is so wide that it is difficult to imagine it well.

 

What would be its proportions if we could reduce the Sun to the size of the Ovservatoire du Mont Megantic (1.4 million km to 14 m)? Compressed 100 million times, our planetary neighbourhood would spread out across the whole region!

 

 

 

 

 

SUN

 

You are actually right at the heart of the scale model Solar System! If the sun was the size and in the same position as the Observatory, Pluton would be in Sherbrooke, Uranus in Lac-Megantic, and inner planets would be located within the park. Real markers are installed for each planet, and you are invited to visit them!

 

Born 4.6 billion years ago, our star alone accounts for 99.9% of our Solar System’s mass. A true thermonuclear heater, its core is heated to over 15 million degrees Celsius.

 

 

 

 

The map.

 

 

Download this PDF to locate all the planets:

https://www.astrolab.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/18_211_pnmm_guide_systeme_solaire_geant_en.pdf

We’re doing a science program called Science is WEIRD, which I absolutely LOVE.

 

The only thing I think its lacking is a bit more of a hands-on component, so I add one. For the first unit, Universe, we built a scale-model solar system from the sun to Neptune. As you can see on the map (below), we didn’t exactly make a straight line. Although it’s true that the planets generally don’t march around the sun in a straight line, for the sake of clarity, a solar system model is usually represented as if the planets are swinging around the sun in a systemic game of snap-the-whip.

 

Windslow Homer, Snap the Whip, 1872

 

Here’s where it makes a difference. Scientists measure the distances between planetary orbits, which are relatively stable, as opposed to the distances between planets themselves, which change from day to day. In our model, the distances between planets actually represent the distances between planetary orbits. Because I measured the distance from planet to planet instead of the average distance from each planet to the sun, the planets in our model system are technically out of orbit. Oops! I suppose we could have started on the bridge over the Coaticook river and headed south on rue Principal in order to get a more direct line from the sun to Neptune, but, eh, I didn’t think of that. I just decided, very un-scientifically, to start at Shirley’s house and go from there.

 

On this map, the dot in the upper left represents the sun.

The planets follow along the road in order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

 

 

 

SUN

The sun, located at the corner of rue King & chemin Gale, is about the size of a compact car.

I had intended to ask Shirley if her little red car could pose for our sun,

but she wasn’t home, so I had the kids dress up brightly and stretch out about sun-width across.

In our model, the diameter of the sun is a bit over 2 meters.

 

 

 

MERCURY

The rock planets are modelled from play dough.

Mercury, the smallest planet, measures 0.75 cm across.

 

 

 

Its orbit is located 91 meters from the sun, in front of Cassandre’s house.

Mercury is visible between the thumb and forefinger of Iris’s right hand, near the base of the big “M.”

 

 

 

VENUS

Venus, the second rock from the sun and the second-largest of the four rock planets,

spins contrary to the rotation of the sun, as does the planet of her mythical father, Uranus,

from whose genitals she sprung when Cronus castrated him and flung the bloody gore across the sky

into the foamy sea.

Closest in size to Earth, Venus is 1.9 cm in diameter.

 

 

 

Venus is visible between the thumb and forefinger of Iris’s left hand, slightly above the letter “s.”

It is located 79 meters from Mercury, with an orbital distance of 170 meters.

 

 

 

EARTH

Earth, the largest of the four rock planets and everybody’s favourite,* measures 2.0 cm across.

*if Earth is not your favourite planet, it is a sign that you may be an alien.

 

 

 

Situated in front of the neighbour’s house due west of us,

Earth can be seen at the lower end of the trajectory between the two index fingers of Iris’s hands.

It is located 65 meters from Venus, with an orbital distance of 236 meters.

 

 

 

MARS

Mars, surprisingly small despite its outsized fame, is only 1.06 cm in diameter, nearly half the width of Earth.

In volume, one would need to smush up about 6.5 model Mars planets to be able to form just a single model Earth.

That’s not how Earth was actually formed, partly because Mars is not actually mushy,

and partly for other very scientific reasons.

 

 

 

Mars is visible between the thumb and forefinger of Akiva’s right hand, to the left of the great “M.”

The ultimate rock planet, it is located 123 meters past Earth, with an orbital distance of 358 meters.

 

 

 

JUPITER

The gaseous-mixture, or air planets, are represented by balloons.

These planets are made of star-stuff and rain diamonds.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, with a diameter of 22.4 cm.

We would have needed to mush up 13,000 little Earths to form them into a Jupiter.

This is unrealistic: I have neither enough time nor enough flour, and Jupiter is not solid.

 

 

 

Jupiter is located 865 meters past Mars, beyond the asteroid belt (not represented).

It has an orbital distance of 1,223 meters and can be found by the Maison Jeune.

 

 

 

SATURN

Saturn, the second-largest planet, measures 18.9 cm in diameter.

Like its son, Jupiter, Saturn rains diamonds, has a permanent storm, and is skirted by rings.

But, as if to make up for its slightly smaller size, Saturn’s storm is hexagonal,

and its rings are the most famous of them all.

 

 

 

With an orbital distance of 2,241 meters, Saturn is 1,018 meters past Jupiter

near a farm now known as “Saturn Farm.”

 

 

 

URANUS

Overthrown by his mythical son Saturn, in turn overthrown by Jupiter,

Uranus has a diameter of a 8.0 cm and a rotation perpendicular to its orbit.

 

 

 

On its trajectory 4,510 meters from the sun, Uranus is located 2,269 meters beyond Jupiter

near a farm now known as “Uranus Farm.”

 

 

 

NEPTUNE

The smallest of the air planets and furthest planet from the sun, Neptune is only 7.8 cm in diameter.

 

 

 

A cold planet, far from the sun, Neptune is notoriously dim and difficult to photograph.

2,556 meters from Uranus, Neptune has an orbital distance of 7,066 meters.

 

 

Driving the seven kilometers back home, I asked: What is there most of in space?

and the kids answered: Space!

 

 

 

 

(1)

 

One of the first things I learned about photographing one’s children is that it is good to be sure to always dress them in clothing that is good for photography. This means no words or pictures on shirts, as those will detract from portraiture. As a homeschooling parent, I go a bit farther: when photographing one’s children studying, always be sure to dress them in clothing that matches their math book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2)

 

While Akiva is playing evening soccer at Bishop’s University,

Iris and I take a short stroll in some nearby woods.