Chapter 9- Tom Tries and Experiment

Chapter Summary- 
Michael and Tom have worked all summer long on the garden. They harvest the vegetables and fruits and sell them in Port Huron. Tom has saved nearly all his earnings to spend on chemicals for his laboratory. September arrives and after Tom and Michael sell their last load of apples, Tom goes to the chemist's shop and buys a bottle of Mercury. It is the final addition that he has needed for his set of chemicals. On the way back to the house on the grove, Michael notices some birds flying in the sky. Tom suggests if the human body is filled with gas (making it lighter then air) we could fly as well! Tom is excited about his hypothesis and convinces Michael to drink a gaseous liquid he mixes together when they arrive home.  Michael drinks it and promptly gets sick. Mrs. Edison is very angry with Tom's foolish experiment and threatens to make Tom destroy his laboratory. Tom offers an alternative suggestion (a lock on his chemicals and a promise not to ever experiment on people again) and so his mother relents, simply punishing Tom by sending him to be without dinner.

What we will cover in this chapter-
Science: Periodic Table of elements, Mercury
Fine Arts: Creating a "look" for your business, Making bracelets

Science: Periodic Table of elements, Mercury, Experiment 
The kids watched a movie and read a book about the Periodic table. This was the first introduction about the subject. We spent time learning about the Element Mercury by watching a u-tube video. We also completed an experiment making disappearing messages with lemon juice and light.

Making Disappearing - reappearing messages.

Fine Arts/ Science- 
(Ways to make money, creating a "look" for your business, making bracelets)
Tom and Michael were financially successful in their truck farming business. I took this opportunity to talk about economics. The kids learned that a person who starts their own business is called an entrepreneur. I had the children think about starting their own business. They decided to make a bracelet selling booth. They used their imaginations to think about what they waned their business to look like and who they were going to sell the bracelets to.They used their own creative talents to make this booth without help from anyone. They used cardboard, tape and crayons. Then they used beads and string to make bracelets.

Thanks for reading!