March 29, 1886, Coca-Cola was first advertised!

"Dr. John Pemberton brewed his 'brain tonic' Coca-cola for the first time as a cure for hangovers, stomach aches and headaches."

Quote from Chemistry.About.com.  Go to the link to see other chemistry-related events that happened on this day in history! 

Related Links:

For a complete history of Coca-Cola, go to the Coca-Cola Company Heritage Timeline!

For information about the Coca-Cola bear, as well a a section on recipes and more, go to this Coca-Cola Company page.

To learn more about John Pemberton, go to this page at IdeaFinder.com.

Pizza Box Solar Oven

The nice lady at The Kitchen Pantry Scientist (and, yes, she is an actual scientist) demonstrates how to make a simple pizza box solar oven. I am thinking this has real possibilities - especially when the weather warms up a bit. Maybe you could even make a homemade pizza in the pizza box - who knows what you and your kids could cook up right in the back yard?

Here's the link to the Pizza Box Solar Oven.

Check out Handbook of Nature Study's giveaway!

Image from Guardian UK

Barb (Harmony Art Mom) at Handbook of Nature Study is having a giveaway!  You could win one of six different resources.  Just leave a comment by Friday, March 26th at Noon PST and you will be entered for the giveaway.

While you're there, check out her new Spring Nature Study with Art and Music Appreciation ebook.   The study is based on Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study  - the 1918 version available for free download on Google Books.  You can download the Handbook of Nature Study for free at Internet Archive.  The Spring Nature Study ebook contains fifty pages of Outdoor Hour challenges, art appreciation, and music appreciation - enough to keep your students busy for almost three months!

Check it out! 

Regarding Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and evil spirits making you sneeze!

ThinkQuest about Superstitions

This post from Jimmie at Jimmie's Collage caught my eye.  It's about customs and knowing why we do certain things - like saying "God bless you" when someone sneezes, or celebrating certain holidays.  Jimmie lives in China and has just observed the Chinese celebrating the Chinese New Year with some rather strange customs...or are they supersitions?   That part is confusing! 

We have to be very careful when dealing with these questions, though.  Sometimes, the fact that you don't celebrate this or don't acknowledge that can become just as much of an idol as someone with a stone god in their home!

Lost Ladybug Project

Lost Ladybug Project - Here's a (free) project that would be perfect to do this Spring with the kids! I love ladybugs - they're so cute!

Actually, the page isn't complete, but you can probably find other resources for information as well. Just get outside and study, draw, write about, and take pictures of ladybugs!

ETA:  For everything you would ever want to know about ladybugs, photos of ladybugs, ladybug crafts and activities, check out Everything Ladybug!


Also check out:

Ladybug crafts at Enchanted Learning as well as information about Ladybugs.

Some awesome information and photos of Ladybugs at the University of Kentucky's Ag web page.

A whole page of Ladybug stuff at Kennesaw.edu.

Here is a Ladybug Lapbook from Lapbook Lessons.

For the older kids, they might be interested in doing a Ladybug science fair project from Super-Science-Fair Projects.

and

Make an origami Ladybug.

Math Teachers at Play #24 « Let's Play Math!

Image from children's author Jan Brett's web site!

The new Math Teachers at Play blog carnival is up and running - and it's a BIG one! I haven't had a chance to peruse all of the posts, but I always find something interesting and/or helpful!

Math Teachers at Play #24 « Let's Play Math!