We're on a roll!

We're on a science kick, apparently. This time it was K-man's (12 yo) turn. His teacher told his class that they could get extra credit for doing this little experiment at home. So, fine. I'm game.

The objective was to determine which would rise above the water, vinegar or oil. His guess was surprising to me - vinegar. He thought the oil would sink. Hmmm. We should have probably done this a few years ago. Then we checked to see if his hypothesis was correct. He added food coloring to the water. Then added oil to one bottle, and vinegar to the other.

He was surprised to find that the vinegar mixed in and did not separate itself from the water. He was also surprised to find that the oil rose to the top of the water.

Yep. I guess we don't make Italian Dressing often enough.

Ok. Here's the part where I'm going to gripe and complain about this. I'm not sure what the teacher said exactly. The kid just said that he could get extra credit for pouring some stuff in a bottle and taking it back. I said, "Where are the directions? What is your objective?" A. Oh, he just said to pour some stuff in and see if it floated or sank and we could get extra credit. (Now, it could very well be that the communication problem is with the kid and not the teacher.) But, what I'm a little ticked about is that when I made him use the scientific process and then write up his results he objected a bit. Then I proofread his two sentences, and made him correct them for spelling and content. Then his writing was crappy, so I made him completely rewrite them. This is where the complaining from him came in: "The teacher didn't say we had to write anything. We just had to do the experiment! We don't have to write anything!"

I went into a tirade that went something like..."Then he isn't a good teacher! A science experiment is not about pouring some crap in a bottle and calling it good. It is not a proper experiment if you don't know what you're supposed to learn, and analyze your results! So if you think that you're getting a freebie and extra credit for pouring some crap in a bottle, you are wrong! I, however, AM a good teacher, and if you want extra credit, at the end of an experiment you will have to think about what you are trying to find out, why, and then process your results! So! Do you want extra credit or NOT!?!"

Um, yeah, that's why I don't home school and at the same time, probably why I should.