Josiah's Dam (not Damn) Fascination 2010

I found directions online last night for building a model of a dam ( How To Build A Model Dam), at the request of Josiah. It seems simple enough, using a pan, clay, pebbles, and popsicle sticks. I just want it to be something he can use over and over again, because...he is going to want to use it over and over again. It has to be a dam that will fail, because that is the fun of it.

Josiah has been fascinated with dams since we hiked Lake Julian Price off of the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of months ago. The hike had a lot of obvious beaver activity, and a real beaver dam! He called the obvious beaver activity "beaver chew", and still does. He also pronounces dam sort of like "damges", it's so freaking cute!

Beaver Chew!

A Real Beaver Dam!

We checked out three beaver books at the library that we read several times each over the course of our two week time allowance, and all of them had pictures of man-made dams in them, so he became super-curious about man-made dams. When we had to return the books, there was major disappointment, so I bought him a Beaver book from Amazon. He "reads" it over and over and asks tons of questions, most of which I don't have the answers to, but we find it out.

When my Grandmother passed away this month and I had to make an unexpected, sudden trip to Nashville, I was able to take him to see the Percy Priest Dam (one my Grandfather helped build) in Nashville, TN (Percy Priest Dam). He was afraid at first (maybe because we watched all of the Nashville flooding videos on YouTube in the hotel room the night before? ~ Actually, YouTube has been invaluable to our Unschooling as a visual aide!), and begged me not to drive over the top of it. To his surprise, we made it across alive, and I was even able to find a hidden road that took you to the base of the dam! Then he wouldn't get out of his car seat. He was afraid it would "crack" and wash us away.

Sam & Josiah at Percy Priest Dam near Nashville, TN

 It didn't take long at all for Josiah to spot the beaver dam displays on our recent trip to Schiele Museum in Gastonia, NC....

Beaver Chew!

Beaver Dam with the stuffed Beaver on top!!

 We walked the trail at Schiele, and the boys built a dam in the creek, which is most likely not okay with the Schiele Museum, but here is the evidence...

Sam & Josiah building a dam in the creek at the Schiele

We watched some really cool dam videos on YouTube, including a Model Dam Fail that Josiah calls "a fake dam cracking." Here is his favorite video of a fake dam cracking: Model Dam Fail , after which he discovered the Hoover Dam thanks to Mike. Mike told me this morning that he was so disappointed to see a special about the Hoover Dam come on at 11pm last night, but the boys were already asleep :( We want to go see the Hoover Dam, and Mike says he has a friend in Arizona we might could stay with! I hope we can make this work sometime soon! How exciting!

There is a ton of Science that can be explored with Josiah's passion for dams. Physics. Biology. Some of the specific discussions we have had include: Fluid Dynamics  - The bottom of the dam has to be strong enough to withstand the pressure of the water at that depth, Hydroelectric Power ("Free" Electricity), Exothermic Heat - Occurs naturally when concrete dries, but there is SO MUCH concrete used in the construction of a dam that Exothermic Heat doesn't happen sufficiently, engineers must come up with an additional way to dry it. Biologically, when a dam is built, it changes everything downstream. One of the important jobs of a river is to move sediment. Sediment will build up rather than move with a dam, so engineers must come up with another way to move sediment. I didn't decide to teach Biology and present them with the subject I chose. I didn't decide to teach them Physics and think, hey, I will introduce it with a dam. The boys looked around their world, which is their classroom, and discovered these wonders, natural and man-made. Then I helped them find the Science in it by researching to answer their questions and providing them with resources to learn as much as they want. There will not be a test.There will not be grades.There will bot be a calendar date that we drop this subject and move to the next chapter. All of our discussion and conversations happened at the dinner table, in the car, in front of my or Mike's computer, at bedtime, over a book, etc. They will retain what they need and apply it when they need to. This is real learning. This is beautiful.

I looked out the window to check on the boys in the backyard this afternoon, and they were building a dam (Note: We DO NOT have a creek). They were muddy and soaked, the dogs were muddy and soaked, but the boys were very focused on and thrilled with their project:

Backyard Dam