Oh! The days you’ll have!

Today’s hands-on practical learning skills including many exciting adventures. First, our curious brains came up with amazing questions to explore, like, “Why is the furnace not putting out very much heat?” and “Did this thing run all night?”

Then we gleefully gathered materials for our next experiment. Much fun was had as we checked garage, basement AND the attic (twice) for our needed tools. The girls practised some previous lessons of cold-weather survival, and new ones, as we turned off the furnace to see what was inside. Lessons like Using the Oven For Heat and Let’s clear the mess away from the baseboards and turn them back on. That time we found out the baseboard heaters really only had one setting (full blast) and not the graduating temperature the dial would suggest came in quite handy this time.

Did you know that a house built of massive pieces of lumber takes quite a while to cool off to the point you need a sweater? It’s amazing. New terms were introduced, like thermal mass and conduction, as well as revisiting the question, “What were the previous owners thinking?”. We also used our baking skills and flexibility to come up with a plan for lunch that included using the oven at high temperatures. We co-operated in getting the kitchen counters cleaned off quickly so Ron could work in strong lights to rebuild a burnt out and falling apart heating element.

Later, when an element was replaced and we were refreshed by a healthy whole-wheat crust pizza, we all stood on standby as some of us turned switches back to ON. We used math skills to calculate how long it would take the house to heat back up if it rose a degree every fifteen minutes. (an hour -we’re not that cold)

Further deductive reasoning skills will come into play as we figure out which of the other elements need repairs, and we may even calculate our cost savings by doing the work ourselves, rather than calling a furnace guy.

Wish us luck. So much for actually getting up early today.