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FBI Unit Study and Lapbook: Experiment 3 (Building a Crystal Radio)

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

This next hands-on activity we did on our FBI unit study ended up involving the whole family or should I say attracted anybody of the male species.

You have to love it when dad gets involved. Not only did it end up involving the whole family but we did this over a period of two weeks because the boys changed their minds mid-project.

Also, just so you are clear, though I know you probably are, my name is not Technical Tina.

I always say when you homeschool you take on projects you yourself would never ever do and well with boys, I have no choice but to learn about terminals, circuitry, diodes and geodes (oh wait that has to with rocks), capacitors and all of those thing-a-ma-jigs and doodads.

Are you looking to study modern American history? You'll love this AWESOME free FBI Lapbook and Unit Study | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

So after we studied about spying and the importance of communication to the FBI we found this next idea for a project from the Spy Museum.

The boys built an oatmeal box crystal radio like the one below from the crystal radio site, I am thinking they probably still build it.

It is a handmade radio that can receive am radio stations. This made for some great discussions of how this works without a power source. I think we call that physics. Then again it does have a power source which is the antenna.

I have to admit after doing this alongside the boys we all had many questions.

The website was full of great beginners tips which I appreciated. For example, I like this very simple explanation about a crystal radio: a crystal radio is the simplest kind of radio. Most radios you buy use complicated electronics to make a strong copy of the sound. A crystal radio is a simple kind of radio that just picks up the wave and changes it straight into sound. It does not use separate power or batteries to make a stronger copy of the sound. It gets all of its power only from the radio wave.

Please don’t let me teach my boys how to read schematics either which was another nice skill they picked up from this site as we read on it.

The helpful links on how to read schematics added to a much more enriching understanding as we hit on some of the basics of how to represent a circuit on paper.So I got brave and ordered the simple crystal radio from the website and the book for beginners for me them.

r. So Mr. Senior 2013 found another set of instructions on the site that uses a bigger container, a Quaker oatmeal box.

Well, not wanting to waste the few parts I already got, we had a quick a lesson on naming all those little things.

Then dad gets involved and picks up way more crystal radio pieces. It was interesting to read though this hobby started in the 1920’s and then it was revived in the 1950’s.

It was a hobby for father and sons to share at that time.

I ask my dad if he remembered them and he had heard about them from his father.

Glue the template on the container and lid and start following the directions.

Poor sweet little boy. At least he still does not mind using momma’s tools that are pink.We used a craft knife to strip the ends of the wire and started winding it around the box…

Then get another brother to jump in and help some.Oh, and yes, have over another friend of the male species so that my house is only full of them now..Let him work on it some too. They had to make a tap terminal every 8 winds of the wire. Strip the ends and wrap around the screws to make the taps.

Almost done, then we connected the earpiece and the detector clip. The sounds we got were so muffled but were excited to just hear the sounds.Dad to the rescue to check our “connections”.  We ended up getting only like one local am station but there are  some 5000 stations.

Too, we can add another antenna on this and will be taking the radio with us as we drive out more to the rural areas.

I survived this project and actually learned a thing or two in the process. I just hate to sound so cliche but it really was a lot of fun and we still have it to play with for later.

Are you looking to study modern American history? You'll love this AWESOME free FBI Lapbook and Unit Study | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Free FBI Lapbook and Fun Unit Study for Kids

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have my free FBI lapbook and fun unit study ideas for kids. Also, look at my page The FBI American History.

Also, look at my page Homeschool Lapbooks – Powerful Tools For Mastery Learning and Best Homeschool Unit Studies.

The boys and I were absolutely thrilled with this next unit study. We covered it and still seem to be covering sub-topics or at least going over them.

My oldest two sons are learning on their own about it now without me. That is what I am talking about, I can go on to the next unit study with my youngest and the oldest boys can cover a unit study sub-topic they still want to do.

The FBI unit study is way longggger than the Amazon Rain Forest unit study and heaven forbid I tell them to go to the next unit study because I almost had a full blown mutiny at my house when I did.

The unit turned into two lapbooks or like I had mentioned before at least enough printables for two lapbooks or notebooks.

One tip about using minibooks that I know a lot of new notebooking page users or lapbook users tend to forget is that they are just minibooks. This means you can use them ANY way you see fit.

My older boys continued to like lapbooks not because they were crafty or like to color but because they have a say in them and I make them geared toward highschool. 

I have always tried to make them as enhancements and not make them have to do them. As they got older I adjusted the minibooks, for example, by making lines small enough for a little more room for writing.

Too, sometimes they just prefer a notebook page to glue a mini book on and use the rest of the page for sketching and labeling.

Notebooking pages can include timelines, graphs, or more text on the page.

They like the choice of viewing timelines and resources to see what they want on the page. The minibooks helps me too as the teacher because I can guide them toward the main points I want them to take away from the sub-topic on our unit study.

On to the first lapbook. I will explain how best to use each minibook here and then at the bottom I will put the links.

These first two minibooks are focused on learning about the 3 branches of the United States Government.

If your child is real young, it may be enough to just write the names of the 3 branches on each branch of the tree.

If they are older and you want to cover a little about what each branch does and the members or groups that make up each branch, then include Exploring Each Branch of the U.S. Government minibook. Links are included on the downloads to take you to sites that will help to explain the branches. Use one or both minibooks.

These next two minibooks at the top and center of  the lapbook are about the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover. Despite his controversial lifestyle and the debate that is still going on today about J. Edgar Hoover, he still receives the lion’s share of recognition for his contributions to the FBI during the time he served. This point is even recognized by the FBI. 

He was such an interesting person to read about and the controversy in our house was sparked more so by the new movie that came out about him even though we did not see it.  My teens are still in controversy over his lifestyle but focusing on the contributions he made to the FBI during the time he served and how times changed significantly during his lifetime makes for  fascinating history topics.

You can’t have a study of the FBI without investigating espionage and crime. Crack the code flip book is about codes used by the FBI. Incorporating fingerprint science into the investigation by the Bureau is something else J. Edgar Hoover can be credited for. 

Fingerprint facts minibook goes along with our activity we did on fingerprints. The front page is a place for your child to put a couple of his fingerprints on.

Not only did J. Edgar Hoover grow up in Washington, D.C. but it is the location of many U.S. symbols. The minibook Washington D.C. National Landmarks led to the discussion of American history symbols and their meanings which is what I needed to accomplish in this unit study for my youngest guy. Of course, it never hurts to review them with me my older guys too.

The G-Man and Inventions – Connecting Borders of the United States minibooks are next. Probably many of our great grandparents were familiar with the term G-Man. Before 1934, “G-Man” was underworld slang for any and all government agents. In fact, the detectives in J. Edgar Hoover’s Bureau of Investigation were so little known that they were often confused with Secret Service or Prohibition Bureau agents. By 1935, though, only one kind of government employee was known by that name, the special agents of the Bureau.

Connecting borders is a minibook to focus on the inventions of that time that made a difference in the way the FBI developed. On the FBI site, it comments: “The United States was well united, with its borders stretching from coast to coast and only two landlocked states left to officially join the union. Inventions like the telephone, the telegraph, and the railroad had seemed to shrink its vast distances even as the country had spread west.”

Okay, right before I took my long winter break that I normally take in Nov/Dec, I had left this minibook with you because I knew it would take a while for your children to research about these presidents that J. Edgar Hoover served under and then write about them.

Creating these minbooks for so long, I am normally pretty right on target with the amount of space needed for writing but not on this one. I goofed on these minibooks and if your child was telling you that there was not enough room to write he/she was right. Believe me, I heard about it from Tiny.

Remember, I don’t expect huge gobs of writing because we do other writing, but I do expect some.  The reason I was off on this one was because some presidents had a couple of vice-presidents and then too back then it was the norm for families to be larger. Of course, Tiny wants to list every vice-president and every child.

So I had to redesign them and make them a tri-fold and not bi-fold. I hope you haven’t started it but if you have, just use these larger minibooks with more room to write on for your next set. There are 10 presidents in all to focus on in this unit. And oh yes, because we started with these ten on this tri-fold, then I think I better go ahead and complete all of the presidents like this, don’t you think?

Then you could put them on an O ring to study, put them on a notebooking page or put in a pocket. I think I hear another project coming up!

3 Branches of the United States Government

Exploring Each Branch of the United States Government

About the FBI

Who was J. Edgar Hoover?

Crack the FBI Code

Fingerprint Facts

National Landmarks

G-Man

Inventions – Connecting Borders of the United States

Pocket for Presidents

President Fact Cards for Presidents Number 26, then 30th-38th.

Then if you missed the previous printables, here they are in one spot for you.

These are the first two covers created by the boys that can be used on the outside of your lapbook by cutting in half, used to divide data in your lapbook or to put inside a notebook binder if you are notebooking with the minibooks.

FBI Cover I

FBI Cover 2

FBI Notebooking Pages – World Events and/or history of FBI

Download key figures in FBI here.

Also, I started back last night with our workshops for the New Bees and the morning after the workshop, I have such a high of homeschool endorphins. After we discussed how to cope with strong willed children or is that ….ummmm…. strong willed moms, it made me think of this quote today.

“Be strong enough to stand alone, be yourself enough to stand apart, but be wise enough to stand together when the time comes.”

~ Mark Amend~

Sometimes you can be your child’s best friend and sometimes you have to be their worst enemy. I think we all have days like that. Anyway I went away full of homeschool pep and I hope the new homeschoolers do too after each workshop.

FBI Unit Study Experiment 2 (Invisible Ink) + FBI Printables

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Are you looking to study modern American history? You'll love this AWESOME free FBI Lapbook and Unit Study | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I promise you I have not forgotten about releasing the newest free lapbook about the FBI, but it was such an extensive unit for us. I still have more to share before I release it.
Today, I want to share another activity we did on the FBI unit study and that was to make invisible ink.

Of course, according to my teenagers anyway, you have to try the experiment out the way they did it on the movie, National Treasure. There are several ways to make invisible ink and we did a couple of them.

So the teens gathered some supplies and printed off some of the invisible ink activities from the internet. The one they really wanted to do was the one using cornstarch. An iodine solution is used to reveal the writing. You make a gravy using cornstarch and write with that.

Then the message will appear purple after rubbing an iodine solution over it. The iodine binds to the starch molecules.

Instead of waiting for me to get some more iodine, they decided to try it the easy way with lemon juice.

They wrote with milk too.

Do you think it would appear with just the heat of the blow dryer?

The boys determined that though the blow dryer was beneficial, they needed a much greater heat source like a hot burner or stove.

Once we got the burners going on the stove, we had messages.There are many methods to making invisible ink like white wine, vinegar, apple juice and even orange juice.

Click here for the Kids World article on making invisible ink appear if you want some recipes. This activity is an overall easy activity to do and it appeals to kids or adults of any age. They still would like to see a purple message though using iodine.

I have a few more printables to add to this growing unit.

We needed some covers for the notebooks the boys decided to use. I leave it up to my high school sons to decide whether they want to lapbook or notebook. It is such a fine line, I feel, between those two concepts because minibooks can be used in a notebook. So it really is just a matter of how you want to present the information. Presentation is part of the grade for my high school sons so they get the say in how the cover pages are put together. For younger kids using lapbooks, the emphasis could be on crafting and decorating the outside flaps of lapbooks.

The next round of notebooking pages makes me feel better anyway preparing for the graduation of Mr. Senior 2013. The two pages can be used to track the history of the FBI from 1908 to present and/or add in world events. Just in case I missed anything in the last 100 hundred years of American History he can get the general idea of it in now before he graduates. You know history is our very favorite subject and we probably didn’t miss any big events. It just comforts me when I have those moments wondering if I did enough with him.

There are just a few lines on the page to jot down the main world events and/or mix match to line up with the history of the FBI. It is meant to be used as a quick reference for history.  Too, I think it really builds appreciation in understanding what was happening in the world around the special agents as they tried to keep up with changing times.

By the way if you want to do some more reading about the way they did the invisible ink in the movie, National Treasure, read here . The article, National Treasure – can lemon juice and hot breath reveal invisible ink? is from The Creative Science Center.

Are you to looking study modern American history? You'll love this AWESOME free FBI Lapbook and Unit Study | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Homeschool Review: Lone Star Learning: Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 & Free Notebook Cover

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Curriculum collecting junkie that I am, I thought I knew just about all of the homeschool friendly vendors that hail from my home state, the Lone Star state.

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So I was plain giddy to review Set 1 of the Science Vocabulary Pictures from Lone Star Learning because I had not heard of them. I know this is not suppose to be a review of all the products they have, but you’ll have to take a peek at their other products.  They are so swoon worthy.

Look at this Create-A-Folder. Can you say digital lapbook? I just had to take my time looking at everything on their site while I waited for them to ship me the Science Vocabulary Pictures.

When the vocabulary word cards arrived, the first thing I did was to try to get as many of the Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 cards in a picture for you as I could. There are 40 cards in each set and they are not small either. They are 5.5″ x 8.5″ and in full color.  I am so pleased with the quality of the paper and how durable they are because I know they will hold up after much use.  We could not put them down as we wanted to go over each one and study the pictures.

I think the biggest reason I was so tickled to review these cards was because I wanted to say: FINALLY!

Finally, somebody gets the way that a lot of children learn and that is visually.  I feel teaching vocabulary is not just about writing tons of sentences over and over again as if only using it in a sentence is going to demonstrate mastery of the word and the definition. It makes me think of an example I share a lot in my workshop about teaching a foreign language. If a person does not understand a foreign language, then will showing them more words by flashing them faster in a flashcard set make them learn quicker? Will just displaying a word on a page with the definition make them suddenly “get it”. It’s crazy, but even seasoned veterans do this when we teach our children vocabulary. We write a word on a page along with a definition but provide no visual association. So the point I make in my workshop is that the age old method of learning a foreign language is picture association. I believe that learning vocabulary is like teaching a foreign language. Picture/word association makes the connection for a learner.

Then my praise for this product doesn’t stop here as I recall another struggle in my journey when I taught Mr. Awesome to read. Showing him the “A” flash card, explaining the short a sound and pointing to the “apple” was so much for him to take in. It is like he had too many mental steps to take to get the letter/sound association. Until I switched to alphabet letter people that were “objects or pictures” as one unit, he didn’t make progress.

So what I noticed immediately about the Science Vocabulary Pictures was that the word and definition are “one” in picture form. The word is not on the front and the definition on the back. You can decipher the meaning of the word from the shape or picture form of the word. I was elated and kuddos to Lone Star Learning for promoting products that our children can actually learn from.

I think it’s important for you to know too that the definitions come with the package but they are all on one card size page. It is more like a list or reference tool for you. If you are thinking about your child copying the definition, the text is not real big on that one page.

If you want your children to have the definition strips and work with matching them up to the word, you can purchase them separately like I did. They are shown here above with the vinyl pockets that I did not get.

The definitions come on a page style with 6 strips per page. I appreciate that because then I can decide if I want them laminated or not.  I will show you in a minute though what I did with these sweeties because you know I have to organize and store them.

We started using the cards right away. Because we were studying the Inuit and about the Arctic, the vocabulary cards worked right into our unit study.  The activities we focused on at the beginning was to sort the words and understand their definition in how they related to the Inuit and the Arctic. So Tiny sorted through the cards, grouping them into two piles.

One pile we focused on immediately because it was related to our Inuit and Arctic study and the second pile I saved later because it was not as relevant to our immediate topic.

Another day we focused on including all of the cards to learn but we used them to try to form acrostics as they related to our unit study. He was tickled to get the word I C E from the cards. If you have not worked with your children a lot on teaching vocabulary words or are coming to that in your journey, then check out the free section that is called Conference Handouts . It has several free downloads but the one titled Vocabulary gives you some tips on how to teach vocabulary.

Before I show you how I am storing the Science Vocabulary Pictures, I need to mention to you that because of a shipping mistake we received the Target Vocabulary Set 1 originally instead of the Science Vocabulary Pictures. Though we both know that any vendor is not required to let you keep a product when a mistake is made, Lone Star Learning did let me keep this second set of vocabulary cards.  It is rare when I am speechless but I was because of the generosity of Lone Star Learning. It sets a tone for customer service that means a lot to me if I do business with somebody.

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I was as equally impressed with the Target Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 as I am with the Science Vocabulary Pictures. The Target Vocabulary Pictures are math vocabulary words presented visually like the Science Vocabulary Pictures. You know I told you we use Math U See for part of our math program and all of my boys, including my high schoolers, had to play with these math cards when we got them. Both sets of cards lends themselves to games like matching. We took 7 of the cards turned them face down along with the definition and then Tiny tried to see if he could match the definitions. Learning is suppose to be fun, hands-on and interactive and Lone Star Learning makes that possible.

We focused on learning the Science Vocabulary Pictures and their definition since there are 40 in the set and we will be working more with the Target Vocabulary Pictures for math more because they are 57 cards in the set we got. I have a complete unit for both math and science with these two sets.

If I could change some things about this product or should I say the description of the products I think I would focus on using the term visual learner. The website says in several places for their digital products that they help with students of special needs.  Maybe so. However, I feel we live in a very visual world and technology is catching up with that because of how many of us use an iPad in our school and use more online resources than ever before.  I don’t feel we should ever do away with print or paper as I have always said I am a paper girl living in a digital world. But using a term like visual learner to explain their products, instead of focusing on special needs only, encompasses a lot more us who have strong visual modes as part of our learning style. I think it is best to learn through many modes and visual needs to be seen as more than just for special needs.

Also, I had emailed them a question I had about my product and they informed me that they have been doing some website revisions but I feel, it would be easier to navigate the products if they had more uniform product names. I wasn’t sure if that was being worked on or not. Maybe because of my need to organize but I feel the Target Vocabulary Pictures should match in product name to the Science Vocabulary Pictures. Target Vocabulary makes me think of words in general and not math concepts. I may have overlooked the Target Vocabulary Pictures about math just because of the title. A term like Math Vocabulary Pictures makes it easier to remember. Though each math card may not have pictures on them, each word is presented in a visual manner, so the term is pretty consistent with the Science Vocabulary Pictures.

Now if I get to dream of new products on the site, I would wish for sets of cards that would be theme or unit based. I love, love, love the fact that the cards are not grouped by age level or grade but by needs. Would it be a stretch to wish for a “rain forest theme only” set, a “chemistry theme only” set or “plant theme only” set?

Because these two products are keepers in my home and because we will be using all of the cards for a while longer, I needed a place to organize my newest babies. I thought about Avery’s Protect and Store Mini 1 inch binder that is 5.5 by 8.5 inches . You mean not everybody  keeps binder sizes in their heads and dreams about what they can store next in a binder? Weird.

Organization heaven. The math cards fit right into the storage pocket on the left side of the binder. Then, I purchased some Avery sheet protectors and added two Science Vocabulary Pictures to each page, front and back. It is the perfect tool for storing these beauties.

The definition strips I purchased separately fit in the pocket and we can concentrate on the ones we want to learn each day by matching them up, taking them out of the pocket or leaving them in so they can be memorized. LOVE IT!!!

Then I had to make a pretty cover so it matches my school room decor. Would you like a free pretty cover for your notebook? I used the title Science Vocabulary Pictures since our focus is on the science.

Download here a front cover, a binder side insert, and a back cover for your mini notebook.

I hope you love the cover. Here are some quick facts at a glance in one spot about the Science Vocabulary Pictures so you can locate them easily.

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Product Name: Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1

Website:  Lone Star Learning

Price: From $29.99

Grades/Ages to use it for:  They are not arranged by grades but by sets. Again, I love this part. Look over each set to determine what your needs are. So you have an idea though about grade level they are intended Grades 3-8.

Type of Product:  Available in 5.5″ x 8.5″ full color, coated cards that show the word and its meaning in picture form. Digital products available too.

Accessories you will love:  Vinyl pockets, Vocabulary Definition Strips, and Vocabulary Spanish Word Strips.

Customer Service: My question emailed to them was answered quickly and thoroughly the next day.  My experience in customer service was excellent.

I already purchased the definition strips and know that I will be purchasing more items from Lone Star Learning. Overall, I was delighted with both of the products I received and would highly recommend them to you if are struggling to teach your children science or math or if you don’t want to begin to struggle. Again, be sure to look over all of their products. I have my wish list going already and I can’t help but say that I am proud to give you a shout out about this vendor from my home state.

Hugs and love ya,

{Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.}