The Great St. Lawrence Seaway

Who knew that this was such an engineering marvel?   In studying the search for the NorthWest Passage, we explored one of the by-products of that search... The St. Lawrence Seaway.  So Cool.

A Nice addition to our studies.

Also a few videos on YouTube were helpful.

The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway ~ A Vital Waterway

This one show a time lapse of ships moving through the locks.

A recreational boat moving through a lock

The Netherlands Project ~ By Emma

           We made the Netherlands  so we would know what it was like for the people that lived there when the dikes broke. We used air-dry-clay to build the dikes ,people and land . We also used blue water to put in the bin on the other side of the dike to see if the water would hold on the side the water is suposed to be on. 

          I think this was a fun project in history, It was fun to play in the clay and watch the water brake into the the Netherlands, Then we broke the dikes.
        This is just like what happened to New Orleans in hurricane Katrina.


                    

          

Queen Beatrix gives her thrown to her son Willem-Alexander. ~ Abby

    Philip    William

©Jeroen Van Der Meyde/Dutch Royal House               

Today we got some news, the queen of the Netherlands,  stepped down from her thrown! Queen Beatrix gave her thrown to her son Willem-Alexander.  

                   I'll tell you a little about the history of the Netherlands.  Philip inherited Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands.  Philip was a catholic.  William was a nobleman in the Netherlands.  He was a protestant.  William didn't like the way Philip ruled the Netherlands, because he made laws without asking the people.  Philip wanted William killed.  So William went back to Germany, he made an army and knocked down the dikes that were holding the water back turning the land war into a sea war.  William won the war and his Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Granddaughter, Beatrix ruled for 33 years.

Mom's Note: This was of interest to us, since we have been studying the history of how "William The Silent" came to rule the Netherlands.  Love it, when we can apply what we have learned to real life current events :)

Charles V

The Story of the World, chapter 1

Today we discussed the how Charles V came to power, and gained the title of "Holy Roman Emperor"

Emma impressed me with her coloring skills of the portrait of Charles, she takes after her daddy for sure.