10 Trivia Facts You Probably Used to Know

I came across an article by Caroline Taggart titled "Ten Trivia Facts You Probably Used to Know."  I thought I'd use her list, which covers a variety of subjects, to see how many of the 10 I have taught Alex. Here is her list and my reponses:

1. Language Arts What is the difference between a phrase and a clause? We covered this last year in Classical Conversations as part of our memory work.

2. Biology: What is photosynthesis? If we've covered this, it has only been in picture books and briefly. But, Alex is taking a Botany class at our co-op this semester using Exploring Creation with Botany. So, I'm pretty sure she'll cover this!

3. History: What was the War of 1812? We learned a history song about it in Classical Conversations last year. And, we also read the Mackinac Island trilogy by Gloria Whelan (great books) which were set during this time and talk about the war.

4. Literature: Where does the expression "It just growed?" come from? First of all, I don't recgonize that expression. But, it came from the character Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin!  So, we haven't studied it, but we are becoming familiar with Uncle Tom's Cabin.

5. Math: Who was Pythagoras? We've read What's Your Angle, Pythagoras?

6. Geography: What were the original 13 colonies? We've talked about them, but haven't memorized them.

7. Chemistry: What's the Periodic Table of the Elements? We've talked about this quite a few times and really enjoy our poster by Theodore Gray.

8. Physics: What are conduction, convection, and raditaion? No, we haven't covered these!

9. Art: Who was Jackson Pollock? We studied him this year and Alex has recognized his artwork at various musuems we've been to.

10. Music: Why should I care about Johann Sebastian Bach? We haven't studied Bach, but I play some of his pieces on the piano and Alex recognizes them. I would like to study him, though!

So, how are we doing? Overall, I'm pretty happy with what we've covered. I know this is only 10 questions, but it shows that we are covering quite a varietly of subjects. I think it shows me that I do need to concentrate more on science, which I've been telling friends for quite a while. And, although I don't think it is of utmost importance, I would like to cover more about music and composers.

How about you? How many of the 10 have you covered?