Read aloud: 101 Akhlak Rasulullah

Please, get this book. The author, Rohayati Bakri, did a very good job by writing the akhlaq of our beloved Prophet, Muhammad SAW. She writes in a simple way provided with authentic hadiths. For example, she writes about one of the Prophet's akhlak which is 'Beriman kepada Allah' or 'Have Faith in Allah'. She then includes the good stories from Muhammad's life for us to connect to 'Beriman kepada Allah'. I quoted her on page 5,

"Nabi Muhammad mengajar Abdullah bin Umar supaya tidak meminta pertolongan dan tidak meminta sesuatu daripada sesiapa pun selain daripada Allah. Waktu itu Abdullah bin Umar baru berumur 7 tahun. Nabi Muhammad mendidiknya supaya beriman kepada Allah dan percaya bahawa yang berkuasa hanya Allah sahaja."

I mean seriously, Abdullah was just 7 and Muhammad told him to have faith in Allah? Okay, I need to admit, I have always say "Don't worry, Mummy ada" or Bapak says "Takpe, Bapak ada" whenever they are afraid of something or simply because they need comfort. What if I wasn't around? What if Bapak wasn't there to comfort? Obviously I need to teach them "Allah ada. Allah pasti tolong kita", and I must start now!

Okay back to the book, well, get into the car and drive to the bookstore and grab the book! :)

ibtbooks.com

If you are looking for an Islamic online bookstore, you may check this site. I have bought few books here. Great service, great books.

Rain Rain Go Away!

What we wonder?

How does it rain?

 Are you ready?

What we need?

1. Clear container or jar

2. Water

3. Cup

4. Blue food coloring

5. Foamy shaving foam

What we need to do?

1. Pour 3/4 full water into the container/ jar.

2. Fill the cups with water and add some blue food coloring. Stir a bit. 

3. Cover on top of the container/ jar with shaving cream. This foamy cream will act as clouds. (You may want to teach them types of clouds.  Iris knows that cumulonimbus brings rain.)

4. Drop blue food coloring onto the 'clouds'.  It is advisable to use color dropper. 

5. Observe what will happen.

6. I repeat, please use color dropper bottle, otherwise you'll get super heavy rain.

Result:

The blue food coloring will go through the foamy cream and you'll get homemade rainy day.

They took out the clouds and had a good sensory play.  (Be prepared with the mess and well, scream and mop).

How I explained to them?

I used this book to explain. Iris concluded this experiment with a conclusive statement, "Allah tu magic kan? Dia boleh buat kat sini hujan, tapi kat tempat lain tak hujan pun." Quoted Al-Quran "He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: Verily in that are Signs for those who are wise" (Quran, 30: 24). What an accurate description of the process of water cycle and guess what? It was described 1400 years ago. Allahuakbar!

Flower Drinks Water

What we wonder?

How flowers drink water?

What we need?

1. Flower

2. Food colorings

3. Cups

4. Scissors

What we need to do?

1. Buy flowers.

2. Pour water into the cups.

3. Add food coloring into each cup.

4. Cut the flowers's stems.

5. Put the flowers into each cup.

6. Observe for two days.

Day 1 

Result:

Day 2

Day 2

What's going on?

The process the flowers drink the water is called 'transpiration'.  The flower draws water from the cup through its stem. The flower draws water through little tubes or vein-structures called 'xylem'.  In this experiment, the flower draws colored water through xylem, and this dyes the petals. 

Master Paint

Meet the victim.

Meet the master paint.

Color Explosion!

What we wonder?

What will happen if we add milk with dish soap?

What we need?

1. Milk (full milk will give better result)

2. Dish soap

3. Food colorings

4. Dinner plate 

5. Cotton swabs

What we need to do?

1. Pour enough milk to the dinner plate to completely cover the bottom.

2. Add food coloring to the milk. It is better if you keep the drops close together at the center of the plate of milk. (It is obvious that my girls cannot control to drop the colors.)

3. Dip the cotton swab into the dish soap. 

4. Touch the cotton swab into the milk.  Observe what happen. 

Result:

Color explosion!

What actually happened?

Milk is mostly water but it also contains vitamins, minerals, proteins, and tiny droplets of fat suspended in solution. Fat and proteins are sensitive to changes in the surrounding solution (the milk). The secret of color explosion is the chemistry of that tiny drop of dish soap. Dish soap, because of its bipolar characteristics (nonpolar on one end and polar on the other), weakens the chemical bonds that hold the proteins and fats in the solution.  The soap's polar, or hydrophilic (water-loving), end dissolves in water, and its hydrophobic (water-fearing) end attaches to a fat globule in the milk.  This is when the color explosion happens. 

The molecules of fat bend, roll, twist, and contort in all directions as the soap molecules race around to join up with the fat molecules. During all of this fat molecule gymnastics, the food coloring molecules are bumped and shoved everywhere, providing an easy way to observe all the invisible activity. As the soap becomes evenly mixed with the milk, the action slows down and eventually stops. Thanks Steve!

How I explained to them?

Nothing. I just let them observed the magic. It was the day when I just wanted to fulfill their needs, "Mummy hari ni takde experiment ke?" They enjoyed the dancing milk to the max!

Watch their video here!

Learning on Material Science: Meet the Oobleck

What we wonder?

What happen if we add cornstarch with water?

What we need?

1. Cornstarch

2. Water

3. Food coloring

What we do?

1. Mix water with cornstarch. The ratio is 1:2, water:cornstarch.  (If you want more solid oobleck, add more cornstarch).

2. Drop in few drops of food coloring. We choose green because Dr Seuss said it should be green.

:)

Result:

The mix will produce a goo, which does not splash if we hit it quickly.  But if we just let in on our palms, it will drip.  If we hit oobleck with hammer in quick hitting, it acts like a hard material like solid.  But when we let it on the table, it will flow like a liquid.  So what is it this oobleck?  Solid or liquid?

What actually happened?

Sir Issac Newton stated individual liquids flow at consistent, predictable rates.  However, this cornstarch goo does not follow those rules-it can act almost like a solid and then flow like a liquid.  The oobleck is a suspension, meaning that the grains of starch are not dissolved, they are just suspended and spread out in the water.  

How I explained to them?

As much as I didn't get what is it all about with this non-Newtonian liquid, I just simply let them explored.  I explained nothing to them, but I asked them simple question: Iris Iesha rasa oobleck ni apa?  Solid or liquid?

Oobleck under microscope

So how did we apply to our real life? We watched Barbapapa, a short cartoon series from France.   (Consider real life application-lah kan?;P) I personally believed these Barbapapas are actually oobleck goo because they can easily change to many shapes.  We love these cartoons because there are so many uplifting environmental message and animal fun.