GIANTmicrobes.com ~ COVID-19

COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease 2019

(SARS-CoV-2)

GIANTmicrobes.com is a FUN but yet very educational website where you can purchase stuffed microbes, organs, cells, and health conditions. They can be purchased in various sizes from key chain size that are 2"-4" to gigantic 16"-24" and of course sizes in between. All of the products come with a very informative information card. In addition to the plushes they also have other merchandise such as mugs, earrings, hats, pillows, and more. One of GIANTmicrobes most popular products is COVID-19. There is a whole pull down menu for all of the Covid merchandise. 

I want to highlight the original size, roughly 5"- 8"  COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2). The Covid-19 plush is soft. GIANTmicrobes definitely uses quality materials and the construction of the plushes is excellent. Look at this cute little microbe. To care for your microbe use TLC. All plushes are ONLY surface washable with a sponge and mild soap. 

This is what is written on the Information Card:

"FACTS: Cities are locked down, schools and businesses are closed, economies quiver and thousands of people are quarantined. The World Health Organization declares a global pandemic. This is the face of the coronavirus disease named COVID-19.

Identified in 2019 in China, COVID-19 quickly spread around the world during 2020. Spreading along with it: confusion, rumors and fear. Even in 2021, much about this virus remains unclear. Compared to the seasonal flu, COVID-19 is more contagious and has a higher fatality rate. Scientists and public health experts scramble to confront it with 21st century therapies and vaccines. Meanwhile, governments “go medieval” by closing borders and isolating citizens inside their tainted towns. What should you do when a mysterious microbe comes knocking and the threat of a modern day plague is in the air? Start by staying calm and learning the facts.

The name COVID-19 stands for coronavirus and disease. Corona is for its crown-like protein spikes. The virus itself is named SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, jumping from animals to humans. Many originate in bats. SARS was transmitted by civets, MERS by camels, and COVID-19 likely by animals sold in wildlife food markets. With contagious microbes, you are often at the mercy of nature and the interconnectedness of our world.

COVID-19 spreads from person-to-person through respiratory droplets carried in coughs or sneezes. It may also be transmitted by touching your mouth, eyes or nose after touching contaminated metal, plastic and other hard surfaces on which a virus can survive the longest. People are most contagious when showing signs of sickness, yet the virus can spread before symptoms occur. Symptoms may appear 2 to 14 days after exposure and can include loss of smell, fever, cough and shortness of breath. Some have no symptoms at all. The best way to prevent illness is to minimize exposure with common-sense measures. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Do not touch your eyes, nose and mouth. Stay home when sick. Cover your cough and sneeze with a tissue. Disinfect frequently touched surfaces. Wash your hands often with soap and water. Wear a face mask to help protect yourself, protect others and slow the spread of COVID-19.

Microbes are remarkable and mostly good - vital to our bodies and our planet. However, when it comes to the struggle against flu, measles, black death, malaria and other infectious diseases such as COVID-19, it is human wits versus microbe genes. If we want to triumph, we must think clearly, learn, prepare and respect the microbial world."

You may ask, "Why would you want a Covid-19 microbe? 

• Well, Covid has been a HUGE part of our lives since the beginning of 2000 and it continues. 
• You can purchase one and put it away for safe keeping and in 50 years bring it out and WOW the future generations, lol. 
• GIANTmicrobes are just FUN to have and collect!
• If you are in the health care profession this Covid-19 microbe would be a wonderful addition to your practice or office. 
• This cute Covid-19 plush would make a great gift. 
• Your child is sure to love this cute Covid-19 plush and they will learn too. The Information Card is very informative. 
• Once you purchase the Covid-19 plush you will have a hard time not purchasing more GIANTmicrobes, lol.

Each GIANTmicrobes plush has an identifier tag attached. Great idea! 

There is nothing cute about this Covid-19!

After this tiny microbe attacks your body the consequences

can be severe, frightening, and deadly.  

This image from the American Society of Microbiology shows the structure of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

On the other hand, this Covid-19 is too cute!

Coronavirus Covid-19

At the bottom of the GIANTmicrobes.com homepage you will find a 

section entitled ENTERTAINMENT. One of the options is Cartoons. 

So relatable. 

You will have to check out all of the Covid related plushes and products. My daughters ages 19, 16, and 14 first discovered GIANTmicrobes at a local store. They were so excited to show me their purchases once they got home. Of course, everyone wanted to get on the GIANTmicrobes.com site to see everything they had. We were quite impressed with the wide range of plushes from common body parts such as the brain and uterus to mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. And for the more mature  purchaser you can find STD's. Yup, you sure can. GIANTmicrobes comes out with new products about every six weeks or in groups every quarter. Do you have an idea for a plush? The company is always open to suggestions. 

                  Disclaimer:  I received this complimentary product in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Quixo ~ A Timberdoodle Review

 Quixo is a strategy game where players must carefully consider every move but also have the foresight to anticipate their opponents subsequent possible moves. Players take cubes from the outer perimeter of the board and place them on the opposite end of the row. This will then slid the whole row down creating a new surface game pattern. The game can be played by 2-4 players. I found that the game is most suitable for 2 players. Quixo is part of the 2022 Fourth-Grade Curriculum Kit and is intended for ages 8 and above. The game only takes about 10-15 minutes to play. 

What is included in the game:

• Round wooden game board
• 25 pyrographed wooden cubes
• Cloth drawstring bag
• Game Rules

Before the game begins players decide who will play "X's" and who will play "O's." 

At the beginning of the game all cubes are placed with a blank side facing up on the board. 

To begin the game lets say "X" is going to play first. "X" can only pick up a cube from the outer perimeter that has an "X" showing or that is blank. They would then pick up one of those two options and place the cube with the "X" facing up opposite from where it was taken from. 

This would then make the whole row slide down. The player would now have an "X" on the game board. Next, "O" would play. This would go back and forth until either "X" or "O" has 5 in a row or diagonal for the win! I will say that there were times when the game came to an end with no winners. 

The wooden game board and cubes are definitely made to last. 

My daughter was quite proud of herself when she WON the first time we played. 

Look at that smile of victory. 

My mother LOVES playing games. Whenever she comes over and I have a new game that I am reviewing she is always excited to play. She always asks me to tell her in a nutshell what the game is about. I told her Quixo was basically a big kid/adult version of tic tac toe. 

Quixo is a game that is easy to learn how to play and doesn't take long to play.

These two things that my teens liked about the game. 

Quixo can be played with up to 4 players. With 4 players you have 2 teams. 

You can either decide together with your teammate what your next move

will be or you can alternate with your teammate making moves. 

Click to purchase Quixo for your next family gathering, as part of your upcoming 

homeschool curriculum purchase, for the important 60+ loved ones in your life,

 a gift, or for your classroom. Our family is enjoying playing Quixo. 

I would absolutely recommend the game to others. 

Home School in the Woods

 

Disclaimer:  I received this complimentary product through the 

Homeschool Review Crew.

The Printable "Essential Timeline Library" (Grades K-12) is Home School in the Woods ultimate timeline package. With 1,444 timeline figures from ancient to modern history the Essential Timeline Library has everything you will need to help your student create timelines throughout history. The "Record of Time" Printable Timeline Notebook along with the updated Printable Suggested Placement Guide will be an invaluable resource as your student creates their historical timelines. The material once purchased will be emailed to you in PDF format. 

What is included in the Essential Timeline Library :

1. HISTORY Through the Ages Collection of Historical Timeline Figures (our original 1,263 - figure collection containing: Creation to Christ, Resurrection to Revolution, Napoleon to Now, America's History, 80 Bonus Figures)
2. Add- On Pak- 1 (24 modern figures of the 20th and 21st centuries)
3. Add- On Pak- 2 (47 modern figures of the 20th and 21st centuries)
4. Add- On Pak- 3 (110 figures from ancient times to the 19th century) 
5. "Record of Time" Printable Timeline Notebook
6. Printable Suggested Placement Guide

Here is a Timeline Figure Master Index.

For the purpose of timelines the figures can be printed out 4 ways. 

The first option is the notebook size. 

You can choose between pictures with text descriptions

or pictures with name and date. 

The second option is a wall size. 

Again, you can choose between the picture with text description

or picture with name and date. 

Each figure is also in gif format so that you can easily manipulate them to the

size that you want. This allows you to embed the images into projects. Maybe

you want to make games, flashcards, coloring pages, lap books, penmanship

notebooks, etc. There is so much more besides making timelines that 

the 1,444 figures can be used for. 

With 1,444 figures and 130 pages of blank timeline pages creating a timeline can be a very daunting task. You may be asking, where do I place the figures? Home School in the Woods has 3 general rules:

1) Actual Dates: There will be some figures that have specific dates. For example, The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863. With a specific date you would know to place this figure at the 1863 location. 

2) Events that Span Years: For an event that spans years, such as the building of The Transcontinental Railroad 1862-1869. It would make the most sense to place the figure in 1862 when the railroad began construction. 

3) People: A person's life has a lot of room for placement. You could place the figure at their birth, death, or a significant event during their life. For example, John Wilkes Booth, 1838-1865. We all know Booth as the one who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865. Therefore, we would place his figure in 1865. 

Where to find the Figures...

Example, The First Transatlantic Cable is found in the Add-On-Pak-3. Abbreviated [AOP3-0] markers are in blue, A. There may be times when a figure may be found in more than one set. When this happens it will be labeled and notated. 

On the placement you will see that The First Transatlantic Cable is in the upper left hand corner labeled with a D. Again, the blue tells us that this figure is from Add-On-Pak-3. 

The figures are on pages that will need to be cut out. In the lower left hand corner you will see that the page is AOP-3-11. 

Yup, I made placing the figures into the "HISTORY Through the Ages Record of Time" so much

harder than it had to be. I cannot state enough times 

read the instructions,

read the instructions,

read the instructions!

Do you know how much harder it is to place figures onto a timeline when you have a

huge jumbled pile of figures? DON'T ASK. Yeah, I could have 

just thrown them all away but that is a lot of ink and paper wasted. 

The crazy thing about the whole debacle is that I have been using 

Home School in the Woods with my children for years. If anyone should have known 

better it should have been ME! Thank goodness it is summer and I can enlist 

several children in helping place figures. 

The timelines can be printed out with the dates or without the dates. 

With previous timelines that my children have done with Home School in the Woods

we have done the accordion style timeline. This time I chose to print the timeline on the 

front and back of the paper. I am then going to place each sheet in a plastic sheet protector 

and put it into a three right binder.

As you can see the paper that I used was just normal printer paper. In hindsight, 

all of the HOURS that it takes to complete a HUGE timeline it is well worth the added

extra expense to purchase thicker paper. Again, I was thinking about the $$$. As I stated 

earlier I do plan to place the pages in plastic sheet protectors so that the pages do not get 

beat up and ruined. But, if you are new to Home School in the Woods you should know 

from the get go that you will be spending a lot of money in printer ink and paper. You may 

read this statement and think, "Well I am not so sure about this added cost." Let me say,

I have used a HUGE amount of Home School in the Woods materials. They are all 

fantastic. Once you make the purchase you can save the material 

on your computer indefinitely. 

There are many types of timelines:

• wall timelines 
• accordion folded timelines
• sketchbook spiral bound timelines
• chronological card file
• 3-ring binder timelines (horizontal or vertical) 

The wall timeline gives the visual learner the full picture of history. Your child is able to see time periods where there were lulls with not much happening. On the flip side your child will see periods in history where so much is going on that all of the figures placed are one on top of the other. The accordion folded timeline is a small version of the wall timeline. You and your child will attach card stock together in an accordion style fold. You could make one huge accordion timeline or break the timeline down into periods of time such as, "Napoleon to Now" and "America's History." If you use a sketchbook to make a timeline you most likely are only covering a shorter time in history. Sketchbooks are great in that the paper is usually very thick and acid free so long lasting. A card file system allows your student to break down the figures by years. Your child can glue or tape the figure and text on one side of the card. As your child continues their history studies and learns more about the figures they can pull out the figure from the card file and on the backside add information. The 3-ring binder timeline is what we chose to do. 

For the younger age group you can print out full page figures and text descriptions. 

This option is contained in one of the download folders. Your child could make 

a figure book on the specific time period that they are learning. 

This is a fun matching game that could be played with a wide range of ages. 

You could do a matching game using composers, writers, females in history, technology, 

wars/battles, Presidents...

The Printable "Essential Timeline Library" is a wonderful resource to add to any history curriculum. The download library can be used by K-12 so the whole family is able to benefit. Timelines can build with a child over the years. There are so many amazing suggestions for using the figures outside of the timeline. Full lists of figures can be found in each sub category. I would highly recommend the "Essential Timeline Library" to others. Be sure to read the other reviews by My Fellow Crew Members. The Crew Members reviewed many of Home School in the Woods materials: Hands-on History Activity-Paks, Hands-on History Lap-Paks. Time Travelers U.S. History Studies, Project Passport World History Studies, Maps Combo-Pak (U.S. and World Maps) and then the Printable "Essential Timeline Library." 

Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homeschoolinthewoods 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homeschoolinthewoods/ 
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/hsinthewoods/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrKq6iLty2fpB6R6ZpcUb8A 

Bible Blueprints

Disclaimer:  I received this complimentary product through the 

Homeschool Review Crew.

Teach Sunday School has developed hundreds of tools to make studying God's Word helpful for children, teens, and adults. They have printable Bible lesson plans, study materials, crafts, and activities. Bible Blueprints are one page outlines for each book of the Bible that give those studying the Bible a condensed overview for each of the 66 books of the Bible. After making your online purchase you will receive an email with the material via download. You can print off AS MANY COPIES AS NEEDED for your church or price use. You can purchase the Old Testament, the New Testament or the set of Both. Teach Sunday School has material for Preschool - Adult. 

The Bible Blueprint outlines include:

• If the book is in the Old or New Testament
• The order of the book in the Old or New Testament
• Number of chapters in the book
• Bible book type, e.g., History/Pentateuch
• An overview of the book
• When the book was writte
• The time period that the book covers
• The author of the book
• The book is broken down into an outline. Chapters are divided in sections, e.g., Wandering in the Wilderness Exodus 15-19, Prophecies of Daniel Daniel 7-11

After printing out the Blueprints I placed them in clear protectors and 

placed them in a 3 ring binder. 

As you can see the layout is very clean looking. Each book of the Bible is clearly

displayed and color usage makes it very easy for your eyes to scan from section to section. 

EZEKIEL 

OVERVIEW

Ezekiel was a priest and one of those carried away in captivity.

He prophesies from captivity for a period of over 20 years. His 

prophecies cover a range of topics and history, and include

God's explanation of His current wrath, the recent reformation

of Israel, and the Millennial Kingdom. 

5

THE FUTURE

EZEKIEL 33-48

God renews Ezekiel's 

calling, then proceeds

to give visions about

the distant future. He

shares his vision of dry

bones symbolizing the 

resurrection of Israel 

and visions of the

future, including the 

restoration of the 

Temple. 

Back in 2021 I reviewed Bible Breakdowns for Teach Sunday School. I simply added 

the Bible Blueprints in the same three ring binder.

On their site is a quote that says, "Studying the Bible should be a JOY...not a CHORE."  The connotation of the word "chore" as it is used opposite "joy" doesn't quite sit right with me as that infers a disagreeable task. Yes, for those totally new to the Bible or those that have very little knowledge of what is contained within its pages the Bible can be overwhelming and intimidating.  Some books or sections within books are definitely a bit harder to understand. But, for those truly seeking God or for the new believer God's Word should be exciting and joyful. We should be eager to sink our teeth into God's Word. Truth be told, even the most learned Bible teachers and theologians struggle and debate on passages within the Bible. 

I applaud Teach Sunday School for their amazing website full of wonderful Bible resources. Bible Blueprints definitely is one tool to help in make studying each book in the Bible a bit easier! Whether you are new in your faith or are somewhat more seasoned the tools found on the website are useful for all. Definitely check out what My Fellow Crew Members  had to say about Bible Blueprints. I would most definitely recommend these one page outlines to others.

For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, 

even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, 

and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12