K12 Science Week - Soil and Seasons - (Unit 10 - Kinder) (Unit 8 - 2nd) (Unit 9 - 4th)

Good evening!  I am going to try and show you how we accomplish science and history - and what experiments we do during certain units to try and help you with your schooling as well.  I have discovered that we enjoy our weeks better if we can do a week of history, followed by a week of science.  (And it has only taken me 5 years to figure this out.  Ah me!)  This happened to be science week.  The units we went over this week were as follows:

4th Grade - K12 Science - Unit 9: Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition

2nd Grade - K12 Science -Unit 8: Weathering, Erosion, and Soil

Kindergarten - K12 Science - Unit 10: Seasons

I also try and put together any units I can that go together.  For example my 2nd grader was working on weathering and soil, so I skipped ahead with my 4th grader so that he can be working on the same thing.  When I do this I find that I don't have to get out as many supplies - and that the kids sometimes do the same experiments.  Sometimes you can even do part of a lesson together - and while the younger child works on an age appropriate experiment, you can go into greater detail with your older child.

ALSO:  We do the entire unit in one week!  Yes - that is right.  My 2nd grader had 7 lessons to do in this unit - but we did them all.  Not only does this allow for our 1 week on, 1 week off schedule - but I feel it helps kids actually remember what they learn - and make it more fun.  They can actually dive into a project - and really learn about it.  The way K12 has it - you would be doing her unit for almost 4 weeks.  In my mind - what kid is going to remember what they did 4 weeks ago?  And the third benefit:  This allows us to GET AHEAD!  Because, lets face it:  who wants to be inside working in April and May?  Not me?  Not my kids?  And that is the luxury of homeschooling:  time off when the weather is good.

So those are my science tips!  Hope they help!

4th Grade - K12 Science - Unit 9: Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition:

To learn about physical weathering we had to make two clay balls and put one in the freezer and one on the counter.  We checked them the next day.  We couldn't tell a difference except that one was frozen solid.  Sometimes I don't understand what K12 is trying to accomplish.  Anyone else have this problem?

To learn about chemical weathering we cut up chalk pieces and put them into cuts and filled them with water, vinegar, and left one empty.

Here is the fizzy vinegar one.  

The next experiment was seeing what a glacier did.  We had to freeze a block of ice and get a cardboard box with soil in it.  We slanted the box and put our glacier in it.  We turned on a heat lamp.

The glacier slid a little and made morains on the sides and bottom.  NOTE TO SELF - and my readers:  Do NOT USE CARDBOARD.  Again I do not know what K12 is trying to accomplish on this one.  Use a cake pan or a cookie sheet.  I think the ice will slide better.  Maybe they were trying to show how slow glaciers go - but it really wasn't all that exciting to a 4th grader.  ALSO - the ice melted and caused water to drip through the cardboard and make a huge puddle on my counter.  C'mon!  Like I don't have enough to clean up.  So - next time - Cake pan!  Greater glacial speed!  No water mess!

A glass jar with a soil sample - so that my 4th grader could "see" the soil profile.

2nd Grade - K12 Science -Unit 8: Weathering, Erosion, and Soil:

To test what soil is made of - we squeezed a paper towel around some soil to see the moisture.  We also poured water into soil and watched the air bubbles come up.  

We studied soil to find the humus in it.  And checked it for minerals as well.  (Very tiny white flaky stuff in our soil.)

We started this a little late - OOPS!  NOTE TO SELF!  Grow grass two weeks before this unit next time.  Oops.  But here we are getting ready to grow grass seed anyway.  It'll be fun to test erosion when it grows.  Does the grass seed help keep the soil from washing away?  Thankfully my 2nd grader understood this concept without the visual.

She also had to look at the soil profile - but she had to learn and identify the components of minerals in soil:  Clay, silt, and sand.  I made her draw a picture as well to reinforce the idea.  We learned clay was the smallest and sand was the biggest particle of minerals.

We also had to figure out which type of soil was better for growing plants.  To do this we had to test whether sandy soil or loam soil would absorb and hold water the best.  As we found out - the sandy soil didn't even let the water seep in.  Not very good for growing plants.  The loam soil was clearly the best.

One of our funnest activities was taking beans and filling a paper cup to the top.  We then had to put water in the cup, cut plastic wrap around the outside and let it sit overnight.

By the next morning - the beans had broken open the cup!  We learned that this was the same way weathering occurs when a tree brand starts growing in a rock.  We also learned about water weathering and wind weathering.

We also started to learn about erosion (this is an experiment my 4th grader watched also).  We learned that there are 2 ways erosion occurs.  First we blew on the soil on our "hillside" to simulate wind.  Then we poured water on our "hillside" to signify rain.  Both of our activities showed how erosion occurs in nature.  

Right about now - we should have taken our grass patch and poured water on it - to show that soil will not wash away as quickly with the roots as anchors.  OOPS!

Also got our bean plants growing for our next science unit.  Whew!  At least I remembered that!  NOTE:  Buy lots of seeds in the spring and summer for homeschooling!

Kindergarten - K12 Science - Unit 10: Seasons:

My kinder student was learning about seasons this week.  So for each season he had to make a squirrel mural.  It was so much fun!  We learned about fall, winter, spring, then summer.  We talked about activities we do in each season.  NOTE TO SELF:  my current kinder student has zero patience and does not want to do most of these activities.  So when I can actually get him to work - it is a miracle!  For the next couple of kids I would like to do more with this unit - like find books describing the different seasons - and maybe draw more pictures.  With #3 - that just ain't happenin'.

He did enjoy the squirrel and nuts activity.  We do not have any nut or peanut allergies in our house - so this activity was just fine.  My kinder/squirrel had to hide nuts all over our house during the fall season.

Then remember where he hid them during the winter season the next day!  Kids love this activity!

Here is his completed squirrel mural.  I ended up helping him with the squirrel on spring and summer - but he did the rest of the activities.  What do I love about these?  Well - I love the red leaves he made for fall.  I love his snowflake and snow on his deciduous tree in winter.  I love his rainbow flowers for spring.  I love his bright sun for summer.

What a great week of science!  If you have any tips or suggestions on how to make these units even funner - or other activities we could do to make it even more enjoyable - please let me know in the comments!

Here is hoping for a Hats and Chickadees Day! 

And Have a great Weekend!

It's SUPER BOWL!