What are YOU using for Science this Year? *Science 2018 Edition*

That is a great question!  First of all we have tried several different programs - K12 Science, Apologia, and Bookshark.  I wanted to tell you, briefly, about each of the ones we've tried and why we aren't using them this fall...

1.)  K12 Science:  We used K12 for about 5 years and although I loved the curriculum for the most part, I absolutely ended up hating the public school at home.  It wasn't what I wanted for our homeschool, and wasn't what I had envisioned when we started this journey.  Now, of course, you can buy the courses individually, but it is extremely expensive to do so.  So, we have moved on from K12.

2.) Apologia:  This was the very first curriculum we used when we started putting together our own curriculum.  That year we used Botany for my older daughter and Zoology 2: Marine Biology for my oldest son.  It went really well, and they seemed to enjoy their studies.  One thing we really did enjoy was that Apologia talks about creation, but what we didn't enjoy was the young earth philosophy.  Plus doing one whole subject for an entire year was tiresome to everyone.  

3.)  Bookshark:  The next year we tried Bookshark.  We were drawn to this program because of all the beautiful books!  Plus, it just seemed like a good fit - unlike Apologia which had only one subject per year, this program had many subjects to cover.... many, many, many, many, subjects to cover.  This program went in the complete opposite direction of Apologia and just seemed to jump everywhere.  You hardly were on a topic for more than a couple of days; plus, it didn't fit well with our block scheduling.  We got further and further behind, and more and more frustrated.

Last year we went back to Apologia... because, although it wasn't the perfect fit... it was better then Bookshark.  Again, the same issues we didn't like the first time around, came back the second time around.  SIGH.  What did we want?  What did I want?  I wanted a program that gave us an introduction to a topic, and then we could add in more living books, and more activities and more research.  I wanted a curriculum where we could spend as much time on a subject as we wanted to, and move on when we wanted to.  I wanted a curriculum where we could set the schedule in anyway.  Why couldn't I find a curriculum that did this?  Was it really that hard?  Would I have to create my own curriculum?   ...

ENTER:  The Good and the Beautiful Science Curriculum:

(First unit we are learning about:  Arthropods)

(I also bought Nature Notebooks for the kids to use every Friday.  These are from The Good and the Beautiful as well.)

I decided to buy just one science packet and see how it went.  We went with Arthropods.  So far it has been really really fun.  We started at the beginning of summer, so we haven't gotten very far.  We did the first two lessons as a family, then skipped to the lesson on spiders, and now that we are finishing up our spiders unit, we'll go back to lesson 3.  So far, I am impressed!

What we love:

*Family Style curriculum!

*Open and go with easy to collect supplies!

*Beautiful pictures!

*Creation based!

*No theories involved - THANK YOU and FINALLY!

*Quick introduction for each lesson - leaving plenty of time for lots of living books!

*Lots of topic to choose from in any order you want for your school year!

(Books we added in for our spider unit:  notice we did use Apologia - but only for the older children, and only the part about spiders.)

To wrap it up, my younger students:  ages 4, 7, 9, and 11 will be working together on science projects using The Good and The Beautiful, and then we'll add in activities and books to go along with it.  My oldest, 13, will have the option of sitting in.  For now we are going to finish up Arthropods, and then go into the Weather unit, followed by the Water unit that they offer.

For my oldest son, who going into 8th grade, we wanted to supply a little more for him since this is his last year before he starts high school next year: 

 (Apologia:  Chemistry and Physics.  Chemically Active.  Forensic Science.)

With my son's input, we went with Apologia:  Chemistry and Physics - (I did go back to Apologia for this subject, because this will cover lots of topics:  light, sound, magnets, etc etc.)  I have a Chemically Active book that he used briefly with Bookshark - that he may want to use to explore more experiments.  He also wanted to learn about Forensic Science - and we'll be using an Usborne book for that topic.  

(Chemistry and Physics supply kit.)

Side note:  Always get the supply kit for your science curriculum if one is available!  It makes life so easy - Apologia is especially great when it comes to supply kits - they label each lesson - so you just have to grab it and go.  Everything is ready.  The best deal I found this year for supply kits was on Rainbow Resources.  This is the kit for the Chemistry and Physics book. 

(Robotics and projects)

The last topic he wanted to cover was robotics.  So, we have a neat book called Robotics that has several projects that he can complete.  I also love these DK Find Out! books, and thought it would be a nice supplement for him.

Each child also brainstormed with me on other topics that they wanted to learn about for science during the year and this is what they came up with for independent, self-directed learning:

(My oldest daughter wants to learn more about Planet Earth and Space.)

(My middle son wants to learn more about the human body, microscopes, the ocean and bacteria.)

(My youngest son wants to continue learning about animals.)

(My youngest daughter in starting "preschool" this year and although we don't have a preschool curriculum we use, she is interested in learning - so I found a neat First Illustrated Science Dictionary to use, as well as these really fun sticker encyclopedia's.  It gives you a fun story to read, while your child adds stickers.) 

So, there you have it!  The answer to the question: What we you using for science this year?  Up next:   What are you using for HISTORY this year?  Until next time:  have a Hats and Chickadees day!  

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!

Science Experiments: Botany Projects

Botany - the study of plants!  So many cool experiments you can try with your kiddos when it comes to botany!  Here are four projects for you:

1.)  Flower Press

What you need:

2 pieces of sturdy white paper

2 cardboard pieces cut to the same size

2 strong large rubber bands

Flower petals.

Arrange the flower petals on your white sheet of paper how you would like to press them.

Put the cardboard pieces over the white sheets of paper and secure with 2 rubber bands.

Wait 2 - 3 weeks - and Voila!  Beautiful pressed flowers.

You can use them to make cards - or put in plastic clear envelopes for a science collection.

2.)  Leaf rub / plant paint

What you need:

Leaf rubbing plate

Crayons

White paper

Paint

Real leaves - or fake leaves - Flowers - flower petals

You can make leaf rubbings with the plate, or real leaves with the crayons.  (Please remove outside cover.)

Or dip your leaves in the paint and make a print of the leaves on your paper.

Or one of the kids favorites - take the flowers and dip them in paint and use the flowers or leaves as your paintbrush!

3.) Solar Print

What you need:

Solar sensitive paper

Rocks, Leaves, Feathers - etc.

Water

Basin for water

Put your object on the piece of paper and put it in the sun for 5 minutes.  Come in and put the paper in cold water for 30 seconds.  Then let them dry.  Make sure you do this project on a calm day - or use flat objects that you can weight down with a rock or something heavy.

The sun will make a beautiful print of your object.

4.)  Leaf Pendant

What you need:

Clay - Air hardening

Paint

Paintbrush

Pencil

Yarn

Take your piece of clay and shape it into a pendant like object.  

Make an imprint of your leaf on your clay - 

Paint over your leaf

Remove your leaf

Poke a hole with your pencil in your leaf pendant.

Let it dry overnight.  When the clay and paint are both dry - thread yard through the leaf pendant.  Beautiful!  

There you have it - 4 awesome and inexpensive botany projects for you and your little chickadees to enjoy!

Can you tell me any other cool botany projects you have?  What else could we try to have fun with plants?