CoffeeMusicLaughs Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Hello all, My oldest son is in 5th grade & we're back on biology. He was excited about doing more "real" science, but so far it's been a bust. I've been trying to follow the recommendations in WTM but I'm running into roadblocks. I'd appreciate any help. I couldn't find the right Bio Dome that was mentioned, so I bought a similar one. Smithsonian brand, but slightly different. It came with triops eggs. Only 2 things hatched, and I don't think they were triops. A bit of a dud. We bought Carnivorous Creations. So far, nothing has sprouted even though it's been 2 months. I know it's not a warm time of year (we're in Pennsylvania), but I have it underneath a lamp that I turn on every day. Any ideas? My son's getting discouraged. I tried to buy Basic 5 Animals Dissection Kit. It was hard to find the right one, but I think I found it (from Carolina Supply, right?) I put it in my cart, but then it asked me where I was having it sent. When I entered "home," it said this product could only be shipped to a school. I filled out a "Contact Us" form explaining that I'm a homeschooler, but I didn't get any reply. Does anyone know about this? Have you successfully received this product, or did you go with a different one? I know there are other kits out there. I would appreciate any advice. So far this year my son has had almost no science and I'm feeling like I'm failing him. Thanks. Erin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 For science purchases, try Home Science Tools. As for getting no science done, FWIW, science does not have to be all hands on--and actually, IMO should not be. I'd get a spine--maybe something like CPO Life Science--and then add some labs and activities to it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 We did the mealwom project using mealworms we bought from any pet shop and some quaker oats. We also bought a small pot of venus flytrap available from any nursery and observed it. Ours was a little too small so it did not catch many flies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Dissections can be done virtually if you don't want to do them physically, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Dissections can be done virtually if you don't want to do them physically, too. Ooo! Where? How? My son is in 8th grade and absolutely refuses to do dissections because he loves animals too much. He will get tears in his eyes if I even mention and say, "NO!" He does NOT do that for anything else. Just when I mention dissection. I was going to do Biology next year with him in high school, but decided to do physics instead and wait for Biology for 10th grade, hoping he'd be able to handle the dissections by then. It would be really nice to know where to do a virtual dissection, though, for the interim or if he still breaks down crying in 10th grade. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Honestly, while sometimes kits like those turn out well, I've found they're usually sort of a bust. They're basically educational toys. Strongly seconding Home Science Tools as the place to get good supplies - especially for dissection and a few other things, they're one of the few places that are marketing to home use. Their dissection guides are super basic but also good for this stage. Biology is sort of tricky for hands on if you're more used to out of the box stuff that just works. Biology isn't really like that in our experience, anyway. For zoology, we really liked The Amateur Zoologist for getting some good ideas of a couple of projects we might do. Biology Experiments for Children is another good book with ideas of projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Wanted to mention there are also organizations out there that loan dissection alternatives. I used one called Animal Learn The Science Bank. The only cost is you have to insure it for the full value when you send it back and pay return shipping (that can get a bit pricey, but not too bad and you definitely don't want to get stuck paying $500). They pay shipping to your home, and there are no other charges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 We had a few flops too. I once ordered one of those grow a frog kits. The tadpole did not live very long after we got it. Not sure what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikslo Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) We've done a few successful dissections here this year, all from Home Science Tools. Before each one we pull up videos of dissections on YouTube. There are a ton out there, so if we don't like one (quality, voice, dull vs interesting, etc.) we just switch to another. It has made the actually dissections a win each time, because he knows what to expect. ETA: Just videos has worked fine on a few I didn't purchase. Edited February 9, 2016 by ikslo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Hometrainingtools.com (also called homeschool science) has dissection kits. Carolina and Flinn are big time supplies to public schools and universities. I had to order through my school with a PO to get things from Carolina in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) Home science tools will also have the triops http://www.hometrainingtools.com/triops-hatchery-kit We liked that one, actually. And the instructions of the carnivorous plants on Home Science state that they take up to three months to grow, but even that might seem a bit optimistic. The reviews state it can take longer...and you are supposed to put some of the seeds in the fridge for 8 weeks? You might be better off going to a local plant store and buying one already grown. We did bio in 5th grade and had a really fun time. We did the triops and butterflies and ladybugs and the blood typing kit and the dissections, etc. All in all we had a blast. I used a few of the kits suggested in TWTM as well as spending a week at a time on different body systems. I used what was a free version of this http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/anatomy_jr/jr_anatomy_curriculum.html But it's only 20$ for a plan that lasts the whole year and is designed to be much more than you could actually use. Edited February 9, 2016 by redsquirrel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J&JMom Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) We currently have an ant farm, a tadpole habitat, and a venus flytrap courtesy of http://www.nature-gifts.com/ All three set ups cost me $85 with shipping and came with live ants and tadpole along with mature plants - no waiting for seeds. So far about 1/2 the ants have died (probably because of my vigorous placement in the farm - didn't want to get bit), but the plant and tadpole are going strong after a week. Last year, we did the butterfly thing from http://www.insectlore.com/shop/butterfly-kits. It worked great - all 10 made it. For equipment and supplies, I also recommend http://www.hometrainingtools.com/ and good ol' amazon. I have ordered sheep's heart, owl pellets chemicals, and glassware from the former, and found better pricing on microscopes, slides, and geology stuff with the latter. Edited February 10, 2016 by J&JMom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 (edited) Ooo! Where? How? My son is in 8th grade and absolutely refuses to do dissections because he loves animals too much. He will get tears in his eyes if I even mention and say, "NO!" He does NOT do that for anything else. Just when I mention dissection. I was going to do Biology next year with him in high school, but decided to do physics instead and wait for Biology for 10th grade, hoping he'd be able to handle the dissections by then. It would be really nice to know where to do a virtual dissection, though, for the interim or if he still breaks down crying in 10th grade. There are plenty of options. In general, if you google for virtual (animal) dissection, you'll likely find one. There are excellent frog and rat dissection apps for the iPad, Froguts is a commercial set of some of the more standard ones for $39/yr, and you can find some free online. For example, my DD is piggybacking on a college entomology class, and we were able to find a cockroach dissection on Orkin.com (yes, the bug killing company). http://www.froguts.com/store/home.html The other thing we do is to get the 4D model puzzles, which are quite well done, and have DD build them in lieu of dissection to be able to see how things fit together. And she does a lot of sketching and drawing of animal anatomy. DD refuses to dissect, and her bio professor mentors both feel that there is no real reason for her to do so at the high school level-that most students simply don't learn much from physical dissections and that often they're more a way of ticking the "lab" box. Edited February 11, 2016 by dmmetler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 I agree that there's no real need to dissect at this point or in high school (my dd's bio looked NOTHING like mine did back in the stone ages, lol, it was tons of microbiology). But, if you want the dissection kit, I always just put our home school name in the "school" section and never had a problem with ordering stuff or having it delivered. We didn't do dissection kits, but we did order plenty of "schools only" stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeMusicLaughs Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Thanks, everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.