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Need fun, super hands on science curriculum


Mrs. Tharp
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So I appear to have misjudged our science curriculum needs again. Can anyone recommend a curriculum with tons of hands-on, fun experiments and not too heavy on reading & writing for 5th-8th graders? We'd prefer chemistry, but really any field of science is up for consideration. It does not necessarily have to last a full year; we may be able  to enroll in some local classes this coming winter.

 

ETA to add: This is primarily for younger DS, who reads waaay ahead of grade level, but has ADHD and dysgraphia. He hates anything that smacks of busywork and freaks out over too much writing. He is learning to type this year, but until then, we do as much work orally as is reasonable. 

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A super solid chemistry curriculum for middle school is the free curriculum from the American Chemical Society http://middleschoolchemistry.com. It uses worksheets that are part of the curriculum, so the writing is not too heavy. Hands-on things to do, but they're straightforward rather than "blow 'em up" which is what many people think of as fun chemistry. Combo of hands-on, with video and simulations that are built into the curriculum, plus lesson plans.

 

Erica in OR

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How about Kitchen Chemistry? We did that for fun and my kids just learn as much as they can. Besides they enjoy cooking.

 

A few suggestions in this article

"Kitchen Chemistry Classes Take Off

Instructors aim to make science more relevant for undergrads not majoring in the subject."

http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i36/Kitchen-Chemistry-Classes-Take-Off.html

 

We use this one as spine and do those we could

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/experimental-study-group/es-287-kitchen-chemistry-spring-2009/index.htm

 

We use these videos by Heston Blumenthal

"The 16 video clips (© 2002 Discovery Communications Inc.) that accompany the book Kitchen Chemistry can be accessed from this site in three formats"

http://www.rsc.org/Education/Teachers/Resources/kitchenchemistry/00_video.htm

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