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First and Second Grade Science

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in K-8 Curriculum Board

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I am having trouble settling on a good plan for first and second grade science.  I feel Apologia is too wordy for this age group (Science in the Beginning would be out for the same reason).  I considered RSO, but I don't think that I could handle labs/activities every single time that we do science.  Should I give Elemental Science Biology a try?  Or should we just find some good national geographic, usborne, or lets read and find out science books and have a reading basket for science for the rest of the year?  

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YodaGirl

YodaGirl

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I really love A Reason for Science. It has a Creationism viewpoint, so you may want to take that into consideration. I have several apologia books, and as much as I want to, I just don't like it.

 

I will say that watching The Magic Schoolbus (perhaps more than he should) has taught my 1st grader more about science than most curriculum could.

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nixpix5

nixpix5

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Just do a stack of books and rabbit trails. Maybe throw in a pintrist activity from time to time. Elemental Biology for the Grammar stage is one of only a handful of curriculums that I will say is awful. Usually I keep most curriculum and use parts but it was glorified crafts with a bunch of writing so I sold it yo Exodus books for credit. My kids love science and they were so bored.

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fralala

fralala

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Agree with the reading basket at this age.

 

I really like to add in books from the NSTA Outstanding Trade Books list. The LRaFO books are wonderful for providing basic facts, but I find many of the science books on this list oftentimes add beauty and creativity into our science reading.

 

My true early elementary science curriculum, though, mostly consists of letting my kids ask questions and explore and asking them questions right back, and also helping them work through ways that they can answer their questions. (For instance, they recently buried their Halloween pumpkins in the garden, which was fun because it involved getting very dirty, but they also were able to tell me basic hypotheses for what they thought would happen, and when, based upon their observations of our compost heap and garden in the past, with me playing the ignorantly skeptical buffoon.) I am also one who can't do activities from a science curriculum-- the gathering materials alone is often too much for me-- but if I just pay attention to what my kids do naturally, often I can find a way to make it valuable because they are so busy!

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Earthmerlin

Earthmerlin

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My child is in 3rd but we just joined Mystery Science/Doug & enjoy it. We also subscribed to Groovy Lab in a Box. Like another said, we also engage in science tied to calendar events. So for Halloween, it was pumpkin lifecycle but also buoyancy (pumpkins float & why, etc.). Falling leaves is another obvious topic. We are on to owls & will dissect their pellets. Christmas will have us looking at evergreens, the winter solstice, (& hopefully) snow. My child likes Harry Potter & all the potions contained therein so I provide her w/ toy lab tools & plenty of potion-making materials. We also love nature & exlpore parks, bringing home findings to examine under the loupe or microscope, etc. We also have a nature 'basket' (really an extra-large tupper) near the back door so it is readily available for spontaneous outdoor play. Reading biographies of scientists & possibly doing experiments around their ideas, findings, etc. is another facet of her science exposure.

 

I like the idea of an outlined science curriculum so I bought a used 3rd grade text & have a higher level one. We read from them but I use it as a reference point for background info. & to generate ideas for practical & field activities.

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lmrich

lmrich

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I loved the Let's Read and Find Out series as well. 

Go to the library and pick out one and then select other books that coordinate with it. Most of the books have an experiment in them at the end. Read the book on day one, read it again the next day and have the kids journal and do diagrams, etc.. the third day do the experiment and journal and draw about it. Then leave the other books around so they can read on their own. It is usually easy to find videos to help you with a concept. 

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Hobbes

Hobbes

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I also vote for reading basket!

 

One science "curriculum" we LOVED in second and third was to do the My Body Book paper models. So good. We filled in with library books on the body systems, etc. Kind of a glorified reading basket with a unifying project.

 

The year before that, they asked to study animals. They helped me to make a list of animals they wanted to study. I divided those into kingdoms (so we studied the animals in like groups), chose enough for one per week for a semester, and printed colouring pages for each. Once a week we would colour the pages, watch a YouTube video about the animal, and then we read library books about the animals through the week. We'd do a narration on the back of the colouring page. Again, a very happy science year and they learned a lot.

 

So I vote "glorified reading basket" if you want to add a little something!

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SilverMoon

SilverMoon

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My first grader is loving Quark Chronicles, but that would probably hit your too wordy sensor too. (He is an insatiable yet asynchronous kid. Reading chapter books and knows how to multiply, but he still has to think about where to put his pencil to write an f.)

 

Before Quark he memorized every Wild Kratts episode, watched Magic School Bus and Bill Nye, and listened to a jillion read alouds. I told him he ought to do something for science everyday and showed him where the books and dvds were. He cherry picked according to his interests and covered FAR more than a grade 1 curriculum would have. We talked about what he watched/read/listened to, and occasionally I'd pick up experiment kits for him.

 

I plan to stick with Quark as long as it's working. Our family science shelf is stocked enough to handle him going back that way though.

Edited by SilverMoon
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Alessandra

Alessandra

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The Let's Read and Find Out series is excellent. If you read broadly within this series, it's a great 1st/2nd grade science program.

I think these are still the best books around.

 

I would add a *simple* experiment book or get ideas off the Internet. By 'experiment,'o I mean something like this:

 

Tape a bit of paper in the bottom of a glass. Turn the glass upside down and push it into a bowl of water. When you take the glass out, the paper is dry. Why?

 

Super simple investigations about the world atound your children.

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Earthmerlin

Earthmerlin

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I also vote for reading basket!

 

One science "curriculum" we LOVED in second and third was to do the My Body Book paper models. So good. We filled in with library books on the body systems, etc. Kind of a glorified reading basket with a unifying project.

 

The year before that, they asked to study animals. They helped me to make a list of animals they wanted to study. I divided those into kingdoms (so we studied the animals in like groups), chose enough for one per week for a semester, and printed colouring pages for each. Once a week we would colour the pages, watch a YouTube video about the animal, and then we read library books about the animals through the week. We'd do a narration on the back of the colouring page. Again, a very happy science year and they learned a lot.

 

So I vote "glorified reading basket" if you want to add a little something!

I looked on Amazon for a body book with paper models but couldn't find one. Can you please proviide an ISBN, link or full title/author? It has piqued my interest!

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Hobbes

Hobbes

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I looked on Amazon for a body book with paper models but couldn't find one. Can you please proviide an ISBN, link or full title/author? It has piqued my interest!

 

Yep, that's the one above, this is the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1557342113/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511269797&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=my+body+book&dpPl=1&dpID=51heZ6Kt-JL&ref=plSrch

 

We also got these because my girls like colouring: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0486468216/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511269883&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=my+body+book&dpPl=1&dpID=519PBEr5IWL&ref=plSrch

 

It was such a fun study!!!

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nixpix5

nixpix5

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I will second "My Body" as being fantastic for kids in this age range. We got a roll of paper from Amazon and I outlined all of the kids bodies and hung them in our homeschool room. Each week I print an organ or two on cardstock. They color them, cut them out and add them to their body drawings. We are almost finished at this point but it has been super fun. We combine them with read and find out books each week. They have learned so much and have loved this activity. Edited by nixpix5
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mykidsrmyjoy

mykidsrmyjoy

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I will second "My Body" as being fantastic for kids in this age range. We got a roll of paper from Amazon and I outlined all of the kids bodies and hung them in our homeschool room. Each week I print an organ or two on cardstock. They color them, cut them out and add them to their body drawings. We are almost finished at this point but it has been super fun. We combine them with read and find out books each week. They have learned so much and have loved this activity.

This is a great idea!
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Hobbes

Hobbes

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I will second "My Body" as being fantastic for kids in this age range. We got a roll of paper from Amazon and I outlined all of the kids bodies and hung them in our homeschool room. Each week I print an organ or two on cardstock. They color them, cut them out and add them to their body drawings. We are almost finished at this point but it has been super fun. We combine them with read and find out books each week. They have learned so much and have loved this activity.

Yep, this is how we did it too. The kids LOVED it.

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Earthmerlin

Earthmerlin

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