~Amanda~ Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 I feel like I've focused my last few weeks on research and buying curriculum on history and language arts; I keep going "oh yeah, science!" and then I get side tracked by history/language arts again. I've looked into the RS4K, but I'm thinking I like the idea of a "nonbook" science class, where we do experiements etc on day 1 and then summary writing etc on day 2. My kids are in 4th and 5th grade, and this is my first year homeschooling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 There's alot out there for you! A few questions though, so that the hive can better help you. Do you want something from a secular or Christian perspective? Do you want a program that follows the 4 year rotation suggested in the WTM, where you study one topic a year or do you want to study multiple topics in a year? Is price a factor, if so, what price range do you want to be in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Amanda~ Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 I would prefer my science to be secular; I'm teaching about creation in history. I'm torn; I really would love to do "life science" this year, but I keep finding a lot of curriculum that have 4 areas of science in the yearly plan. Since my kids are so close in grade/age, I was planning on including them both in the lesson plan. Price is a factor for me, I can't get a kit that costs 200, even if it has everything included in it. I have the "creep Crawlies" book, but I'm looking for something a bit more diverse than JUST bugs. I don't mind if we do mostly experiments; and biology is something that I love (which is why its so weird that I've left it out of my obsessing) so in my mind I imagine something similar to my college books, where you start out with an introductory chemistry crash course, just to understand the basics (atom, proton, neutron, etc) and then go into cells, and then body systems... then again, all my biologies in college were A&P based, so I don't know how to do a life science that includes taxonomy and animals and plants and all that jazz... LOL was that rambly enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 There are three main options when it comes to classical style biology for the grammar stage... Real Science Elemental Science NOEO Science All of these would be considered secular. You may also want to check out Nebel's Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding. Hope that gets you started on your research! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 My boys are going to be in 4th and 5th. I would say you can cross Real Science right off the list it is to simple for those ages. We are doing lessons I planned for Biology this year. Weeks 1-7 Invertebrates Porifera Cnidarians Platyhelminthes Nematodes Annelids Mollusks Echinoderms [*]Chordates Urochodates Cephalochordates Vertebrates Agnatha Bony fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Mammals [*]Week 8 Scientific Method Microscopy [*]Week 9-10 Life Characteristics Functions [*]Classification [*]Week 11-14 Cell Parts Organization Cellular respiration Cellular reproduction Week 15-16 Bacteria Viruses Prokaryotes [*]Week 17-19 Protists Protozoa Slime molds [*]Week 20 Fungi [*]Week 21-25 Plants Photosynthesis [*]Week 26-28 All Anatomy Topics [*]Week 29-30 Genetics Evolution [*]Week 31-32 Ecology Food chains Biomes [*]Conservation [*]Week 33-37 Arthropods Arachnids Crustaceans Insects Myrapoda Weeks 1-7 and 33-37 are out of order because I want to be able to find hydras and crickets and whatever. We are also making a quick trip through anatomy. We have lots of hands on planned- we are going to try to find examples of almost all the phylums that live around here. We are going to try to wear out our microscope. We are doing lots of disections of things we find (frogs, fish, worms). We have owl pellets and visible man models and have been collecting all kinds of plants to have available when we get there. Today we found liverworts, ferns with spores, and mosses we are hoping to keep alive in a terrarium (with a slime mold). Even if they don't stay alive when we get to plants this winter I am sure they will remember something. For plants we are doing TOPS Radishes and Corn and Beans. And they should be over just about the time we need the counter and lights to start our garden seedlings next winter. I am hoping to get some nature study done everyweek, as well as some kind of writing-lab report, nicely done nature journal, report, ect. I am using the filing system for our Biology plans so as I find something fun for any section I can add it to that folder. I am sure I have rambled on enough;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Amanda~ Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 God bless you this looks like what I want. I've already bookmarked the owl pellets, lol, and I've talked DH into getting a microscope; I've debated about actually dissecting stuff; I'm sure my DS would love it, but not sure about DD Lol, although she does say she wants to be a vet, so might as well get started early. anything else you want to share, I'm all ears :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 I set up a hanging file box with files for each of the sections, so one says Weeks 1-7 Inverts + Verts The next says Week 8 Sci Method + Microscope and so on. In each folder I started gathering the things I had/wanted to do for each week. Finding labs, worksheets, books, ect and sticking them in there or sticking them in the back of the file box if they are too big. There is also a weekly plan for each week. I attached what it looks like--just a simple spreadsheet. As an example this is what is in my Protists folder, weeks 17-19. First the three weekly plans TOPS Radish book (because we are going to start it in week 18) Protist lab (we are going to soak some hay and see what turns up) Algae lab (pond water in jars with fertilizer to see which grows faster) Water mold lab (set raw hamburger in water and see what grows) On the plans for Week 17 Beth (10th grade)-pages to read from her text book each day All- the algae lab, the water mold lab, notes to check the algae, and a note to make sure our slime mold is still alive Boys (usually just a list of topics so I can find books to read)-protists, protozoa, amoeba, paramecium, slime molds, Euglena, algae blank row at bottom-this is where my notes for nature study go On the last week of each folder they all have a more formal paper due. Short reports for the boys and a formal lab report for Beth. On the other weeks we will keep interesting notes and drawings in our nature journal. Like I said before, we are doing very little human anatomy. Beth did it this year and we have had enough. And we'd like more time for creepy crawlies;) Is there anything specific you have questions about? Biology weeks blank.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Amanda~ Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 I think what I need is just a good reference for experimenting ideas; like where did you get the idea to put the stuff in jars and see what grows? I can't think that up on my own LOL. I am thinking I'm going to get This book for my science "spine" so to speak to give me a jumping off point, and then hopefully treat it like history and just find stuff to read about as we come to it, but I would like to have an experiment, even a small one, to do each week to "show how things work" so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 I am a book person, so I started going through books. Many of our plant and animal books had little "try this" sections in them. I checked out any kind of expirement books our library had. I bought a stack of cheap bio books from our librarys used book store. When I found one I liked I copied it and put it in the correct folder. Just to see what happens I just searched Google for- protist labs middle school Some of the first sites have similar labs http://www.middleschoolscience.com/life.htm many of these labs look like what we are doing http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Biology/BIO0048.html- this is almost exactly the protozoa lab I have planned http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/ponddip/index.html some collecting techniques http://eduref.org/cgi-bin/lessons.cgi/Science/Biology has jello cell model http://www.lessonplansinc.com/biology_lesson_plans.php There are lots out there- find some that look fun! I also have been keeping a running supply list. When I put something in a folder, I write on the list anything we might not usually have available and have been trying to get it all gathered up (and in one box) before school starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Amanda~ Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 Thank you so much for your help. I tend to get overwhelmed with it all; I have a million bookmarks, and I don't even remember why half of them are marked. Same with my "wish list" on Amazon; I don't even remember why I wanted the book anymore lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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