lisabees Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 And how many units would I need for January thru June? Oh - and if there is one that is NOT to be missed, you can throw that idea out there too! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 (edited) :DKarenAnne is your go-to for GEMS. I have Ocean Currents, Only One Ocean and Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect. There are several others on my list but this is what we are working on right now. The Global Warming book I have is 20 years old, so I do pull in up-to-date figures. Some activities are hard to do without a group, but I picked up my copy for cheap and we have been able to do some fun hands-on work that makes what we are doing with our Thames and Kosmos Energy House much clearer. We are going to take a break on it and move to the waste disposal unit in Ocean Currents. I would love it if Lawrence Hall revised some of these guides for homeschoolers. They are a terrific resource. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2179253#post2179253 #9 http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221518 #8 and #11 http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2125493#post2125493 #11 http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2117718#post2117718 #3 - not GEMS but good advice regarding boys and science with bangs and explosions:D http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81625&highlight=GEMS #6 http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173967&highlight=lawrence+hall #5 Looking for more. I suspect the best info came in pm's that I printed for my notebook and then deleted. I'll check and see what I can find. Edited November 20, 2010 by swimmermom3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allearia Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 One we have integrates study of evolution with the study of earth science and weather called Life Through Time. I thought it was great to see how earth science and life interact, though it is on the biology side of things. It covered plate tectonics and changes in atmosphere throughout earth's history. We didn't do all the activities however but I am hoping to get a group together sometime and do it right. Obviously only for those who study evolution :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 Life Through Time was indeed amazing, I agree. This single unit took us about eight leisurely weeks, with lots of the recommended reading added in and some field trips to the Natural History Museum (fossils), pet stores (lizards and reptiles), and the zoo. Earth Science favorites include two clear prize-takers when I used them in a co-op: Plate Tectonics (well worth every minute of collecting materials to make model volcanoes) and River Cutters. Both are based on models, observation, and data collecting. For both of these we also went on local geological field trips to see strata formation, dig fossils, tour an old gold mine, and walk a dry river bed. Dd and I also did The Real Reason For the Seasons (we combined this with a half-mile model of the solar system -- earth was a marble -- that I found on the internet), Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect. Earth, Moon, and Stars was good and fairly quick. I really was taken with Invisible Universe, about electromagnetic waves; but dd didn't much care for it for some reasons. I thought it was a fantastic hands-on, tangible way to learn about a really complicated topic that often kids ONLY encounter in textbooks and have no idea about how it all happens and is used around them. How many to take you through six months depends both on how many hours you devote per week to science and on how you usually approach it as a subject -- whether you have a "strictly business" attitude and just plow through stuff, or whether you like to take your time, repeat things to understand them better, find related books, etc. If you go the second route, especially if you use either Life Through Time or Plate Tectonics, and if you let your child do much of the prep work of making the volcano models or setting up and changing the display in Life Through Time -- the books have teachers doing all that ahead of time since the typical scenario is in a school where they don't have time for kids to do this prep work -- you would only need four or maybe five guides. If you tend to have a quicker pace, you'd need more. But it is very worth while to slow down and go through the activities mindfully and thoughtfully rather than skipping some because they look easy it's deceptive -- what you do may be simple but what you think about what you're doing is not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted November 20, 2010 Author Share Posted November 20, 2010 Have I told you lately that I love you all? :D Lisa, thank you for all of those wonderful KarenAnne links! Sounds like Life Through Time, Plate Tectonics, River Cutters, and Earth, Moon and Stars are going to work! We want to spend plenty of time on science and this sounds wonderful to ds and me. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 Lisa, I was thinking that Plate Tectonics would go well with The Teaching Company's How the Earth Works. About the links, that was just bumping you until KarenAnne showed us.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted November 20, 2010 Author Share Posted November 20, 2010 (edited) Lisa, I was thinking that Plate Tectonics would go well with The Teaching Company's How the Earth Works. About the links, that was just bumping you until KarenAnne showed us.:D Thanks for the suggestion, Lisa. I was also secretly hoping KarenAnne would respond! Hey KarenAnne, were your ears ringing?;) Edited November 20, 2010 by lisabees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 I can't wait to try GEMS. I've had my eye on it for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 I love the look of GEMS. I was panting over the one that deals with evolution. But, it was intimidating as well. Every time I look at them it just seems like so. muc. work. to put the thing together. It is really more geared for the classroom right? I am worried I will do all this work,collecting stuff, and then won't really be able to do half of it because it is used by many kids together. It is just my son and I doing science while little brother looks on. Am I totally off base? I would so much love to be wrong about this. Please point out the error of my ways! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted November 20, 2010 Author Share Posted November 20, 2010 (edited) I love the look of GEMS. I was panting over the one that deals with evolution. But, it was intimidating as well. Every time I look at them it just seems like so. muc. work. to put the thing together. It is really more geared for the classroom right? I am worried I will do all this work,collecting stuff, and then won't really be able to do half of it because it is used by many kids together. It is just my son and I doing science while little brother looks on. Am I totally off base? I would so much love to be wrong about this. Please point out the error of my ways! Hopefully someone will chime in, but I do think it is a lot of work to gather the supplies. It is just ds and I also. Wanna join us? ;) Edited November 20, 2010 by lisabees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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