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I HATE Earth Science - Help!


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Oh. How I hate Earth Science. Truly. I do.

 

So, my dd14 is a 9th grader. She is not a sciencey person. With my 2 older boys, I sort of let them do earth science on their own using a college textbook and that was fine. But with her, I can't do that.

 

I am using the public school's textbook which they lent to me. Generally, I'm not much of a textbook person, but in 7th grade we used a textbook for science and dd said that was her preferred way to do science, so we are doing that after using (and not liking) Noeo last year.

 

So, I did okay with the Astronomy section of the textbook and the tectonic plates and volcanoes/earthquake stuff. But rocks. It's killing me. I can't think of anything more boring. Silicates. Carbonates. Tetrahedron structures. Ugh. Is there a more interesting way to do this? Right now I'm just reading it to her. I know neither of us are getting anything out of it. Maybe some words will sound familiar if she ever takes an interest in science. But I'm just going to blow through this. I'm planning to take a field trip to a cave and another trip to a coal mine.

 

Any advice? I will not use any Christian material, especially for a subject like earth science. I'm open to off-beat ways of approaching it though. Or maybe just absolution for being a poor science teacher????

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There are so many hands on ways to learn about rocks that you don't need to worry about learning from a dry textbook.

 

Use the textbook to give you the facts but get outside and learn hands on. Go explore a cave or mine, Start a rock collection, Grow crystals, Explore fossils at a museum, make your own Moh's chart, etc. If she likes jewelry try polishing rocks and make your own charms. Get creative and have fun.

 

Science is interesting when you experience it and not just read about it. You don't need to "teach" it, so much as find outlets for her learning. Look around at what your community offers in the way of educational programs. You'll probably find a lot of free resources.

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Use the textbook to give you the facts but get outside and learn hands on. Go explore a cave or mine, Start a rock collection, Grow crystals, Explore fossils at a museum, make your own Moh's chart, etc. If she likes jewelry try polishing rocks and make your own charms. Get creative and have fun.

 

 

But see, this is part of the problem. I have no interest in starting a rock collection or doing a Moh's chart. And the jewelry thing is fun, sort of. (We probably still have the rock polisher from when the boys were little) But I really don't want to be bothered with buying the sand and whatnot to do that (which I don't really think will help her learn anything more about rocks).

 

But I do think the local museum has a rock collection, so maybe between the museum, the cave, and the coal mine we'll be learning enough??

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We've been watching How the Earth Was Made. It's a little over the top sensational at times, but it does have some good information. For a recalcitrant geology student, it might be a better approach than a textbook.

 

It doesn't cover rocks though (at least not in the first season).

Edited by emubird
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Are you doing any labs? Here's a kit that I plan on using in the future. http://www.hometrainingtools.com/rocks-minerals-project-kit/p/RM-RKMINKT/

 

Do you have a state park with walking trails near you? Go and identify structures there. Go through your house and define all the natural elements in your home? Read a novel like Journey to the Center of the Earth. The movie The Core is an interesting one for Earth Science.

 

This time of year even a trip to Lowes and look at gardening rocks could be interesting. You could take a trip to the jewelry store to look at all the nice polished rocks. :D

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The Core has huge problems. Actually some of the debunking of it by geologists are pretty amusing.

 

Oh, I agree. I was suggesting for entertainment, not research. It's sometimes fun to watch movies like those to see that you've actually learned something. We watched The Day after Tomorrow last night. Ds and rifftracked about bad science through part of it.

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