Science question WWYD?

[Parrothead]

I don't like science much so I let it slide many times. Dd has Joy Hakim's Story of Science, all three books. She did book one and part of book two this past year. I had planned on her doing the rest of book two and book three in 8th grade. But toward the end of the year I realized the books had become too simple for her. She isn't learning much and she isn't engaged. I'm sure my lack of interest may be rubbing off.

 

So I have this one final year of middle school to make up for the lack of science to prepare her (and me) for high school level work. I need something engaging for a bright kid. Something that is secular would work best for us. I'm not adverse to buying a kit or small set of books. I'm also not adverse to buying book one of something she can use through high school - like a 5 year science course. Maybe earth science, biology, astronomy, chemistry and physics?

 

Right now her goal in life is to own her own dance studio and teach kids to dance. But I'd really like her to have more of an interest in science than I do.

 

Any thoughts?

[melmichigan]

What about running through the set of PLATO middle school sciences? I think they could be combined in a year for a general science before starting high school level work. DD did them when younger over 18 months but we added textbooks for each and lots of labs to stretch them out.

[lewelma]

Right now her goal in life is to own her own dance studio and teach kids to dance.

 

You have not mentioned that you think she needs breadth, only that you would like her challenged and motivated to learn science. Given this info, I would use her love of dance to help her see the usefulness of science. How about anatomy and physiology of the human body? Dancers need to know about how all the ligaments, muscles, and bones work together. The Biozone modular books are high school level books so that they would challenge her. http://www.biozone.co.nz/modular.php and they have a book on anatomy and physiology in addition to about 10 other books on different topics. I really like them because of the format. Every spread discusses a new idea with a summary, a graph/diagram/photo, and then difficult questions requiring higher level integration of the topics. The site listed above has all the samples, but then you can find most of them on Amazon.

 

HTH

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited May 26, 2012 by lewelma

[Parrothead]

You have not mentioned that you think she needs breadth, only that you would like her challenged and motivated to learn science. Given this info, I would use her love of dance to help her see the usefulness of science. How about anatomy and physiology of the human body? Dancers need to know about how all the ligaments, muscles, and bones work together. The Biozone modular books are high school level books so that they would challenge her. http://www.biozone.co.nz/modular.php and they have a book on anatomy and physiology in addition to about 10 other books on different topics. I really like them because of the format. Every spread discusses a new idea with a summary, a graph/diagram/photo, and then difficult questions requiring higher level integration of the topics. The site listed above has all the samples, but then you can find most of them on Amazon.

 

HTH

 

Ruth in NZ

They look interesting. Maybe.

[lewelma]

They look interesting. Maybe.

 

I see. D*mnation through faint praise. ;)

 

If you give me some more info, I am willing to try again. What does she like? What does she dislike? How much do you have to spend? Hands on or theoretical? Single topic or survey? Curriculum or living books? So far I know you want secular, challenging, and engaging.

 

 

Ruth

Edited May 27, 2012 by lewelma

[Parrothead]

I see. D*mnation through faint praise. ;)

 

If you give me some more info, I am willing to try again. What does she like? What does she dislike? How much do you have to spend? Hands on or theoretical? Single topic or survey? Curriculum or living books? So far I know you want secular, challenging, and engaging.

 

 

Ruth

No, not that. The Biozone does look interesting. But it also seems so different than what I had in mind. Then again, I don't know what would be best. I'm so not a science person. Which was why I thought Story of Science was so neat. It is more of a story than a science book. That is what works for me though.

 

What does she like?

She is a typical girly girl. She likes making jewelry, dancing, fashion, etc. She'd rather do projects. She is rather hands on. On the flip side I hate to make a mess and any science project I've helped with have turned out badly. That means nothing we've done has really worked.

 

What does she dislike?

Science related? I don't know. She is probably game for any of it if I can find something we can get into.

 

How much do you have to spend?

$100

 

Hands on or theoretical?

Hands on but not messy.

 

Single topic or survey?

Single broad topic for the year or for a semester so we could do two topics.

 

Curriculum or living books?

Either. Both.

 

So far I know you want secular, challenging, and engaging.

Something that she will take into high school with her would be helpful. Something that can be built upon.

 

Does any of that help?

[lewelma]

She is a typical girly girl.....She'd rather do projects. She is rather hands on. .... Hands on but not messy.

 

Ok, this is key to your choices. What you are telling me is that she needs to do an outside project - because there is never a mess if it is outside! She learns by doing and she needs to be able to do it independently because you aren't that keen. So chemistry is out because it is messy. So here are a list of topics for her to choose from. Since she thinks from the point of view of hands on, I would have her consider the hands on nature of the topic and then find a book to study rather than vice versa.

 

Physics

Mechanics (hands on would be a basic physics kit (has snap together parts so not messy))

Electronics (hands on would be an electronics kit)

 

Biology

1) cell biology (hands on work would be microscope related)

2) genetics (hands on would be building maps of your family's genetic heritage)

3) botany (hands on obviously here would be working with plants)

4) zoology (hands on would be observing animals out during the day that you can see easily: birds, insects, squirrels, or sea life in the rocky intertidal (I don't know what you have available to you) )

5) ecology (hands on would be looking for relationships between weather, plants, animals, lay of the land, etc - done in forest, desert, ocean, etc)

6) Physiology and anatomy (hands on would be dissections - this would be messy but you could do it outside, probably not good for a girly girl though)

 

Earth Science

1) Astronomy (hands on observing the sky at night)

2) Oceanography (hands on: waves, jetties, sand, etc)

3) Meteorology (hands on understanding weather maps, observing fronts, clouds, dew point)

4) Geology (hands on collecting and categorizing rocks and going on field trips to see road cuts)

5) Environmental science (hands on: pollution, rubbish, researching laws about car exhaust etc.)

 

Ok, there is obviously more out there, but this should get you started. Pick a topic for each term and then pick a book that covers it . She needs to keep a lab notebook and record her research and observations. She really could just make lots of observations over a number of weeks and then draw conclusions. Given that you said no project ever works for you, just make it observational because you can't muck up observations. You could get her to come up with a question and try to answer it. It does not have to be hugely rigorous, but she should work on the project for about 1 hour per week. So she could ask something like, when do bees typically feed? What kind of fertilizer makes plants grow taller? Do different species of birds prefer different species of trees to sit in? Then you just go out and count every week for 2 months, make a table, record your data, graph it, and the draw a conclusion. NOT messy and very hands on. If you want her to, she could write up a paper summarizing what she has learned from her hands on work.

 

If she has no interest in a "project" then she can do microscope work or go through the physics kits and just follow the manual. But I would seriously ask her. Not all kids like to just follow directions; some like to strike out on their own and follow an idea.

 

Hope this was helpful.

 

Ruth

Edited May 27, 2012 by lewelma

[Embassy]

Ok, this is key to your choices. What you are telling me is that she needs to do an outside project - because there is never a mess if it is outside! She learns by doing and she needs to be able to do it independently because you aren't that keen. So chemistry is out because it is messy. So here are a list of topics for her to choose from. Since she thinks from the point of view of hands on, I would have her consider the hands on nature of the topic and then find a book to study rather than vice versa.

 

Physics

Mechanics (hands on would be a basic physics kit (has snap together parts so not messy))

Electronics (hands on would be an electronics kit)

 

Biology

1) cell biology (hands on work would be microscope related)

2) genetics (hands on would be building maps of your family's genetic heritage)

3) botany (hands on obviously here would be working with plants)

4) zoology (hands on would be observing animals out during the day that you can see easily: birds, insects, squirrels, or sea life in the rocky intertidal (I don't know what you have available to you) )

5) ecology (hands on would be looking for relationships between weather, plants, animals, lay of the land, etc - done in forest, desert, ocean, etc)

6) Physiology and anatomy (hands on would be dissections - this would be messy but you could do it outside, probably not good for a girly girl though)

 

Earth Science

1) Astronomy (hands on observing the sky at night)

2) Oceanography (hands on: waves, jetties, sand, etc)

3) Meteorology (hands on understanding weather maps, observing fronts, clouds, dew point)

4) Geology (hands on collecting and categorizing rocks and going on field trips to see road cuts)

5) Environmental science (hands on: pollution, rubbish, researching laws about car exhaust etc.)

 

Ok, there is obviously more out there, but this should get you started. Pick a topic for each term and then pick a book that covers it . She needs to keep a lab notebook and record her research and observations. She really could just make lots of observations over a number of weeks and then draw conclusions. Given that you said no project ever works for you, just make it observational because you can't muck up observations. You could get her to come up with a question and try to answer it. It does not have to be hugely rigorous, but she should work on the project for about 1 hour per week. So she could ask something like, when do bees typically feed? What kind of fertilizer makes plants grow taller? Do different species of birds prefer different species of trees to sit in? Then you just go out and count every week for 2 months, make a table, record your data, graph it, and the draw a conclusion. NOT messy and very hands on. If you want her to, she could write up a paper summarizing what she has learned from her hands on work.

 

If she has no interest in a "project" then she can do microscope work or go through the physics kits and just follow the manual. But I would seriously ask her. Not all kids like to just follow directions; some like to strike out on their own and follow an idea.

 

Hope this was helpful.

 

Ruth

 

Great ideas here!! Thanks for writing all this out!

[Parrothead]

I decided on earth science. I bought Holt's Earth Science book and stumbled upon a companion site for ideas to get science done. I think this will keep us both busy and challenged. I'm also going to incorporate Ruth's suggestions for observations. Those are great ideas.

 

Thank you for all your help Ruth. :grouphug: