Hunter Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I've been doing some planning, and as I was searching for something else, I stumbled on a getting a pet fish lesson plan. It set me thinking. I get so locked into the idea of a text and a lab. A field trip and journaling are about as alternative as I think. What ideas do you all have for science that people might not think of as science? I feel like I need to hang a list on the wall for awhile that says, "Hey! Dummy! Try This Instead! 1. Bring home pets, houseplants and other LIVING things to LIVE with us. Does anyone care to add to the Hey! Dummy! Try This Instead! list? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Just being really observant when outside can be amazingly insightful. Is that the sort of encouragement you'd like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs.m Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Making homemade yogurt from a culture was interesting and led to some further bacteria study. A lot of questions ranging from why isn't it the same as when we leave a cup of milk out for a couple days? :ack2: to what is a good bacteria? And then we moved on to antibiotics as well. My DD was about 9 when we studied this. It was one of very unexpected bunny trails. I wish there would be more! (is this what you are looking for?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Not exactly text so maybe it falls into what you are looking for... We get the Young Scientists Club kits shipped every month and do a month-long study of whatever they send us. I get library books and DVDs/Netflix, research for additional experiments, and find field trips based on whatever kit shows up. Some months are better than others but it at least makes us do science (and not just get stuck on one topic, like the half a year we spent on the solar system and astronomy, lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Pip Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Maintain a garden. We all hate it but do it anyway. We all "ew!" and moan over all the nasty little buggers that we dig up as we uproot the weeds. Sometimes we accidentally dig up a good plant and destroy its root system in the process, which leads to discussion about how much you can destroy a plant and still have it grow (hint: destroying its entire leaves or roots and it is a goner). We grab big clumps of grass and weeds and discuss how plants help hold the soil together so that erosion doesn't happen. We also see the same process every year: plant the seed, a plant sprouts up, and then flowers - flowers lead to the fruit/veggie. Talk about the difference between a fruit and a veggie. Talk about the differences between veggies that grow underground, those that grow on a stalk, those that grow in a bush, those that grow on a vine, those that grow on a tree... OK, I hadn't realized how educational our garden is! Thanks, Hunter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atozmom Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Not exactly text so maybe it falls into what you are looking for... We get the Young Scientists Club kits shipped every month and do a month-long study of whatever they send us. I get library books and DVDs/Netflix, research for additional experiments, and find field trips based on whatever kit shows up. Some months are better than others but it at least makes us do science (and not just get stuck on one topic, like the half a year we spent on the solar system and astronomy, lol). These look like fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Nature Study and keeping a nature journal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Birdwatching. Make some bird feeders and grab your bird book and watch. And check out http://www.birds.cornell.edu/homestudy Make a compost bin. Cook! http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2010/kitchen-chemistry-100-cool-food-science-experiments-for-kids-and-cooks/ Collect insects. Have an ant or worm farm. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0756661668/ref=wms_ohs_product_img Watch the night sky. Lie on the grass or use a telescope. Read about science in the news. Get a magazine subscription or go to a kids' news site and read the science section. Listen to Science Friday on NPR. :001_smile: You could do all of this without the materials in the links, of course. I just couldn't help myself! ;) My fave is having them watch The Happy Scientist videos and then do the experiments. Engaging and easy enough for dummies!! But not what you had in mind for this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Collections! Shell collection, rock collection, pressed flowers, pinecones, etc. Let the kids choose things on outings over time and keep them in boxes. Periodically pull them out to admire and when you do, have fun sorting them different ways like color, shape, number of petals etc. Maybe even have a loupe nearby when you do this to compare small details. Sketchbooks for drawing them and field guides for identification if you feel fancy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 (edited) These are excellent! Feel free to assign a number to your ideas and let this be OUR list if you like? 1. Bring home pets, houseplants and other LIVING things to LIVE with us. 2. COLLECT nonliving things and bring them home to SORT and categorize. 3. Go OUTSIDE 4. Go outside and OBSERVE 5. Use magnifiers. 6. Go outside and DRAW 7. Look UP and look DOWN 8. Birdwatch 9. Cook 10. Ferment something 11. Garden and grow things 12. Watch the news 13. Watch DVDs 14. Subscribe to a science magazine 15. Read REAL books 16. Use and make kits 17. Color 18. Make a compost bin If I'm missing anything already posted, someone please add it. Edited June 19, 2012 by Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 (edited) Listen to Science Friday on NPR. :001_smile: :confused: What is that? Edited June 19, 2012 by Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 19. Recycle trash into something useful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paintedlady Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Be curious. I think the greatest minds we know about were all very curious people who wanted to figure something out. I try to use a curriculum to guide us but use our collective curiosity to take us down other roads. We have a garden and the process of figuring out what works and what doesn't is endlessly interesting, both in the vegetable garden and the flower garden. My kids help me plant trees, compost, weed, water, etc... And we talk about the hows & why's of what we're doing. We have an terrarium full of baby praying mantises and flightless fruit flies (for them to eat) on our dining room table right now because the kids were curious and interested in what they were like. We take our field guides and a notebook to the dog park with us and the kids try to figure out what all the different kinds of trees are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Be curious. I think the greatest minds we know about were all very curious people who wanted to figure something out. I try to use a curriculum to guide us but use our collective curiosity to take us down other roads. We have a garden and the process of figuring out what works and what doesn't is endlessly interesting, both in the vegetable garden and the flower garden. My kids help me plant trees, compost, weed, water, etc... And we talk about the hows & why's of what we're doing. We have an terrarium full of baby praying mantises and flightless fruit flies (for them to eat) on our dining room table right now because the kids were curious and interested in what they were like. We take our field guides and a notebook to the dog park with us and the kids try to figure out what all the different kinds of trees are. 20. Be curious. 21. Research 22. Talk about science. 23. Use field guides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpskowski Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Photo documenting. We are documenting a robin's nest. We have from June 5th to last night. (We take our picture at 6:00 pm.) We have eggs to where I'm afraid one of the babies is going to fall out! It's amazing to see how fast they grow. I have the pictures on a board and everyday, a few times a day, the dc look and see how amazing it is. We are also photo documenting a wetland preserve by us that just under went mitigation this winter. We are photographing every two weeks to see how quickly the area comes back. It look like a bulldozed dirt field at the beginning of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 In our house the guiding principals of science study are be a 2 year old and ask "why" the kids are forever asking me why something is/does/looks like etc what it does. It gives us jumping points to learn more. Observation skills are a must. when it comes to science be a 2 yr old. Often we go through life without really stopping to see what is truely around us. Be the 2 year old that stops in it's tracks to watch those ants on the the sidewalk. Be the 2 yr old that chases that butterfly. Be the 2 year old that points out every birdy, cloud, flower etc. Some of our most exciting discoveries in nature study at home have been just from opening our eyes. The golden eagle eating a carcass on the side of the road. The double rainbow we saw during a sun shower etc. Like a 2 year old we also "fill our pockets", we gather and press flowers, catch and release bugs, bring home feathers, pine cones, pretty rocks, shells etc. Terrariums, cages, aquariums, pavilions etc are often filled with something the kids have found and wanted to keep for observation for a while. Things we could not bring home we try to photograph and then journal about. When it comes to things not related to nature study(though almost everything can be tied back into nature study), like the 2 yr old we touch. Science is a hands on subject, so we play, we break, we touch, we learn. Building kits, dismantling broken appliances etc for a study of electrical circuits for example. There is so much you can learn in the field of science by being a 2 yr old in your approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 :confused: What is that? A two hour long radio program about science http://sciencefriday.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I have found it useful to visit the same place throughout the year. You observe seasonal changes, plant growth, animal growth, and so on. I probably got the idea to follow through on this from Mater Amabilis' section on geography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Grow sunflowers because they grow to 6 feet within just months, so it's easier for kids to measure and not have to wait forever. Grow butterfly bushes because they grow from a foot tall to 6 feet tall within months and attract numerous butterflies and bees. Those are two things we are doing this summer, cheap, fast, and easy. Oh, we did grow rows of carrots a couple of years ago. Very delightful but I had another motive- to remove any toxins from the soil. Not sure if it worked because I never did a test. Anyway, we didn't eat them, but they grow so fast and it's a lot of fun to pull them out and study the roots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 24. take pictures 25. touch things 26. ScienceFriday on the radio 27. Fill out a phenology chart 28. Plant fast growing things 29. Plant things that attract other things 30. Test soil 31. Test water 32. Clean up toxins and trash This is turning out to be an awesome list! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I think observing shadows throughout the day is a good one. And learning to approximate how much time till sunset. (Howtoons is kind of neat.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 (edited) 33. Moon Watch 32. Sun Watch 33. Observe and measure shadows Howtoons is good stuff! Yesterday was the new moon. Today is the Summer Solstice. 34. Keep track of the solstices and equinoxes and plan celebrations. 35. Play with color 36. Eat healthy 37. Float things in the bathtub Edited June 19, 2012 by Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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