5th Grade Biology WTM way??

[TXMary2]

If you are following the WTM way, what text(s) did you use for Biology in 5th grade? I am trying to stay on track with WTM science, but I want to use the Apologia Elementary texts. I would need to take 2 years to get through the three zoology books, botany and the anatomy books. I was thinking of starting in 4th grade next school year, but then we would miss Physics. Any ideas?

[2_girls_mommy]

I have always done science the WTM way. I used a lot of the books WTM suggests as spines in grades 1-4, doing all the notebooking and lab sheets and narrations for our writing. I had the notebooks set up the way described each year.

 

When I got to 5th grade, after 2 yrs of nothing but experiments every week and relying on so many library books, I just couldn't do WTM science exactly as written for 5th. It is all kits, all experiments, with no guide.

 

I at first chose Memoria Press 5th grade, which does a 6 wk. study of birds and then the rest of the year on the History of Medicine. I figured that would cover human body, and I purchased their 6th grade biology book, Exploring the World of Biology to go along. My plan was to match up chapters from it to ones in the medicine book and the bird chapter with the bird unit, etc. I bought the Usborne book of the Microscope and living books like, Exploring the World in a Drop of Water to round it out, plus some owl pellets to dissect.

 

We did the bird unit at home as planned, and then co-op started. They offered a 5th and up science class using a Prentice Hall Science Explorers science text that covers biology heavily. So in the end, we did that. They are covering so much there, and it requires a lot of reading and writing. And they do all of the experiments there (and that is what I was so tired of!) that is has worked out great. She still does the reading of the books I bought, but now as a supplement to that course, instead of as our main texts. I am not requiring much written work from my stuff, since she is doing it all with the Explorers book. It is so thorough, I may keep it and use it again w/my next logic stage biology child when she gets there.

 

I don't know how to use all of the Apologia books, if you want to do them all. My youngest is doing the Flying Creatures of the 5th day this year for her grammar stage science. Since it doesn't cover any human body or plants, I plan to do small units of that with her over Christmas break and during summer before moving onto to Earth Science w/both next year.

 

I am probably no help.

[TXMary2]

I was just perusing the WTM book again and saw a paragraph addressing the idea that in the grammar stage it isn't as important to follow the science sequence as it is in the older years. I am wondering if I should just do a quick unit on Physics over the summer before 4th grade and then just do biology over 4th and 5th so we can do all the Apologia elementary books that cover biology topics. Or I could do the unthinkable and use science textbooks like Abeka or Pearson - surely they would cover all the topics over two years and I could incorporate notebooking, outlining and projects. Sigh. Decisions, decisions.

[2_girls_mommy]

I agree. AFter doing WTM for so many years, I see how much they learned with us being pretty laid back about science. We actually only did physics for half of 4th grade year. We did Chemistry for a year and a half. So for physics all I formally got in was a long unit on simple machines and the rest of the year on forces, and lots of field trips to our science museum. My child still amazes me with how much she knows about these things :)

 

I don't think it will hurt you too much to change things up a little. And I have to say, I am kind of liking my dd's science text book. There is a lot of info packed in there, but the living books round it out. We are not slaves to all of the questions and tests.

 

There is only a short paragraph about certain scientists. It is not enough to really cement these guys into her consciousness. But if I then give her a biography to read on one, she is good. And she is still getting some hands on at her co-op class, without us doing the 5th grade WTM which would have her doing experiments weekly or biweekly. I needed a break from that this year.