Ruth in NZ's amazing science posts - crossposting

[Nan in Mass]

You may have seen this before. I hadn't (not inhabiting the logic stage board). Ruth in NZ's amazing science posts:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/263107-scienceagainsomeone-shoot-me-now/

 

Bumping. And cross posting. Even if the description is for younger children, I think you need to have some of this for older children as well. TWTM describes doing independent projects in high school. You could do the project this way. Or you could do what we did - do this for the first two years of high school and then do textbook based science at the cc (bio, chem, and physics) the last two years at a community college or local uni. (Still can't tell you if that worked well because experiment isn't finished lol.)

 

What an amazing thread! Ruth, where were you 14 years ago when I began homeschooling lol. I would have LOVED a thread like this then. I did wind up doing something very similar to this (mostly because nothing else seemed either to happen or to feel like the real sort of science homeschoolers ought to be able to do), but if I'd had this thread early on, I would have done a much better job.

 

Nan

[joannqn]

I spent the last two days reading all of her posts. They are truly amazing, aren't they. I wish I had read them years ago!

 

That said, our science changed today. Today I read through all of her posts on her 2nd grader's science fair project on science depth. My kids were more interested in that one, so we skipped the longshore transport project posts in the interest of not spending all day reading her posts. I also spent time asking leading questions of my kids on topics we've recently studied to see if they could come to a question that could be studied. Success! The first time we've been able to come up with a possible topic to study. Now I need to figure out how I'm going to afford 9-15 venus fly trap plants.

 

Now to figure out how to accomplish what is expected in high school with Ruth's methods.

[lewelma]

You are really kind, Nan. That was the first thread I really contributed to on this board, and I remember being nervous about sticking my head out so far. Glad you found it helpful.

 

Last year when we were supposed to make our disaster recovery plan, I collected all my major science posts. Some of them are for younger kids, but a bunch are good for the olders. Hope some of these might be interesting to you and others.

 

These four topics would be particularly interesting to parents of high schoolers:

Evaluating usefulness of lab work: posts 1, 2, 3, 14 http://forums.welltr....d.php?t=425932

Using bigfoot documentaries to seriously study pseudoscience post 21 in http://forums.welltr...ge-science-and/

Learning physics and chemistry under the umbrella of astronomy: http://forums.welltr...astronomy-help/

Running scientific investigations (week by week for 10 weeks): posts 1 to 60 http://forums.welltr....d.php?t=361740

 

Resources I use: post 62 and 64 http://forums.welltr....=361740&page=7

Systematic and Interest led at the same time: post 65 http://forums.welltr....=361740&page=7

Goals of scientific education: post 83 http://forums.welltr....=263107&page=9

What output is required: post 2 and 9 http://forums.welltr....d.php?t=412041 and post 8 http://forums.welltr....d.php?t=416977

Shorter examples of scientific investigations: post 47, 48, 54, an 61, 65, 66 (and others on this thread) on http://forums.welltr....=263107&page=5

Easy biology projects http://forums.welltr...e/#entry4459162

Answering questions about evolution http://forums.welltr...-and-grow-fins/

Protecting your student from misinformation about how the scientific method works: post 90 http://forums.welltr....=263107&page=9

Creating a plan for your student. post 22 http://forums.welltr....=414500&page=3 and post 2 http://forums.welltr....d.php?t=416977

What questions to ask yourself and your students to arrive at a plan: posts 4, 13,14,18, 23 - 27 http://forums.welltr...e/#entry4513402; all posts in: http://forums.welltr.../#entry4436605; all posts in http://forums.welltr...h/#entry4431909 (for some reason it is reverting to the last post, just go to post #1)

Studying biology and earth science by way of gorillas and snakes post 16 in http://forums.welltr...ge-science-and/

Mixed ages for earth sci, chemistry, and physics. Reading focused. http://forums.welltr...p-with-science/

[lisabees]

:iagree: Ruth has been an inspiration to many of us here! The timing was perfect for us, as I have a 7th grader. In particular, she has helped me with (link above) "Learning physics and chemistry under the umbrella of astronomy." It has worked wonderfully with our learning and teaching styles.

 

More than anything else, she has given me the encouragement and confidence to let my son lead the way in his new passion. It's a beautiful mixture of rigor and flexibility.

 

And you're right, Nan. She's not so different than you! Ruth would have loved that Breadth vs. Depth thread!! ;)

[Guest lotr]

Nan,

Thanks for the cross-posting. It is absolutely useful,

 

Ruth,

You are amazing! Thanks for the wonderful posts!