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Science - interest led or stick to a plan?


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I have a whole schedule of topics worked out for Science. We use RSO but I try to plan them more according to BFSU - integrating all the different disciplines in a logical way to show how they work together. So far this year we've done Rocks and Minerals, and Magnets. Next on the agenda are States of Matter, Weather, Seasons/Copernicus, and Habitats.

 

My son wants to do the Human Body, which we did a few years ago but he doesn't remember. He accidentally swallowed some water "down the wrong pipe" which got him fascinated in the esophagus/trachea and how they work.

 

I always kind of liked the idea of interest led but my kids never really came up with topics before. I also like the idea of it being connected rather than random topics.

 

If you do interest led science, how do you make sure they have the background they need for a topic? Or do you not worry about it, especially at the young elementary ages my kids are at?

 

If we take the tangent off to Human body, do we then come back to the plan or continue on from there?

 

I have all the stuff I would need to do either, except a few art/project supplies.

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If you do interest led science, how do you make sure they have the background they need for a topic? Or do you not worry about it, especially at the young elementary ages my kids are at?

 

If we take the tangent off to Human body, do we then come back to the plan or continue on from there?

 

 

For interest led science, the kids can find out and read up about all the background they need for the topic. They can basically start with zero knowledge and work from there.

 

It depends on whether your child comes up with another interest led topic after the Human Body topic. Human Body itself can take a whole semester depending on how much you want to cover. If your child is done with the human body topic and did not come up with a new interest led topic, I would just fall back on the plan.

 

ETA:

the circulation game is interesting

http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/homeschool-freedownloads/lifesciences-games/humanbody.php

 

my boys like the Once Upon a Time......Life on youtube http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time..._Life

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We do interest led within a framework. The cool thing about science is that it's all related. So seeing what's on your list of what you want to cover next, I would take the trachea/esophagus bunny trail, follow it to a human body study, then move on to animal anatomy, which leads easily into habitat, which leads to seasons, which leads to weather, which takes you directly to states of matter. The longer I do this, the easier it gets to think of it this way. ETA: I am also getting pretty skilled at covertly manipulating their path...er...I mean planting seeds of inquiry. I drop a question or "isn't that funny" and the kids ears perk up sometimes. Sometimes not, but that's life.

 

Oh, and if kids are interested enough in a bunny trail to follow it, they will provide whatever background info they lack. Just take them to the library and provide a bit of support and scaffolding. It's one of the biggest benefits of interest led learning. Interest leads them to learn more.

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IMO "human body" is a great place to begin following interest-led rabbit trails, and it is easy to "seed" with ideas for further interdisciplinary science study as pp suggests. I often say something like, "huh. I never noticed that xyz before. I wonder..." and the kids are off to the races.

 

A few ideas brainstormed for paths you could go, off the top of my head:

 

Study of human teeth and how they change as we age --> Do other animals' teeth do the same thing? Why the similarities/differences?

Learning about nutrition and importance of minerals like salt --> What is salt and where does it come from? How do we get it out of the earth?

Learning about oxygen and breathing --> How do humans travel in space where there is no oxygen? Or underwater? Or climb mountains?

Muscles --> Strongest/fastest men and women on the planet and what makes them different? Are they similar or different from other animals? How could you get stronger or faster?

Hearing --> Can you hear a dog whistle? Why can the dog hear it, but you can't?

 

Anyway just a few ideas. I think the human body is a great place to begin practicing the ideas of being curious about yourself and the world and how they interact, which is imo the #1 place to begin to have a successful interest-led science habits of study.

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For before high school, my kids' science education is purely interest led. They read non-fiction books on science topics, watch documentaries and video lectures, may dabble a bit with a textbook. They can frequently switch topics.

I see the pre-high school years as the time to lay a foundation of a broad general knowledge. In high school, I follow a systematic plan.

 

With kids as little as yours, I would not worry about "having a background" or retention or systematic coverage. If your son wants to learn about the Human body, let him learn about the human body until his interest dies.

you could spark interest by participating in nature programs at nature centers, going to a science museum, visiting a planetarium. If none are available, you could regularly watch science documentaries, or get library books.

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We are doing BFSU(following the flow chart) and my 8yo really wants to study the human body also. We won't finish BFSU this year, so I am planning to stop about 3 weeks before we finish school for the year and do a unit study on the human body. We will pick up where we left off in BFSU after our summer break. That will probably take us through the first half of next year, and I still need to decide if we are doing astronomy or chemistry for the rest of the year.

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I follow the WTM 4 year cycle, and if my kids want to learn about some random topic, they are free to do so in addition to our scheduled lessons. Right now we are studying astronomy in science but they've got some other books out from the library (I see a book on tigers and one on the history of computing).

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For before high school, my kids' science education is purely interest led. They read non-fiction books on science topics, watch documentaries and video lectures, may dabble a bit with a textbook. They can frequently switch topics.

I see the pre-high school years as the time to lay a foundation of a broad general knowledge. In high school, I follow a systematic plan.

 

With kids as little as yours, I would not worry about "having a background" or retention or systematic coverage. If your son wants to learn about the Human body, let him learn about the human body until his interest dies.

you could spark interest by participating in nature programs at nature centers, going to a science museum, visiting a planetarium. If none are available, you could regularly watch science documentaries, or get library books.

 

 

This is similar to the approach we take. Science is definitely interest-led. I don't worry about gaps or "background." Heresy, but I don't worry about directed experiments until high school level courses. Library books, trade books like these http://www.nsta.org/publications/ostb/ or these http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_13?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=scientist+in+the+field+series&sprefix=scientist+in+%2Caps%2C234&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ascientist+in+the+field+series. (There are literally 1000s of options.)

 

This approach does provide students with all they need to succeed as future STEM students and professionals (even without a single science test or vocab list until high school level courses. ;) )

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Reading posts like regentrude and 8filltheheart's make me feel a touch more confident in the way we handle science. Each year I have an area of scientific study that I strew information on and choose non-fiction reading related to. How deep they go is totally up to the students. They also are constantly investigating and learning about the topics that interest them. Beyond that we have animal care and the garden. I plan to ramp up into more formal studies around 7th or 8th grade.

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I totally game up planning science. I had my whole year experiment supplies and all ready to go. 1st lesson he knew 100% of what I wanted to cover "because I read it". Obviously he does fine on his own for now. So we are now science I unschoolers. Lots of library books and documentaries. He follows his interest. I throw in topics I want his to know. Everyone is happy here. Except when I think back to the time I spent organizing "my" perfect plan. :)

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We follow a path, but we also do a good bit of interest led on the side. However, my kids are way too easy. If I introduce something, they usually are as interested in it as anything else. If they had sparks about some things and were bored by what we were doing I would definitely change it up.

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Farrar - that's how my kids usually are. Whatever I introduce they are as interested in it as they would be in anything else. This is pretty much the first time I've had a request. I could see them increasing now that ds is older and doing a lot more reading on his own. He also asked to learn about Charles Dickens after reading one of the Magic Tree House books.

 

Thank you for all the replies. Looks like we are going to learn about the human body. :-)

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