Help me figure out a science rotaton

[Walking-Iris]

I really like the WTM idea of science rotation. For the first time I feel more organized about science since I've adopted this rotation idea. Except I don't really like the 4 year plan. Dh and I were talking about it, and we feel that a year devoted to chemistry and another year devoted to physics was a bit much. Maybe I'm wrong, but I tried it this year and our interest in science just sort of fizzled out halfway through doing "just" physical science activities, especially after a 3rd grade year devoted to chemistry and other physical science activities.

 

I like the idea of a 3 year rotation better. Life science, Earth science, Physical Science and then repeat. The only thing about this is I would actually prefer my children's Life Science to start a second cycle in 5th grade, not 4th. So I'm thinking I need or want something for science for a 4th grade and an 8th grade year. My high school education was two years biology, one anatomy, one chemistry. I don't know what a homeschool HS science rotation looks like, or if public HS has changed quite a bit. But I'm only thinking ahead to 8th grade.

 

So if you could add a science topic into the science rotation (for 4th grade and 8th grade) that is not Life, Earth, Chem or Physics focused, but something...else...what would it be?

 

Maybe a General Science review year? Or a personal research year? Pick a particular sub-topic and explore it in depth? Or history of science, such as Joy Hakim's books?

 

Can someone help me think this through?

[l&r'smom]

I am probably not qualified to give an answer, since this is our first official year of homeschooling. But, personally, I would go with something interest led. Mine are real animal lovers, so it would be a no-brainer to go into that a little deeper by doing a year on zoology. If you have a stargazer, plan a year of just astronomy. Storm chaser? Then hone your future meteorologist. You get the idea. If you think a whole year on just one topic will not hold their interest, divide the year into thirds. Then pick one subtopic from each of the previous years and dig a little deeper.

[Hunter]

I like the rotation in the ORIGINAL Doubleday hardback What Your _ Grader Needs to Know series grades 1-6. Earth, chemistry and physics are all lumped into Physical Sciences. There are 2 science strands each year: a Life Science strand and a Physical Science strand. According to the author I can read and discuss 3 books a year in 20 minutes a day. The science is a small percentage of the books, so I can easily read the science sections aloud in 2 years and provide supplementary books and activities if I have time. I really like switching back and forth between the 2 strands each book.

[Hunter]

Have you seem the Easy Peasy rotation?

 

Year 1 — Biology, Ancient History, Matthew and historical books of the Bible

Year 2 — Animals, Early American History, Mark and New Testament minus the other gospels and Revelation

Year 3 — Earth Science, Geography and Cultures, Luke and Psalms and Proverbs

Year 4 — Physics and Chemistry, 20th Century History, John and Prophets

[Eagle]

Inventors and the process of design and invention?

[Lori D.]

Since your DC are young, how about a series of 3-6 week interest-led units? Here's a list of ideas:

 

Life Sciences

- anatomy (human body)

- zoology (animal kingdom)

- botany (plant kingdom

- marine biology (sea kingdom)

- ecology

 

Earth Sciences

- geology (rocks, formations, earth layers, tectonics...)

- geography (physical aspects of Earth, landforms, measuring & mapping, latitude/longitude,

- biomes ("climate zones": desert, arctic, jungle, prairie, forest, mountain, pond, seashore...)

- meteorology (weather)

- astronomy

- oceanography (tides, currents, waves, geology of sea floor, plate tectonics...)

 

Chemistry

- matter (states, mass, density, elements, atoms & molecules, periodic table, compounds......)

- reactions (thermodynamics, equilibrium, catalysts )

- solutions/mixtures (water, solubility, suspensions, acid & base, pH...)

- plant chemistry (photosynthesis, how people use plants, organic chemistry overview...)

- biochemistry (people chemistry) (food for energy, metabolism, cycles, DNA, proteins, enzymes...)

- kitchen chemistry (edible reactions, solutions, mixtures, thermodynamics, etc.)

 

Physics

- light/sound

- energy/forces/motion

- air (pressure) and water (adhesion & cohesion, floating & sinking, density, surface tension)

- electricity/magnetism

- electronics/computers

- nuclear energy/forces

- simple machines

- rocketry/flight

- building structures/engineering

 

 

Other short unit ideas

- Science Fair project

- 4-H: join an animal, plant, or rocketry project

- First Aid & CPR class and certification

- the scientific method

- unit on paleontology and fossils

- unit on nutrition

- unit on health

- unit on use of microscope

- unit on famous scientists or inventors

- unit on safety and emergencies and how to respond

- unit on worm composting, hydroponics, or horticulture (Community Gardens??)

[edeemarie]

Some great suggestions! I could have posted the same questions. I keep debating combining chemistry/ physics too because there seems to be so much more material in the other 2 years. I will be listening in:)

[NittanyJen]

My kids are heading into what would have been 5th and 7th if we were actually in public school. I call it our 3rd year of homeschooling and we have no grades :)

 

Here is our science plan:

 

2 years ago: chemistry (plus earth science wrapped in-- rocks and minerals, etc)

this year wrapping up over the summer: biology (with chem topics built in) (plus ecology)(plus previews of physics where appropriate-- ie joint movements). Finishing up with First Aid and Outdoor survival for kids.

next year: physics (plus astronomy built in, will incorporate chem and bio where appropriate)

following year: chemistry again. Will tie from astronomy, end with beginning o-chem.

(Freshman year for older DS): serious biology, likely using Campbell and Reese

(Sophomore year for older DS): serious physics, calculus based)

(Junior year for older DS, freshman year for younger): AP or college level Chemistry course for older DS

Senior year: Student's choice: either 2 college courses, self-designed interest courses, or an AP course of choice.

 

(younger DS follows, course level difficulty 2 years behind).

 

If you're starting in the supposed "5th grade year," you could do the 3 year course cycle and use the last year before rhetoric stage as well for a year of self-directed or choice study.

 

One way we keep the year of focused study from getting stale is by keeping the sciences integrated to some degree-- chemistry appears in biology, as does physics, and so on. First Aid and outdoor survival are natural add-ons to bio. Rocks and minerals and parts of astronomy work well with chem. Astronomy works well with physics, as do parts of bio and chem, depending on age of the student and math ability.

[Farrar]

Here's what we've done. We started with physics in first grade. Perfect first grade subject because it's all about how things move and work and is very hands on. Then we did chemistry and earth science in second grade. We focused on states of matter and so forth with chemistry and then focused on geology with earth science. We did units of astronomy with our co-op, which covered that. This year we have done biology - we've covered botony, genetics, ecology and now zoology. Next year, we'll do human biology and probably a unit on inventions and engineering.

 

Here's what I WISH we had done... Not tried to do a rotation and followed the flow chart of topics for BFSU. I don't regret our science at all really. I think we've done really well. BUT... I think it would have been better if I had mixed it up more. I think doing the sciences separately is fine, but doing them in a more connected way would have been better. But I didn't realize that until we had already covered pretty much all of physics and chemistry. So... live and learn.

[Lori D.]

Here's what I WISH we had done... Not tried to do a rotation and followed the flow chart of topics for BFSU.

 

 

 

Would that flow chart be something that could be linked? Pretty please? :D

[Walking-Iris]

I like the rotation in the ORIGINAL Doubleday hardback What Your _ Grader Needs to Know series grades 1-6.

 

I like those books too. I've been using them for history this year. But I don't feel comfortable using them alone for a stretch of years. I ignore the grade on the cover and use all books in one go. But I could see trying them for a quick overview/review type year.

 

Inventors and the process of design and invention?

 

Good idea, I also thought technology and//or a history of science year.

 

Since your DC are young, how about a series of 3-6 week interest-led units? Here's a list of ideas:

 

Life Sciences

- anatomy (human body)

- zoology (animal kingdom)

- botany (plant kingdom

- marine biology (sea kingdom)

- ecology

 

Earth Sciences

- geology (rocks, formations, earth layers, tectonics...)

- geography (physical aspects of Earth, landforms, measuring & mapping, latitude/longitude,

- biomes ("climate zones": desert, arctic, jungle, prairie, forest, mountain, pond, seashore...)

- meteorology (weather)

- astronomy

- oceanography (tides, currents, waves, geology of sea floor, plate tectonics...)

 

Chemistry

- matter (states, mass, density, elements, atoms & molecules, periodic table, compounds......)

- reactions (thermodynamics, equilibrium, catalysts )

- solutions/mixtures (water, solubility, suspensions, acid & base, pH...)

- plant chemistry (photosynthesis, how people use plants, organic chemistry overview...)

- biochemistry (people chemistry) (food for energy, metabolism, cycles, DNA, proteins, enzymes...)

- kitchen chemistry (edible reactions, solutions, mixtures, thermodynamics, etc.)

 

Physics

- light/sound

- energy/forces/motion

- air (pressure) and water (adhesion & cohesion, floating & sinking, density, surface tension)

- electricity/magnetism

- electronics/computers

- nuclear energy/forces

- simple machines

- rocketry/flight

- building structures/engineering

 

 

Other short unit ideas

- Science Fair project

- 4-H: join an animal, plant, or rocketry project

- First Aid & CPR class and certification

- the scientific method

- unit on paleontology and fossils

- unit on nutrition

- unit on health

- unit on use of microscope

- unit on famous scientists or inventors

- unit on safety and emergencies and how to respond

- unit on worm composting, hydroponics, or horticulture (Community Gardens??)

 

Good ideas.

 

I really like the idea of a geography year as science. So far we have done geography in a historical/cultural sense, not in a physical geography sense. I'm also thinking cosmology/evolution.

 

I really don't feel comfortable mixing the topics up within a year. I tried that and it really got us no where fast. I'm much more organized if I know what we're focusing on for the year. I have a biology unit and then the rest of the year devoted to environmental science/ecology planned for next year. My 1st grader will be doing RSO Life and nature study. We're also going to focus in on birds (ornithology) and bugs (entomology). My 5th grader will likely do that too. We tend to do science together. But I chose ecology for him because he's a bit of a "tree hugger."

[Five More Minutes]

 

 

 

Would that flow chart be something that could be linked? Pretty please? :D

 

The best flow chart I have seen is available on the BFSU support forums. Someone took the time to collate all 3 levels into a single file, and provided page numbers for the BFSU books.

[Farrar]

 

 

Would that flow chart be something that could be linked? Pretty please? :D

 

These are the ones that Momto2C's has on her blog:

 

http://fromtherootsup.blogspot.com/2011/10/bfsu-flowcharts.html

 

But there's another one in the BFSU book itself that's a bit less straightforward.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

History of science is my vote. That's what I have planned for my oldest next year.

[Walking-Iris]

 

These are the ones that Momto2C's has on her blog:

 

http://fromtherootsu...flowcharts.html

 

But there's another one in the BFSU book itself that's a bit less straightforward.

 

 

I've had a chance to look through a BFSU book. So tempting.

[Lori D.]

 

These are the ones that Momto2C's has on her blog:

 

http://fromtherootsu...flowcharts.html

 

But there's another one in the BFSU book itself that's a bit less straightforward.

 

 

Wow! Those are super! Thanks so much! :)

[MinivanMom]

In your situation I would be tempted to do something very different like spending a year studying History of Science.

 

I also find the emphasis on physical science to be too much for younger kids, especially since there are only so many physics and chemistry topics that can be studied without more advanced math. I also feel like my kids have had a more natural interest in the easily observable parts of the natural world at younger ages, so I use a modified rotation that gives more emphasis to biology instead. We spend two full years on biology and then a full year on earth and space science. Our rotation is:

 

Year 1: Biology - focusing on basic biology, habitats, and zoology

Year 2: Biology - focusing on human anatomy, nutrition, and botany

Year 3: Physical Science - focusing on earth science and astronomy

Year 4: Physical Science - focusing on engineering, chemistry, and physics.

[Farrar]

I also find the emphasis on physical science to be too much for younger kids, especially since there are only so many physics and chemistry topics that can be studied without more advanced math.

 

 

Chemistry is tough, but my kids thought physics was a blast when they were in first grade, so I disagree with this wholeheartedly. You're not doing any math, so it's all about concepts. And the questions of why things move the way they do and how they work had so many more intuitive, hands-on experiments than any other topic in elementary science that I don't know why it's not done more, actually. My kids definitely remember and refer to concepts like friction and gravity and Newton's laws from that year. Also, things like waves and sound were fun to play around with and there were so many fun ways to explore them. Oh, and rainbows! And light and mirrors. Really, I have heard people say this about physics and kids before - very much dismissing the need to bother with physics without the math, but I don't get that perspective at all. It was by far our best science year. We've found biology, which is usually done first, to be a much tougher topic and much more advanced with a lot less accessible hands on things to do - at least beyond the "observe" level. So it requires more patience and detail oriented thinking.

[Five More Minutes]

Like others, I found that when I tried to do several months of Chemistry without a break, our interest fizzled, but the same was true when we tried animal study WTM-style. I liked the idea of the WTM rotation -- it seemed so organized and clean -- but it just wouldn't work for me or my girls.

 

So I'm doing what was mentioned earlier in this thread -- using BFSU as an organizer for the topics that we work through. The BFSU flow chart is flexible enough to allow us to jump to topics of interest, or hang out in areas where my girls develop a fascination. I really like it that it reminds me of how to make connections from one topic to the next.

[Hunter]

 

Chemistry is tough, but my kids thought physics was a blast when they were in first grade, so I disagree with this wholeheartedly. You're not doing any math, so it's all about concepts. And the questions of why things move the way they do and how they work had so many more intuitive, hands-on experiments than any other topic in elementary science that I don't know why it's not done more, actually. My kids definitely remember and refer to concepts like friction and gravity and Newton's laws from that year. Also, things like waves and sound were fun to play around with and there were so many fun ways to explore them. Oh, and rainbows! And light and mirrors. Really, I have heard people say this about physics and kids before - very much dismissing the need to bother with physics without the math, but I don't get that perspective at all. It was by far our best science year. We've found biology, which is usually done first, to be a much tougher topic and much more advanced with a lot less accessible hands on things to do - at least beyond the "observe" level. So it requires more patience and detail oriented thinking.

 

 

I've been rereading Science Matters this week. The books starts with physics. This author and some others say all science starts with physics and at least this author is presenting physics without math.

 

I too do not understand a lot of what is said about science and especially high school science. Over the decades I have come to some semi-conclusions about science that I am not able to articulate well or defend, but...I... don't follow a typical scope and sequence.

 

When it comes to science either I'm :biggrinjester: or others are spending way too much time :banghead: :willy_nilly: :smash: .

 

Science Matters says that "DOING science is clearly distinct from USING science", and that "scientific literacy is going to seem rather minimal, perhaps even totally inadequate, to some scholars".

 

I had previously put away Science Matters, because it focused so much on new topics, that it didn't cover the basics of scientific literacy, in my opinion. It felt top heavy to me. Rereading it AFTER using the ORIGINAL What Your _ Grader Needs to Know, I have a new appreciation for it's usefulness to me, COMBINED with What Your _ Grader Needs to Know.

 

I first read Science Matters around 2001, I think, and it articulated so well, what I was beginning to conclude on my own.

[Lori D.]

 

Chemistry is tough, but my kids thought physics was a blast when they were in first grade, so I disagree with this wholeheartedly. You're not doing any math, so it's all about concepts. And the questions of why things move the way they do and how they work had so many more intuitive, hands-on experiments than any other topic in elementary science that I don't know why it's not done more, actually. My kids definitely remember and refer to concepts like friction and gravity and Newton's laws from that year. Also, things like waves and sound were fun to play around with and there were so many fun ways to explore them. Oh, and rainbows! And light and mirrors. Really, I have heard people say this about physics and kids before - very much dismissing the need to bother with physics without the math, but I don't get that perspective at all. It was by far our best science year. We've found biology, which is usually done first, to be a much tougher topic and much more advanced with a lot less accessible hands on things to do - at least beyond the "observe" level. So it requires more patience and detail oriented thinking.

 

 

I found this to be true for us, too. Physics is SO visual and hands-on that the concepts really stick. We ended up spending 2 years on physics topics when DSs were grades 3/4 and 4/5 -- and there was NO overlap from two years earlier when doing a whole year of earth science topics...

 

DSs LOVED all the Bill Nye physics topic shows, and a little later when Mythbusters came out, so MANY of the shows are on physics topics, done with a lot of fun and high-interest.

[Farrar]

Science Matters says that "DOING science is clearly distinct from USING science", and that "scientific literacy is going to seem rather minimal, perhaps even totally inadequate, to some scholars".

 

 

You know, this is really true. However, it's very... oh, there's a word for this, but I can't remember it. When you conclude something can't be done perfectly, so you don't bother to do it at all. Anyway, I think a lot of people say things like, "Well, I wouldn't bother doing physics without math," or, "If you can't do such and such a level of labs, why even bother teaching that science." Ugh. So defeatist and a bit elitist to my thinking. I have no idea if my kids will ever be engineers or scientists, but I do know that they will need to be able to evaluate scientific claims to be good citizens and to do that, you need a level of basic understanding. And if you believe in the classical idea of pegs, those bits of knowledge are pegs that you start building when they're young. And if you believe in fostering inquiry and curiosity, then I don't think there's any better way to do it than through science.

[Farrar]

Oh, and I second that Mythbusters is the best thing for physics ever!

[Walking-Iris]

I agree. I think Physical Science and Chem are easy for young kids to figure out. I do have a strong focus on the chem/physics side of things for early learning. My dd (who will be 3 soon) loves science. I plan on continuing using a Physical Science Montessori album with her. And she and my Kinder have been doing Mudpies to Magnets activities together all year, which is a mix of topics. For those early years I sort of hit every topic, but focus on the Life science and Physical science. Which is why I like Life science in more depth in 1st grade, because by then we would be tired of chem/physics.

 

But I found this year that trying to keep that Physical Science interest going with my oldest was a bit much.

 

Let me clarify that my thoughts on the rotation are for my planning benefit. If I know what we are focusing on then it helps me plan and gather materials. In looking at my family's interests, it seems we would be happier doing less physics. My kid's interests lie more in the nature study/biology realm.

 

However I do think physical science is important at first. Just a brief glance at the Montessori album for 2-6 year olds table of contents. Matter (liquid,solid, gas), Elasticity/Plasticity/Rigidity, Light, Energy,Electricity, Magnets, Air/Water, Sound, Gravity, Simple Machines.

 

Some of these topics we've covered this year using Mudpies and some I'l continue with her. I really think that it's easy to this with little kids. No math needed. A 2 year old is capable of understanding these concepts.

 

I think my plan will look like this: Early learning--Physical Science/nature study,1st--Life, 2nd --Earth, 3rd--Physical Science (chem/physics), 4th--interest-led and History/Biography. I tend to pick sub-topics within to focus on. For example my 5th grader will do Environmental Science. (Populations/Communities, Ecosystems/Biomes) That will require some discussion from other topics however. (Resources, Land/Water/Air, Energy--which is easily earth, chem, and physics as well)

 

Also I have to say that regardless of what I plan, the other topics show up anyway due to what my kids become interested with on their own.as well. We definitely follow rabbit trails. But having the science plan helps *me* gather materials and books. So my science is integrated in spite of using the rotation. But it helps me plan. And I *need* science to be planned.