Science-do you prefer studying 1 topic deeply, or several topically?

[Meadowlark]

Science. I am thinking about 2 very different methods for teaching science. One being studying 1-2 subjects deeply over the course of the entire year, and then obviously not really reviewing after that because the next year you'd move onto another topic (think MP or Apologia).  The other method being studying a wide variety of topics, reviewing every year at a deeper level (think BJU).  What are your thoughts/experiences about which is more effective for true retention? 

And finally, what if YOU don't care or want to do the topic? For example, although I see the value in it-I have ZERO interest in studying insects for an entire year!

[HomeAgain]

I like to take a term or semester approach.  We studied botany all last spring/summer because that was a good time to do it.  It would not have been as effective in the middle of winter.  By fall, we moved on to more of physics.  We did a unit of astronomy when it got dark really early because my kid didn't have to stay up late to see what we were talking about.  The year before my kid did animal studies and BFSU, alternating lessons as needed.

I'm planning for next year.  We're going to start with a general life science that moves from cells to plants to animals, a good progression over the 18 weeks I'm devoting to it.  For the semester after we're going to focus on earth science.  We'll do 18 weeks of physical science at the beginning of 5th and then finish up with whatever we didn't hit with BFSU vol. 2 for the last semester.

I figure there's enough time in middle and high school to do year long studies.  In elementary I want to take advantage of connecting the seasons and literature to the concepts studied.

[Arcadia]

My kids and I prefer wide so several topics a year. My husband prefers more focus and less spread so one topic per year would be his choice. My husband is a specialist while I am a generalist when it comes to jobs/careers. 

[wendyroo]

We study one field of science for an entire semester, but in that time we cover many topics.

Next semester we are all diving into anatomy.  That will be the cohesive thread that ties together our study, but within that we will be covering a wide range of topics. 

The 4 and 6 year olds will be focusing on major body systems, health and fitness, human body experiments and art activities (feeling their pulse, looking at skin and hair under a microscope, making "x-rays" by gluing q-tips onto black paper, etc). 

The 8 and 10 year olds will be learning much more in-depth information about each body system.  They will also spend some time learning about the history of medicine, the amazing case of Phineas Gage, puberty, and read Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure.

[8filltheheart]

For elementary and middle school, we take the whatever book the kid wants to read approach. This yr my 3rd grader has read everything from books about wolves to birds to View from an Oak, to currently 18 stink bugs, stick bugs, and stag beetles.  

We take that approach yr after yr. In high school, they jump into regular texts. Works here.

[RenaInTexas]

My sons, while in PS, did the wide topics approach and once I brought them home, we did the one-subject in depth approach. They love science. Their retention was definitely better with the one-topic deeply approach. 

When we did Apologia Zoology, we did all three books in one-year - so we didn't stay on one animal / animal group for long. We watched lots of youtube videos and documentaries that year - it was a pretty fun experience. We especially loved the Titus the Gorilla documentary. We also did drawings, habitat models, and the world map of every animal we studied.

We are sticking with the one-topic approach due to retention and depth of knowledge. 

[Sarah0000]

DS spends five minutes daily on Daily Science which covers the basics of a breadth of topics. Our general science read alouds are also breadth.

The science that I actually prepare and coordinate is usually a one to three month long in depth study of one topic. I do not use one publisher or method but pick and choose based on what's available for that topic.

I have BFSU for a framework of what to cover.

[Janeway]

Both. If my child were IN school, my child would be following a topical curriculum. But, also, at home, my child would likely be loving something at the time and would be totally diving in to that in a deep concentrated study. My children have usually been obsessed with astronomy or geology so we have tons of stuff for that. But I have really never had less than 2 science programs going on at a time.

[PeterPan]

My kids are 10 years apart, and kid 1 we did like you're saying, with apologia, sometimes BJU, topical studies, themes for the year, etc. It was fun, very hands-on. Now comes dc2 and common core. I'm actually kind of a fan of common core, like not everything but the thought processes, the critical thinking. I've got my ds doing common core based workbooks for science and I LIKE them! The language, the critical thinking, the inclusion of reading and writing are fabulous.

So I guess I'd be in the neither camp. It's so easy to access basic knowledge know that spending a ton of time memorizing doesn't totally make sense to me. But we do a lot of general science reading and science viewing that I guess would accomplish the same thing. I'm just concerned that common core is raising the *skill* level of how we need to interact with material now.

[8filltheheart]

8 hours ago, PeterPan said:

. I'm just concerned that common core is raising the *skill* level of how we need to interact with material now.

Having 2 adult children who are in STEM fields (chemE and physics), I cannot fathom how "interacting" with science topics during elementary and middle school will ultimately raise any necessary "skill" level beyond what historically scientists have needed.  CC did not reinvent science. 

[hollyhock2]

I do whatever my kids want. I have one who has studied all things biology - and birds especially - for the past 3 years at least. The next one prefers all sorts of topics - this year he's done astronomy, geology and chemistry. I let them pick how they want to do it. As far as not wanting to study a particular branch of science, I totally understand not wanting to study insects or whatever. My solution to that problem is to have the kids do science independently. If they're too young for independent science, I would just save that topic for when they're older.

I personally think the best retention happens when kids are really interested in the topic they are studying.

[SporkUK]

In the last few years, we've done both - usually one day a week we do general science that uses a book with a variety of science topics or covers a range of science skills and the rest we do in-depth on a topic of interest for several weeks or more at a time - we spent several months last year doing anatomy and body science, sometimes spending a week up to a couple of months on different body systems. We're in the middle of a break while shifting onto a new topic after our spring break later this month.