Science – Page 4

Moving Beyond The Page: Review

June 24, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

Good literature should inspire deeper learning. I have found this to be true of my daughters. When they read a good book, they are inspired to learn more. While my girls seem to naturally lean towards this tendency my experience full-time in the classroom has shown me not all children do. Moving Beyond the Page provides unique unit studies which provide interdisciplinary learning. For those who follow a delight-directed learning path there are so many options from which to choose!

The two units we reviewed covered Helen Keller and learning about sound. These two units were beautifully constructed to engage young learners in a way that makes the learning which occurs deeper and more comprehensive. The connections made between the science of hearing to Helen Keller’s story will last in my daughter’s mind for a long time.

The Helen Keller online unit is $22.87 and the Sound hard copy unit is $37.99. Both units were for the 7-9 year old age range, and there are materials available for ages 5-14 on the website. Each unit came with the needed literature and any hands-on supplements needed. Units vary in price based on the literature used and supplements which come with the unit. Each unit is intended to last around 1 month of learning and all literature units coincide with science and/or social studies. You can see and print sample curriculum by clicking here. Also available on the website are suggestions for reading and math so in essence you can find all you need to start homeschooling at Moving Beyond the Page!

My daughter really enjoyed reading Who Was Helen Keller? She knew of Helen Keller from a previous biography we read, but this one was much more engaging. I like that as we finished a portion I could check I had completed it online. I would have preferred an option of having the unit as entirely a pdf file as I don’t typically like to have the computer out during our instruction time. The worksheets were available as a pdf, but the lesson instructions were not.

Rose’s favorite activity was at the very beginning. She had to do some everyday tasks blindfolded and ears covered. I also put cotton balls in her ears. Although it wasn’t exactly like being deaf and blind, it gave her a small idea of what it was like for Helen Keller. This was such a fun way to start out the unit!

Another activity we used to learn sign language was a sign language DVD we already owned. We talked about how much harder it was for Helen since she could not see or hear.

So much is included in the unit. Fun activities, spelling, vocabulary and comprehension questions make up an excellent literature study which includes so much to make the learning experience fun!

Rose’s daddy helped her put together the 3D ear model included in the sound unit. This was not something she could have done on her own, but she did enjoy being part of the process.

The activities and information included in the sound unit for science were very enjoyable for my daughter. She learned how the ear works, how sound travels, and more! The hard-copy of this unit was beautifully bound so that just seeing the cover inspired my daughter to want to start learning right away. Also included was a biography about Alexander Graham Bell who we had not studied yet.

There were many worksheets, activities, and experiments included to aid in learning about sound and the human ear. Rose enjoyed making a musical instrument with her friend who had come over for the day. The girls worked diligently to make their homemade guitars just right.

They carried their instruments around all day and played all sorts of great music!

I like the combination of science with literature in order to engage learning. While I don’t typically use a unit study approach, I do like this for our summer studies. I have never combined a literature study with science before and I really liked doing so. It is so very important that my girls understand how all of life is incorporated together, not individual pockets of information. I love the many connections Rose made doing a literature and science study cohesively. .

4D Heart Model from Tedco Toys:Review and giveaway!!!!

June 10, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

I’ve been on the search for high-quality science manipulatives to encourage exploration and curiosity. I don’t follow a science curriculum during the school-year because my daughters are blessed to take a science class once a week starting in 1st grade. At the same time I don’t want to completely ignore science at home. Therefore I’ve been systematically collecting and searching for good things to encourage their natural curiosity for how things work.

One of the newest items I’ve come across are the 4-D Anatomy Human Anatomy Models from Tedco Toys. Their company motto is, “Where Imagination Has No Boundaries.” I love this! Our house is full of whys these days and much of it centers around science. My girls definitely do not have boundaries on their imagination and I love that the toys from this company are designed to encourage that.

We have put together two 4-D models from Tedco Toys. The first was the human ear and the second the human heart. I say we, but I’ll be honest and tell you my husband is actually the one who put both models together with my daughter as I snapped the pictures. They come with directions and are meant to be a puzzle. The direction booklet also contains and large amount of information to engage with more learning. My oldest daughter is only 7, so putting this together on her own wouldn’t have worked. I believe older students, especially middle school and high school, would be able to manage fine on their own.

Just upon opening the box my daughter was so excited to learn what each piece was for and how it all went together! I love how neatly arranged it is.

My husband did say the only difficult part about following the directions was that some pieces were already put together which wasn’t always indicated on the paper. . The directions are simply pictures so there is an element of problem solving needed to figure out exactly how the pieces fit together.

My daughter enjoyed watching and held some of the pieces for her daddy as they put the models together. She curiously asked all sorts of questions which makes it worth all the hard work!

These are our completed models. It took about 15-20 minutes for my husband to put them together completely and they turned out so beautiful! Unlike other models I have seen the pieces are easily removed for further investigation. This is a unique feature which will certainly provide hours of learning inspired by curiosity.

I also like how the heart opens up. My youngest daughter has an extra pulmonary artery discovered a few months after her birth. While it is a fairly common and minor defect it is something we will keep an eye on as she grows and she should be aware of as she gets older. This will be an excellent tool in explaining the unique feature God has given her.

Would you like to win this beautiful heart model? Tedco Toys is generously donating one to one of my blessed readers! Enter below with the Rafflecopter form below.

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Disclaimer

I received the 4D heart model in exchange for my honest review from Tedco Toys. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.

Wild Cards~Baby Animals Around the World from Birdcage Press: Review

June 7, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

I don’t know if it is because I have all daughters or because it is their age or I am just blessed, but all three of my children are infatuated with everything baby related. Nearly every time they play pretend a baby is involved with the family. They all croon over newborns and label everything as a Mama and baby…even inanimate objects! One of our favorite car games to play at the moment is identifying the names of baby animals I will call out a baby animal name and they have to figure out what the adult version is called. Needless to say we were all excited when we received Wild Cards: Baby Animals Around the World from Birdcage Press.

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Birdcage Press specializes in learning games which an be found in the world’s finest museums covering a variety of topics including science, history, and art. These beautiful cards not only have stunning pictures, but are filled with interesting facts about each animal. Also included is a nice little book with even more information! To say my girls crave knowledge is an understatement. I could hardly tear them away from just reading these cards to play some of the suggested games. For only $10.95 this is a very high quality product. While it is intended for ages 6 and up all three of my girls (7, 5, and 3) enjoyed this set.

The 28-page booklet also includes game ideas to use with the cards. This particular set has 3 pairs of animals from a variety of continents around the world. At the bottom of each card the other two corresponding animals are listed. Each continent represented also has a corresponding color and number for easier matching.

Because there are two of each card go fish and old maid are easily played with this set. However my favorite game we played was reminiscent of rummy. Instead of simply searching for a match, we tried to get a set of animals from the same continent. This was a bigger challenge and was a more unique way to play.

Grace really liked this game although my husband helped her out quite a bit. Our girls have played games of all varieties from the time they were about 15 months old. Sometimes in our laps, sometimes on their own, but always as a family. Grace often plays Go Fish with her sisters and she kept wanting to go that route, but she caught on once she and Daddy matched up a set.

We inherited our love of game playing from our parents and are passing the tradition down to our girls! We’re always on the lookout for something new and unique. Kids games tend to be very similar, but this one was different than any other we have. The only downside was our game went rather slowly…but I can’t complain! The reason it took us forever to finish one game was because the girls couldn’t help but read and discover more about the animals on the cards in their hands!

Here is the proof of the real test of a product. My girls organized this game on their own. Beth asked if anyone wanted to play the Baby Animal Game, they got out their beanbag chairs, and played without us. While the girls enjoy games, they don’t typically play without us. It was fun to Rose and Beth help Grace along and see the have a good time making memories!

Check out more reviews of this and other products from Bird Cage Press below from my Crewmates!

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Big Book of Earth and Sky: Review

May 14, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

I typically don’t teach science in our homeschool because we utilize a learning center which provides classes for homeschoolers. One of those classes is science and it is incredibly thorough and advanced in what they learn. I do, however, like to provide my girls with science resources so they can explore on their own terms. We love looking up information when we have a question and I want to provide materials which point my girls to God as the Creator.

The Big Book of Earth and Sky from Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing Group, by Bodie Hodge and Dr. Carolyn Reeves (View her website here!) grabbed my girls’ attention as soon as I opened it! I put it on a shelf intending to leave it there until I had a chance to look at it with them, but I kept finding one or another reading it and learning on their own. The gigantic, colorful poster/book immediately draws the students (and teacher!) into curiosity mode. The illustrations are beautiful and written content is concise and clear.

By the time I started using this with my daughters I was happy to discover that a teacher’s guide had been published. You can purchase this separately or go follow the link to download it for free. While there are many ways this book can be used and incorporated into your current studies, I like having the teacher’s guide to give me a starting point. This guide includes a section on a variety of topics and provides a glossary of words for each topic as well as suggested activities. The topics included are caves, oceans, meteorology and paleontology. The book is designed to be a springboard for learning and the teacher’s guide greatly aids this process. There are also corresponding charts for students to fill in as you study. My oldest two really enjoyed this part!

If I had the space I would have hung it up on the wall with the land starting at the floor. You can watch the video below to see how this works. I don’t have a good spot to do this, so we stretched the entire book and I thought it would be fun to show how it compares to the height of my girls. They all thought this was fun, but Grace especially got a kick out of it. She’s at the bottom with the biggest smile of the three! The top of the chart starts with the uppermost layers of the atmosphere. It then systematically moves through meteorological and geological information all the way to the earth’s core.

I printed out my teacher’s guide and made the girls their own packets to study with. I used the same picture from the teacher’s guide to make the cover. Beth especially liked this because she felt very grown up having her very own packet to complete.

We started at the top with the layers of the earth’s atmosphere. One of the reasons so many of my friends give for why they couldn’t homeschool is because they aren’t smart enough. While I think each family must choose their own educational course, I try to encourage them that they don’t have to know everything. Wonderful resources like this are available so we can learn alongside one another. I’m sure at some point I had to learn the layers of the atmosphere during my education, but they didn’t stick. I loved how not only were the layers labeled in a vivid way, but they also included the types of things you would find in that layer. Our local children’s museum has a wonderful hands-on weather exhibit. I plan to take this with us the next time so we can look at some of the information along with the displays!

We moved a little farther down and took a look at the mountain zones. We live in the area of North Carolina known as the Piedmont, or foothills. We had a wonderful conversation about our location and how that relates to our family who lives in the mountains of North Carolina. Beth loved that there was a snow zone. The girls love snow even though we don’t see it very often!

The last area we looked at (on this day!) was the core of the earth. Rose studied this in her science class and told us lots of information she had already learned, which inspired Beth to become more interested in reading more on the page. You can see that this folds up nicely so if you don’t have a large floor space it is still easily usable and enjoyable.

This is a fabulous resource with a years-worth or more of curriculum ideas. For me, the best part is I know I can trust what is written within these pages to engage and enlighten my girls while staying within our beliefs that all living things were created by God within a literal 1-week period. I know this makes our family in the minority within our culture and I am forever grateful to New Leaf Publishing for providing amazing resources like this one to teach my girls.

Read the book release blog here and take some time to watch this fun video to see even more of The Big Book of Earth and Sky!

You can read more reviews here!

Disclaimer

I received The Big Book of Earth and Sky in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.

Field Trip: Museum of Life and Science and Giveaway!

April 15, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

When I started homeschooling last year it wasn’t expected, I felt an incredible amount of pressure to get everything in, and all my glorious ideas of field trips flew out the window. I kept a mental list of field trips…the only thing is that nothing ever got checked off the list. Then I decided we’d do field trips on Fridays so we could have something to look forward to each week…which lasted one week. It isn’t that I didn’t like field trips, but things started coming up, or they came down with colds…I’m sure you understand and could probably add to the list!

One of the best ways I found to fit field trips in more frequently is by looking locally. No matter where you live there are opportunities for experiential learning through field trips. We are blessed to have a variety of museums close enough for a day-trip that doesn’t leave us completely wiped out. One of those is the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC, a hands-on science museum which explores mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry and so much more!

In all honesty hands-on doesn’t even begin to do it justice. I remember visiting this museum when I was a child and I loved it every time. Some of my favorite exhibits are even still there! Still, no matter how much I loved it as a kid, seeing this through the eyes of my children brings me joy in such a different way. Their wonderment of discovery seems even greater than my memories.

The aerospace and weather exhibits have been here for years. Instead of “hands” off signs, children are encouraged to touch and experience all they see. Even the space ship which Enos (the second chimpanzee in space) rode in is available for everyone to see and touch. The girls love this area and I love all the history from our own space program represented here.

Also located inside are wonderful exhibits of animals native to the area. The girls really enjoy the variety and I like that everything is behind glass!

Rose really enjoyed Flip It, Fold It, Figure It Out upstairs. Intricate examples of origami inspires visitors to try their own creations!

Also inside are examples of animal jaws along with a display of how a variety of animals eat. Grace really liked the shark jaw!

Outside are the barnyard animals, which I sadly have to avoid! My husband is used to this though due to my hay allergy. Still, the kids see goats, sheep, rabbits, donkeys, owls, and many more.

Just past the barnyard animals is the Insectarium and the Magic Wings Butterfly House. While I’m not a huge fan of the insectarium, I could stay in the butterfly house all day! The insecterium houses a variety of amazing insects, but again I’m thrilled they are behind glass…mostly! There is one particular spider which I was told did not stray from its habitat, usually. My husband likes it, but not me!

The butterfly house is amazing…unbelievably amazing! Butterflies are everywhere, filling the warm air with beauty you don’t usually see this up close. If you are fortunate, butterflies will land on you or your clothes. Young butterflies are released twice a day and kids can seen them up close as they flutter away. The variety of flowers and butterflies provide endless opportunities for photographers, experienced or just beginning like me! This is easily my favorite part of the museum.

Beth loves the Dinosaur Trail. Beautifully crafted dinosaur statues line a walkway. Kids can see, touch, and climb on life-size dinos!

Other things we didn’t experience because of time! Younger kids have an indoor play area, the outdoor playground provides endless amounts of fun, train rides occur every 30 minutes, when the warm weather comes Into the Mist is a great way to cool off, and special events run throughout the year! On April 20 the Shark Tooth Hunt begins!

You can bring your own lunch to enjoy in the picnic area, but you can also buy yummy treats at the Sprout Cafe. We all enjoyed the variety of food which was healthy, filling, and oh-so-good!

Sometimes field trips take a lot of planning and preparation. The Museum of Life and Science needs none of this. You can spend as much or as little time in whatever areas that interest you and your children more. We arranged our visit just as we finished up Rose’s astronomy unit. There is so much to see and experience a single day to visit may not cover everything. We ended our visit by purchasing a year-long pass!

Now for a give-away! The Museum of Life and Science has generously donated a 1-day-family pass for a giveaway! There are several ways to enter. Take time to visit their website and tell me your favorite exhibit!

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Family Friendly: 10

Kids Engagement: 10

Likelihood to return: 10 (We may just come weekly!)

Disclaimer

We received admission for our family to The Museum of Life and Science in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.

A Journey Through Learning Astronomy and Space

March 30, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

I really love our regular curriculum and so do my girls, but every once in a while we need a change of pace! I especially like unit studies because it gives my girls a chance to explore their own interests. It also is nice to deviate from the normal every once in a while to keep things exciting. A Journey Through Learning provides a creative way for the learning process. Through their lapbooks and unit studies students of all ages can explore subjects that interest them and create a scrap-book style resource for use of review at a later date. The Review Crew had an opportunity to review the following products in a variety of age ranges:
LapbooksLetters, Numbers and Shapes (ages 3-5)
The Earth (grades 1-4)
Knights and Castles (grades 2-7)Unit Study
Astronomy and Space (grades 2-7)
Unlike most studies I’ve seen online there are several ways these can be purchased. Purchasing the downloadable versions ($13.00) is the easiest for me, but this is not the most convenient for everyone. The lapbooks are also available in a CD ($14.00), a printed version ($20.00) and an assembled version ($29.00). The unit studies also come in a a CD ($14.00) and a printed version ($21.00). I showed the different options we were given for review to Rose who immediately jumped at the chance to study more about Astronomy! My lover of science couldn’t wait to start learning as much as she could. This study is laid out very simply. The instruction pages are clear and enable both parent and student to begin immediately with little preparation.

Included is a list of books and other resources to enhance the study are included. Rose opted to focus on one book for further study called The Astronomy Book. It has a biblical focus which fits in with our family’s beliefs. The nice thing about unit studies is you can choose which resources best reflects your individual family’s values and beliefs as well as choosing appropriate reading levels if you are teaching different ages. Another beauty of unit studies is that multiple ages can study together.

Each topic within the unit has a light page of reading which give interesting facts and information. Following this is a page for students to write down what they learned from what they just read. Rose particularly liked learning about the various planets. I have the order of the planets hanging in our schoolroom and she enjoyed finding out more about them.

Another section she thoroughly enjoyed was the study of the moon. She liked coloring in the phases of the moon although at first she flipped them all around. We fixed that easily enough and I really feel that she may know them better now. Isn’t there a saying that we learn more from our mistakes?

By far Rose’s favorite part was making a diorama of space. She started by painting the inside of a shoebox black. She decided to leave the lid attached to make a title for it. Rose loves being creative with her studies. This was a perfect project for my budding artist!

Included in the study is a page of decorations for the diorama which represent various objects in space which we studied. Rose was so sweet to let her little sister, Beth, help her decorate! I let them use some glitter glue to color the items before cutting them out. I asked if she wanted to color them before adding the glitter, but glitter was enough!

Here is her finished project!

We finished our unit off with a trip to our local children’s museum. It has a very nice display of space travel. Many artifacts, including the craft which Enos, one of the chimps who flew to space before man traveled, orbited the earth. This was such a fun way to close off our study!

If you are in the market for a unit study or lapbook this is a great company to explore. Take a look at the history of who they are. I love that it was two moms, just like me, who had a vision for something and worked hard through trials and adversity.

Don’t forget to check out the reviews from the rest of the Crew!

Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day (Apologia) Review

February 8, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

I have heard such wonderful things about Apologia Educational Resources for all ages and I was thrilled when the opportunity to review one of their courses came my way! My girls love all things science: books, experiments, projects, research…for them it is pure pleasure. I have always been partial to learning about the seas. I, like so many other kids, thought being a marine biologist would be the coolest job ever when I was a kid.

What is it about the ocean that captivates us? The creatures are mysterious on many levels. They have different qualities than us land lubbers! Just the fact that they breathe underwater is enough to make most kids dream of having fins of their own!

There are two items needed for a year’s worth of science curriculum: The text book and a notebooking journal for all students participating. The text book costs $39.00 and the notebooking journals are $24.00 each. One of the beautiful parts of this curriculum is it covers a wide age range including kindergarten through 6th grade. For a high quality science curriculum which keeps God as the Creator, I feel this price is well worth it.

I was impressed with the simplicity of Apologia’s Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. The introduction contains a simple, thorough explanation of the logic behind the scope and sequence as well as a complete breakdown of the types of activities the students will work on with each unit. The Step-by-Step guide follows giving further clarification of how to teach this course. Finally you find a list of supplies followed by the table of contents. I also love how often Scripture is incorporated into each lesson.

The photographs for each section are stunning. They captivated my daughter at first glance! For each chapter students complete experiments, narration (retelling what the story is about in the students’ own words), notebook pages, and a continuing ocean box project. Some days I read aloud to Rose and other days she read to herself. She did well with comprehension both ways.

Rose’s favorite chapter so far was the one on sharks and rays. I read this particular chapter aloud to her this week and she loved coloring the pages at the beginning of the chapter. I’m not sure why, but I have found my girls all listen better when I read if their minds are engaged in drawing or doing another quiet activity at the same time. I thought it was great she only colored while I read and took several days to finish it.

One of my favorite aspects of this curriculum is picking out favorite facts and recording them in the Junior Notebooking Journal. Rose loves science and she really loved recording what she found in her journal. She has gone back to look at her facts several times! I also love the extra cursive practice she is getting! Rose would tell me the facts, I wrote them in cursive on the board, then she copied them into her journal.

I’m slowly working towards Rose doing all of her work in cursive. This was a great transition step into more cursive. I was so proud of how neat her cursive is already! After the students finish their facts they get to draw a picture of what they are studying in the box beside the facts. Rose loves this because, as I said before, she loves art. I love how this science course incorporates so many different aspects of learning.

The older students have their own notebook. This is great for families who want to combine their children for learning science. This won’t work for us for a few years, but when all of my girls are old enough I really like this option.

I have heard wonderful things about Apologia, and I was not disappointed! This is an excellent science curriculum grounded in Scripture. To see more reviews of this great curriculum click the link below!

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.