Science Experiment: Plants & Photosynthesis

Hands on science is a favorite in our house.  My daughter loves projects and loves bringing her lessons to life with fun experiments. I saved the unit on plants/eco science until spring because that is when we spend a lot of time in the garden and working with different types of plants.

I try and work brainpop in whenever I can because my daughter adores that site.  It makes learning fun and she is always laughing at Moby and his silly antics. :)  

For this experiment, I had my daughter first watch the video on brainpop jr that went with the activity page I wanted her to do. You can view the video and the activity page here.

I thought this experiments was esp. neat because it allows the child to actually see the oxygen being produced by the leaves during their photosynthesis process.

You don't need much for this experiment, which is great when you want to add something fun to your science lesson but don't have time to run to the store for supplies. 

After an hour in the sun, there were tiny bubbles all over! Victoria thought this was so neat and she loved coming outside an hour later to see all the oxygen the leaves she picked had produced. 

{Yes, that's my sad looking basil in the back, it got super cold here the other night and my basil didn't like that one bit! lol}

A few hours later and the leaves were still working their bubble magic. :)

Finish up the experiment by having your child complete the worksheet that goes along with it and you are done! A quick and easy science project that shows off one of the things leaves do best. :)

Today I am linking up to Friday's Nature Table @ The Magic Onions. 

Learning about Teeth!

Learning about teeth was our last unit with the Human Body this year and I saved that one for last because I knew Victoria would love it.  She loves learning about the human body in general but teeth have been really interesting to her since her's are starting to get loose and fall out now.  

We watched some videos and did some projects and worksheets off of brainpop and brainpop jr.  She loved making the Day in the Life of a Tooth comic and was laughing and learning while she watched the short mini videos. She also did some other projects and read books she got at the library as well. 

Next I found another site while I was surfing the web for some more printables and coloring sheets for the teeth unit and stumbled upon Science With Me .  I have looked through a few of the mini units and found quite a good number of them that I know Victoria will love doing.  She loves hands on science with a some reading and lots of color thrown in.  I find that colorful things really spark her interest as well as hands on learning.  She also loves watching science videos too, I think that goes hand in hand with loving to see things she is learning in full color and action. 

I found a teeth unit on Science With Me and thought that it would be perfect wrap up and I loved the two simple diagrams that they had on there as well. 

I printed out the model that they had on your teeth where it named the teeth so that she could look at it and learn what each of her teeth are called.  I then thought, why not take this a step further and use it to document her own teeth's growth?  

She colored in each tooth that she has lost so far and then wrote how old she was when she lost it next to the info on that tooth.  Now she will have this simple running chart to watch her teeth's progress.  

Its always so fun when you can take a lesson and put it not only into perspective for your child but also take it one step further so its on a personal level that they can relate to as well.  

I'm finishing typing up final drafts of some patterns tonight and then I have to weave in the ends of Victoria's Easter shirt, I love how it came out, simple yet beautiful. :)

Periodic Table Learning Activity for Kids

When I think back to high school and learning the periodic table for science class it brings back bad memories of staying up way to late to study and using our teacher given cheat sheets to squeeze in as much information as possible.  I did okay on the test thanks to all my studying and good planning of the real estate on my cheat sheet ;)  But when I look back on it, it def. was not fun.....at all. lol

So when this unit rolled around for Victoria in Science class I was determined to make it fun for her and enjoyable.  The whole month of January is going to be focusing on Elements and Compounds in Science.  We already did a hunt around the house to find things off the periodic table that were in our every day items as an introduction to the subject, Victoria loved running around the house, looking at labels and items and trying to place them with things on the periodic table.  :)

For this activity you will need:

The Periodic Table Elements with Style By Basher Books {Check out your local library for this one}

A good periodic table for references.  I got my printable here: {free}

http://elements.wlonk.com/

A copy of the riddles we used, found here: {free}

 http://www.5orangepotatoes.com/blog/ptoe-activities/

When we started this unit, I had Victoria read the Periodic Table book first before we did anything else.  She loved the funny drawings and the way the elements were explained.  The days following her finishing this book were filled with her pointing out elements in our every day life with lots of excitement.  My plan for making the elements fun for her was def. working out! :)

I found the awesome periodic table printable while searching on Pinterest, I love that site! I have found some great homeschooling stuff on there.   The version I picked to use was the table with photos on it.  I thought that given her age, Victoria would be able to understand and relate better to that one.  They have two download versions, one with photos and one with words.  You can buy the poster sizes from their site as well.  I saved both to my computer for future use when she is in middle/high school science classes. Love free schooling printables!

The riddles I found on another site that has the riddle activity explained to you and offers the free riddle download.  There were a bunch more activities on that site that I want to check out.  Hoping to do a couple of those as well as the others I have planned this month.

Victoria went through and read the riddles, looked at her periodic table and then wrote in her answers.  As a review for each element that was an answer on the riddle activity, I had her re read that page in her book.   She had a blast doing this activity, I am so glad that I found it.  It was right up her alley because she loves jokes and riddles. :)

Victoria would read the question out loud and I would pretend like I didn't know the answer.  The first photo in this group is of her saying "Its potassium Mom!!! Didn't you know that?"  And then bursting into a laughing fit because she really thought I didn't know that one.  Why yes dear daughter, I did know that.  What fun would it be and how much would you learn if I told you the answers before you figured it out? ;)

For other supplemental work we will be using:

Books from our local library

Resources I have here from my curriculum

Brainpop and Brainpop Jr.  {We love these sites!}

I hope everyone is having a good weekend....this next week dance starts back up and my weeks get busy again.  I enjoyed my two weeks off of dance/schooling but I am happy its starting back up because it brings my daughter such joy and happiness. <3

Kids Science {with fun books}

Victoria loves Science BUT she only loves it when its presented in a fun hands on way.  She loves to read about it BUT only when its presented in a fun way with lots of cool photos to look at.  Our first two years of Science I used a textbook.  And I will admit that was not the best for her but I thought at that time that she needed to follow standards to a T.  Then about a year and a half ago I had a moment of ah ha! Thank goodness I did because this past year and a half with Science has been so much fun and I have seen Victoria flourish and find joy in learning Science.

 The way I teach Science still follows state standards BUT I don't use a textbook.  I log on to my school's website over the summer and find out what units Victoria needs to complete for the next school year.  Like for this year we are supposed to cover weather, the solar system, rocks and minerals, health and a few other topics.  The site we have is great because not only does it tell us what subjects to cover, it also tells us what vocab words need to be taught and what main points need to be covered for each topic as well.  I then search online for books I want to use for each topic and for fun experiments and projects we can do as well.  Each unit is  taught by experiments, projects, reading out of library books and using online videos and printables {we love brainpop for this}.

This year we have come across some new science books that I wanted to share because they are great.  The drawings are cute, funny, and totally kid friendly.  They have great information in them and its not too much or too little.  A good amount for young readers and learners.

You can view the books on their site here:

http://basherbooks.com/usa/aboutbooks.html

I am hoping the person who has the music one checked out returns it soon because Victoria has been wanted that one for a few weeks now.  :)

So far Victoria has read through a couple of these.  She loved the Astronomy one and the Periodic Table one.   She has been so keen on them that she actually put about five or six of them on her Christmas list this year!  She loves the color, the pictures and the way the information is presented.  Not to mention they come with cool posters that she can't wait to hang up on her wall. ;)

I have to admit, I love the drawings in this book as well, they just make science more fun.  I wish I had books like this when I was growing up....I think that periodic table one would have really helped me out when test time came around. ;)

Our local library has all of these books in stock and from what most of my friends around here have told me, their libraries carry them as well.

I am not affiliated with this company in any way, just wanted to share our love for these books and how they make learning fun. :)

Astronomy for Kids Unit Study

Space, Astronomy, and Constellations were always some of my favorite subjects growing up in science class.  I love that this year we get to hit on them again with the 5th grade state standards here.   We started off by doing a unit study on the planets using lots of supplemental material from the library and the cute videos on Brainpop.  For each planet my daughter filled out a worksheet with a drawing of the planet and the key facts about it.  We used worksheets from the curriculum R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Earth and Space.

When we started our unit on Astronomy and Constellations I wanted to get away from the cookie cutter worksheets and do more journal work and projects.  We are still using some videos from Brainpop {we love that site!} as well as tons of books from the library.

I asked my daughter to pick three of her favorite books from the huge stack we brought home from the library last week.  Here are her top three picks:

She is also reading a chapter a day out of: Magic Tree House's Research Guide Space.  She loves that book and finds all the facts and the way it is presented really fun.

Remember this journal from my previous post?  :) This is the journal we are using for our journal work for  this unit study.  I find that for a left handed child, composition notebooks work best for her instead of the traditional spiral ones.

To introduce this subject to her we did some reading and charting of the constellation for her zodiac sign.

The second page shows how we would see the constellation {minus the lines :) } with our naked eye.  I had Victoria add some fast facts about the constellation as well.  These first two page were just and introduction so she would know what it was we would be working on over the next few weeks.

Now we are going to be working our way through Janice VanCleave's Constellations For Every Kid Book as well as using lots of supplemental books.  I love her books because they not only provide great information but they have questions for the child to answer, diagrams, and lots of fun activities too.  I wish when I was growing up I had this book, but even as an adult I am having fun with it as well. :)

Chapter 1: Night Lights

This chapter included some great reading material to teach the lesson as well as some questions based on the reading material.  She put the diagrams into her journal and then I had her answer the questions that went them.

The lessons can be short and sweet but also expanded into a longer lesson with extra supplemental material.  As we make our way through this book I will post some more of the experiments and journal work that Victoria is doing.  I love making learning fun and not just textbook based.  Sometimes I feel like if a child can sit and really get their hands into what  they are doing with activities and hands on learning, they can just grasp it so much stronger.  :)