Science labs, Week 3

Monday's labs were some of the best ever. The kids were all engaged in the material.

The younger kids did the Six Cent Top lab from Teaching Physics with Toys. They made tops and then timed the spins with changes in mass to the tops. We explored rotational motion and inertia.

The teens worked from the TOPS module, Analysis. This is organized in task cards that the pairs work through at their own pace. I made three copies of the cards, one for each group, and laminated them. On some I put the answers on the back of the card and some I left blank to assure that I talked with them about their results.

I love the tone of the cards, gently urging the students to conserve their resources, to reuse materials. Household materials are usually all that is required, for example, we analyzed alum, corn starch, baking soda, salt and sugar. I like the clothespin/paper clip tongs.

We will use more sophisticated equipment later on but I think the TOPS modules are quite good at demonstrating essential chemical lab principles in straightforward ways. They are deceptively simple. PRM

Noach's Sixth Grade

Here is the vague outline of what Noach will be doing next year, his 6th grade

Life of Fred Fractions, with some supplementation from Math Mammoth and Primary Challenge Math.

Galore Park , So You Really Want to Learn Spanish Book 1. I ordered this through Ray at Horrible Books and it should arrive soon.

The Elements: Ingredients of the Universe from Ellen McHenry. Noach did the sample chapter at the end of last year and really liked it. I would like to do the requirements of the BSA Chemistry Merit Badge at the same time, an easy addition. I have to discuss this with the scout leader, first, to make sure that what we do will count toward the badge. Noach will also be doing the lab I am teaching. This should take about half of the year.

History from Oxford University Press two series, The World in Ancient Times and The Medieval and Early Modern World. I picked these books up at a drastically reduced price last spring. We are starting with Ancient China. I will add in timeline and map work, as well as additional reading. He will practice outlining and written and oral narration.

He will finish Growing with Grammar, then we will take a formal grammar holiday for a year or two.

That should cover most things, I think. PRM

Science fun - high school

I have spent even longer trying to decide what to do with my older group of kids, kids 15 to 17 years old. These kids are unschoolers for the most part.

I looked at Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments by Robert Bruce Thompson and I cannot say how much I love this book. My own digital balance arrived yesterday and I am ready to do some science. But I don't think this will work with my lab group, most of whom will not be doing any other science than what we do in lab. The vocabulary and concepts will be difficult to teach them in the small amount of time we have together.


Rather I think I will use a series of the TOPS units, analysis, oxidation, solutions, and others. I don't consider this a compromise in quality but rather a different presentation and focus. I like that the TOPS modules often have you create your own lab equipment. The teens will be able to work through the task cards at their own pace and then we will discuss what we learned at the end of the time. To add a bit of flash, I will add in a lab from the Thompson book occasionally.

I really hope that all of these kids will take a lab science at the community college before they graduate from high school. We have required this of our teens. I have discussed their lab science experiences with several local public school kids and I think I have offered comparable exposure to my kids, particularly in biology. I want chemistry to be as instructive and fun. Chemistry should smell even worse, and occasionally, produce a "pop".

Shoshie will likely be using Singapore Chemistry this year, as well as doing the group lab. We will be doing some of the Thompson's labs at home. The second and third chapters of the Singapore book are about experimental techniques and separation and purification of substances. While she can read this, I think it will be helpful to do some of these at home if we haven't done them in the lab by that time. Thompson's first set of labs are separations of mixtures.

So, now that's settled. On to deciding about history, math, etc PRM

Science fun - middle school age

I have spent a lot of time researching my options for doing a science lab/experience for ages 11 - 13 this next school year. I have made a decision.

I am going to use Teaching Physics with Toys, Hands-On Investigations for Grades 3 - 9. I think it is a perfect age to get down on the floor and spin tops and race cars and ask questions. What would happen if you add mass to your top? Does it matter if you add the mass to the spindle or the disk? Sounds like fun to me.

I have 4 likely participants, including Noach. I would like to have 6 kids, 3 pairs. So I will be looking for a couple more and I hope one of them will be a boy. Noach is perfectly happy with all girls but I think he would enjoy another boy as well.

With help, I have found a location for us that I think will work well. I am looking forward to it. PRM

Speaking of summer science fun,

I also ordered this.

On this blog, I found an entry by Vicki Cobb, written in April. She mentions a videotaping project where a teacher can submit tapes of students doing the experiments from her book. She has a webpage where you can see videos and a webpage where you can submit such a video.

This sounds like a good project for Noach who has an interest in doing video and is hoping for a video camera for his birthday next month. PRM

I've already ordered this

and can't wait to get it. Becky at Farm School mentioned it shortly before we left town last month so I put it on my Amazon list and placed the order as soon as we got home.

Here is a review I found this morning. Every year, as a pre-adolescent, I begged for a chemistry set for Christmas. I never got it. Now I don't need no stinking chemistry set (or Christmas, for that matter). And it sounds like I don't really want the lame chemistry sets that are available anyway.

I am organizing a chemistry lab course for a group of teens for this next school year and I am hoping that this book will provide some cool experiments for us to try. Now I need a place for us to meet. I have done biology in my kitchen but I don't really have the counter space for chemistry.

I am psyched. Noach and I may have to try out some of the experiments when the book gets here. You know, just to make sure everything works. PRM

Murderous Maths and Horrible Science

Previously I have expressed my dislike for framing things negatively when you really want them to be thought of positively.
For example, which image makes you want to read poetry?

So I avoided Horrible Science and Murderous Maths. But what about this?Yes, that is the reluctant-reader Noach reading a Horrible Science magazine. And no one told him to do so.

I don't remember why I even brought a Murderous Maths book into the house last fall but it was a fortuitous choice. Now we are reading through the math series together everyday. We often need paper and pencil to follow along but we have learned some handy math tricks. Doing sums may be derided in the text but the beauty and fun of mathematics is celebrated.

Since the maths books were such a hit, I ordered, via Ray, some science titles and, eventually, some of the magazines. Noach is especially fond of the magazines.

While studying evolution, we read Evolve or Die from the series and I thought the science was pretty accurate. I find the attitude in the science books a bit more annoying than in the math books but it is appreciated by Noach.

So far I have resisted Horrible Histories but maybe I shouldn't. PRM

Science for the secular homeschooling family

is always a challenge. Over the 8 years we have homeschooled, I have bought waaay too much science curriculum. We've tried Young Scientists Club, Singapore Science, Science in a Nutshell kits, TOPScience, Janice Van Cleave books, textbooks and some whose name I can't even remember. I have looked at even more - Noeo, MSNucleus, Real Science 4 Kids, R.E.A.L. Science. Not all of these are from secular companies.

Below are selected reviews with the caveat that Noach much prefers hands-on ,and frankly, I have given up on much writing. Until recently he hated to write anything. I think that the "too much writing" problem has been recurrent because I found the writing a burden as much as he and his siblings did. Blowing things up is preferred.

Young Scientists Club
Pro - Noach LOVED getting these kits in the mail. He could not wait to do the experiments. I was happy to find all the supplies in the box so we were never without the needed material. He did not want to do the writing in the kit but who says you have to follow all the instructions. We are homeschoolers, right? We can do it our way.

Con - I wanted more reading with the experiments so I had to plan ahead to have the right library books available to flesh out the experience. Also cost.

Science in a Nutshell from Delta Education
Pro - Complete kit with 10 - 12 activities per kit. Each kit has enough material for 3 kids. Rock Origins, Electrical Connections, and Ponds and Streams were favorites.

Con - I needed to coordinate the reading and there was too much writing for my kids. These are pricy but I have gotten most of ours on ebay. Watch for incomplete, used kits, though.

TOPScience
Pro - cheap. We did the Electricity unit for younger kids many years ago. It was fun. The circuits were made with tape, folded aluminum foil and paper clips. The worksheet/instructions were perfect. Draw your results, answer a few pertinent questions. Also we did Green Thumb:Radishes and Oxidation. I have to say that I really liked these units. I have some to use with high school chemistry next year.

Con - More reading needed.

Janice Van Cleave books
Pro - Cheap, if you can get them from the library or buy used. Many have lots of good reading material with the experiments. We have enjoyed Physics for Every Kid and Biology for Every Kid this year.

Con - I can't really think of any unless you want worksheets and I don't.

So, what did we do for the 5th Grade? For the early part of the year, we did Cub Scout science. Noach needed to complete some of the pins so we did weather, astronomy, engineering and science requirements. I added in some relevant Van Cleave experiments.

We studied evolution for a month, reading The Voyage of the Beetle and Horrible Science, Evolve or Die. We do the reading aloud rather than having him read to himself.

We have done Science in a Nutshell kits, The Human Machine and Vision and Hearing and Biology for Every Kid most recently.

Next year? First I have to decide whether I will do a group lab for 11-14 year old kids. I am thinking positively. Yesterday the mother of one of the biology lab kids asked me to do a chemistry lab next year. I'm not sure I can do both.

I'm still thinking. PRM

Grasshopper dissection and lunch

and, of course, I forgot to take pictures. Of the 2 girls and 3 boys, only one boy was willing to actually do the dissection. One of the girls thought she would dissect but the reality was too disgusting. I did the cutting of their grasshopper and the other boy eviscerated his specimen. It was possible to see much of the GI tract and the eggs, spiracles and tubules and Malpighian tubules. I think they enjoyed it somewhat but I always wonder if they learned anything.

I used these resources for preview
http://www.sparta.k12.il.us/SID/Bugs/grasshopperanatomy.htm

and I adapted my instructions from this and other sources.
http://www.smithlifescience.com/GrasshopperDissection2.htm

I printed the instructions and anatomy pictures and then laminated them. That way I can re-use them after an antiseptic wipe-down.

Then we went off to lunch. And AGAIN, we found our original destination was a restaurant that had recently closed. That makes 4 of our favorite, or at least common, dining choices to go out of business. Is this a comment on the local economic condition? Or is the restaurant business unusually prone to failure? Probably both.

One of the moms asked me if I was interested in doing labs with younger kids. I don't remember if she was specifically talking about biology or science in general. She was speaking of Noach's age group, 10 -12, maybe 9. I have to think about that. Physics and chemistry are easier to entertain younger kids than biology.

It has appeal, I must admit. But sometimes I find myself really dreading lab, especially the preparation. Younger kids also mean more parents and they get in the way. My kitchen will only accommodate a few people. Something to think about. PRM

Biology, pizza, and then, engineering

Biology lab went well and very quickly. Two kids were absent and the other 4 just went to work. We were modeling DNA transcription to mRNA and then translation into amino acids. Twizzlers and colored marshmallows were involved. You know, colored marshmallows do NOT taste good. The kids like Twizzlers, though. And I have MANY left over.

University of Utah has the coolest website for DNA information. There are lesson plans and virtual labs. You can replicate DNA and there are visually appealing explanatory sites. It has really been a mother lode for me as I mined for labs and prelab instruction websites for the kids to look at.

After lab, as always, the teens headed outside to socialize. And we moms chatted. Someone mentioned getting pizza on the way home and, the next thing I knew, we were all at ZPizza. I recommended ZPizza because they have generous-sized, cool-ingredient slices at $1.50 for lunch. They were only $1.00 when they first opened but they are a tasty bargain at $1.50. Yakov met us there as he was coming home from GTCC classes.

We had a great time lunching with our friends. Another perk of homeschooling.

I had volunteered to help Noach's Webelo II den meet the requirements for the Engineering activity badge. So off we went to Cub Scouts at 6:30. Shoshie went with me. The boys got to build an electrical circuit with a Dcell battery, lightbulb and on-off switch. They also built a block and tackle and saw how that decreased the energy needed to lift a weight. And, best of all, they built catapults out of shoe boxes and launched marshmallows at the wall, and inevitably, at each other. Nasty tasting colored marshmallows were ideal for this. I even sent some home for boys to launch at their big brothers at home. Good riddance.

It was a good day. PRM

Monday morning biology lab

Most Monday mornings, I get up a bit anxious. At 10:30, it is time for biology lab. Six teens, including one of mine, comes into my kitchen and we examine, model, or discover something in biology. My challenge is to find informative and fun stuff to do. There is so much on the web these days that I have largely been able to avoid using any kind of textbook. I also have to keep at least one lab ahead so I can give them material to read before the next lab. Usually I email them web sites to look at before the next lab as well.

They are fun to be around. I really like teens. At least in small groups.

And a large part of my anxiety each Monday am is making my house presentable for company. I have to get the kitchen clean, vacuum the living room for the moms who wait and clean the guest bathroom. It's good to have to do those tasks occasionally as they are often avoided until outside pressure or fear of humiliation supervenes.

PRM