Friday, March 28, 2008
Biomimetics
This National Geographic link shows a photo display of biomimetics, or adapting designs from nature (God) for modern use. I am also hoping to read a popular title on the subject, The Gecko's Foot by Peter Forbes. This would make a great high school level science topic that integrates nature studies with technology and engineering.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Simple K – 2 science curriculum
Getting young kids interested in science builds their interest in exploring and problem solving. While we focus so much on The 3 (or 4) R's (Reading, Writing, 'Rithmatic, and for many, Religion) at this age, there's no need to neglect science altogether. Some states require it of homeschoolers. The Charlotte Mason approach uses Nature Studies exclusively for science in order to build observation and attentiveness habits. By adding other areas of science children learn curiosity and early reasoning skills, so why not broaden your children's science studies?
The Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series (see my review here) is so extensive that it can be used as a K – 2 curriculum, starting with the level 1 books in kindergarten. You can do the activities that are suggested in some of the books, or couple it with an experiment book geared towards younger kids, like My Big Science Book, Janice VanCleave's Play and Find Out about Science: Easy Experiments for Young Children, or Backyard Scientist series 1 or 3. As they get older, you can add in Magic School Bus books for even more detailed information. It's simple and inexpensive, yet thorough, and easy to expand upon.
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