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.

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.

Living Science Series: One Small Square

One Small Square series
by Donald M. Silver, illustrated by Patricia Wynne

This is a great series for biome and nature studies. In each of the twelve books you are observing a “square” (a cube, really, except for Night Sky) over time to watch all the happenings there. The books collectively cover a wide variety of biomes, like the African Savanna, Cactus Desert, and Arctic Tundra, as well as areas near where we live, like Backyard, Night Sky, Pond, and Wood (for our family, anyway.) Each book shows many of the common flora, fauna, and changes that are likely to occur in the square if you were you able to observe it over time. The books also include activities in the margin (which I like because they don’t interrupt the flow of the story) to gain a better understanding of the environment. The illustrations are colorful, if not highly detailed. I have my son choose one or two to draw in his notebook each week. So far we have only studied distant biomes, but I plan to do a live exploration of a local small square this summer.

Teachers' Domain

Teachers' Domain is a great free science resource from PBS I found. It has a wealth of animations and lesson plans. You can create folders and put both Teachers' Domain and internet links in them. You need to register, and you need to have an organization, though you can enter your homeschool organization (they ask for name, address, and telephone.) The site has a built in "trial" where you can view 8 resources without registering.

Each animation can be viewed at the site or even downloaded, and comes with discussion questions. They are linked to state standards (if you like to look at those things) and to a variety of lesson plans. Most of the animations I've viewed so far have both audio and visual components, and some are interactive.

Science notebooks

Science notebooking does not need to be complicated. We use a sheet of paper with a blank box at the top and ruled lines at the bottom for my sons to draw and take notes about something we read or saw. My 8 year old fills out his own sheet while my 6 year old tells me what to write. In Charlotte Mason terms, this is narration in all 3 of its forms. For "experiments" I have another form that has What I did at the top, What I saw in the middle (lined for writing or blank box for drawing), and What happened? at the bottom. Noeo Science comes with similar reproducible sheets that can be downloaded from their site, but I just made my own. I can decorate them as I want that way. They all get placed in a 3-ring binder throughout the year. You can easily add photos of your science adventures and creations. You can do lapbooks as well, something our family is starting to get into. It's all so much more beautiful to look back on than test sheets!