taking the fear out of and putting the fun into homeschool science
Coming soon, on August 21, 2017, is one of the biggest celestial events in history. The total solar eclipse will cover all of the continental U.S. for the first time since 1918. All across the country, towns are preparing for an influx of people to witness this spectacular phenomenon taking place. Solar eclipse viewing locations are being set-up all along the path of the eclipse
Centripetal force is fun to experiment with. It is the same force that makes a playground swing move and the moon orbit the Earth. I always thought it seemed to defy gravity – an amazing feat. Let’s try a simple, fun activity to demonstrate centripetal force and amaze your friends. Then, we will learn more about centripetal force and see how it really works. Centripetal
Do you want your kids to be life long learners? Start by modeling the love of learning in your home. The benefits of homeschooling are many. You can tailor lessons to your child’s learning style, follow your child’s interests, and educate around your family’s schedule just to name a few. I was told these benefits at the beginning of our homeschooling by veteran homeschoolers and
July has to be one of my favorite months. Fireworks, vacation, swimming, and fun all happen in July. You know what else happens in July? Storms Lumberjack Day Nikola Tesla’s birthday The first ice cream cone was sold Gummi Worm Day Gregor Mendel’s birthday Backyard science Space Exploration Day Meteor showers and lots more science-y stuff! FREE Science Calendar Download Get the FREE July Science
The weather is one of the most fascinating parts of nature to study. It is one phenomena that we can count on to be everywhere all the time. No matter if it is hot or cold, cloudy or sunny, rainy or snowy, there is always weather to observe and study. Another interesting thing about weather is that it affects almost every facet of our life. We check
When our eye sees something, it sends a message to the brain to make sense of the image. The brain keeps that image for about 1/10 to 1/30th of a second. That doesn’t seem like very long, but it makes a big difference in how we process the world around us. We can create a vision science experiment of our own that helps to show
Have you ever thought about how the sun affects the temperature? We know that the sun supplies light and heat for the Earth, but how? What happens when the sun’s rays are blocked? Let’s learn more about how the sun keeps us warm. Have you ever been outside on a warm sunny day, and suddenly the sun goes behind a cloud and the temperature feels
One of my favorite parts of Apologia Biology is the when we start dissections. Seriously. I love when the kids see first hand what we have been learning about in the text. I know that dissections can sound gross, but trust me, dissections make the curriculum come alive. Don’t skip them! Dissections in Apologia Biology start with the earthworm. Earthworms are a great introductions to invertebrates and an
After the socialization question (which is totally ridiculous, but that’s for another day), the second most popular questions homeschool parents get is “Do you plan to continue homeschooling in high school?“ I remember people asking me this when my kids were still in kindergarten and 3rd grade. I always wanted to answer “Um, no. I think I’ll try 3rd through 8th grades first.” People seem
The beach is one of my favorite places. The sun, the water, and the sand! I just love the feel of the sand between my toes and the way it slips through my fingers. While grains of sand may look tiny, round, and uniform, each one is very different. They have different shapes, sizes, and colors. The grains aren’t even all made of the same
As much as I love science, the study of history comes in at a close second. I loved my history classes in high school and college and you will find me reading a historical account of an event or biography way before any fiction novel. A few years back, I started thinking about the history of science. I had studied the important scientists and
An important part of scientific investigations is observation. When you conduct an experiment, you observe what happens during the course of our experiment. You write down what you see so that you can use those observations to draw a conclusion. Observations are, also, important when you are doing an animal or nature study. Those studies usually do not require experiments. They rely on what the
