Posted in Kings Highway Homeschool

I think I have finally come up with a GREAT idea for science with my little bears.  In the past science was such a crazy headache that I just couldn't even muster up the energy to attempt it.  I hated to spend money on pre-boxed kits/curriculum when I could put it together my self for just pennies.  The problem was science was turning into a nightmare running around looking for this and that in the middle of the school day.  What a shame to miss a sponge moment at this age!  Boys, especially love the hands on activities and this idea came to me when my little bears were helping my sister study for her medical boards.  Yep – they were helping and learning some of the information right along with her!  I walked away thinking we NEED to do more science.  Now I do understand that CM doesn't advocate "doing" science completely in this way.  Science should consist of living books, (field) observation and experimentation.  My purpose for science experimentation is to develop curiosity, enthusiasm and thought provoking ideas that lead to asking more questions while "discovering" the basics of science.  This is where THE PLAN comes in: 

I started out by picking our term focus (not an absolute necessity but it does give direction to where you are going).  Then I picked the 12 experiments or however many that you will be doing for the term.   For each experiment, I used a zipper gallon Ziploc bag and gathered all the necessary items needed to do the experiment except for water, perishables or anything that couldn’t stay in the bag.  Those items were listed on an index card along with simple directions on how to do the experiment.  If I could photo copy the experiment rather than writing or typing it out, I used that instead. 

Then I thought about some questions that should be answered when doing each experiment.  These questions are often included in the book your using.  These were written on the outside of an envelope.  In addition, INSIDE each envelope I placed the explanation and what should have happened in the experiment, giving it the element of surprise when it comes time to open the results (~ we don our protective eyewear and there is a very dramatic countdown when the envelope is opened).

As you can see from the pictures, we had a ball and learned alot.  This idea does take a little time to set up but it is soooooo worth it to have it all ready and it costs the price of a box of gallon bags.  A lot cheaper than some of the other science kits out there.