Update on Science/Anatomy

Summer Vacation is over.  The "Plan" was to complete a Anatomy/Science Curricula by the end of summer and we finished today.  Here's what happened, new resources I found, and how I plan to finish up Science/Chemistry during the rest of the year.

ANATOMY:  As I said originally in my Science Post, "God's Design for Science - Human Body" provides a good outline/introduction, but I found it lacking in depth sometimes.  Therefore, in addition to the supplemental resources I already mentioned in my original post and a supplemental post, here are a few others I found useful and also would be useful supplements to the first 12 weeks of Anatomy in CC.

• Here are some neat videos called "How the Body Works", to use as introductions to the different systems of the body.  I particularly like the Muscle video.
• Coloring Sheets for "The Eye"  http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/human-eye-coloring-page/ 
• Identification Worksheet for "The Ear":  http://images.yourdictionary.com/ear
• Identification Worksheet for "The Skin"  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/skin/label/label.shtml 
• Identification Worksheet for "Respiratory System" http://www.slimgoodbody.com/Files/Teacher_Resources/respiratorysystem.pdf   (Make a copy and white out the labels for testing.)

Here's a few pics from their final project.  They traced an outline of themselves and labeled as many parts as they could.  They really had fun doing it and I was amazed at all the details they remembered.  So I would say our summer was well spent :-)

Titus just wanted me to trace him three times (it tickled) and then add stamp art :-)

CHEMISTRY:  For CC and the second half of the year, the focus will be on Chemistry.  I have chosen two books and a curricula for this task.

For the Curricula I purchased "Classic Science - Elementary Chemistry" from the Lab of Mr. Q.

Brandy had mentioned her sons enjoyed other books in his series because of his humorous approach to science (See Post).  That piqued my interest, but what sold me on the curricula was two things.  First, was his response to my email with a few questions.  One of my concerns was to make sure the curricula was Evolution neutral.  He respectfully and thoroughly answered my reply.  The short answers is "yes".  Second, was that he really wanted me to download the first chapter of the student and parent downloads for free to make sure it was a good fit.  When I did I was really impressed.  The chapter was age appropriate for any elementary child, the supplemental activities/experiments looked like fun and the resources necessary would be easy to find around the house.  We plan on digging into this over the Winter Break in CC (i.e. November and December). I obtained my husband's buy-in to take the lead in teaching the boys in the evenings and weekends.  I'll go over the chapter and the worksheets with them during the week and let the boys do the experiments with Dad.  I'm always a little leery of the messiness factor with experiments, especially with the help of a two year old.

The other two books I plan on using are:

Exploring the World of Chemistry by Tiner. I chose this book because it reads like a living book, not a textbook and will give the boys a great overall understanding of the history and impact of chemistry.

Men of Science, Men of God by Morris.  This book provides quick biographical write-ups of famous scientists.

I'll give an update on how Chemistry went later in the year.