Monday, February 25, 2013

Life Science, Week 16

Vertebrates - Animals with Backbones

Our first stop on the animal kingdom train is the phylum Chordata, which includes Vertebrates. Our focus for the next several weeks will be on the five classes of Vertebrates...birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish.


Monday
I wasn't able to quickly come up with inexpensive full chicken and fish skeletons for the "Some Animals Have a Backbone" portion of the lesson, so I used pictures from DK Eyewitness Books: Skeleton by Steve Parker. It's a great alternative. The book features numerous photos of complete animal skeletons that perfectly match Evan-Moor's illustrations. I'm pretty sure the artist used the book as a resource.

Due to frigid temperatures and snowy weather, I had to improvise for the "Animal Search" portion of the lesson as well. Instead of taking a nature walk, I had Tessa flip through an issue of Your Big Backyard/Ranger Rick. I made sure the issue featured a variety of vertebrates, insects and other arthropods.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Ancient History, Week 16

Ancient Egypt - Pharaohs & Trading Trips

We're back to studying Ancient Egypt. This time, we're taking just a couple of weeks to learn about New Kingdom pharaohs, gods and home life.

Is it weird to feel a little grieved for this magnificent ancient civilization? It saddens me a bit to think that after 3,000 years of greatness, the region's religion and culture changed so significantly. I wonder whether there are still pockets of Egyptians out there who still believe in the ancient ways. I wish I would have thought to write a paper about it during my college days.


Tuesday
  • Looked up and defined HO dictionary word for Lesson 13, Main Lesson.
  • Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 30-31).
  • Completed draw and color.

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday
Due to some super icy winter weather, we weren't able to make it into town to round up a few last-minute supplies for our Ancient Egyptian sailboat project. Tessa would have been sad if we would have skipped it, so we made do. Instead of chopsticks, we used bamboo skewers. We didn't have 3 x 3 gauze bandages either, so I glued a couple of 2 x 2 ones together the day before. Although you're supposed to be able to assemble the bottom portion of the mast with your paper towel roll remnants, it was a lot easier to just use an empty toilet paper roll. I also glue various parts of the mast and sail to make them more stable and durable.

Tessa helped measure and then cut an empty paper towel roll down to size.
Tessa helped measure and then cut an empty paper towel roll down to size.

After I stapled the sides of the boat and assembled a good majority of the mast, Tessa painted the boat in her choice of color.
After I stapled the sides of the boat and assembled a good majority of the mast, Tessa painted the boat in her choice of color.

Once Tessa's Egyptian sailboat was completely dry, she enjoyed playing with it for several days. She piled it full of gold and grain to trade with people from far away lands.
Once Tessa's Egyptian sailboat was completely dry, she enjoyed playing with it for several days. She piled it full of gold and grain to trade with people from far away lands.

Other Resources of Interest

* HO = History Odyssey

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Life Science, Week 15

Animal Classification

And, we're off! We began our intensive, twenty-plus-week study of the animal kingdom Monday with a brief look at animal classification. Our library was short on age-appropriate books, but I did find a decent DVD that did the job. We learned a nifty little acronym from it to help remember the seven levels of classification.

Kids Prefer Candy Over Fresh Green Salads

Kingdom - Phylum - Class - Order - Family - Genus - Species

We will be using a combination of Evan-Moor ScienceWorks for Kids (Animals with Backbones, Grades 1-3Animals Without Backbones, Grades 1-3; and probably Habitats, Grades 1-3) and R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey: Life, Level 1 again, along with a plethora of picture books, DVDs and whatever else I can find.

One thing both curriculums lack is a detailed study of the five vertebrate classes (mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians), but also arthropods, specifically insects. This bothers me a bit. ScienceWorks does a good job covering the basics, but I want more for Tessa. The major problem is time. I found some great resource books to fill most of the gaps. Unfortunately, to cover everything I want to cover, we would have to work straight through November! Did I mention, I also want Tessa to read a book on a specific animal of her choosing each week and report on it? At this moment, I have no idea what to cut to make this manageable. I really don't want to cut any of it. Oh yeah, and we're supposed to study plants after animals. Hmm.

The Mailbox - Mammals The Mailbox - Amphibians & Reptiles The Mailbox - Insects


Monday

Tuesday
  • Completed RSO Five Kingdoms Lab 1: Classifying Critters.

Tessa classified fictitious Blobonian life forms to gain a better understanding of how scientists study and classify real animals. Tessa loves to sort, so this lab was definitely her thing.

* RSO = R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Ancient History, Week 15

The Babylonians & the Hittites

Another short week for history. Not much age-appropriate material about the Babylonians and the Hittites out there. Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide by Marian Broida does feature several Hittite projects, but they didn't seem especially relevant to the single page of text we read about the Hittites from Usborne: Ancient World, so we skipped them.


Thursday
  • Looked up and defined HO dictionary word for Lesson 12, Main Lesson.
  • Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 28-29).
  • Completed draw and color.

Friday

* HO = History Odyssey

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Life Science, Week 14

Genetics

That's it! After a quick study of genetics this week, we officially concluded our survey of the human body. Luckily, I was able to turn up a Bill Nye DVD about genes since books on the subject are pretty much non-existence for Tessa's age set. Such a shame...Tessa was quite fascinated and wanted to know more.


Monday

Tuesday
  • Completed RSO Genetics Lab 1: I'm the Only Me!.

Wednesday
  • Completed RSO Genetics Lab 2: My Own Fingerprints.

After creating an ink pad of sorts by heavily coloring with pencil onto scrap paper, Tessa rubbed her fingertips along the leaded spot until they were sufficiently coated with graphite. Then, I used pieces of transparent tape to lift her fingerprints and adhere them to the lab sheet.
After creating an ink pad of sorts by heavily coloring with pencil onto scrap paper, Tessa rubbed her fingertips along the leaded spot until they were sufficiently coated with graphite. Then, I used pieces of transparent tape to lift her fingerprints and adhere them to the lab sheet.

Finally, Tessa used a hand lens to closely examine her fingerprints. She correctly concluded that most of her prints are of the loop variety. She has a few arches as well. Tessa was bummed because she really wanted them all to be whorl shaped. Luckily, I have one whorl, so that cheered her up a bit.
Finally, Tessa used a hand lens to closely examine her fingerprints. She correctly concluded that most of her prints are of the loop variety. She has a few arches as well. Tessa was bummed because she really wanted them all to be whorl shaped. Luckily, I have one whorl, so that cheered her up a bit.  

* RSO = R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey

Saturday, February 09, 2013

Ancient History, Week 14

The Mycenaeans & the Trojan Horse

Tessa's falling hard for Greek myths. She just can't seem to get enough of last week's story and The Minotaur and this week's Trojan Horse, so I tried to find as many versions of the stories as possible to tide her over to her next obsession.


Tuesday
  • Looked up and defined HO dictionary word for Lesson 11, Main Lesson.
  • Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 24-27).
  • Completed draw and color.

Wednesday

Friday
While researching Trojan Horse crafts on the internet, I came across pics of an awesome paper craft created for the release of a Nintendo game called "Glory of Heracles" from a few years back. The instructions for it were linked from the game's site at one time, but apparently no longer. I couldn't come up with the instructions myself, but another homeschooling mom from a forum I frequent tracked them down for me. So they won't get sucked into the proverbial black hole once gain, I copied them over to my Google Drive account. Ultimately, I decided on the lesser, more age-appropriate Trojan Horse paper craft listed above for Tessa. I'm saving the Nintendo version for the next (or even the third) go around of Ancients.

Download Nintendo "Glory of Heracles" Trojan Horse Paper Craft.

Tessa's completed Trojan Horse paper craft. She colored it and then helped put the wheels on. I did the cutting and most of the assembly to save on time and frustration.
Tessa's completed Trojan Horse paper craft. She colored it and then helped put the wheels on. I did the cutting and most of the assembly to save on time and frustration.

 Other Resources of Interest

* HO = History Odyssey

Friday, February 08, 2013

Life Science, Week 13

The Muscular System

Somehow I came up short on books again, so I condensed our study of the muscular system to one day.


Monday

Tessa peeled back the skin of a raw chicken leg to get a closer look at its muscles and tendons. Afterward, I broke the leg bone in half so she could view the marrow inside.
Tessa peeled back the skin of a raw chicken leg to get a closer look at its muscles and tendons. Afterward, I broke the leg bone in half so she could view the marrow inside.

Friday
  • Completed remaining parts of Teacher Created Resources My Body by Patty Carratello..."My Kidneys, My Bladder" (pages 11-12), "My Spleen, My Pancreas, My Gall Bladder" (pages 13-16), "My Reproductive Organs" (pages 17-18) and "My Face" (page 38) activities.

Tessa's completed "My Body" body. We attached some pieces with brads so we could move them to reveal the organs underneath.
Tessa's completed "My Body" body. We attached some pieces with brads so we could move them to reveal the organs underneath.

* RSO = R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey

Saturday, February 02, 2013

Ancient History, Week 13

Ancient Crete & the Minotaur

It was once again difficult to find good, age-appropriate books and other resources about ancient Crete. Such a shame, as Tessa GREATLY enjoyed the story of the Minotaur.


Thursday
I checked out half a dozen stories and books about the Minotaur from the library. "Theseus and the Minotaur" from The McElderry Book of Greek Myths was by far the best and most accurate. I so wish that this title was available in audiobook format. Tessa was quite enthralled with both the story and illustrations. She wants me to read it again and again. I know she would enjoy the other stories in it as well.

Friday
  • Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 22-23).
  • Completed HO map work for Lesson 10, Main Lesson.
  • Completed draw and color.

Other Resources of Interest

* HO = History Odyssey