We use many different resources to learn about science.
We used Apologia science for years, and we’re beginning to look into some other texts and living books to supplement our science studies.
The Apologia elementary books were a great introduction to science, but we need something more in-depth now. We weren’t overly impressed with the Apologia high school texts.
We prefer less Bible and more science. We’re now leaning toward secular science books to really learn good science. It’s hard to find good high school texts.
High school science requires labs for biology, chemistry, and physics.
Our science studies cover these topics, and more:
- Natural History
- Astronomy
- Anatomy
- Botany
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
How We Study Science:
- Experiments
- Activities
- Notebooking
- Gardening
- Cooking
- Pets
- Field Trips
Science should be experienced. Textbooks are just supplementary materials. We love the library for living books.
Elizabeth dug for fossils in Texas. We made the moon phases with Oreo cookies. We’ve studied bacteria. We love to cook. We go on nature walks. We love gardening. We love our pets. Science is all around us and it’s impossible to separate it into a sterile subject to be learned at a certain time and place.
We do lots of experiments and activities.
Some are fun and turn into competitions. Other activities are data-collecting and cross-curricular. Some are just demonstrations and visuals.
We’ve explored the world around us in many ways. The kids love sensory experiences when they’re little. As they get older, we follow experiments in the textbooks. The kids have participated in science fairs. We’ve raised caterpillars into butterflies.
Some experiments don’t turn out right, but that’s ok.
Testing water displacement by counting beans.
Liz won the homeschool high school science fair and got published.
We loved raising butterflies.
We charted different varieties of apples.
The girls made water molecules with candy.
We made a DNA strand out of pipe cleaners.
We enjoyed seeing salt, pepper, and sugar crystals under a microscope.
We had a fun eclipse party!
We use notebooking for every subject in our homeschool.
We love nature study and learning about plants and animals.
Dissections and other labs require lots of specific notebooking and record keeping.
We grew a garden.
We loved growing fun fruits and vegetables for several years. It was a family effort!
We love cooking.
We all love trying and creating fun recipes together.
We discuss how heat and pressure affect different foods and of course, use lots of math in measurements.
Baking is great science!
We love our pets.
Animals are very educational. We often visit zoos, aquariums, and farms to observe them.
We’ve had several aquariums over the years.
We have cats.
It’s hard to move every few years and sell the fish, but the cats have always gone with us, everywhere.
We take lots of field trips.
We learned about TV at the PBS station.
We attended an astronomy party on Antelope Island.
We love dino parks.
We enjoy farms and zoos.
I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to start doing fun, informative projects like this! I’m definitely book marking this page! Thanks for sharing :)
Even though I was never a big science person when I was in school, science became such a fun topic when I homeschooled because of all the ways to DO science, not just read about it in a book. Sounds like you make it lots of fun as well as educational. Keep up the good work!
Looks like so much fun for the kids! They are going to be lifelong science learners!
Future biologists?
Visiting from #TellHisStory
Hands on science is the best kind of science. You are building memories the will outlast any textbook. Thanks for sharing at #glimpses this week!
This is fab – I recently did som hands on experiments in sinking and floating with Zach and he loved it! Thanks for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday
Notebooking is a very effective way to reinforce lessons, and hands-on is great in any grade! We have had good experience with the high school Apologia texts, but have always been a ‘hands-on’ homeschool and use notebooking in many subjects through the years.
It’s nice to see how other families ‘do’ science.