Four Science Projects to compliment our studies. As we started into working on each of these projects I suggested to the children that they not only pick something they were particularly interested in but also something that would help them dig deeper into something we were already studying.
Over the next week, here on Hodgepodge, each of the children will be sharing about their science fair/art/photo show entries. Today, with lots of help from kindergartener, I’m sharing about her project.
Question: How are Sharks and Humans Alike? Different? Since Kindergartener LOVES sharks, especially hammerhead sharks, she wanted to learn more about them. She remembered that in our science studies were are learning about the human body. So she came up with the question above. Well, over the summer Nana had seen on the Pink and Green Mama blog a life-sized diagram of the human body. This diagram was made by tracing the child’s body first. Then using household materials to make the bones, organs and more. This part of the science project took the most time but was also the most fun!
How can we make teeth? The noodles kept falling off so Kindergartener came up with navy beans! Next, she drew in her brain.
Masking tape for large bones.
Q-tips for phalanges. Lots of glue! Added bubble wrap for lungs. Quite by accident she figured out to use pink balloons for intestines. Just because someone had dumped the whole bag of balloons out on the floor close by. 🙂
Another morning she drew the hammerhead shark diagram – on her own – by creating a shark with wooden blocks then tracing around it. She looked closely at a diagram of the inside of a shark’s body and added the internal organs.
I printed shark notebook paper. She wrote facts about hammerhead sharks.
She dictated similarities and differences she knew between sharks and humans. I typed.
We printed and colored a brain ‘hat’ I found on Pinterest. (The judges added comments to each entry!)
Fast forward to the day of the science fair. When we arrived, one of my friends told us that we might want to go see the results of the science fair first. So we went into the next room and discovered that she not only one first place for her age group…
She also won the 1st place overall award for the entire science fair!! She did one of her famous surprised and pleased faces at that one! (which I missed getting a picture of).
In the art entries, her mixed medium entry (a nature journal page) placed third.
Coming up over the next week, the rest of the children will share about each of their projects and entries.
Wow, wow, wow! For the life of me, I can’t figure out how you do it all. Are your children self-starters? Do they work well by themselves? Or, do you just have boundless energy to keep up with it all? Oh, and are you planning for lessons and preparing workboxes in the middle of the night or something? Seriously, I’m hoping for a response. I need to know how you do it because adding the third child into the mix this year makes me feel like I’m drowning almost daily.
And…blogging/writing…when? When??? 🙂
Blogging and writing early in the morning. During afternoon quiet time https://www.yourbesthomeschool.com/2011/05/helpful-habit-%e2%80%93-afternoon-quiet-time/ and in the late evenings. We don’t really watch tv and my husband is usually on the computer when I am (us sitting together 🙂
I also like to get part of a Saturday to do some ‘batch writing’ for my monthly contributions. What are your blogging and writing tips? I know you usually write way ahead.
I love my wp calendar for scheduling posts ahead.
Cindy – I do not have boundless energy! In fact, I’ve shared with lots of folks that I feel like this year especially is a stretch with the age range. Two early risers and two that like ‘talk time’ late into the night 🙂 But our habits do help our day so very much. Vicki Bentley’s ‘Before 8:45 checklist’ helps with getting started: https://www.yourbesthomeschool.com/2011/04/helpful-habits-before-845/ Then, yes, TT math and R&S English are both subjects the older three can start on their own. We sort of pick and choose weekly writing assignments – trying to make one out of the two (Tapestry and R&S). The workbox time is about the same every day and only takes a little over half an hour. https://www.yourbesthomeschool.com/2011/09/helpful-habit-little-ones-first/
Littlest Guy enjoys morning room time: https://www.yourbesthomeschool.com/2011/04/helpful-habits-morning-room-time/
We have lunch and during lunch I read something to everyone. This is when we get the biggest chunk of together school done: https://www.yourbesthomeschool.com/2011/05/helpful-habit-one-more-thing-after-lunch/ Science, nature study, Tapestry, Visual Latin, etc. (one each day of the week)
The two older children (sometimes Middle Girl) and I have a weekly TOG meeting when we go over assignments and decide the main things for the week.
Now – for the science fair projects – we focused mainly on their individual topics as our ‘one more thing’ and let Tapestry go on the back burner for a couple of weeks. Still, the research skills and independent learning is such a bonus.
So no, I am not doing lesson plans in the night. It’s a ton of prayer. Plenty of crash and burn. Interruptions for ‘character building’ and our helpful habits https://www.yourbesthomeschool.com/tag/helpful-habit/
That’s just now. Slowly adding high school work (Apologia and TOG level) to get used to high school work.
My middle girl has to stay busy. She’s a hands on learner and is often the cause of much of our activities. She did her science project completely on her own! (I am always learning!!!)
Plus…I should have mentioned this first – I have a very supportive husband who does the nightly read-alouds. We are also spreading one year of Tapestry over two years. I like that pace so much better.
I second the supportive husband. Mine helps so much, too.
What a wonderful experience for her to strive and to succeed. What a lovely job! Hugs to you both.