Science

The boys finished their science books too fast. They didn't even last one semester. So I've been going back and forth between two great books that I happened to pick up on consignment.

The Microscope Book by Shar Levine & Leslie Johnstone has been one of our favorites. The labs are very easy to understand and the illustrations are clear. I appreciate the step by step instructions.

Today we did two of the labs from this book. Did you know there were fossils in toothpaste? We saw them today. Kelsea was a little wigged out.

We also followed the directions to prepare a slides to view onion cells. Most of the lessons teach a new skill. We learned how to make a wet mount by and how to pull a stain. Ironically we did not have any iodine as the lab called for, but we did have methylene blue. The onion cells were very clear. We looked at them in low and high power. Very amazing.

Elements and the Periodic Table: What Things Are Made Of

We've been working our way through this study guide. We haven't taken on the Periodic Table yet and this guide is pretty in depth. I like that we can move at our own pace.

The kids made a giant-size Periodic Table. They illustrated each element with a possible use, except for the rare element with no known use.

My goal is to do a science experiment or special project each week. Between these two books, there is plenty to choose from. The Periodic Table book is filled with worksheets for semi-daily study.