Cave & Mountain Dioramas

Here are K's dioramas from "Instant Habitat Dioramas" of a cave and a mountain:

Exploding Volcano Paper-Craft

Here is K's exploding volcano from "Lift and Look: Science Mini-Books and Manipulatives":

Molecular Model Set for Homeschool Chemistry

We purchased the deluxe molecular model set from home science tools and K already loves it!  She is a kinesthetic learner and needs something she can touch or do to fully grasp a concept.  Since we are soon to be embarking on chemistry for the first time this fall, I wanted something that could help her understand and came upon this set.  We have already put together a few: water and oxygen and will definitely be implementing this into our chemistry plan for 3rd grade science!

Here is water, which is 2 hydrogen and 1 oxygen or H2O:

You can also see the video from Home Science Tools:

3rd Grade Curriculum & Goodies Arrival!

I know I'm not the only homeschool mom who gets ecstatic over ordering and receiving new curriculum!  We got our 45 pound box this past week full of 3rd grade curriculum and some extra goodies.  I snapped some shots of what we got and have yet to open them and go through them.  Then, I have to find a place to store them EEK!  We may need another bookshelf......

Deserts, Grasslands and Rainforests

*You can add in the Arctic Tundra to this week along with the other habitats, but we are saving it to do with our study of ice and glaciers.

Read

1. Usborne's First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World - pgs. 42-47
2. Warhol's - Grassland; Forest; Desert
3. Other books coming soon.........

Experiments/Projects/Crafts

1. Rainforest & Desert Diorama & African Savanna Diorama from "Instant Habitat Dioramas"

Interactives

1. Rainforest at Night
2. Serengeti 
3. Amazon Jungle Journey

Videos

1. Planet Earth - Deserts; Great Plains; Jungles; Seasonal Forests
2. Bill Nye - Deserts; Forests
3. Temperate Rainforest
4. Cactus (Desert)
5. Brain Pop - Savanna
6. Brain Pop - Ecosystems (Deserts)
7. Grasslands

Games

1. Magic School Bus Habitat Game
2. Habitat Game
3. Deserts and Rainforests activities

Rivers, Floods and Oceans

*We already covered oceans a few months ago, you can find an index of resources here.

Read

1. Usborne's First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World - pgs. 26-29; 32-37
2. Rivers; Nature's Wondrous Waterways - Harrison
3. Floods - Koponen
4. Floods - Trumbauer

Experiments/Projects/Crafts

1. From "More Mudpies to Magnets" - p.81 Water Flow, p.82 Sand Shake, p.90 High Tide Wipe Out, p.94 Muddy Muddy River and p.95 Cleaning Muddy Water
2. What Lives in a Pond? and Life in the Sea from "Science Mini-Books & Manipulatives"
3. Pond & Ocean Dioramas from "Instant Habitat Dioramas"
4. Flood PDF booklet
5. Deep Sea Craft and Other Activities
6. Wacky Water experiment

Interactives

1. Animations
2. Flood Animations

Videos

1. Planet Earth - Fresh Water; Shallow Seas; Ocean Deep
2. Bill Nye Lakes & Ponds; Rivers & Streams; Ocean Life; Wetlands
3. Floods - Schlessinger Science Library 
4. Rivers
5. Wetlands 
6. Brain Pop - Underwater

Games

1. Sea Game
2. Lakes, Rivers, Oceans games

Trip to a Pond

We are learning about ponds this week along with rivers, floods, etc.  We decided to take a trip to a pond nearby and the birds were ready for us.  We got to feed them some bread and look at them and K loved it.  The only downside was all the bird doo everywhere and we still had some on our boots.  Luckily, my daughter suggested to splash in a puddle on our street at home and the doo came right off our boots!

 

SOTW 2: Chapter 14 - Viking Boat

 

*New 2nd Grade Daily Schedule

We are trying out something new with our schedule and its really a trial to see how it goes.  At the end of the school day when it's time for history or science, we are exhausted.  The thought occurred to me yesterday about doing a history/science day and only doing those subjects on that day.  Since we school 4 days a week right now, I'm going to use the free day for history and science.  This will actually free up time on the other 4 days (1 hour each day!) of schooling.  So shorter days 4 days of week sounds great to me.

We are also adding in Geography/Map Skills because I've found some great lapbooks and material that covers things K hasn't learned yet and not sure when she will learn.  Things like longitude/latitude, directions, etc.

Here is our new schedule:

Mon-Fri
Bible
Reading - 30m morning; 60m evening

Mon, Wed and Friday
Spelling - 40m
Grammar - 10m
Writing - 10m
Cursive - 10m
Math - 40m
Geography/Map Skills - 20m

Tuesday 
History - 90m
Science - 90m

Weekend
Art - 1 hour
Home Economics - 1 hour

Daily (Sun-Sat)
Piano practice -10m
Violin practice - 10m

Husband Helps
Bible
Reads classics
Music

Under the Ground, Caves and Caverns and Mountains

Read

1. Usborne's First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World - pgs.38-41;30-31
2. Early Bird Earth Science: Caves - Walker
3. Caves: Mysteries Beneath Our Feet - Harrison
4. How Mountains Are Made - Zoehfeld
5. About Habitats: Mountains - Sill

Experiments/Projects/Crafts

1. Make Stalactites & Stalagmites
2. Cave & Mountain Dioramas
3. Make a Cave Model

Interactives

1. Soil Safari Underground Interactive - click "get in"
2. Virtual Caves
3. How Caves Form
4. USGS Cave Poster
5. Unleash an Avalanche

Videos

1. Planet Earth - Caves & Mountains
2. Bill Nye - Caves
3. Brain Pop - Mountains
4. Brain Pop - Mountain Types
5. Caves by Marie & Michelle
6. All About Land Formation & All About Soil - Schlessinger Science Library

Kindle Fire Homeschool Apps

If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment!  Here are the apps we have so far that are homeschool-related:

Free
50 States
Awesome Arithmetic Free
GeoQuiz
Developer Whiteboard Demo
KJV Bible
Kid Math Game
Learning to Draw is Fun
Let's Do the Math
Periodic Table
Speed Anatomy
US Presidents
Rhythm Cat
Music Sheet Workout
Flash Cards Max
The Candy Factory HD
How much do you know about History?
Peter Pig's Money Counter
This Day In History
PowerVocab
Telling Time
Picasso - Draw! Paint! Doodle!
MathOpen - Kids Math workout 

Buy
Touch Bible (KJV Bible + Strong's) - well worth the 99 cents as a study bible

Earth Science Projects for Week 3 - Part 2

K did the Smithsonian Rock and Gem Dig and it was well worth the money!  She loved it and still has some more to excavate for another day.  She was eager to show a neighborhood friend how to do it as well, it was awesome to hear them find a new gem!  We also had purchased the 75-piece quality rock and mineral collection for her to keep throughout the years.  Each rock or mineral is labeled with a number and the chart tells what it is and it comes with a small guide as well.  You can also test the rocks for the different characteristics (hardness, streaking, etc.).

Here are some video clips of the rock dig:

Earth Science Projects for Week 3

Here are some of the projects we did for Week 3; Rocks, Fossils, Earthquakes and Volcanoes.

Busting open some geodes to see the crystals inside:



Instant Volcano Experiment from "More Mudpies to Magnets":



Grow Crystal Tree:

Part 2 of this week's projects:
http://www.cambridgeshireacademy.com/2012/01/earth-science-projects-for-week-3-part.html

K's Drawings

I'm amazed at how K is advancing in art, especially drawing.  She didn't trace these!  Could be I'm just proud of my baby but I think she draws really well:

Medieval Castle With Mosaics

We bought this awesome model of a Medieval Castle and my husband and daughter put it together.  I loved how we have a model of a castle now and she also learned about mosaics at the same time!  Here it is during the progress:

Here is the completed castle and figurines:

Earth Science Projects for Week 2

These are some of the projects we did for Week 2; Weather, which included: clouds, water cycle, storms, tornadoes and hurricances.  It was a perfect week to learn weather as we had a snow/ice storm, which enabled us to do a few more experiments.

Weather Prediction paper craft:

Hurricane Mini-Book:

Hot Bubble Fliers Experiment from "More Mudpies to Magnets":

The Big Meltdown Experiment from "More Mudpies to Magnets":

Rocks, Fossils, Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Read

1. Usborne's First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World - pgs.20-25
2. Janice VanCleave's Rocks and Minerals (experiments)
3. National Geographic Kids - Everything - Rocks and Minerals
4. The Best Book of Fossils, Rocks and Minerals
5. Usborne Spotter's Guide - Rocks and Minerals
6. Geology of the Pacific Northwest - Ch. 3 Volcanoes & Earthquakes (You can get these books depending upon your area of the USA)
7. Geology Rocks

Crafts/Projects/Experiments

1. Crack Open Geodes
2. Smithsonian Rock & Gem Dig
3. Acid Test - Experiment pg. 89 in "More Mudpies to Magnets"
4. Grow Crystal Tree
5. Rock Collection Study
6. Grow Your Own Crystal Candy
7. Make a Fossil
8. Exploding Volcano Papercraft
9. Make a Volcano - Experiment pg. 91 in "More Mudpies to Magnets"
10. Our Experiments/Projects

Interactives

1. Rock Cycle
2. Rocks
3. Various Things on Rocks, Earthquakes and Volcanoes from the USGS Education page
4. If Rocks Could Talk
5. Earthquake Interactives/Animations
6. Tsunami Animation
7. Volcano Explorer

Videos

1. All About Rocks and Minerals - Schlessinger Science Library (library)
2. Science Fundamentals: Rocks and Minerals (library)
3. Brain Pop - Volcanoes
4. Lava Flow by Julia and Briana
5. Bill Nye - Rocks and Soil; Earthquakes; Volcanoes; Fossils
6. Earthquakes by Claire and Nisha
7. All About Earthquakes - Schlessinger Science Library

Games/Puzzles

1. Rocks & Soil
2. Volcano Game - Magic School Bus

Weather - Clouds, Water Cycle, Storms, Tornadoes, Hurricanes

Read

1. Usborne's First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World - pgs. 16-19
2. Fluffy, Flat, and Wet: A Book About Clouds - Rau
3. The Kid's Book of Weather Forecasting - Breen
4. Clouds Mini Helper
5. Cloud Chart

Crafts/Projects/Experiments

1. Make a Tornado
2. Make a Rainbow
3. Make a Cloud
4. Rain in a Jar
5. Hurricane Mini-book
6. Weather Book
7. Chart Weather Daily - clouds, temperature, etc.
8. Photos and Videos of Our Experiments/Projects

Interactives

1. ID a Cloud
2. Weather Maker
3. WeatherLizard Quiz
4. Wind Interactive
5. Water Cycle Interactive
6. Hurricane Interactive
7. Tornado Interactive

Videos

1. All About Wind & Clouds / Hurricanes & Tornadoes / All About Rain, Sleet & Snow / All About Climate & Seasons - Schlessinger Science Library (library)
2. Bill Nye Videos: Wind; Storms; Water Cycle
   
3. Weather Song
4. Brain Pop - Thunderstorms
5. Brain Pop - Rainbows
6. Brain Pop - Hurricanes
7. Brain Pop - Tornadoes
8. Fog

Games/Puzzles

1. Weather Games
2. Weather Activities
3. Cloud Maker
4. Weather File Folder Game

Earth Science Projects for Week 1

Here are some of the projects we did for Week 1 studying Earth, Atmosphere, Day and Night and Seasons. 

Earth mini-lapbook, well worth the 50 cents!  K chose to put it together by herself and she did the questions too:

We did a paper craft about the layers of the earth, atmosphere and then about the rainbow.  We also listened to the song "Rainbows Over You" about 10+ times, K kept wanting to hear it over and over and over!  She loved how "Rainbows Over You, God's Blessed Vow" taught her the colors of the rainbow.

We enjoyed putting together the "Journey to the Earth's Core Play & Learn puzzle" as a family during dinner one night, it was so much fun!

 

Free Printable - 2nd Grade Experiment Page

I made a free printable page that contains the Well Trained Mind's questions for Earth & Space science experiments: 2nd Grade Experiment Page

Earth, Atmosphere, Day and Night, and Seasons

Read

1. Usborne's First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World - pgs. 4-5, 12-15
2. The Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth
3. The Air We Breathe Mini Book

Crafts/Projects/Experiments

1. Earth, atmosphere and rainbow paper craft from Considering God's Creation
2. The Reasons for the Seaons Lab; Air Takes Up Space Lab; Air Has Mass Lab from R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Earth & Space
3. Earth Mini Lapbook - Click here for ours completed
4. Seasons Book
   

Videos/Interactives

1. Earth's Seasons Interactive
2. Label Vocabulary 
3. Brain Pop Earth Video
4. Geography Seasons
5. What Causes Earth's Seasons?
6. Bill Nye Seasons; Earth's Crust and Atmosphere

Games/Puzzles

1. Journey to the Earth's Core Play & Learn Puzzle - Click here for the completed puzzle

2nd Grade Earth Science

*See my 2020 post on 2nd Grade Earth Science here.

We are starting 2nd grade Earth Science, which is scheduled to last for 18 weeks but I broke down the topics into 8.  I plan on taking longer in the category that K shows more interest in or wants to do more projects/experiments in.  We've already studied a few things from some of these, so we won't spend as much time on those.  We are doing an experiment each week and any crafts or projects that correspond to the topics.

We are using the Usborne First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World as our spine.  I plan on listing all the resources for each as we go like I did with the human body study.

1. Earth, atmosphere, day/night and seasons
2. Weather (clouds, rainbows, water cycle, storms, tornadoes and hurricanes)
3. Rocks, fossils, earthquakes and volcanoes
4. Under the ground, caves and caverns and mountains
5. Rivers, floods, seashore, seas/oceans and under the sea
6. Desert, grassland and rainforest
7. Ice and glaciers
8. Cities/towns, useful earth, food web and world in danger

3rd Grade Curriculum

We buy our curriculum every February and I love having it available so we can just go right into the next level in subjects K is quicker in.  Here are our choices for 3rd grade:

• Bible - Christian Studies 2
• Spelling - Spelling Workout E; All About Spelling - 5 & 6
• Grammar - First Language Lessons 3
• Writing - Writing With Ease 3
• History - Story of the World 3
• Science - Adventures with Atoms and Molecules I & II; Usborne First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Science; Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia
• Math -Saxon Math 5/4
• Latin - Prima Latina
• Art -Artistic Pursuits Book 3
• Home Economics - Pearables Home Economics 3

Here is a slideshow of the order we got of the goodies!

Completion & Next Level Planning

We will be going right into the next level in each subject as soon as we finish the one we are on now.  I went ahead and did a completion planning on what we are using now and then also planned projection dates for our new curriculum.  However in science, we are waiting until next January to start (chemistry), I like to spend as much time as can on each year of science.  I also like to take my time with history, so starting a few months earlier with the next grade helps us keep it at a slower pace.

Here are start dates for our new curriculum, we will finish the ones we are on now the week before we start the new one:

1. Spelling Workout D - April 30th
2. All About Spelling 3 - April 16th
3. Saxon Math 3 - May 14th
4. First Language Lessons 3 - June 18th
5. Writing With Ease 3 - August 6th
6. Story of the World 3 - September 3rd

2nd Grade Daily Schedule *Updated

Mon-Fri
Bible
Reading - 30m morning; 60m evening

Mon-Wed and Friday
Spelling - 40m
Grammar - 10m
Writing - 10m
Cursive - 10m
Math - 40m

Monday and Wednesday
Science - 1 hour

Tuesday and Friday
History - 1 hour

Weekend
Art - 1 hour
Home Economics - 1 hour

Daily (Sun-Sat)
Piano practice -10m
Violin practice - 10m

Husband Helps
Bible
Reads classics
Music