During this 3 year period, your children will study basically the same topics they covered earlier but in more depth. See Basic Science Topics to get an idea of what to cover. It only goes to 5th grade though, sorry about that. :) There is also a list below.
Humans: During this time start with the things you can see, such as the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, etc and learn the names of the parts, draw them too. After that, each year go into more depth such as skeleton, circulatory, organs, revisit the senses..... This is also the time to talk about reproduction in humans, plants, and animals.
Animals, bugs, plants: Learn their different parts too. How they breathe, eat, (who eats, gets eaten, and who makes their own food) and so on. Study live specimens if you can. Grow some plants. Look at things through a magnifying glass. This is the earth worm, ant farm, tadpole-to-frog, caterpillar-to-butterfly period --- try to do most of them.
Bird observations should become a more refined. Study the stars too, make drawings and notes in a journal. Choose a native tree, identify it, learn how to identify that particular kind of tree during each of the four seasons.
During the last year, work on refining lab techniques: Care of equipment, how to use equipment, how to clean and put away. How to make notes during an experiment, how to: make charts, make graphs, make drawings, and write a few sentences about results...
These are listed in no particular order
| -Plants and Seeds Structure -Biological Organization -Classification System -Insects and Reptiles -Ecosystems -Food Chains, (producers, consumers, decomposers) -Human physiology systems -Cells -Bacteria -Molds -Classification of living things -Microbes -Algae and fungi -Conservation -Nuclear energy -Elementary geology |
-Earth's Composition -Properties and Uses of Light (speed and direction, reflection, refraction, lasers, the color spectrum) -Basics of Oceans (tides, waves, current, geography of floor - ridges, trenches, life) -Fresh water & the water cycle -Weather - The Universe -Electricity -Magnetism -Landforms -Electricity and uses -Inventions |
-Uses Measuring Devices, Graphing -Techniques of Observation and Experimentation -Machines and How They Work -Graph obtained data, using millimeters, centimeters, meters -Use of Microscope -Atomic Energy -Elements and compounds -Simple Astronomy -Space travel -Sound, light, and heat -Magnetic and electric interactions |
The books and software titles below have resources to meet some of the needs for this age group. Many resources will be found in the World Book CD-ROMs -- diagrams of human, bug, and plant parts as well as some multimedia resources.
You don't need all of these, be selective!
| Resources: | Books: | Books: | ||||||||||||||||
| Nature Studies Be selective when investing in nature guide books. TIP: Get guide books that are for your area. It is annoying to wade through trees of China when you are trying to find the tree in your backyard. The handiest books to OWN are tree and bird guides.
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TOPS
Learning Systems #32 Electricity Lab
uses aluminum foil instead of wire. I recommend that you buy some
battery holders, alligator clips, switches, and thin coated wire because
the foil gets HOT. These things can be found at Radio Shack or a similar
store. Favorite
TOPS Learning Systems #33 Magnetism Magnets can be found at your local Radio Shack or a similar store. TOPS Learning Systems #39 Corn and Beans Observe, calculate, chart, draw the growth of corn and beans.
A book that covers the classification topics is "Introduction to Biology" by John Holzmann. This book can be bought from Sonlight Curriculum.
Nature Journal: |
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also carries software, but I have not used it. Users reviews at
Amazon seem to indicate that it is good.
The
Christian Liberty Nature readers are another one of our favorites. 
