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Homeschool Den / Science: Simple Machines Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 6, 2019 · Last modified May 16, 2023
Simple Machines Unit – Now 50+ pages! I have just added a new activity to the Simple Machines Packet! This is a booklet all about the six types of simple machines: lever, wheel and axle, inclined plane, wedge, pulley and screw. It also covers the three classes of levers. Kids can trace the key words and color in the pictures. The simple machines booklet is 14 half-pages. (Directions on how...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 20, 2018 · Last modified May 16, 2023
I wanted to let you all know that I added a new interactive notebook activity to the Simple Machines Packet. This Simple Machines Interactive Notebook activity covers all 6 types of simple machines (levers, inclined plane, wedge, pulley, screw, wheel and axle). It also reviews the three classes of levers. It might be a really good way to wrap up (or review) this material! You will find it on pages...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 3, 2017 · Last modified May 16, 2023
This week, I spent some time updating our Simple Machines Packet. I wanted to let you know that I added several new pages. I created a couple of new pages with simple machines you might find at a construction site. There is a blank page for the kids to label and of course there are answer pages to accompany these. 🙂 Simple Machines Interactive Notebook Activity This Simple Machines Interactive...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Simple Machines Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 21, 2013 · Last modified April 6, 2019
The last day of our Simple Machines unit was probably our favorite. We spent hours and hours making and toying with different ways of making pulleys and wheel-n-axles! We started (as always) by reading a couple of books. We did an activity to show investigate which way of looping the rope made it easier/harder to pull the broom-handles together: The kids really enjoyed Pull, Lift, and Lower: A Book About...
Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Science / Science: Simple Machines Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 15, 2013 · Last modified August 3, 2018
We started with… a plain old screw!! The kids spent time trying to screw it into an old board: We have been reading the book, Archimedes and the Door of Science along with this unit. What a terrific book and what a remarkable man Archimedes was! The book talks about the Archimedes screw as well as lots of other topics — astronomy, math, geometry and more. We loved the...
Kindergarten / Science / Science: Simple Machines Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 12, 2013 · Last modified April 6, 2019
The wedge is a pretty easy concept to remember, but we still took the opportunity to have some fun with wedges! We spent some time outside at the wood pile using real wedges to split wood (plus, we got some wood ready for the woodstove!!) This is a tool call a “Smart Splitter.” Even the kids can split wood with it. They simply lifted the weight and dropped it down...
Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Must Read / Science / Science: Simple Machines Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 11, 2013 · Last modified April 6, 2019
I have kids of different ages (5, 8 and 10). We all did this simple machines unit together. It was perfect for my younger two — quite easy for my oldest, but from here we’re going to go on to more complicated topics… inventions and electricity (see our STEM Electricity and Circuits Packet here) which are more suited to my older two. It works best for our family to do...
Science / Science Experiments / Science: Simple Machines Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 6, 2013 · Last modified August 12, 2021
We started a unit on Simple Machines several weeks ago. I thought I’d share the first set of hands on activities we did on levers and the three classes of levers. We started our unit going over the six types of simple machines. Since I have kids of varying levels I made several sheets (matching, tracing and fill in the blanks). In the end, this turned out to be useful...
Science / Science Experiments / Science: Physics Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 13, 2012 · Last modified July 18, 2018
We have been gearing up for these activities for a long time. Back in January I mentioned the kids read the Physics, Pre-Level 1 (Real Science-4-Kids) book. LD read it on his own while I read it together with DD. I thought it was a wonderful introduction to some basic physics concepts. Then as you’ve seen we did some background activities on Newton himself (the geography of England/Britain/UK; the Black...
Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Science: Chemistry Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 13, 2018 · Last modified March 18, 2019
In this post, I wanted to highlight some of the amazing science experiments that we did when my kids were younger and share several free resources we have here on the blog. These are some of the activities that really impressed my kids when they were younger!! I usually tried to weave the science experiments into topics we were learning… in this case some basics about chemistry. When the kids...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Simple Machines Unit / Videos
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 5, 2016 · Last modified September 15, 2020
Enjoy this one minute video about our Simple Machines Unit when we studied the lever, inclined plane, wedge, screw, pulley, and wheel & axle. I showed many of the hands-on activities we did. This unit is great for early elementary kids. 🙂 Below you’ll find links to everything included in the video: links to the hands-on activities and for the Simple Machines Packet. Simple Machines Packet (About 30 pages) –...
Science / Science: Simple Machines Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 16, 2014 · Last modified May 16, 2023
Last year, the kids were 5, 8 and 10. We all did this simple machines unit together. It was perfect for my younger two — quite easy for my oldest, but from here we’re going to go on to more complicated topics… inventions and electricity (see our STEM Electricity and Circuits Packet here) which are more suited to my older two. It works best for our family to do these...
Homeschool Den / Science: Vertebrates - Invertebrates
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 7, 2024 · Last modified April 9, 2024
Our Cicadas Unit includes worksheets, notebook pages and a lapbook about the cicada life cycle, the differences between annual and periodical cicadas, and information about the cicada broods. There are newly updated notebook pages about Broods XIII and XIX as well! Some facts about cicadas: Did you know that there are over 3,000 types of cicadas? While most insects live less than a year, cicadas can live as long as...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 16, 2023
Hi! How do you know what to teach? You and the kids get to decide! This is the final email in this series. A few days ago, I talked about planning in a general way. I shared our free curriculum resource guides as well as the free printable Homeschool Science Unit Checklist for Elementary and Middle School and a similar Similarly, this history checklist might help you choose the time...
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I love the quote by William Butler Yeats, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." It's about getting the kids involved, engaged, and fired up about learning (while juggling the rest of life too!)
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This post has links to dozens of posts and resources both for new and veteran homeschoolers for everything from finding homeschool curriculum to general homeschool advice and encouragement.
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What science topics could I teach my 5-7 year old - Homeschool Science Curriculum
Click on the image above to see the Science Units we covered in our homeschool from elementary through middle school (and beyond!).
A list of the books we've used most in history, science, math, language arts, etc.
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The Human Body Systems, Skeletal, Digestive, Circulatory, Muscular, Nervous, Endocrine Systems and More (with lots of hands-on activity ideas)! We usually study a different body system each year.
Click on the image to see our units on the States of matter, Properties of Matter, Electricity & Circuits, and the Chemistry Unit (Get to know the Periodic Table in a fun way!)
This is a free checklist I put together of the various science units I hope to cover in the elementary and middle school years.
Do your kids know the 4 largest countries? Which countries have the most people? The longest river? This packet covers basic world and U.S. facts and also covers geographic features and land forms.
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Dozens of posts about how to create a homeschool writing workshop.
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This is one of the best values we have... more than 20 PDFs with games, activities and worksheets to learn/practice the multiplication facts ($7.00).
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Click on the image to check out our 100+page Rocks and Minerals Unit.
This is a fun, hands-on unit for early elementary students!
How the body is organized from cells to tissues... organs to body systems
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