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Homeschool Den / Science Experiments / Science: Chemistry Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 12, 2016 · Last modified March 19, 2023
In this part of our States of Matter unit we talked about some of the properties of liquids. A few days ago, I shared some of activities as we discussed gases. You’ll find that here: States of Matter-Hands-On Activities about Gases. We continued to talk about the structure of matter. Liquids have a definite volume, but no definite shape. Not only did we talk about some of the characteristics of...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 7, 2016 · Last modified March 19, 2023
We started our chemistry unit this year with a study of the States of Matter – Solids, Liquids and Gases. Today, I’m going to share four hands-on activities we did about air. We started the unit with a discussion of the states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. The kids had to brainstorm as many examples as they could in two minutes. Then they shared their examples. I then asked...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science Experiments / Science Units
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 22, 2016 · Last modified June 26, 2020
The last couple of weeks, we had our Back to School Challenge, but I didn’t write specifically about our upcoming plans. In today’s post, I’m going to talk about our plans for science this year. The kids are going into grades 3, 6, and 8. When planning out for the new year, I think back over the units we’ve covered the past few years. I try to make sure that...
Highlighting Past Posts / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Science / Science Experiments / Science Units
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 24, 2016 · Last modified May 15, 2016
Today I’m going to talk about the science units we covered in our homeschool this year AND what we didn’t get to because we ran out of time!!! My plans are always a bit more ambitious than what we actually cover, but even so it felt like we accomplished a lot! 🙂 This year the kids were in Grades 2, 5 and 7, but below you’ll also find some resources...
Homeschool Den / Science: Natural Disasters Unit and Activities / Science: Weather Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 16, 2016 · Last modified January 24, 2021
Our Natural Disasters Packet has notebook pages and worksheets as well as some hands-on activity ideas covering the following events: Flooding Mudslides Tsunami Tornado Hurricane, cyclone, typhoon Blizzard Heat Wave Drought Wildfire Sinkholes In this packet you’ll find one page on each of these events. Often, natural disasters occur because of geologic changes or extreme weather conditions. Students explore the cause of each of these events. They also find out what ...
Freebies / Science: Water Unit / Science: Weather Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 1, 2016 · Last modified September 3, 2020
Today I have some free cloud worksheets for you. Why? I’m in the process of making a Road Trip Travel Log for the kids for a cross-country trip this summer. This is just one of the sections, but it made sense to share this as a separate pdf file as well so that those of you working on a weather unit can find these pages more easily if they are...
Homeschool Den / Science: Ocean Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 26, 2016 · Last modified May 1, 2023
I created this Ocean Unit because I could not find any curriculum that tackled all the topics I wanted to cover. In our ocean studies we explored Marine Habitats Coral Reefs Tide Pools Water Form Words (bay, estuary, lagoon, fjord, etc.) Features of the Ocean Floor (trench, seamount, guyot, etc.) Ocean Navigation (early navigation with astrolabes & the constellations, modern SONAR) Salinity Tides Ocean Currents (Surface & Deep Sea Currents)...
Homeschool Den / Science: Ocean Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 14, 2016 · Last modified September 15, 2020
In this part of our unit we talked about the ocean zones and spent quite a bit of time talking about the creatures that live in these different zones. Some organisms spend the day in the darker zones and then travel up into the upper zone at night to feed. We also talked about bioluminescence in quite a bit of detail. We found it fascinating that because there are so...
Homeschool Den / Science: Ocean Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 11, 2016 · Last modified September 15, 2020
I have two really neat hands-on activities to highlight as we learned about the features of the ocean floor. Over the past few weeks, we learned about the basic features of the ocean floor: the continents shelf, continental slope, seamounts (and islands), guyots, and trenches. The pages below are in our ocean packet. We also learned a *ton* from the Blue Planet (affiliate link – available on DVD and Amazon...
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) –...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 5, 2016 · Last modified September 15, 2020
Over the course of our ocean unit, the kids discovered how much our knowledge about the ocean has changed over time. Little was known about the ocean even just fifty years ago — let alone hundreds of years ago when explorers were first venturing out. We talked about early navigation techniques and in talked quite a bit about how the stars can be used for navigation. The kids can recognize...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 1, 2016 · Last modified July 17, 2020
I thought the kids would enjoy talking about where the ingredients in cookies come from. This is something we talked about quite a bit when the kids were younger, but I thought they might enjoy this again. Eggs, flour, and butter are pretty easy for the kids, but vanilla and baking powder aren’t quite as obvious! The kids bake a lot these days! 🙂 This is free if anyone...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Astronomy Unit / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Ocean Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 31, 2016 · Last modified September 15, 2020
Last week we talked about the moon and ocean tides. We talked about the phases of the moon and went into detail, not only about daily tides, but what causes spring tides and neap tides. First, we talked about the effect gravity has on Earth’s waters. The moon pulls the Earth’s waters creating a bulge on one side. But, the moon also pulls on the Earth itself creating a bulge...
Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Science / Starting to Homeschool / Videos
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 29, 2016 · Last modified April 18, 2019
How do I start teaching science to my kids? This is a very different answer if your kids are K-2 than if they are a bit older. Here are some of the science topics you might want to consider if your kids are in early elementary. I put together a video of some of the activities we did when the kids were in early elementary. Some of these activities my...
Do you believe education can be exciting, inspiring, and full of joy? We do too!
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!)
A bit about me: I have my Master's from Brown University. I have more than 20 years of teaching experience. I was a high school teacher for many years both in the U.S. and internationally and also taught for the University of Maryland before leaving to homeschool my 3 wonderful kids.
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Click on the image to find out more about the units and packets we have available.
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.
Click on the image above to see the History Units we covered in our homeschool.
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.
Click the image to check out our packets on Earth Science, Rocks and Minerals, the Atmosphere, Weather, Energy and More!
Units are also sold separately.
This is one of our most popular units. It covers the Layers of the Earth, Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, Volcanoes and More! It is included in the Earth Science Bundle (see the picture/link above).
Click the image to see our Biology Units on Animal and Plant Cells; the Biology Unit on Biomes, Food Chains, Symbiosis; Scientific Classification & Taxonomy (Domain/Kingdom/Phylum/Class, etc.); Botany - Plant Kingdom and Oceans and Oceanography.
Click on the image to see our Animal Bundle - including the Animal Unit, Life Cycles, the Rainforest, Winter (Polar Animals) & Hibernation, Chameleons, Wolves, Cicadas and more!
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.
Click on the image to check out our 100-page unit on World War I.
We have used AAS for 6 years! AAS is an affiliate link.
Dozens of posts about how to create a homeschool writing workshop.
Click on the image to check out all of our fun K-2 Math Packets.
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).
Click on the image to discover some of the pages, posts and homeschool resources within our blog that might be the most useful for you including a long list of our freebies!
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
Click on the image to check out some of the Spanish worksheet bundles we have available!
Click on the image above to check out our German worksheets.
Click on the image to find out more about our units and packets.
