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It’s Fall, Y’all! If you are fortunate, you live in an area where bright green leaves are now turning brilliant hues of reds, oranges, and yellows. Those fallen leaves will become a great habitat and provide food for small animals during the coming months. So why do trees’ leaves change colors and fall to the…
Review of Apologia’s Online General Science Class for Middle School Our son began his 8th grade year as a homeschooler this past fall. He has been homeschooled from the start, and we’ve always chosen his curriculum using an eclectic approach, mostly with the intent of catering to his strengths while moving his weaknesses forward at…
Our children need to learn real-world problem solving! As homeschooling parents, we know our children need to learn to be real-world problem solvers! We want them to be successful adults both in their jobs and their families, and we know that means they need to learn to think for themselves and handle whatever problems they…
Did you know that the great American inventor, philosopher, and homeschooling alumnus Benjamin Franklin’s birthday was January 17th? One of the many things Benjamin Franklin is remembered for is for discovering how to effectively conduct electricity. Therefore, what better way is there to celebrate his birthday than by conducting your own electricity experiment at home?…
Want to see the best meteor shower of the year? It’s coming up in a few days! Whether you and your children enjoy viewing the beautiful night sky or whether you’re studying astronomy this year, you won’t want to miss the Perseid meteor shower that’s happening soon! When to View You can see the Perseid…
Fall Science Experiment: Use Chromatography to Extract Color from Green Leaves We will do an experiment that explains how leaves change colors before they fall to the ground. Even though the trees look so bare and forlorn in the winter, we know that in the spring more will literally spring to life and once again provide…
Reasons to Keep a Nature Journal There are so many wonderful reasons to keep a nature journal!! I will discuss a few of them here with you, and I hope you’ll share some of your favorite reasons with us in the comments too! You may not consider yourself or your children particularly artistic. Or you…
Tree study activities are interesting to do each season of the year. Spring tree study activities will be different and teach our kids different things than a Fall tree study. In this post we share some activities and notebooking pages to help you plan and enjoy a tree study with your children–any time of the…
Have you heard about the eclipse that’s coming up on August 21? I found this great eclipse simulator that allows you to see what the coming solar eclipse will look like from your location! All you need to do is type in your location. Then you hit the “play” button for the simulation (on the…
Sunflowers are a fabulous plant to study “hands on” because they are so large that they can be easily observed at any stage. And because they bloom from mid-summer all the way through fall, you can use these books and ideas for some fun summer learning or as a great unit study for your homeschool!…
In this science fair project titled “Operation Bio-Network,” a student creates a pond ecosystem. It’s really not difficult to do! Keep reading to find out how to make a simple mini-pond. Materials Needed to Create the Ecosystem: Tank Submerged (aquatic) plants Equipment to catch organisms Lake/pond water Organisms, dirt, plants collected from pond Procedure: How to…
Doing a tide pool unit study through the eyes of a hermit crab can be a lot of fun! My son and I loved doing this. We even went to the pet store and purchased our very own hermit crab, whom he lovingly named “Sir Phineas Aquarius” or Fin for short. He was surprisingly easy to care…
