Frugal Homeschooling: If It's Slimy, It's Biology

Thursday, June 19, 2008

If It's Slimy, It's Biology

[Photo by MyAngelG.]

That's from a quote at The Lab of Mr. Q, on how to distinguish the sciences:

"If it stinks, it's chemistry.
If it's slimy, it's biology.
And if it doesn't work, it's physics."

There is one more "if" that he doesn't mention: If it's a free, 36-week biology curriculum for elementary homeschoolers, it must be...

Classic Science: Elementary Life Science

Mr. Q describes it this way:

"Each week has been broken down into three separate days to make it easier for you to set up a schedule:
The first day of each week contains a reading assignment and worksheet review for your child.
The second and third days contain hands-on activities to reinforce each weekly reading.
"Don’t worry about expensive materials for these activities! Most equipment can be found around the home or at a local store. The weekly curriculum has been arranged into four-week units.

"In addition, you will find several weekly activities that are titled Exploring Scientific Procedures (ESP) Activities. These are inquiry-based activities that require a child to set up an experiment and collect data. In essence, these are mini-science fair projects. DON’T PANIC!!! They are not as hard as you may imagine."

Here is an outline of the program:

Unit 1: Basic Needs/Resources
Unit 2: Biomes
Unit 3: Life Cycles
Unit 4: Classification
Unit 5: Food Webs
Unit 6: Senses
Unit 7: Body Organs
Unit 8: Cells
Unit 9: Health and Nutrition

Princess Kitten has been studying biology this year, and I wish I had discovered this program sooner. Still, I should be able to draw several ideas from it to supplement her current work --- and I am looking forward to seeing Mr. Q's Elementary Earth Science program, promised for next year.

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