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Homeschooling for FREE! e-Newsletter, June 2006
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In This Issue
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A Word from Your Editor
Psalm 19:1-2 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge."
I don't understand how people can really believe the evolution theory. How could a beautiful sunset, like the one I saw last night, just happen? How can an egg become a cute, furry animal? How can just the right amount of oxygen be in the air for us to breath and to sustain life? Sometimes I just want to say, well duh--it's GOD! But that wouldn't get me far with some people, would it? Satan's lies are powerful--but our God reigns.
Science is something that has never really excited me. Oh sure, certain forms of science do, like recently when we heard raccoons in our attic. Read here for the details. And then read here for some interesting tales of other raccoon experiences. And then the high cost of getting raccoons out of your attic--phew! I learned a lot about the science of raccoons. I still haven't quite figured out God's purpose for them, but I'm sure they're somewhere in the food chain.
Speaking of science, we have a ton of freebies gathered by Michelle Eichorn of Treasure Box Press. She went on a search for science freebies and came back with a boatload! And Cindy Rushton is back again challenging us to begin a science notebook. She may make a science lover out of me yet!
Julie Nott, Editor
www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/Julie
www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/FreeStuffForHomeschoolers
"Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing." --Werner Von Braun (1912-1977)
German rocket engineer, in US after 1945
Freebie Science Resources on the Internet By Michelle Eichorn
Studying birds? Ocean life? Inventions? Chemistry? Free science-related resources abound on the Internet--from activity booklets to volcanic soil samples!
Various government agencies, such as the US Geological Survey and NASA; professional organizations, such as the Plastics Council; and museums and aquariums, such as SeaWorld, often provide a wealth of educational resources. When you know your unit topic, brainstorm related agencies, companies, museums, zoos, aquariums, and companies. Visit their websites and enjoy the freebies!
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NOAA Ocean Explorer CD Available
This virtual CD contains over 130 lesson plans for grades 6-12. The lesson plans are based on recent research. It is available only by download (about 20 minutes with DSL or cable connection).
Monterey Bay Aquarium
The website of the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, offers several free teaching units with some easy but interesting experiments, as well as some art projects. A nice feature is the photos of the various projects, so you know what the experiment or project should look like! Plus, the web cams are fantastic. (A special thank you to a fellow www.HomeschoolBlogger.com friend for posting this link on my blog)
Great Coral Reef Unit
This is a very complete unit with nice PowerPoint presentations. This is most appropriate for middle and high school ages. However, I plan to adapt some activities for my kindergartener.
Free Estuary Curriculum and Posters
The United States EPA has some free estuary posters, as well as a poster on keeping our oceans clean.
www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/kids/
www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/kids/site/poster.htm
Enhance an Ocean Study
Free 38-page manatee teacher's guide, plus other free stuff!
Busch Gardens provides classroom activities and in-depth information on various animals!
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Visit to an Ocean Planet
Although this is not a free resource, for $5 you can get a NASA CD packed full of lessons and information. This is for middle and high school grades.
Insects
This link has a great insect lesson! www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ythfacts/resourc/resourc.htm
Energy and Energy Conservation
 Help your students Get Smart About Energy with this time-saving lesson planner CD from the Department of Energy. To order your free CD, send an email to doe.erec@nciinc.com or call 1-800-DOE-3732.
The California Energy Commission has some terrific projects on wind, solar, and hydro power. There's even a project that shows you how to use peanut power to heat water!
Nuclear energy for high school ages from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission:
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/teachers.html
4-H Materials - Animal Science, Plants
4-H websites are full of free lessons! Here are a couple.
www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/4h.htm and www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/4hpubs/#teach
Human Body
Nutrition from 5ADay.org
You can find a free Teacher's Guide and activity pages under the "Educators" link at the top of the page as well as
freebies on the "Kids" page.
Chemistry
American Plastics Council has created a kit containing samples of a variety of recycled plastic. This Hands on Plastic Kit is just one of a wide range of materials the American Plastics Council makes available to the general public.
A free recycling curriculum is also available.
Gardening, Plants, Trees
The University of Illinois Extension Service offers a fun website for gardening.
Another website from the University of Illinois--great for your preschool and early elementary ages. Your child can solve plant mysteries and learn all about plant life at the same time!
www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/index.html
This packet of posters is free from International Paper.
A terrific resource on trees can be found at the National Arbor Day website.
This is a fun resource, especially for preschool through early elementary ages.
www.treetures.com/Meet1.htm
The North Carolina Forest History Society provides a free middle school curriculum on forests, trees, and environmental history.
Inventions, Engineering
A free curriculum from the US Patent Office
Teach Engineering
This site has engineering-related lessons, as well as physical and life science lessons.
Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety
www.fema.gov/kids/freebie.htm
Studying trees? Don't forget to include forest fires and fire safety. Studying hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding? Disaster preparedness is a good addition to your unit. FEMA offers free books, door hangers, coloring books, and posters.
Weather and Weather Disasters
www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures.shtml
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offers several free weather- and disaster-related coloring books and publications. You may write away for some, but most are available for download.
The NOAA in El Paso, Texas, offers some great lessons and projects!
www.srh.noaa.gov/elp/kids/experiments.shtml
Some Unusual Things!
- Receive a free sample of a "Mars Soil Simulant" from NASA. The sample is altered volcanic ash from Hawaii that closely matches the color and particle size of Martian soil.
Visit this website to find out more and check out some other freebies!
You may also write to the following address for a soil sample:
Office of the Curator
NASA Johnson Space Center
Houston, TX 77058
- Studying animals? Or animal classification? Have a child who loves monkeys and apes? Enjoy a free ape curriculum!
- Free seeds from BiblicalGardens.org. You do have to pay for two stamps!
- The National Gallery of Art has resources they loan for free. How does this relate to science? In the list entitled "Curriculum," select science.
- Studying plants or starting a garden? Study corn! A free unit is available from the Kansas Corn Growers.
- Studying honey? FREE Teacher's Guide!
www.honey.com/kids/video/index.html and
www.honey.com/kids/video/HoneyFilesWeb.pdf
Michelle Eichhorn and her husband, Rick, live in North Carolina, where they have been homeschooling their 2 children (ages 13 and 5) for 8 1/2 years. Michelle is co-owner of Treasure Box Press and teaches homeschool science classes at a local children's museum. She also serves as the Judge Advisor for the North Carolina FIRST Lego League.
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Visit Michelle at www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/eyecorn and www.treasureboxpress.com.
"Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
It's Summer! Let's Begin a Science Notebook! By Cindy Rushton
Today, being inside just tortures me! It is STUNNING outside! Even the little birds are begging us to go outside.
This is the perfect time to begin nature notebooks! Not only will you have an abundance of treasures awaiting your exploration, but these are perfect days to try something fresh. Ready? Let me help!
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Chances are you already have many things that could be included in a science notebook around your home. Look for those "goodies" that do not have their own special place and add them to your science notebooks. This is the perfect opportunity to develop "a place" for those "goodies" while developing a nice product for displaying all the growing knowledge of nature, all while your children are keeping special memorabilia!
One of the things that I like about using supplies intended for scrapbooking is that there are so many products that enable us to keep bulky materials safely inside our notebooks. Not to mention that scrapbooking makes EVERY notebook so much cuter! And to imagine that we call this "school"!
Want some ideas of things to include in your notebooks?
- Sketches: Don't forget to include date, time, place, Latin name, and common name. Oh! Don't forget to document where you found it.
- Snapshots: Don't forget to journal about your snapshot!
- Pressed flowers, leaves, feathers, butterflies, etc.
- Glossary of terms studied
- Diagrams
- Poetry
- Information about discoveries
- Lists of new findings
- Handouts from trips
- Narrations from trips, outings, hikes, nature walks, books read about
- Nature or scientists/naturalists
- Timeline: mark your excursions, inventions, famous men and women, and so on!
- Instructions on "How to Care for…" or "How to Collect…" etc.
- Booklets
- Project data
- Bible verses
- Hymns
- Nature devotions
- Current events
- Stories: nature, pets, metaphors, about outings!
- Journal entries
- Details from outings
- Favorite quotes about nature
- Reading list
- Research
- Reports
- Essays
- Science experiment logs
- Notes from any science study
You can add a lot of life to your science notebooks with special supplies you find along the way! I have found that the little touches have made our notebooks so much more fun and in the process hooked my children.
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Encourage your children to use die-cuts, frames, stencils, shapes, and edgings galore to make their notebooks fun and beautiful! My children now beg each weekend to work on our binders/scrapbooks. We have taken these simple skills into other projects for our science studies, such as creating books or booklets; making cards with pressed flowers, sketches, poetry, and Scripture verses; and displaying our collections. The key is to just have fun and enjoy making your notebooks all yours!
Happy notebooking!
Visit Cindy's website at www.cindyrushton.com or her blog at www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/cindyrushton.
"Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power;
religion gives man wisdom, which is control."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thank you for reading the TOS Homeschooling for FREE! e-Newsletter this month. We'll have more exciting FREE stuff for you next month as we focus on creative writing freebies!
You may forward this e-Newsletter to your friends in its entirety. If you have any comments, email me at FreeHomeschool@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com with your feedback. Don't forget to look for the Summer issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, arriving soon in stores and mailboxes! Right now, 19 free gifts to the first 3,000 new subscribers!
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