Physical Science Unit

 

How to Create a Unit Study Around Apologia Science

Now that your junior and senior high students are using those wonderful Apologia science textbooks, what do you do with your younger ones? Why not do a unit study based on these textbooks and include them all? This idea can be adapted to work for both Apologia's Exploring Creation with General Science and Exploring Creation with Physical Science. You can begin your oldest child in either of these textbooks as early as 6th grade, doing 1/2 book or more per year. A sample unit is below.

DIRECTIONS:

1. First, read a portion of the textbook during family reading time. Even if your little one doesn’t understand everything or appear to being paying attention, he will get something out of it.

2. Second, do the lab experiments from each module together as a family. Everyone will enjoy this.

3. Third, assign additional reading, worksheets, research, and/or internet activities to each child according to the child's ability. See sample unit below for ideas.

4. For very young children, read one of the reading suggestions aloud to them. (Do not go into a lot of detail if you are planning an additional unit on any of these topics.)

5. Have your 7th & 8th grade student do the "On Your Own" and "Study Guide" assignments in the textbook as "home"work.

SAMPLE UNIT:

This unit is ©Copyright 2004 by Cindy Downes. All rights reserved. Permission is given to homeschooling parents to use this unit free of charge in their own homeschool only. This unit may not be reprinted in any other form, for any other purpose (commercial or otherwise) without permission from Cindy Downes. Contact her at cindy@oklahomahomeschool.com.

SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR SAMPLE UNIT:

You will need Apologia's Exploring Creation With Physical Science for your main textbook. Obtain additional resources through the links on this web page or check your local library. Grade levels listed indicate interest level, not reading level

LESSON PLAN:

Module 1: Atoms , Molecules
READING SUGGESTIONS:
  • How Tall, How Short, How Far Away by David A. Adler. Recommended for Grades 1-6.
  • The Metric System, a New True Book. Recommended for Grades 1-6.
  • Think Metric! By Franklyn M. Branley. Grades 1-6.

ACTIVITIES:

Module 2: Air

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • Air by Terry Jennings.
  • Fire by Aaron Frisch.
  • Atmosphere: Sea of Air by Roy A. Gallant.

VIDEOS:

INTERNET:

ACTIVITIES:

  • Make a chart showing your observation of the wind for one week. Write down your observation (ie. can feel wind on face, leaves rustle) and indicate the Beaufort Wind Scale for the day (ie: #2).
  • Do activities on pages 51 - 60 from LEARNING ABOUT WEATHER SCIEN , Scienceworks for Kids. Recommended for K-3rd.
  • Make a pin wheel from paper, a straight pin, and a pencil. (Skip if you did #2 above)
Module 3: Atmosphere

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • Hot and Cold by Sally Hewitt.
  • Heat by Darlene Lauw.
  • Jet Streams; How Do They Affect our Weather? by Elmar R. Reiter.

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Ionosphere.
  • Research: Sir Edward Victory Appleton.

VIDEOS:

  • Atmosphere, Bill Nye the Science Guy, 4-8

INTERNET:

Module 4: Water

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • Buoyancy by John Farndon.

ACTIVITIES:

Module 5: Hydrosphere

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • Charting the Ocean by Ruth Brindze
  • Mysterious Ocean Highway: Benjamin Franklin and the Gulf Stream, The by Deborah Heiligman. 3-6+
  • Tsunamis by Luke Thompson, 3-6
  • Drip! Drop! How Water Gets to Your Tap by Barbara Seuling, K-2+

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Evangelista Torricelli (Meteorology, hydrodynamics)

VIDEOS:

  • Tell Me Why: Water and Weather, K-6+
  • All About Rain, Sleet, & Snow. Gr K-4.

INTERNET:

  • OCEANS, INTERNET QUESTS. Great internet-based projects for primary grades.
Module 6: Earth

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake by Ellen Levine, 2-6+
  • Rocks & Minerals by Michael O’Donoghue, 3-8+
  • Rocks and Minerals (True Book) by Ann O. Squire, K-5
  • Volcanoes by Patricia Netzley, 4th+

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: William Gilbert (terrestrial magnetism, geology)
  • Research: John Milne (seismograph, earthquakes)
  • Research: Friedrich Mohs (hardness scale, minerals, geology)
  • Research: Charles Richter (Richter scale, earthquakes)
  • Research: James Van Allen (Van Allen Belt, radiation)
  • Research: Alfred Wegener (plate tectonics), Abraham Werner (classification of minerals)
  • Cooking: Make some Edible Rock Recipes, all ages.
  • Complete worksheets on pages 11-16, 19-20, 25, 35, 42-44, 57-60, 64-69, & 72-80 from Geology, Scienceworks for Kids.

VIDEOS:

INTERNET:

Module 7: Weather

SUGGESTED READING:

  • Clouds by Trudi Strain Trueit.
  • The Weather Watcher by David Conrad.

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Luke Howard (classification of clouds)
  • Do activities on pages 33 - 46 from LEARNING ABOUT WEATHER SCIEN , Scienceworks for Kids. Recommended for K-3rd.

VIDEOS:

  • Clouds by JWM Productions. 4-7+
  • Climate & Seasons by JWM Productions, 4-7+
Module 8: Weather Prediction

SUGGESTED READING:

  • Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll. by Franklyn Branley, K-3+
  • How Artists See the Weather. by Colleen Carroll. 1-6+
  • Meteorologists by Sandra J. Christian.
  • Rain or Shine: All About Weather (Lift Up Flap book) by Danielle Denega, PreK-K
  • Weather by Sally Hewitt.

ACTIVITIES:

VIDEOS:

  • Magic Schoolbus Kicks Up a Storm Scholastic, K-4+
  • All About Meteorology
Module 9: Physics of Motion

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • How Do You Lift a Lion? by Robert E. Wells, K-4
  • Simple Machines by Allan Fowler. Rookie Reader, K-2
  • What is a Lever? by Lloyd G. Douglas, K-6
  • What is a Plane? by Lloyd G. Douglas, K-6
  • What is a Pulley? by Lloyd G. Douglas, K-6
  • What is a Screw? by Lloyd G. Douglas, K-6
  • What is a Wedge? by Lloyd G. Douglas, K-6
  • What is a Wheel and Axle? by Lloyd G. Douglas., K-6
  • Let's Investigate Time, Distance, and Speed by Marion Smoothey.

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Archimedes
  • Research: Christiaan Huygens (pendulum clock)
  • Complete worksheets on pages 11-15, 19, 26, 31-32, 40-41, 48, 52-53, 58-61, 65-66, 70, & 73 from SIMPLE MACHINES-SCIENCEWORKS , Scienceworks for Kids.

VIDEOS:

  • Bill Nye the Science Guy: Simple Machines.

INTERNET:

Module 10: Newton’s Laws

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • Isaac Newton by Paul Mason. Scientist Who Made History series.
  • The Ocean of Truth: The Story of Sir Isaac Newton by Joyce McPherson, 6th+

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Sir Isaac Newton (laws of motion)
  • Research: Daniel Bernoulli (Bernoulli’s principle)
  • Research: Robert Boyle (vacuum pump, Boyle’s Law)
  • Research: Gustave Cariolis (kinetic energy)
  • Research: Charles Coulomb (friction)
  • Research: Jacques Charles (Charles’ Law, pressure)
Module 11: Forces in Creation Part I

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • What Makes it Swing? by Jim Pipe.
  • Forces and Motion by Peter Lafferty.
  • The Science of Gravity by John Stringer.
  • Comets by Franklyn Branley.

ACTIVITIES:

Module 12: Forces in Creation Part II

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • Michael Faraday by Stewart Ross.
  • Scientist Who Made History: Thomas A. Edison by Paul Mason. 4-12
  • Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison by David Adler. K-3+
  • What Would You Ask? Thomas Edison by Anita Ganeri. 1-8+
  • What's The Big Idea, Ben Franklin? By Jean Fritz, K-6
  • In Their Own Words: Benjamin Franklin by Peter Roop, 4-8+
  • Electricity by Darlene R. Stille

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Michael Faraday (electromagnetic induction, electrolysis)
  • Research: James Clerk Maxwell (electromagnetic theory of light, color vision)
  • Research: Andre Ampere (unit of current)
  • Research: Thomas Edison (electricity, inventor)
  • Research: Ben Franklin (electricity)
  • Research: Georg Ohm (Ohm’s Law)
  • Research: Alessandro Volta (static electricity)
  • Complete worksheets on pages from 75-80, Energy: Light, Heat & Sound , Scienceworks for Kids.
  • Complete worksheets on pages from 19-21, 23-24, 27,36-43, 48, 53, 55-63, 67, ELECTRICITY THEMATIC UNIT.

VIDEOS:

  • Electrical current, Disney, Bill Nye, 4-8
  • Thomas Edison and the Electric Light, all ages
Module 13: Forces in Creation Part III

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • Albert Einstein, Young Thinker, Childhood of Famous Americans series. (Bookstores), 2+
  • Albert Einstein by Sheila Wyborny, 5th-8+
  • Marie Curie by Dana Meachen Rau.

ACTIVITIES:

  • 1. Research: Enrico Fermi (neutron bombardment of Uranium)
  • 2. Research: Marie Curie (Radium)
  • 3. Research: Robert Oppenheimer (atomic bomb)
  • 4. Research: Henry Cavendish (hydrogen)
  • 5. Research: Dmitri Mendeleyev (chemical elements)
  • Complete worksheets on pages 44-45, 48-51,58-59 from Energy: Light, Heat & Sound , Scienceworks for Kids.

VIDEO:

  • God of the Atom , 7-12 (Moody -CBD)
Module 14: Waves and Sound

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • Ahoy! Ahoy! Are you there?: A Story of Alexander Graham Bell by Robert Quackenbush. K-6.
  • Did You Hear That?: Animals with Super Hearing by Caroline Arnold, K-6
  • Ears are for Hearing by Paul Showers. K-6
  • The Telephone by Sarah Gearhart. 4-8th+
  • Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier by R. Conrad Stein. 4-8

ACTIVITIES:

VIDEOS:

  • Bill Nye the Science Guy: Sound, Light & Color
  • Clifford’s Fun With Sounds

INTERNET:

Module 15: Light

READING SUGGESTIONS:

  • CLICK! A Story About George Eastman by Barbara Mitchell. 56 pgs, illus. (J 92 E13mi 1986), 4th+
  • Thomas A. Edison by Paul Mason.

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Rene Descartes (rainbow formation)
  • Complete worksheets on pages 22-23, 27, 30-31 from , Energy: Light, Heat & Sound , Scienceworks for Kids.

VIDEOS:

  • Thomas Edison and the Electric Light

INTERNET:

Module 16: Astrophysics

READING SUGGESTIONS: SPACE

  • Can You Hear a Shout in Space? by Melvin Berger, 3-6
  • Postcards from Pluto: A Tour of the Solar System by Loreen Leedy. K-4
  • Space, Reader’s Digest. 3-6+
  • There’s No Place Like Space! All About Our Solar System by Tish Rabe, K-3+

READING SUGGESTIONS: STARS, METEORS, ETC.

  • Big Dipper, The. by Franklyn Branley, K-6
  • Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter, 1-6
  • Magic School Bus Sees Stars. K-6
  • Mapping the Skies by Walter Oleksy. 5-8+

READING SUGGESTIONS: EARTH, MOON, SUN, SEASONS

  • Eclipse: Darkness in Daytime by Franklyn M. Branley. K-6
  • Moon Book, The. by Gail Gibbons, K-3
  • Reasons for the Seasons by Gail Gibbons. K-3+
  • Sun and Moon (Exploring the Solar System series). by Robin Kerrod, 4+
  • What Makes Day and Night by Franklyn Branley. K-3+

READING SUGGESTIONS: PLANETS

  • Goofy Visits Pluto, A book About the Planets. by Cathy Dubowski, K-4
  • What if We Lived on Another Planet by Olive MacDonald, 4-6

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Johann Bayer (star atlas)
  • Research: Tycho Brahe (astronomical tables)
  • Research: Copernicus (Heliocentric theory)
  • Research: Galileo (telescope)
  • Research: Edmund Halley (comet)
  • Research: Robert Goddard (rockets)
  • Research: George Hale (telescope)
  • Research: Sir William Herschel (telescope)
  • Research: Edwin Hubble (telescope)
  • Research: Kepler (laws of planetary motion)
  • Research: Sir Isaac Newton (laws of motion, reflecting telescope)
  • Research: Ptolemy (astronomer)
  • Research: Wernher von Braun (rocket engineer)
  • Complete worksheets on pages 10-15, 18-20, 23-25, 28-32, 37-50, 56, 58-66, 7175, 80 from Exploring Space , Scienceworks for Kids.

VIDEOS:

  • The Planets, Don Barrett.
  • Our Solar System: The Inner Planets.
  • Our Solar System: The Outer Planets.

INTERNET:

Be sure to enter these topics on your copy of The Checklist.

Please let me know if any of these links do not work. Email: cindy@oklahomahomeschool.com.

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Copyright © 2004 - by Cindy Downes