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 Physical Science and Exploring Creation with General 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. As you progress through the book, use the ideas below for your younger children.

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 2012 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 contact@oklahomahomeschool.com.

SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR SAMPLE UNIT:

You will need:

These workbooks are for your younger students. Make copies of the pages you need for each lesson and save the rest for other projects:

Books: I have recommended quite a few out of print books here, but sometimes they are the best choice. Try the link provided for buying them used or check your library. They are worth buying for your family library if you are able. Grade levels listed indicate interest level, not reading level.

LESSON PLAN:

Module 1: Atoms , Molecules

READING SUGGESTIONS:

ACTIVITIES:

Module 2: Air

READING SUGGESTIONS:

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 (Scienceworks for Kids Series). 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:

ACTIVITIES:

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

VIDEOS:

INTERNET:

Module 4: Water

READING SUGGESTIONS:

ACTIVITIES:

Module 5: Hydrosphere

READING SUGGESTIONS

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Evangelista Torricelli (Meteorology, hydrodynamics)

VIDEOS:

INTERNET:

Internet Quests: Oceans. This is a fun Internet-based project for primary grades. It is out of print but some copies can be found on Amazon.

Module 6: Earth

READING SUGGESTIONS:

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, Grades 1-3.

VIDEOS:

INTERNET:

Module 7: Weather

SUGGESTED READING:

ACTIVITIES:

VIDEOS:

  • Global Warming: A Scientific and Biblical Expose of Climate Change--DVD
Module 8: Weather Prediction

SUGGESTED READING:

ACTIVITIES:

VIDEOS:

Module 9: Physics of Motion

READING SUGGESTIONS:

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 for Kids).

VIDEOS:

  • Bill Nye the Science Guy: Simple Machines.

INTERNET:

Module 10: Newton’s Laws

READING SUGGESTIONS:

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:

ACTIVITIES:

  • Complete worksheets on pages from 10-11, 15-18 Energy, Grades 1-3 (Scienceworkds for Kids).
Module 12: Forces in Creation Part II

READING SUGGESTIONS:

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Michael Faraday (electromagnetic induction, electrolysis)
  • Research: James Clerk Maxwell (electromagnetic theory of light, color vision)
  • Research: Andre Ampere (unit of current)
  • Research: Ben Franklin (electricity)
  • Research: Georg Ohm (Ohm’s Law)
  • Research: Alessandro Volta (static electricity)
  • Complete worksheets on pages from 75-80, Energy, Grades 1-3 (Scienceworkds for Kids)..
  • Complete worksheets on pages from 19-21, 23-24, 27,36-43, 48, 53, 55-63, 67, Electricity Thematic Unit.

VIDEOS:

Module 13: Forces in Creation Part III

READING SUGGESTIONS:

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, Grades 1-3 (Scienceworkds for Kids)..

VIDEO:

Module 14: Waves and Sound

READING SUGGESTIONS:

ACTIVITIES:

VIDEOS:

INTERNET:

Module 15: Light

READING SUGGESTIONS:

ACTIVITIES:

  • Research: Thomas Edison (electricity, inventor)
  • Research: Rene Descartes (rainbow formation)
  • Complete worksheets on pages 22-23, 27, 30-31 from Energy, Grades 1-3 (Scienceworkds for Kids).

VIDEOS:

INTERNET:

Module 16: Astrophysics

READING SUGGESTIONS: SPACE

READING SUGGESTIONS: STARS, METEORS, ETC.

READING SUGGESTIONS: EARTH, MOON, SUN, SEASONS

READING SUGGESTIONS: PLANETS

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 ScienceWorks for Kids: Exploring Space.

VIDEOS:

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: contact@oklahomahomeschool.com.

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