Science

Marie’s Ocean

February 27, 2021 By Annette1 2 Comments

You know what I love? Well okay, one of the things I love? Picture books that have meat to them. These are books that not only entertain a child, but also teach. Marie’s Ocean introduces us to the life and work of Marie Tharp. Don’t know who she is? A remarkable woman you lived in a time when what women could do work-wise was limited, and yet, she forever left her mark in history. This is my review for Raincoast books.

Affiliate links will be used.

Who is Marie Tharp

In Marie’s Ocean we get to know about Marie Tharp, a girl who was fascinated by the world from the time she was quite young. She was determined that one day she would sail on a ship. One obstacle – she lived in a time when women were not welcome aboard a working ship. They were considered bad luck… it took years before she was able to work on a ship, but in the meantime, she studied and worked. Eventually, she proved there was a rift, and through that, the theory of continental drift.

What do you get?

I received an ARC version of Marie’s Ocean for this review. You’ll find it comes as a hardcover picturebook of 68 pages. Published by Henry Holt and Company Books for Young Readers, and written by Josie James. After reading this woman’s biography I find myself wondering if Ms. James will tackle any other women of history.

Written with children 5-9 years old, I can easily see older students using this well-illustrated picture book was a primer for a study of Marie Tharp.

The finer details for Marie’s Ocean

Josie James is both author and illustrator. I enjoyed learning how sounding works and seeing the paths the ships took. It was excellent to learn her work progressed as she worked through her studies.

This mixed-format picture book is detailed in both illustration and word. We are privy to her thoughts and explorations, an excellent primer into the life she lived so well.

I found the variety in which the material was presented an integral part of the story. Seeing her bravery in standing up for her findings, her dismay that she couldn’t present her own work, observing her discoveries, and the pictures of what it all means.

At the close of the book we’re given the rest of Marie’s story and how for so long she and her work forgotten. She is now known as one of the four greatest woman cartographers.

Should you Get Marie’s Ocean?

If you have any interest in oceanography, geography, science, noted women of history, numerology, or more….you can find much of interest in Marie’s Ocean. This meaty picturebook is a great introduction to all those fields. Teaching children what you can do as a woman if you are good with numbers, or are determined to follow your dream, or just want to follow where your research takes you.

Marie was so patient and yet observant, willing to speak her observations and prove them. There is so much you can do with it, the biggest of course is… just enjoying the story! So go out, get a new book for your shelves. 🙂

Review: NatureGlo’s eScience

October 7, 2020 By Annette1 4 Comments

DISCLAIMER: I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST REVIEW. I WAS NOT REQUIRED TO WRITE A POSITIVE REVIEW NOR WAS I COMPENSATED IN ANY OTHER WAY.

I have reviewed NatureGlo’s eScience program in the past. My son LOVED IT. He used it for a full year and learned so much about math, art, science, history and how it all intertwined. Just so very intriguing. Ergo, when the opportunity came up to review the MathArt and Science Course Bundle, I leapt at the opportunity. I was particularly interested in the Marine Biology courses and wanted to do this all for myself.

My lad had the benefit of my learning as when he told me about his learning over the day, I could also tell him what I learned. 🙂 Marine Biology is fascinating, especially the way it is laid out in this course!

What I Received

I received one year of access to NatureGlo’s eScience MathArt & Science Course Bundle. This was a special bundle designed just for the Crew and comes to us from NatureGlo’s eScience. It gave us a chance to sample a variety of the courses that NatureGlo provides to its audience. This is a private 25-course bundle, containing courses from Glo’s MathArt and natural sciences classes. In my opinion, it is geared forstudents in upper elementary to lower highschool.

The 25 courses were

Botany (redwood trees)
Bubbleology
Geology
Herps Explorers (three separate units)
Herps Zoology (two separate units)
Introduction to MathArt
Invertebrates
Marine Biology (six separate units)
Mammals
MathArt (six separate units)
Marine Reptiles
Marine Zoology (two separate units)
Math Connections with the Real World
Life and Mathematical Art (two separate units)

The Details about NatureGlo’s eScience

Nature Glo’s eScience is so easy to use. Once you are logged in and have your courses in front of you, you click on what you want to do and then you are off. You’ll have the lesson on one side, and lesson outline on the other.

You’ll find that each unit is a separate study covering specific topics. Each unit is broken down into easily managed pieces. One day you might complete a couple of slideshows, another day fill out a PDF, and yet another day complete a project. Nothing is too onerous and leaves you time to supplement if you want to know more or to just learn what Glo presents.

Units vary in length from one to six lessons. The length of each unit is clearly shown, and even though it’s one lesson, you may decide to do it over several days. Every unit within NatureGlo’s eScience course is self-paced. Doing them in the order listed makes sense but I did play around with doing some of the lessons in a different order. This made it fun and it still made sense but it was better to follow the lessons the way they are laid out. Learning still happened.

To help you track where you are, as you complete each part of a lesson you mark complete at the close of each lesson.

The quiz that I ran into was done in a matching game format. It was easy to do and was timed but it didn’t feel like a “pressure to complete” timer. Just an encouragement to keep moving. 🙂 Below you’ll find an image of a partially completed quiz. If you connect two and they are incorrect they will flash red.

How I used NatureGlo’s eScience

I predominately played around with the marine biology courses. So fascinating! It was great to work my way through the lessons and occasionally make side trails as I wanted to learn more. Like when I went to youtube to learn more about comb jellies instead of waiting for a future lesson with video!

Please don’t misunderstand me, the lessons come complete with their own videos, but sometimes I just chose to seek out my own sources since I’m so curious about what I’m learning about. 🙂 Very informative lessons that make you curious to find out more information.

I appreciated how I could see where I was in the lesson as I progressed along. Lessons completed being striked out, lesson current in yellow, and upcoming lessons in purple. It’s nice to know when you have a quiz coming up isn’t it? 🙂

I was able to finish the jellies, mollusks and whales but not additional courses. I’m trying to decide if I want to do dolphins/turtles or fish next. I’m also looking to start the Marine Zoology 1 course. I figured marine zoology and marine biology belong together right? 🙂 I am hopeful by year-end to complete all the marine courses that NatureGlo offers in this bundle. All six of the marine biology as well as marine reptiles, and marine zoology 2. I am finding it to be a nice addition to the marine course from another vendor.

I did run into one video that was informative but felt geared to young children. My choice was to look for another video that suited my demographic better. Don’t be afraid to do that. You know your students best, and watching something more suited to their age bracket makes sense. It’s hard to pick something that works well for all age groups.

Should you get NatureGlo’s eScience?

I haven’t looked at the MathArt courses again, nor at the Herping or Geology courses. The Herp courses sound interesting. I enjoy watching youtube videos from reptile owners, and the amount of information out there to learn is fantastic; and they are animals… who wouldn’t want to learn more about them? When I finish marine zoology perhaps that will be my next stop! 🙂

You can tell that Glo loves her job. Her enjoyment of math, art, nature, history, and science shines through in all her material. I urge you to check out NatureGlo’s eScience today.

If you’d like to check out my previous review I’d be delighted.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natureglo1
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YouTube: youtube.com/user/1hasc

A bunch of us over the crew have been enjoying this specialty pack from NatureGlo’s eScience. Read all 50 reviews by clicking the image below.

How Cities Work Activity Book

September 16, 2020 By Annette1 6 Comments

Oh… How Cities Work is a rather neat activity book that I can’t wait to tell you all about! Stickers, colouring, word searches and more fill the pages. Help your children understand how cities work! Tall skyscrapers, bustling waterways, and even the city architect!

What I am Reviewing

How Cities Work (activity book) is a lonely planet kids book. A book that is illustrated by James Gulliver Hancock that helps your children understand the workings of a city through hands-on activities. With over 200 stickers, word searches, writing assignments, mazes and such like you’ll explore most aspects of city life. Written for children 6-8 years old.

I am reviewing this book on behalf of Raincoast books. A companion book to go along with this activity book is How Cities Work. These books are part of the How Things Work Series. This series includes such books as Trains and Airports, and you may remember How Animals Build that I reviewed a bit ago.

Details for How Cities Work

With so much going on in a city environment, there’s plenty here to discover, explore and get creative with. Stuffed full of facts about the inner workings of the city. You’ll discover wonderful illustrations of scenes including rush-hour traffic, garden centres and building sites. There is plenty here to keep your children occupied and challenged either at home or on the road.

Activities include: Search and finds, colouring, spot the difference, add stickers, design a poster, word search, writing assignments, mazes, etc.

Among the pages you’ll find six pages of more than 200 stickers. I love that it’s not just a “put a sticker on” book, but it’s also a “thinking it through” exercise of figuring out what is going on and use a sticker to fix it! Or today we’re learning about animals in a zoo, can you help the escaped animals get back to where they belong.

The illustrations, done by James Fulliver Hancock, match those of How Cities work (another in this series). Fitting these two books together will help your children learn a great deal about the workings of a city. They are well done, fitting smoothly together.

Should you Get it?

Yes! It’s a fun book and well worth getting. It will not only teach your children various functions of a city, but also let them have fun while doing so. How Cities Work (activity book) is informative and gives your children a productive way to utilize their time well. 🙂

Other books to pair this with that I have reviewed are:

Let’s Fly a Plane

July 15, 2020 By Annette1 2 Comments

You may remember that I reviewed Let’s Ride a Wave a couple weeks back. Today I have another in the series called Let’s Fly a Plane. Another well done book from the Everyday Science Academy series. It is chockful of good science information for the junior crowd. Come along… let’s discover what it takes to fly a plane!

What am I reviewing?

Let’s fly a Plane! Launching into the science of flight with aerospace engineering. Created by Chris Ferrie who writes science books for children. Sourcebooks Explore is the publisher, the length is 40.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my review for Raincoast Books. Chris Ferrie’s series Everyday Science Academy seeks to answer the big science questions that children have. Let’s Fly a Plane is no exception to that goal.

Let’s Fly a Plane, the details

Just as in Let’s Ride a Wave, Red Kangeroo plays a pivotal role. She asks the question that begs to be answer “How can something so big stay in the sky when I cannot?” Dr. Chris comes to answer the question.

Using accurate language over colour filled pages, Dr. Chris helps his readers understand terms like thrust, drag, friction,life and airflow. If you miss any of the definition they are also provided in the glossary.

You’ll find the text easy to read. An easy to read font the remains consistent throughout it’s 40 pages.

You will appreciate the details provided as you learn about all the things that help keep an airplane up in the sky.

No science book would be complete without experiments to help cement the learning. Let’s Fly a Plane is not exception to that rule.

Should you get it?

For sure! It’s a fun, informative book with good experiments for children 4-8 years old. The bright colourful pages will keep their eyes on the page while a parent reads to them. In fact, go out and get the whole series! 🙂

Let’s Ride a Wave

July 1, 2020 By Annette1 2 Comments

One of the things I’ve been doing for the past few years is marking a papers for a biology course. It’s been a good field to venture into and I enjoy doing it the longer I do it. I’m learning to connect with my students and offer them better, more specific feedback. Part of marking this biology course is seeing if my students understand waves…not just ocean waves though they play a role, but also wavelength, sound, light etc. Let’s ride a wave! would be an excellent book to help some of my struggling 9th graders. Let me tell you all about this latest review.

Introducing Let’s Ride a Wave!

Let’s ride a wave! is part of a series called Everyday Science Academy. Chris Ferrie has put together this series to help answer questions children have about the world around them.

Red Kangeroo asks the question while sitting at the beach “I wonder if the waves ever stop?” Dr. Chris steps in to help Red Kangeroo understand.

Starting with watching the ocean waves, Dr. Chris helps the reader understand that some waves you see, like the ocean waves, and moved along to other waves you see the results of but can’t actually see.

Sourcebooks has put together a brightly coloured 40-page picture book to help 5-9-year-olds understand the physics of waves. Chris Ferrie helps children dive into the science of light and sound waves. I have the pleasure of reviewing this book for Raincoast Books.

You’ll find the text easy to read using accurate terminology. Learning about ultraviolet, electromagnetic, wavelength, tides, x-rays and more. At the close you’ll find a glossary in language easy enough for children to understand but detailed enough to be accurate.

I LOVE that experiments are included to test out ideas! From listening to different pitchs and tones, to making your your wavelengths.

Should you get it?

Yes, if you have any interest in any questions, or learning more about how waves work as light and sound. Let’s Make a Wave! is a fantastic primer into how waves work. It’s great for elementary students as is, giving steps into learning physics, and the excitement of having questions answered.

If you are struggling to make sense of your grade nine/ten biology, reading picture books like this one make complex ideas simple enough to understand. This gives the building blocks you need to further advance your studies.

Others in the series are (affiliate links)

Let’s get moving.
Let’s Ride a Plane. (review coming soon)
Let’s Make a rainbow.

If looking for additional physics resources, check out SchoolhouseTeachers.com. They have a variety of physics courses from Red Wagon and other sources from grade five and up.

How to Avoid These 9 Homeschool Science Mistakes

April 24, 2020 By Annette1 4 Comments

This post is sponsored by College Prep Science. Copyright 2020 by Greg Landry. I want to welcome Greg Landry to the blog today. He has some advice for us to keep us from making common homeschool science mistakes.

Having taught science to several thousand homeschooling and college students over the past 20+ years, several things stand out to me. I’ve put together a list of 9 homeschool science mistakes and 9 concrete steps we can take to better prepare our budding scientists.

Mistakes 1 and 2

Mistake #1 – Generalizing the names for, and thus the way we teach, science. Call it Biology, Chemistry, Physics, etc. and not “General Science”, “Physical Science”, etc., even in the young grades. Doing this virtually eliminates the intimidation that comes with “Physics” etc. in the high school years and clarifies what you’re teaching in the middle grades.

For example, at College Prep Science, rather than a homeschool year of “Physical Science,” we teach a semester of “Pre-Physics” and a semester of “Pre-Chemistry.” Rather than a homeschool year of “Life Science,” we teach a semester of “Pre-Biology” and a semester of “Pre-Anatomy and Physiology.”

Mistake #2 – Not doing enough testing.

Testing in the sciences prepares our students for the rigors of high school level homeschool science, college science, standardized testing, and assures that they are learning the material and how to take tests. Of course, it should be age-appropriate, but we should be testing.

Mistakes 3 and 4

Mistake #3 – Teaching science year-round.

I know that many parents are proponents of year-round school (no summer break), but I believe it’s actually counter-productive. From experience with thousands of students, I believe that students need to know they can work hard for a prescribed period of time and then have a total break from classes for a while.

Mistake #4 – Not starting the high school sciences early enough.

I know it’s easy to put off starting the high school sciences, but it’s important, especially if the students may be a college science major. Critical decisions should be made going into 8th grade. The critical factor is being ready for standardized testing and being able to fit in the needed sciences in the high school years. High school Biology should be taken in the 9th grade for most students and in the 8th grade for very capable students who will likely be science majors.

Mistakes 5 & 6

Mistake #5 – Not beginning to take the ACT early enough.

Success on this standardized test is critical for college admissions and plays a direct role in how much financial aid a student will receive. Taking these tests twice per year beginning in 9th grade gives students experience and confidence which enables them to do well when they take this test for the final time in 11th or 12th grade. See my article on this topic, “6 Reasons to Ditch the SAT and Laser Focus on the ACT.”

Mistake #6 – Not training students to write good lab reports.

As a college professor, I saw the pain of students who came in as science majors without good lab report writing skills and experience. Students get better at this with experience – there’s no substitute for that. Lab reports are simply the written record of the scientific method. It takes lots of practice to develop the skill needed to do well on these.

Homeschool Science Mistakes 7, 8 & 9

Mistake #7 – Not creating a lab manual for every science class.

A lab manual is a collection of observations, data collection, and lab reports from a class. This gives students one place to neatly keep all of this information and gives them a sense of accomplishment. It’s impressive to have them lined-up on a shelf from all of their science classes. It’s also required by some states or umbrella groups for homeschoolers and some colleges want to see lab manuals as evidence of labs being completed.

Mistake #8 – Being squeamish on Creation.

Despite what you may hear in the media and elsewhere, God wrote the book on science. We need to boldly teach our students about God’s creation. Science and the world around us support biblical creation.

Mistake #9 – Not using graphing extensively.

Graphing, when done regularly through the middle and high school grades has a unique ability to develop critical thinking skills in students that not only benefit them in math, science, and academics in general, but also in life! We encourage families to have students construct one graph daily as part of their homeschooling day. They can graph anything. Let them run with it and you will be surprised at how creative they are. The resulting skills can be very beneficial.

Homeschool dad, scientist, and former college professor, Greg Landry, offers live, online homeschool science classes, the Homeschool Mom’s Science Podcast, in-person two-day science lab intensives nationwide, freebies for homeschool moms, and homeschool print publications that students can be a part of.

Science Experiment Fails

February 11, 2020 By Annette1 4 Comments

My son has been working through Apologia Biology over this past semester. With his studies he is engaging in a wide variety of experiments. Sometimes he deigns to let me take part and it’s a hoot sharing the wonders of discovery with him. Every once in a while though he runs into an experiment that I simply can’t find the ingredients for or that try as he might, he can’t get to work properly. Highschool science is sometimes a challenge for him. What is a lad to do then? What does one do with science experiment fails?

Idea Spawned

I was actually a bit stymied by this until I read a blog post where a gal mentioned her son (I think) watching youtube videos for the experiments she didn’t have the ingredients for. Brain fart… like seriously, why didn’t I think about that??? Don’t you think it’s a fantastic idea though?

The Problem Experiment, Solution One

We ran into this one experiment that my son sent me out shopping for. He gave me a list for some upcoming experiments, one of which was meat tenderizer. Well, I searched London for meat tenderizer going to several different stores and calling others. One store was positive they had some and I had a delightful chat with a young man as we searched the store, but I ended up empty handed with lots of apologies. 🙂

I had to tell the lad that we needed to figure out an alternative for this experiment. I had a box DNA package that I had picked up a while back that had a recipe for making DNA so he used that. This one used a different methodology so we figured it was worth a shot. It was part of a kit that had a number of DNA related experiments in it. I’ve linked a couple of kits below that aren’t quite the same but close.

Solution Two

The lad had some success with this kit. I had wanted him to do a lab report with this experiment but watching his frustration I told him to choose a different experiment. In the meantine it was most excellent that he could watch this experiment being done by another family.

Watching this video below I can just imagine the fun my lad will have doing the plastic rock experiment.

It has been such fun watching other families do some of these apologia experiments, and it’s a great back up for when we have science experiment fails, or simply lack the ingredients to do them properly.

I urge you to check out these experiments yourself, if only! 🙂 My son really enjoyed doing this experiment I found below.

Solution Three: Failed Science Experiments

Our third solution to failed science experiments is simply to try again. Sometimes you miss a step, or you timed something wrong, or random chance just had it not working. So try it again! My lad did this with a mould experiment. The first time he didn’t cut the cheese fine enough, the second time he did but thought he’d add a twist, and the third time he did it perfectly. His crow of delight was totally worth all the effort. 🙂

There are so many good experiments out there. Let not the lack of ingredients stymie you. Don’t get caught up in your science experiment fail. Watch videos, try it an alternative method or simply try it all again. Just do it, you’ll learn so much!