Teeth Unit Study

 

Motivated by a recent dental check up, we decided to do a Science unit on teeth.

 

 

We found out the names of all our teeth and the different functions that they have.

 

The children then made a collage of the different layers inside a tooth.

 

To find out the effects that different drinks have upon our teeth we carried out an experiment in which the children put white duck eggs (to represent teeth) into glasses with the drinks.

 The results below show what had happened to the eggs after being left in the drinks for 24 hours. From left to right the drinks were Orange juice, Coke, Ribena, milk and water.

We read some interesting books that explained what causes tooth decay and the children
wrote up, in their own words, some of the information they had found out.



They drew and collaged pictures of foods that are good for our teeth and foods that are bad.

 

Every month we attend a Science group where we share what we have been working on. For this we made a display board of our work and demonstrated our egg experiment.
 

 

To extend the experiment, the children measured out the sugar content in each of the drinks.



 

The results were rather shocking and have inspired the children to make more healthy drink choices. 



Science Fair - Water Project

Today we have taken part in a home education Science Fair. In preparation for this we decided to revisit the water project that we completed over a year ago.

The children made their own water wheel following these instructions.
 

Last week we spent a fun afternoon visiting Quarry Bank Mill where there is a working water wheel. Following this visit, Nathanael made this short video about Hydro Power.

 



 

At the Science Fair there were lots of other interesting exhibits to explore and learn from.

 



 

It was an enjoyable morning and the children were thrilled with the medal they were awarded for their hard work.  

Space Project Part 1

Over the last four weeks we have been learning about Space. The children started the project by copying out some verses from Genesis Chapter One on how God made the Heaven and the Earth. They found out that the Solar System is our family of planets and that the Solar System makes up a tiny part of our Milky Way galaxy.

 

 

They had fun playing with our Solar System jigsaw

 

 

and made planets out of play dough to compare and contrast the different sizes.

 

 

Together we made a glow in the dark mobile of the Solar System. They loved this so much that I had to split it into two and hang some of the planets in the girls room and the others in Nathanael's.

 

 

We watched some interesting video clips on how astronauts do various things in Space and we have enjoyed reading the book To Space and Back.

 

 

 

We planned what we would take into Space in our rocket!

 

 

The children found the Moon fascinating

 

and they each wrote their own legend about the Moon based upon the story of the
Man in the Moon.


In the January sales I made a bargain purchase... a cardboard rocket! The children enjoyed colouring the pictures and playing inside it, imagining they were travelling to space.

 We revised what we already knew about the Sun from our previous Seasons project and found out more facts from books and video clips.
 

The children made their own galaxies using lots of glitter

 

 and made meteor craters by smashing play dough shapes into a tub of flour.

On our visit to Jodrell Bank we saw the Lovell Telescope

 



and identified the different planets on the moving clockwork Solar System.

 

We have taken a break from our Space project and plan to revisit it in a few months.

 

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,

the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"

Psalm 8:3-4

Our Week: Lego and Pets Projects

*I am late posting this, due to my laptop being in for repair.

 

For Nathanael's current Lego project, he has been researching different themes around the subject. For Science we investigated plastic, the material from which Lego is made. He went on a hunt around the house to find different plastic items.

 

 

We found out how to make plastic out of milk and white vinegar

 

 

so we made our own.

 

 

Nathanael has also been researching Denmark, the country where Lego originated from, and wrote down some facts he found out then made the Danish flag out of Lego.

 

 

He has also been finding out about different toys in the past

 

 

and we took a trip to a local museum to look at some of their examples of historic toys, the children's favourite being a Zoetrope, an early animation device.

 

 

Nathanael has been enjoying experimenting with Lego Movie Maker app on the iPad and made a short animation for his project.

 

 

Tabitha and Abigail enjoyed meeting our friend Carole at the park with Buddy her pet dog

 

 

 

and walked him on the lead. They found out about keeping dogs as pets as part of their pets project.

 

  

We also visited a local Garden Centre to see the different pets sold there and Tabitha and Abigail are working towards making an e-book about their visit. 

 

Our Week

 After a three week summer break in which I did a lot of planning and organising, we started back to homeschool this week. Our days have been filled with reading lessons,

 

 

piano practise,

 

 

and workboxes

 

 

which include maths, literacy, spelling and phonics activities.

 

 

On Monday we started our Science in the Beginning textbook with a lesson based upon light, taken from Genesis 1:3 "Let there be light."

 

 

The children carried out some light investigations

 

 

and had fun finding out in the dark cellar that light travels in a straight line and discovering

 how to reflect light using a torch and mirror.

 

 

Each day after lunch the children have had project time.

 

 

Nathanael is working on his chosen topic of Lego.

 

 

and the girls are learning about pets.

 

 

On Wednesday the children designed a new park for our local area.

 

 

On Thursday they practised some songs from the musical Oliver! and worked on organising props for a play they are producing. We also started our Picture Smart Bible Curriculum, which the children thoroughly enjoyed.

 

 

On Friday we made percussion instruments out of plastic cups, pasta, rice and lentils. Next week we are going to try to make some stringed instruments out of cardboard boxes and elastic bands.

 

 

Having an organised schedule has made this first week back a success.  We still had lots of time for fun at the park

 

 

and keeping fit!

 

 

Free play time is scheduled in half hour sessions throughout the day.

 

 

They are even learning to enjoy helping with household chores (most of the time!)

 

It has been a good first week back.