Another subject we decided to switch up and piece together instead! 7th grade science! (if you missed our history switch too you can see that HERE!)
For my daughter’s 7th grade science curriculum I wanted something she could do independently, had labs/experiments, and was a solid curriculum that we could continue through older grades. We decided to go with Apologia General Science as it covered many different topics, can be done independently, and Apologia goes all the way to 12th grade. Apologia is a great and thorough curriculum, these are just our opinions on trying it out and why it didn’t work for our family.
The curriculum itself seemed daunting (it’s a HUGE student notebook) but after watching many flip through videos online, it is actually broken down really well each day: they read a few pages from the textbook, take some notes in their notebook, and sometimes have a simple lab to complete. However, my daughter did not enjoy it at all! She typically enjoys school and loves reading, but she dreaded doing science every single day. It started to become an issue and we tried different ways to make it more enjoyable, to no avail. The reading was very dry and wordy, the topics felt almost too in depth to be necessary, the notebook seemed like an overabundance of busywork, and some of the labs felt like an afterthought just to try to keep it fun. We gave it a solid 6 weeks before I realized she wasn’t even retaining much because of how much she disliked it.
The beauty and freedom of homeschooling is that I can change things to better fit the needs of each child and I want them to be using their time wisely. I want to teach them concepts that will actually stick and be useful in their future years. Luckily we had our first break week so I was able to take some time to step back, pray about it, research more and figure out what we wanted to do moving forward.
I remembered I had purchased this book set, Fairy Tale Physics by Sarah Allen, the year prior. I loaned it to some friends to read in their homeschool and they came back raving about it! This set is 4 chapter books in one, each story taking a science/physics concept and adding it into a fairytale. Combining the story and science together makes it more memorable! My daughter loves reading and I knew if she were to read these stories about the four branches of physics, they would stick with her much longer than any textbook. I read the first story myself and I was immediately hooked.
Book 1 is about Newton’s Laws of Motion and follows a young boy and a wizard on a journey to seek fortune, discovering the three laws of motion along the way. Book 2 is about fluid mechanics with the story of Queen Elise and her journey across the sea to break a wizard’s curse all while learning about buoyancy, pressure, flow rate, and Archimedes’ screw. Book 3 is about the science of light, color, and optics with Prince John and his magical candle. Book 4 is all about a girl set out to rescue her sister and discovering the science behind gravity.
So I decided that this fall my daughter will read Fairy Tale Physics for science. Alongside each story and physics concepts, I will find any worksheets on Teachers Pay Teachers and experiments/projects on Pinterest. At the end of each book in Fairy Tale Physics, it also offers explanation to each physics concept, videos to watch (some great ones!) and simulations to try. *It also includes all of the math behind the science if you have older students.
We just wrapped up the first fairytale on Newton’s Laws. After she read the story, she could immediately tell me his three laws of motion and what they mean! I asked her to write a short summary of the story and she ended up writing 3 full pages. I think she enjoyed it! I also had her read a short biography- Who Was Issac Newton? and take a few notes while she read it. After her readings, we spent one day on each law of motion. She filled out a worksheet for each law and we found an experiment to do. Once we covered all three laws, I had her do a fun coloring page worksheet and found a quiz for her to complete the unit.
Now we are moving on to the next fairytale and will learn all about fluid mechanics and Archimedes!
Below are all the links to worksheets and projects we completed for the first fairytale and Newton’s Laws. Later this winter I’ll update with a new blog post on everything we use for all the fairytales and physics concepts!
Doodle Notes: Newtons Three Laws (& Slideshow)
Law #1 Experiments: Inertia Towers, Inertia with Pennies
Law #2 Flour Experiment
Law #3 Project: Newton’s Cradle (We followed this project but it works better with less marbles than the video shows!)
Color By Number: Newton’s Laws
Newton’s Three Laws of Motion Worksheet (I used this as a final quiz to end our unit.)
Foldable Wheel: Notebooking Pages
We are loving these books for reference and more information too!
DK 100 Scientists Who Made History by Andrea Mills
Superstars of Science by R. J. Grant
The Story of Science by Anna Claybourne
Now Fairytale Physics is my plan for the fall semester, so what will I do for the spring? I have some ideas in mind of what I would like to cover, but will decide and organize it more during our winter break. I would like to focus more on biology covering cells, genetics & hereditary traits, and ecosystems. I’m starting to gather some favorite reference books. These are my top favorites that will continue to be used for many years to come.
Usborne Science Encyclopedia (Amazing book that also includes QR codes on almost every page for more in depth learning!)
Biology for Curious Kids by Baker
I would also like to add in some nature studies. Where Wonder Leads is a great book by Eryn Lynum. It reads like a chapter book story while covering different animal and nature topics. At the end of each chapter it has a section for diving deeper and notebooking ideas. I also want my daughter to read The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman. A beautiful book all about how Maria Merian was the first to document metamorphosis in butterflies! I can’t wait for the amazing projects we could do and will definitely be growing our own butterflies again. This is the kit we use!
Those are my ideas for science for the year! My ultimate goal is to help her love learning and science again. She is much happier so far with our changes and I’m excited to enjoy these studies together.
I’ll have an updated blog post after we finish completing everything to share any favorite books, activities, and projects. I hope this was helpful if you are wanting to switch things up too or for future homeschool years!
Wishing you a great week!
-Lindsay
