Apologia Anatomy Notebooking Journals

A label-it page from the Anatomy Noteboking Journal by Apologia

As you know, my children have been working through Apologia's Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy book this past year in our local co-op (See our Human Body Page for details.) One of the options available is a notebooking journal that goes along with the book. Since many families are starting to plan their curriculum for next year, I thought I'd share my opinion on this component.

 The journal comes in two formats: a junior version and the regular version. I purchased the junior version to see if it would work for my K-1 co-op class. The majority of my students were kindergarteners who were beginning writers and readers. 

Pros:

- wonderful coloring pages

- primary writing lines

- personal person project

- everything already printed out and bound

Cons:

- still too much writing for my young kindergarteners

- as a co-op group, I would not be utilizing many of the pages due to time

According to the Apologia website, this junior journal is perfect for:

• Younger students that have not yet mastered handwriting
• Older students that are delayed in handwriting mastery
• Older students with learning disabilities
• Students that are new to written narration

 I think the ideal age-range is 1st - 3rd for this book. If my students would have been a little older, I probably would have used this option. You can view samples of the junior anatomy notebook and get an idea of the types of pages that are included.

I also purchased the regular anatomy notebooking journal for my 9 year old daughter.

In fact, we had our whole older anatomy class (3rd- 6th) purchase the notebooking journals.

When the teachers and I looked through the journal we were impressed by the quality and the variety of pages that were included. We had considered piecing together notebooking pages like we did before Apologia came out with these journals, but once we saw the format, we knew it would be an ideal resource for the kids and for us.

Pros:
- no need to make copies so we saved on ink and time trying to find pages
- no loose pages; everything is bound which makes a wonderful keepsake for the year.
- narration pages
- copywork pages
- diagrams
- review pages
- mini-books (nice that it wasn't all journaling/narration)
- experiment procedure sheets
- personal person project

Cons:
- would have loved some older kid versions of the coloring pages too!

Personal Person Project

The coolest component is the personal person project. While learning about the body, students made their own model. Transparent overlays were used showing the different systems. I love that it was all included in the book. All the students had to do was cut out the overlays and glue them on.

I think having the journals in this class was a time-saver and helped the students learn and retain the information that was taught. I am thrilled with the quality of the journals. Of course you could teach this class without the journal, but I sure wouldn't! It is a very valuable teaching tool. Apologia has sample pages on their site for you to check out for yourself.


Check back tomorrow (Friday 4/13/2012) for a chance to win your own anatomy textbook plus notebook journal!

Human Body: The Senses

Our senses enable us to experience our world. It was mind-boggling at times to try to understand how our body processes all this information--tastes, what we hear, what we see, touch and balance, and smells. I am very thankful though for my senses. Here are some of the activities we did during our senses lesson:

The Sense of Smell:

We first talked about our nose and how smells are really chemicals (typically gases) that are floating in the air. This chemical goes through the nose and somehow the brain is able to identify the smell. Pretty awesome! We put our noses to the test with mystery smell bottles. We used old film canisters and placed various scents in each canister. We had vanilla, maple flavoring, vinegar, and cinnamon. Have the kids close their eyes while sniffing the canister. Can they guess what scent it is?

Taste:

After talking about what a gift the sense of taste is, we did several taste experiments. The first one came from Apologia's Human Anatomy book, pg 179. We gathered several food items in order to test if our tongue really has certain sections that only taste certain tastes.

 Oh, this picture just cracks me up! My daughter is testing a substance on her tongue to see if our tongue does have 4 different taste zones (We have 5 different tastes, but we only tested 4 of them: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.)

 

I'm guessing this didn't taste very good. :)

We also did another experiment from the book that involved crackers, warm chocolate milk, and cold chocolate milk. We were testing if the temperature of food affected the taste.

Sight:

We briefly talked about all the wonderful colors we could see with our eyes and then moved on. There was only so much we could fit in one class period! If you want a tasty way to talk about the parts of an eye, check out these cool eyeball cake pops from Layered Soul. You've got to click over and see the details. I wish she lived close enough to bake and make these for my group. :)

Hearing:

The older kids did the slinky demonstration on page 182 to show how sound waves travel.

Balance and Touch:

I gathered several objects with different textures and placed them in a mystery bag. The kids had to try to describe the object they were touching in the bag without looking. One thing we learned about the sense of touch is that it is a general sense which can be felt all over the body.

By this time, my K-2nd graders needed to move! So I had them spin and spin just like an ice-skater. We tried to focus on a spot so we wouldn't get dizzy. That didn't work for me! I could only try this once before I was done--lol. The kids tried multiple times. Once they couldn't spin anymore, we discussed the sense of balance.

Whew! That was a lot for one lesson!

As always, my K-2nd class had a take-home sheet and a coloring assignment in their human body coloring book.

You can see past lessons by visiting the Human Body Page. 

Linking up to Science Sunday too (even though it is Tues.- again) and joining:

past human body posts

Human Anatomy: The Nervous System

My kindergarten- 2nd grade class learned all about the nervous system. We talked about things like neurons and parts of the brain. We made a few brain crafts and played a game or two. Who knew learning about the nervous system could be so much fun? We covered this material over two class-periods, but I am condensing it to one post.

The Nerves

 

We started out learning about nerves. We learned that nerve cells are called neurons. These cells pass along electrical messages to each other. Using this wonderful Parts of a Nerve Cell worksheet from File Folder Fun, I briefly went over the parts of a nerve. The main concept I wanted them to grasp was that nerve cells pass messages along to each other and that they have special parts that allow the neuron to do that job. I introduced the terms axon and dendrite, but did not expect mastery at this point. They'll get it again later.

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We then created "nerve necklaces." This printable craft can be found in Scholastic's Human Body Project Book.  When we were finished, we gathered in a circle and played a short game that demonstrated how neurons send electrical impulses to the next neuron. Students stood in a circle holding hands. The designated "start" person squeezed the hand of the person on his right, when that person felt the squeeze, they squeezed the next person's hand. We would time how long it took for the "squeeze" to get back to the first person.

The Brain

 

We talked about how the brain is the command center of the nervous system. It gathers all the information and then tells the body what to do. We learned about the three main parts of the brain: the cerebrum, cerebellum, and the brain stem. We made models of the brain out of modeling clay (Apologia book pg 151.)

Once again Valerie over at File Folder Fun had a Parts of the Brain worksheet. This went in more detail than the three parts we learned, but it got across to the kids that certain parts of the brain are in charge of certain parts of the body.

We also printed out a Brain Puzzle plus a mini-poster on the nervous system from File Folder Fun. She also has a couple cute crafts suitable for older kids.

Additional Activity: The Human Body Project Book has a printable brain-hat, which we made but did not photograph (I must have been busy.) 

If possible, I always try to show the kids a related video clip. Schoolhouse Rock has The Telegraph System video which was perfect for this lesson! (video embedded below for those reading in RSS)



As always, my class had a take-home sheet and a coloring assignment in their human body coloring book.

You can see past lessons by visiting the Human Body Page. 

Linking up to Science Sunday too (even though it is Tues.)

Human Body: Learning About the Heart

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We have been learning so many fascinating facts about the human body. Recently my co-op class of K-2nd graders learned about the heart.

This hands-on model of  the heart came from Scholastic's Human Body Project Book.

We learned that the heart is a muscle--a very strong muscle! Though from pictures the heart looks solid, it actually has four chambers or "rooms".

Free Heart House Printable from Spell Outloud

The heart pumps blood throughout the body through these chambers.Oxygen-poor blood comes into the right side of the heart. From there it is pumped to the lungs, where it picks up oxygen and returns to the heart’s left side and is pumped out to the body.

It gets a little confusing--especially for younger children to understand oxygen-poor blood and oxygen-rich blood flow -- and how it moves through the body via veins, arteries and blood vessels. This hands-on printable gave the kids an idea of how blood moves through the body. This project was also in Scholastic's Human Body Projects Book.

Edible Heart Model from Apologia Anatomy Book

Our class joined the older group and we all made edible heart models. The directions for this experiment are listed in the Apologia Anatomy book. The blobs of pink and blue are white food coloring dyed as close to red and dark blue as we could get. This was a messy project but the kids loved it!

Before eating, we talked about the four "rooms" of the heart and their names. We also reviewed how oxygen-poor blood enters the heart and it is sent to the lungs to pick up some more oxygen. The oxygen-rich blood is pumped out to the rest of the body.

Other Heart Activities:
* We took our resting pulse. Then the kids ran around the gym for several minutes. We took our pulse after all the exercise. We discussed our results.

* We made stethoscopes out of toilet paper tubes. They worked ok. Next time we will make the stethoscope with plastic tubing and a funnel (directions in the Apologia Book pg 147)

* My kids love when I add a video to the lesson. We watched the Schoolhouse Rock video on Circulation:

We also watched this short video on the chambers of the heart:

You can see what we’ve done so far by visiting the Human Body Page. Linking up to Science Sunday too.

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Birds Writing Center

This week is the Great Backyard Bird Count! Thanks to my Facebook subscribers for reminding me a couple weeks ago. I thought that since there is a big focus on birds this month, that I would love to incorporate the theme into our homeschool somehow. After reading a series about writing centers on the WriteShop blog, I knew that I was going to create our first-ever writing center. Using mostly printer-ink and supplies I had on hand, I set up a simple bird-theme writing station at home.

I tried to provide materials for all age-levels in my home--- 1yr to 13yrs. old. I have the station set up by a window so that they will hopefully be inspired by any winged creatures they see outside too.

-- various bird-theme lined paper for writing (see below for details)
-- bird fact cards (see below for details)
-- bird booklet for my little girls
-- letter B plus Birds writing paper for my little girls
(You can follow my bird Pinterest board for even more ideas)

I have a whole set of bird photo cards that I picked up a couple years ago from the Dollar Tree. There are writing prompts listed on the back. I figure my younger children can look at the photos and then tell me about what they see. My older children will have the option of using the prompts on the back or not.

In the green bins are writing prompt cards from WriteShop. I printed out StoryBuilders: World of Animal cards for some creative writing inspiration. Each card is color-coded and students pick 1 of each color and use them to write their story:

Character Cards - Blue
Character Trait Cards - Yellow
Setting Cards - Green
Plot Cards - Lavender

The download contains printable cards plus instructions for different ways to play this writing game. I am excited to see how my kids use this component this week. I think this will help with the "Mom, I don't know what to write," reply I hear when they are asked to write.

I also printed out bird cards and placed them in our table-top pocket chart. My 5yr. old daughter has been the first to explore this activity. She helped me place the names of the birds we already knew on the bird photos.

You can download these bird-themed papers for free! I appreciate all who read and subscribe to my site, so I'm planning on periodically creating some special downloads just for you. If you are a subscriber, you will find the download link at the bottom of the post in either your inbox or RSS feed:

You can easily keep up with all the happenings at Spell Outloud by subscribing two ways:

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or by email

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If you follow SpellOutloud on Facebook, you can also access this download on my page. Just look to the left for the Only Likers box and click.

Nature I Spy Printable - Winter Edition

It has been an unusual winter in our area. We usually get snow. We expect snow in the winter. This year though, has mostly been rain with a couple spring-like days teasing us. It's been a dreary, muddy winter. It is this time of the year that we start to feel cooped-up in the house.We need to get out.

When I start feeling this way I find that going for a nature walk helps change our mood. It might be a quick walk around the block or sometimes a trip to our local gardens or state park (I will admit that I only take longer walks on warmer winter days. I'm a wimp---lol!)

I created a winter edition set of I Spy cards (see related Fall I Spy Cards) for our next nature walk. Now I realize that winter looks different in the Midwest than  in other areas. I tried to make most of the cards usable for any area. Just print and laminate (optional), place on a ring and carry along on your nature walk. See how many of the items you can find.

Nature I Spy Cards: Winter Edition Download

Please share the link to this blog post and not the direct link to the printable. Thank you!

You might also be interested in my winter notebooking page for young children too.

 I've joined several other bloggers today who are sharing free nature printables too. Stop by their blogs and see how they are enjoying nature this winter.

1. Cindy from Our Journey Westward
2. Maureen from Spell Outloud.
3. Jimmie from Jimmie's Collage
4. Lauren from Mama's Learning Corner
5. Amanda from Hearts and Trees.
6. Barb from Handbook of Nature Study

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Science Review: Molecules Activity

We did a little review activity with my older kids on molecules. I pulled out Christian Kids Explore Chemistry and we read a chapter and did a couple of the activities. Here's an easy activity to do to illustrate molecules.

The supplies for this activity are easy to find. You will need:
2 markers
2-1" Styrofoam balls
3-2" Styrofoam balls
toothpicks

My son is labeling one of the smaller balls. He labeled 2 with the letter O and stuck them together with a toothpick.

 

It looks like eyes, doesn't it? Nope that's not what it is though. Can you guess what this model represents?  Yes, 02 aka oxygen!

He worked on another molecule model too.

I bet you can see what this is representing---no, not Mickey Mouse--water! This activity seems so easy but it is a concrete way to show what H20 means.

We did this review just to touch base on some concepts he studied earlier in his General Science class. I appreciate that the lessons and activities in the book are easy to understand and implement. I'm planning on using Christian Kids Explore Chemistry with my middle daughter next year for her science. The age-range is 4th - 8th grade but could be used with younger siblings tagging along too.

Linking up with:


Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. Thank you in advance for supporting this site.

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Fun with Science

This past week I pulled out various science books and we went through and picked out experiments to try. Do you know how freeing that was? We picked them out to do them for fun! No learning objectives other than what the kids observed on their own. Here are a few that we did:

Static Electricity:

With the air being so dry in my house right now, I knew this would be the perfect time to have some fun with static electricity. It never gets old seeing hair stick up on end or secretively trying to stick a balloon on someone's back. We had lots of fun and giggles with this one.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Reactions:

We blew up a balloon using vinegar and baking soda! An easy way to observe a chemical reaction and bi-products of that reaction.

Sedimentary Rock Building:

What? This doesn't look like science? Well we made this creation to demonstrate sedimentary rocks! This recipe is found in Christian Kids Explore Science Earth and Science book.

Neutrons, Protons, Electrons Oh My!

My 9 yr. old and 12yr. old worked on building an atomic model and models of H2O and O2 molecules from Styrofoam balls. We followed the directions found in Christian Kids Explore Science: Chemistry book.

Observing Nature in the Comfort of my Home:

I also got this awesome DVD in the mail from Crowe's Nest Media. Oh it makes me wish spring was near! I'll be writing in more detail about it next week along with other bloggers and we'll be giving away a couple DVD's too.