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The holidays have passed and we are ready for the 2nd semester of school. For us, that means we are ready to begin our 2nd 12 weeks of Classical Conversations. As we get ready to do some more measurement memorization, some concentration on the Middle Ages, and studying of famous artists, composers, and the orchestra, we will also get ready to dive into more Earth Science and Geology.
As I am preparing for our “digging deeper” at home for our Science, I have been reviewing what we did on our first tour through Cycle 1 and determining what we want to do this time around. Since this time around my son is the same age as my daughter was the 1st time through, I don’t want to overlook what we did that was great the first time through. However, we do need some deeper study for our older daughter this time around.
SCIENCE IS FUN! And I don’t want the fun learning our daughter got the first time we did cycle one to be left behind simply because we are doing something a little more involved for our daughter. So, with some thought, we have come up with a new plan for Science this year, our 2nd tour through Cycle 1 material.
Both my kids love Rocks and Minerals. They love finding rocks and bringing them home. Examining and ‘collecting’ them. And our oldest LOVED this the first time through. I anticipate my son will too this time. (You can read about
So, here is our plan for our Rocks and Mineral studies for Classical Conversations cycle 1 science for the next few weeks.
We will be using some online resources to learn more about Types of Rocks as well as reading some books and doing some hands-on experiments. We are also doing a online class this time. It is not time consuming and all laid out in a user-friendly manual. We are very excited! It is for my older daughter but my son will be tagging along. It is video based online so he likes the video segments. He will do what he can with the worksheets. I’ll probably keep that to a minimum with him. I have included the link to the class below as well as a couple of others we looked into in case they are more interesting to you. One was a little more involved and for older students than I have so we didn’t go with that but there are options.
Online Resources
-Rock cycle song on You Tube called Types of Rocks song. It has a fun explanation of the rock cycle
–Rock Types for kids by Make Me a Genius
-Rock cycle explanation over at Earth Science Explorer
Videos
–Rock ‘n Learn Earth Science (we got this in our Rock ‘n Learn bundle we got this year which we LOVE. — Rock ‘N Learn 10 DVD Math & Science Collection) – you might be able to find this at your local library – this goes through the layers of the earth, rocks and the rock cycle, and volcanoes, which we will be studying for a couple of weeks coming up
–The Magic School Bus: Rocks and Rolls – it is available in Season 3 of The Magic School Bus, you can also rent or purchase on Amazon Prime (we have The Magic School Bus: The Complete Series which we use a lot with CC) – which goes into more details about the rock cycle and the Earth and does talk about the basic types of rocks and the rock cycle on Earth
Books
The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth
Rocks & Minerals (Magic School Bus Science Chapter Books
National Geographic Kids Everything Rocks and Minerals (my kids LOVE this one, very colorful and fun!)
Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks & Minerals
Dirtmeister’s Nitty Gritty Planet Earth: All About Rocks, Minerals, Fossils, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, & Even Dirt! (this is a new one this year that they already loving)
Rocks, Fossils & Arrowheads (Take Along Guides)
Hands-on Materials
Little Box of Crystals and Gems (Barron’s Activity Kits for Kids)
ROCK & MINERAL COLLECTION Kit with 2 Easy Break Geodes Activity KIt with Over 150+PCS
Geode Starter Rock Science Kit – Crack Open 4 Amazing Rocks and Find Crystals!
Igneous Investigation Rock Detectives Kit – Geology Collection with E-book
Metamorphic Mystery Rock Detectives Kit – Geology Collection with E-book
Sedimentary Sleuthing Rock Detectives Kit – Geology Collection with E-book
Rocks and Minerals Lapbook with Study Guide
Online Classes and Self-Studies
(*NOTE: All these classes can be taken by multiple children in your household for the same price, which makes them a great choice)
Geology online course with SchoolhouseTeachers.com
Rocks and Minerals: The Gemstones (8 week live class on CurrClick)
Rocks and Minerals: The Gemstones, Phosphates, and Mineraloids (16 week hybrid class on CurrClick)
Rocks and Minerals: The Phosphates and Mineraloids (8 week live class on CurrClick)
Here is what I HOPE our schedule will look like for Science:
Monday – We watch the Magic School Bus video, probably during lunch, go through the science sentence during memory work practice, and have at least one science book in the reading basket.
Tuesday – This is our Classical Conversations day so we are there going over the science sentence and doing science experiments. We use VanCleave’s 201 Awesome Magical, Bizarre & Incredible Experiments at CC and at home for experiments. We will be doing the mineral test streak test. Fun stuff! Always interesting! I’m sure we will be doing some streak tests at home this week.
Wednesday – We review the science sentence during memory work time. We will watch our video for our Geology online course and do the accompanying worksheet. Science books from the library and our personal collection remain in the book basket.
Thursday – We review the science sentence during memory work time. We will likely watch Earth Science: Rock ‘N Learn during our lunch break. Science books from the library and our personal collection remain in the book basket.
Friday – We review the science sentence during memory work time and then I typically ask the kids if they want to do the experiment again or something similar and we read through one of the science books.
We tend to use our lunch hour as a video break, if all has been going well. It’s typically the only screen time that ISN’T directly related to school
like the online course or a CD/DVD for a subject that they have until after school hours. The break gives me time to prepare and/or clean up lunch and spend some time with our toddler. The kids look forward to our science videos.
You can check out my previous post about Cycle 1 Science here. There is a sample video of the Rock’n’Learn Science video there if you are interested.
So, those are some resources for you. Hopefully you and your family can find SOMETHING you are interested in that will help you make the study of Geology fun for the kids and you.
Let me know your favorite Geology resources, I would love to add them to my list.
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