At-home projects to cultivate a love of chemistry and science
When I started homeschooling, we knew science would be an important part. Being married to a geologist, there was no other way. The kids had been filling their pockets with soil samples since they could walk and the joke “you have to go to college before you can lick a rock” was always heard here (apparently the taste and color change in a rock can help identify it).
After my husband and I painstakingly chose our curriculum, I was surprised to see the science portion was little more than a coloring book. Even more surprising, it is not uncommon.
...I came to the conclusion the easiest way to get the glue out was to make it into slime and scoop it out. No way did I have enough activator to handle 10 gallons of glue…
Unfortunately science is often an overlooked subject in classrooms, leaving many students struggling. The National Assessment of Educational Progress for Science, found that only 38% of fourth grade students were at grade level in science.
Hands on science is important in cultivating a love of learning, building observation skills, and starting a strong foundation that will be the bedrock (I can hear those geology jokes now) to the advanced science class in high school.
So I went on a mission to add more science to our homeschooling.