Campfires and Cleats: October 2014

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Skeletal System Unit Study ~ 7 Resources and Activities

As you know, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays ever
and I simply looooooove
blogging all of our learning, crafts, treats and general fun.
We're juuuuuust about right to wrap up a study of the skeletal system
in our homeschool......
timed for Halloween...why not, right?
And I thought I'd organize myself as I share
some practical and enjoyable resources in the process.
So here's a gathering, in really, no particular order,
of a few goodies around the human skeletal system.
Some of these items were used in years past for a study and how much fun we had
re-living the Halloweens and activities we did in 2010 and 2011!

In our homeschool, we don't use a science textbook per se;
Instead, I hunt down resources and sometimes create my own
to suit our topics and needs.......
~Enjoy~

~1~
Educational DVDs for intro or review:

Bill Nye's Bones and Muscles

We're huge fans of Bill.

Huge fans.

The way he presents the skeletal and muscular systems here

is fun, thorough and chock full of snippets of info!

Ever hear of Schlessinger Media?
No matter the topic, the systematic offering of facts is
wonderfully engaging!
Skeletal and Muscular Systems

Eyewitness Skeletal System

We've got a whole shelf of Eyewitness videos and books.

When my kids were small, they were even found immersed in

Eyewitness books under their covers with flashlights,

waaaaaay after bedtime!

I'm sure you know the series;

it's staple in many HSing homes and classroom shelves.

~ 2~

Workbook/coloring book
I'm in love with the series of "coloring books" by Wynn Kapit:
The Anatomy Coloring Book is super "advanced."

Each of the pages on a certain body system have amazingly detailed focus
and captions on each page that are a wealth of info.
The skeletal system is handled in so in depth a manner.
Names and functions of bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons.
Doesn't it look eye catching?

~3~
Informative/helpful books:
These titles are middle school-ish and fully
accessible, with practical diagrams and information.

Skeletons: Bones and How They Work

Skeletons: An Inside Look at Animals

No, the above is not solely on the human skeletal system,
but fascinating and informative nonetheless...

Here's a shot of my little guys about four years ago, studying bones
and using this title: Uncover the Human Body
and a few of the resources I mention~~

The little skeletal system game was found at our local Dollar Tree!!
It's definitely a lot of fun!

And Skelly, our model?
Not sure where we got it...
it's one of those things that has been in our "schoolroom" forever.
Easily obtainable on amazon or science supply sites.

~4~

~Interactive websites~
These sites are super enjoyable while reinforcing bone placement and names.
At these sites, kids can
label the bones,
play games and reinforce their knowledge!
Enjoy!!

~ 5 ~

Fun and learning with REAL X Rays!!
How cool would it be to construct a human skeleton
through actual x rays on film??
Guess what....... you can!
I was so excited about these when my friend AnnaMarie shared her set.....
I decided I had to invest in this for our homeschool!
Here are a few shots of how we are using the x rays:

Right now, we've hung and labelled the bones that my son knows.

Tomorrow, from the pelvis down to the metatarsals will be added!

The set provides a label for each bone...

however, I think it's important for my little guy to write his own \

labels...it;s just more interactive than slapping the given label up there.

I just feel it is necessary, given the framework of our instruction.

Many may not.

I'll add the rest of Mr Skeleton when he's completed!

~ 6~

A pretty art project~
Not "scientific," but just fun:
My son created what he is calling a "sugar skull."

Supplies:

8x10 canvas

paint markers

tempera paint and brushes

gems

gravel/sand

I think the making of a sugar skull is kinda individual and pretty
self explanatory....
Enjoy!!

~ 7 ~
Hands - on Bones!

For some super clever and unique hands-on activities involving bones,
I'm sending you over to my friend,
Anna-Maria at Life's Adventure,
who blogged her skeletal system activities recently as well.
She's got some pretty cool stuff happening in her homeschool and you if
you're embarking on this topic, you definitely want to see her what her kids are up to!
I also found my x rays through Anna-Maria!

~8 ~
and another unscientific bonus:
Costumes and cookies~

And for a fun Halloween dress-up idea.....:
at one point or another, each of my kids wore Mr Bones
in years past......
They had to name 10 bones
before they donned the costume in order to trick or treat......

Gingerbread skeletons??
Yup.
And SO easy too:
The perfect dessert after trick or treating!

Here's what you need:

Gingerbread cookie mix

Wilton icing writer

rolling pin

gingerbread man cookie cutter

(I like the metal cutters, not plastic)

red food color

(for a bit of realistic blood if the kids like!)

Bake, decorate as "skeletally" as possible

and enjoy!!

Hey, for more fun, treats, crafts, decorating ideas, please head to my
latest Artful Friday a round up of
Halloween/Autumn Fun: 7 Crafts, Treats, Literature & Decor

I hope to "see" you there!!

I am grateful to link this post to

What We're Reading Wednesday

and Conversion Diary's QTs
as well as a few other homeschool/family hops on my sidebar.

Friends, as always,

thank you for stopping over and

spending some of your precious time

here at my home on the web!
And hey:

Have you signed up to receive my posts in your email inbox?

If not, just enter your email address here

so we can be in touch regularly!

You might wish to follow on Facebook as well.....

Until next time,

~Chris

Post dividers and general cutesies,
courtesy of Shabby Blogs

and Visual Insights

Friday, October 24, 2014

Insect Study with Kid Quest Adventure's Bugging Around: A Book Review

Welcome friends and thanks for stopping in for a little peek
at a brand new science book

that I'm lucky to have incorporated into our homeschool!

I was recently granted the opportunity to review the wonderfully engaging and extremely comprehensive book, Bugging Around. published recently by KidQuest Science Adventures. It was truly a perfect accompaniment to my 6th grade son's science program and fit beautifully with our nature study as well as becoming the springboard for our study of taxonomy.

This e book may, at first glance, appear simply cute and colorful, but don't let the cover appeal fool you into thinking it is not thorough and in - depth! Bugging Around: Insects provides a wealth of information as well as opportunities for hands-on experiences within its "field research" section.

Appealing, no?

It certainly grabbed my son

and he was eager to dive right in and learn

as much as he could about BUGS!

I know from experience, as a homeschooling mom of a decade and prior to that, an elementary teacher of a dozen years, it is a rare resource! Ah to be eye catching to middle schoolers, yet offer a plethora of background! This is the jackpot where an insect study is concerned, friends! So grab your clipboards, a magnifying glass and get out there on your backyard safari!

Let me give you a glance at the Bugging Around: Insects Table of Contents so you can see for yourself how varied and interesting are the topics presented:

Arthropods

Buggy numbers

What is an insect?

Insect lifecycles

Who are your neighbors?

Where they live?

Equipment check

Bee safe

Dinner time

Pest profiles

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it??

And as for the life cycle instruction and follow up activities,

here's my son working an activity.

Within the book, there are suggestions for children to refer to

companion websites in order to garner more info or a different angle.

This is So helpful, yet very rarely even necessary.

For example, in the activity above, we opted to search for

even more life cycle examples than given in

Bugging Around as my son drew his own.

Additionally, as we studied food webs,

we found this helpful and kid friendly website....

Just thought I'd throw that in for those searching for quality science-y links.

We're planning on dissecting owl pellets next week to finalize our

food web study, which began through use of Bugging Around

and then move to a study of

Linnaean Classification.

As you can see, Bugging Around was our perfect springboard

for each of those units.

I'm sure YOU will find convenient ways to adapt

this practical book into your homeschool curriculum as well!

So, take your kids on a backyard safari!

Here's how you can obtain a copy of this great

resource, Bugging Around: Insects

Bugging Around: Insects is the first in a series of books about the world of bugs!

Bugging Around: Insects is available in print form for $8.50 or

in eBook for $5.

Coming soon is book on CD.

more information: http://kidquestadventures.com/insect-book/

(I was provided with a complimentary copy of this title in order to
use and review on my blog.)

Friends, as always,

thank you for stopping over and

spending some of your precious time

here at my home on the web!

Until next time,

~Chris

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Five MInute Friday: Dare 10/24/14

Welcome to FMF, where a huge tribe of writers

write on a one word prompt for five minutes.

No over-thinking, no editing, no stressing over grammar and punctuation.
I'm happy to join the tribe this week
and

I'm so happy YOU are here!

Let's set a timer and here goes:

~~~ DARE ~~~

Dare to remember....

Dare to recreate...

The tapestry of our family history, here, in this serenity? Often it comes crashing with such ferocity, I am back again. It is 1973 or it is 1978 or it is 1982. And I am here as a child.

Or it is 2010 or it is 2014......... And these squealing, splashing, fishing, frolicking kids are mine.

No matter.

There is a rickety redwood picnic table. There are bare, sandy feet. There are stacks of books and board games. And up on Route 9, there is the comforting fixture of our American flag waving, though largely unnoticed. There is homemade potato salad and a plate stacked with slices of tomato and cucumber. There are fishing rods leaning by the cabin door; haphazard piles of sandals and flip flops alongside.

Today there was dock jumping and row boating and mussel hunting. Then as the sun dipped low behind the mountains ringing Schroon, after a day all too fleeting, there is the whisper-y fragrance of citronella and hickory barbeque and the familiar July crescendo of cicadas.

And most vividly, there are hushed, happy voices, familiar lilts and inflections, saying nothing of huge importance, but enveloping me in safe-ness. Just as now, in the present, I hope we are creating a haven that shrouds our kids in much the same...the safety, the memories, the goodness.

And yeah, this is taking me longer than my allotted five minutes,

but I have to stick a picture from one of these many summers~

Hope it's ok if I go beyond that five minute mark!

2008

2014

Friends, as always,

thank you for stopping over and

spending some of your precious time

here at my home on the web!
And hey:

Have you signed up to receive my posts in your email inbox?

If not, just enter your email address here

so we can be in touch regularly!

You might wish to follow on Facebook as well.....

Until next time,

~Chris

Post dividers and general cutesies,
courtesy of Shabby Blogs

Halloween/Autumn Fun: 7 Crafts, Treats, Literature & Decor (A QT Round Up & Artful Friday together! )

Hi there sweeties~~
I'm so excited about very many of the Autumn/Halloween activities
my family has done this year ( and last)!
Love to gather them all in one spot to share the treats,
the literature, the crafts and the decor!
If you see something you'd like to try, just click through...and
Enjoy!
Here are 7 r-e-a-l-l-y quick takes on fun!
And hey, I just posted our Skeletal System Unit Study!
All things science, hands on, audio visual, hands-on, crafty,
cookie AND costume are right there.
Come on over!

Happy Autumn!

1

Hunger Games Halloween Themed Cupcakes