Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy Lesson 3

We completed lesson 3 in Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy. The focus of this lesson was on Planet Mercury.

We learned that:

• Mercury is the closest planet to the sun
• It is the smallest planet in the Solar System
• Mercury does not have an atmosphere
• We did a demonstration on why Mercury does not cause an eclipse
• Learned all about the craters on Mercury

While I am reading to the boys, they will either do a coloring page or a crossword puzzle. It keeps their hands busy and it helps them focus on the lesson.

I got this coloring page from here

 To help them with their notebooking I write and draw on the board what they narrate to me.

Mercury notebooking page

We explored why its hard for scientist to observe the surface of Mercury. The pencil represents Mercury and the light represents the Sun. The light behind the pencil is so bright making it difficult to see the surface of the pencil. Similarly the glare of the Sun behind Mercury makes it difficult to study the planet's surface.

 We dropped some pebbles on flour to observe how craters are formed on Mercury.

 Some of the books we enjoyed.

To end our study on Mercury we watched this short video I found on youtube.

Our 3rd Graders Reading List

I wanted to share with you the books my son has enjoyed reading the first half of the school year. He is a 2nd grader but reads about a 3rd to 4th grade level.

He loves to read and can go through books quite fast. So for this reason I try to lean him towards a series of books. So that I am not constantly running to the library or purchasing books.

The first series he really got into is the A to Z Mysteries. He really enjoyed this set of book, they had enough mystery and excitement to hold his attention.

For the second half of the school year he is reading through a collection of Roal Dahl books. I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to both the boys and he has been hooked ever since. He reread Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and is working through the others.

 

 This set was gifted to us by a wonderful friend of mine and we are so thankful for wonderful, supportive homeschooling friends.

Read Alouds:

I do not do seperate read alouds for the boys. Since they are close in age and enjoy similar books it makes my job easier. Most of our read alouds are based on whatever we are studying in history, science or geography. I just rotate between those subjects.

So far we have read;

• The Tale of Despereaux
• Little House in the Big Woods
• The Witches
• The Mystery of the Great Barrier Reef
• Magic School Bus Food Chain Frenzy
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• The BFG
• Mummies in the Morning
• Good Morning Gorillas

After the boys are done with a book I set up a basket to store all the books. This helps me keep track of the books and to make a note who read what.

I am always in search of a new series for the boys to enjoy, if you have books that your boys have enjoyed please do share with us :)

aswewalkalongtheroad

Vertebrates and Invertebrates Unit Study

Some of the things we learned:

• What is a vertebrate/invertebrate

• There are 5 groups of vertebrates (mammals, Fish, Birds,Reptiles and Amphibians)
• The major groups of invertebrates (Flat worms, round worms, segmented worms, mollusks, sea stars and arthropods).
• We read some picture books on both types of animals
• learned a song I found online about the major groups of invertebrates. 
• watched some science videos.

 The boys sorted the vertebrate groups. You can find this FREE worksheet here.

Vertebrate craft. Idea for this craft came from here.

Vertebrate and Invertebrate Sort. You can find this FREE worksheet here. 

After we learned about arthropods the boys drew a picture of each kind. 

The boys labeled the different parts of a snail. You can find this worksheet here.

To help us memorize the major groups of invertebrates I found these flash cards here. I attached them to a magnet and used them on our magnetic white board.

This set does come with a card for arthropods. I just can't find mine :)

Jelly Fish Craft
 

We read these books during our unit. Bone by Bone and Sea Bones was our favorite.

Some videos we watched:

We also watched Bill Nye the Science Guy Invertebrates but I cant find a good quality one. I got ours from the library.

Animal Mothers and their Young Arabic Flash Cards

I have another free printable for you today. Animal mothers and their young flash cards, you can use these to play a matching game.


Click on the picture to download your free copy.

Australia & New Zealand

G'Day/Kia ora to you!

Today I wanted to share with you all the fun we had on our unit study about Australia and New Zealand. Our main geography program is Expedition Earth by Confessions of a Homeschooler.

We stamped our passport with the country flags.

We read from Usborne Encyclopedia World Geography

Australia:

Notebooking Pages from Expedition Earth

Our read alouds Great Barrier Reef and Stories from Around the World

After reading Stories from Around the World the boys worked on a kola bear craft.

We read about a little girl from Australia name Rosita from the book Children Just Like Me.

We learned about the Kangaroo and did a fun craft. You can find this craft template from here.

A model of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The idea for this project came from here.

To review all the fun facts, famous destinations the kids worked on a map of Australia.

You can get this resource from here.

New Zealand:

Since we covered so much of Australia we didn't do much in the way of crafts for New Zealand.

We added the animals of both countries to our Animals Around the World wall.

This completes our study of both countries I hope you enjoyed that :).

Related studies:

art-projects-around-world-kenya 

art-projects-from-around-world-ghana 

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Art Projects Around the World (Kenya)

This post contains affiliate links. See Disclaimer at the end of post.

Jambo!

Todays craft comes to you from Kenya, the boys and I made paper lion heads. Kenya's National Park, Masai Mara, is home to wildlife such as, the elephant, antelope, zebra, jackal, giraffe, and of course the "king of beasts"-the powerful lion.

I ran out of brown construction paper so I instead of delaying the craft I decided to just use the paper I had on hand :). I think they turned out wonderfully. This craft came from the book Art Projects from Around the World.


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However, all opinions expressed on TeacherMomPlus3 are solely my own, and I only suggest products or services that I believe will be helpful to you.




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Art Projects from Around the World (Ghana)

Today's craft comes to you from Ghana. We made woven paper Kente cloth, which is a colorful patterned fabric traditionally made by the Ashanti people of Ghana.

Large pieces of cloth are made from long, narrow strips of silk, rayon, or cotton, which are sewn together. Geometric shapes and patterns are repeated in the weaving and are combined with distinct decorative techniques. Gold, red, black, and green are the colors most often used.

There is a popular legend which originates back to this beautiful textile. The story says a weaver learned his skill by studying a spider weaving its web.

Kente cloth is considered special by the Ashanti and only worn on important occasions.

We located Ghana on the map

The activity set up

After the boys weaved their pattern. I showed them some pattern ideas.

This craft was a lot of fun, and as you can see its easy to get carried away with the patterns ;). I hope you enjoyed this craft and let us know if you make your own :).