SCIENCE   <--go back home

I recently completed some RAFT science workshops. Here are some links with overviews for you and your kids. Some of these sites are for younger kids but they're simple to understand and you can always delve in deeper if you're interested-one of the beauties of home schooling.

Exploring Static: You'll find a good explanation here and a few experiments too! Also, History of Static Devices.
Current Electricity: A simple explanation of electrical circuits . The History of Electricity lists many early scientists and a brief description of the part they played in the history of electricity. A good jumping point for further research if interested.

Exploring Magnets: What is magnetism? Find out here. Click for an overview of magnets for kids.

Electromagnetism: Here is a gallery of electromagnetic personalities of yore.

Science with Gadgets: Just finished this class. Lots of fun! With our gadgets we learned bits of some of the following principles: Elasticity, Air Pressure, Sound Production, resonance, kinetic and potential energy,Centrifugal Force, Lift and Drag, Pressure, Angle of Attack, Lever, Control Surfaces, Center of Mass and Center of Lift, Bernoulli Effect, Gyroscopic Effect, Analysis, Relationship to slope on graphs, Earths rotation, Clocks, and Latitude! Wow!

Owl Pellet and Ant Sketching:
This site lets you virtually dissect owl pellets and identify bones. Several different owls to choose from, or do them all!. The ant class was taught by Lorie Topinka from the California Academy of Science. This class should include a trip to the ant display at the museum. Those who choose can also participate in the ant survey being done by scientists there. Find out more about the ant exhibit AND the ant survey here. I also found this encyclopedia of ants. Very interesting little creatures, don't you think?
Science can be lots of fun; especially when you keep it as hands on as possible. Here are some other sites I've found:

Mad Science Find the answers to those science questions that drive you mad!

Here's a Unit Study on Thomas Alva Edison. There are other free unit studies at this site also.
If your kids like rocks, you can join the Jr. Rockhounds. My kids love it.
Learn html for kids!
This looks like fun! Science Toys you can make with your kids. Lots of other links too!
Are you color blind? Find out at this site. I have two color blind boys and we like to visit on occasion to see things the way they do.
Pea Soup let's you play Gregor Mendel and learn about heredity in sweet peas. What happens when you pair a wrinkled yellow pea and a smooth green one?

Ben Franklin was a great scientist. Find out more about him at The Electric Ben Franklin webpage.
Here's a site that has a scientific bone to pick about bad science... Sometimes you just want to know how stuff works !

Robert Krampf is cool! Sign up for The Experiment of the Week and you can have lots of hands on fun while learning.

For more hands on, at home fun try this nifty site.
Want to learn chemistry? click here!
Jason Project! Great resource used by more and more home schoolers. Get free curriculum by attending training sessions!

Chemistry Coach Lots of Games to learn the Periodic Table of the elements!

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