Be sure to check out the other posts in the How To Homeschool For Free series too!

The following is a post by Surviving The Stores contributor Jody Scott.

———————————————–

Botany is a fascinating and almost endless lesson plan in progress. It seems there is always a question from my own kids asking about where something grows, or what a particular plant is called. I have been so thankful for websites that will help identify the Texas Wildflowers. We have some beautiful flowers lining the highways here in Texas, thanks to First Lady Bird Johnson. I am not native to this part of the states, so I have had to look up what many flowers are called. I love questions from my children about science because it challenges me to seek knowledge and I am usually wiser at the end the whole experience.

National Institute of General Medical Sciences

NIGMS provides free publications in .pdf, .html, e-pub, and print formats. Topics include cell biology, genetics, chemistry, structural biology, computational biology and pharmacology and the downloads are completely free! You may also order printed copies if you would prefer that. The materials are mostly geared to high school and early college students.

Discovery Education

Discovery Education has 5 lessons specifically for plants. They have one about plants that live in biomes, which could be a study within a study. (I can hear the question already about “What is a biome?” and “Can we go live in a different one for awhile?”) Pollination and plants that are yummy are also in the plans for your use.

Cindy Downes

Oklahoma Homeschool has a Botany unit by Cindy Downes. This unit is designed to be completed in 18 weeks, completing two, 1 – 2 hour lessons per week. You can use it as you wish, of course. It is appropriate for students in K-6th grade with supervision. If you are doing a completely free version, you need to find some of the books and videos at your library or borrow them from friends. If you can gather all of the resources, this is a very valuable unit that I can imagine took quite a bit of time by Cindy to organize.

Gardening Unit Study

Homeschool Views has a great idea for incorporating various core subjects into gardening. There are links to compare how different cultures grow gardens. The idea is to gently generate an interest in your children to want to know how things grow and get to a useful (and sometimes tasty!) state. Older kids might even want to experiment with cross-pollination or look into the politics that go along with food crops.

Lessonopoly

Lessonopoly is a website for teachers & parents to share lesson plans & activities for whatever they might need or want. I searched for lesson plans about plants and botany (in separate searches) and found 82 lessons! I found a lesson that shows not just how plants grow, but how plants are a part of many things we use everyday. Once I was on that lesson, I was able to add it to my library of favorites. If needed, I could also add it to a calendar/planner. I can see this being a favorite of someone who teaches in a co-op setting or something similar.

Carnivorous Plants

Anna at Molding Minds Homeschool has put together some resources for learning about Carnivorous Plants. She has several recommendations for purchases, but toward the bottom of the page, she has links to free lessons & ideas for teaching about these fascinating plants. I also found a great blog that has a fun lap book to use along with the unit study. These two blogs can work together to make a great learning time for you and your kids!

Becky Boop

What a fun name! Becky has put together a couple of plant lessons for us. She favors the Charlotte Mason method of teaching. She has a lesson plan for plant cells and another for flowering plants. In fact, after further browsing, I found a plethora of plant science lesson plans… including BIOMES! My kids will love me for this one!

Missouri Botanical Gardens

Missouri Botanical Gardens has a nicely organized lesson on the Biology of Plants. It explains the basics of why plants are considered living things. Off to the right of the lesson for the kids, there is an icon of a notebook. Click on it to get lesson plans for teaching along with this web-lesson. It will tell you what you need for science lesson supplies so the kids can learn by more than just reading. They can do the experiments with you.

Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources

Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources has some marvelous resources for using nature and the outdoors as a living classroom. On the topic page for plant education, four of the seven lessons have teacher guides to accompany them. If you click on the link that says “School resources” you will find lessons for more elements of nature.

Be sure to check out the other posts in the How To Homeschool For Free series too!

The following post is brought to you by Jody Scott from Red Mixer Bakery!

———————————————–

Home school science projects are always happening at my house. Some are voluntary, but many are accidental, like the cheese that was pushed to the back of the refrigerator for a really long time. Our home school group is having a Science Night for our monthly meeting in February, so I thought you might like me to share with you what I found for resources. There are so many places to find ideas that I honestly am not sure what we are going to do. It was so fun to look through all of these websites and see what kind of free resources are out there. Of course, materials are not all free, but some are very easy on the budget. Before you decide on one, look at the supply list and see what fits your budget.

Keep in mind that a science experiment is different from a science fair project in that a project asks a question or proposes a hypothesis where an experiment is what helps the project question get answered. Read more about that here.

Science Buddies

Choosing a Project is a great way to get started. Science Buddies has a Topic Selection Wizard to help you find a topic that is likely to be suited to your preferences. After you take a quiz of 26 questions that ask what kinds of thing you like to do, you will be directed to a page of suggested projects. Each project has a difficulty level so you get an idea what kind of commitment is involved. The project pages look easy to follow.

Fun Science Gallery

Fun Sci main page says, “Fun, simple, low cost science experiments for amateur scientists!” Not only does this site have experiments, it also has instructions for building a simple microscope. The text is available in 3 languages, English, Italian, and French (just in case you needed some extra foreign language practice) and the experiments are fully illustrated and explained.

Science Bob

Science Bob has an easy-to-understand page for how to put together a science fair project. He explains about the differences between experiments & demonstrations, and why one is better than the other for a science fair. Bob also has a list of ideas for a fair, and a page of links to experiments.

All Science Fair Projects

All Science Fair Projects has over 500 free project ideas. Some of them link to 3rd party websites, but most of them seem to be linked on this website. Some of them contain video or photo examples and they all have 5 steps of organizing your method of experimentation. There is also a link to a Coach page that explains more about science experiment procedure and processes.

Discovery Education

Discovery Education has Science Fair Central where you can find an idea, organize the time line for completing it on time, and practice a variety of experiments in a virtual lab. This website also has tips for creating a winning display and delivering a good oral presentation.

Science Kids

Science Kids is an easy-to-navigate website that has a decent list of projects and ideas for younger students as well as older students. There are online games, free activities, ideas, lesson plans, photos, quizzes, videos & science fair projects. You can custom search for a topic or you can browse around and see what catches your eye. It’s a fun site!

Science Fair Sanity

Science Fair Sanity has some very simple projects and demonstrations that won’t take up too much time or money. These lessons are a part of SchoolDoodle.com, but they are still free. There is also a place for letting the world know about your own science fair, which also allows you to search for potential judges. It helps students and science fair coordinators as well.

Science Fair Adventure

Science Fair Adventure has a comprehensive list of science fair projects across several distinct categories, including chemistry, physics, biology, and many more. Each project is listed in an easy to follow manner with step-by-step instructions on how to carry out the project. There are forums for sharing, discussing, or finding advice on various projects.

Hunkin’s Experiments

Hunkin’s Experiments has fun cartoons that will have you experimenting with food, light, sound, clothes, and a whole lot more!! You will find so many cartoon experiments that you won’t have time to look at all of them. But, if you do find the time, you might find the “trick experiment.” All the experiments can be made to work, except for one trick experiment.

Steve Spangler

Steve Spangler is someone you might have heard of already. He’s been on TV with his science projects, making them look easy and fun. They are! His website has quite a few free projects available for your free viewing, along with videos of each experiment and suggestions for related projects. This website is a commercial site with science kits and books for sale, but the project list is free for you to access and share with your kids.

MadSci

MadSci Network began in 1995 as an Ask-a-scientist website. Since that time, they have received over 200,000 questions. On the Experiment page, you will find a list of ideas to try, some of which are edible! Some are not, so pay close attention! You wouldn’t want to eat soap or something worse!

Be sure to check out the other posts in the How To Homeschool For Free series too!

———————————————–

This is the time of year when many people stay indoors and enjoy the warmth of a cozy home rather than get up and out of the house. It is also the time of year when many moms and dads make resolutions to be more active. Staying or getting in a healthy routine can be a tough battle with the desire to stay warm! Here are some links for helping the kids motivate you along your goals.

PE Central

PE Central was one of the first physical education websites available back in 1996. Their online resources include an extensive collection of lesson plans for every grade level. There is also a large section of ways to give an assessment on physical fitness ability, motor skills, and general fitness knowledge. They do have a store for buying additional items, but the lesson plans are free and you do not need to register to look at lesson plans.

Spark PE & Wellness

Since 1989, Spark PE has been researching physical education. This link is to the free sample lessons that Spark sells as part of their program. The free lessons are numerous, though, and would be more than enough to fill a semester of once or twice a week lessons if you do them more than once. Some lessons have printable worksheets and all the free lessons are in .pdf files.

Teach PE

Teach PE is a free site full of resources for teaching physical education as well as coaching sports. The site provides dozens of free worksheets to download and use in the classroom or for students to test themselves at home. There is also an interactive flash card quiz available at the end of each lesson. I thought the lesson plans on anatomy and physiology looked great, too!

PE Scholar

PE Scholar is a newer website designed to provide a place for teachers to share ideas and resources for teaching physical fitness classes and coaching sports. There are step-by-step instructions on how to do things for each activity. For example, there is a printable lesson available for basketball that explains the steps involved in shooting the ball and another for doing a lay-up. These printable pages are of good quality and they have visual cues and assessment questions for the coach to check understanding. I noticed resources for teaching dance lessons, gymnastics, and several other sports.

PE Universe

PE Universe is a forum for PE Teachers. As a homeschool parent, you are a PE teacher! While you do have to register to comment the forums, you do not need to join to read-only & watch the videos set on public viewing. While I am not a public or private school PE teacher, I think some these games look fun for a co-op setting or a homeschool field day. I went ahead and joined so I could watch some of the videos that were for members only land found a few fun games I want to share with our local homeschool group for some field day fun!

PE Gang

Let’s not forget about teaching good sportsmanship when we teach sports to our kids. PE Gang is all about character education and playing with friends and classmates in a respectful environment. There is a manual for starting your own PE gang. It includes a teacher’s guide, student workbook, and character profiles for the kids in the program. It’s all pdf files, so you can download and get started right away!

The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition

The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition was originally founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 as the President’s Council on Youth Fitness. It now includes sports and nutrition, which are important partners in total fitness. Part of this council includes the President’s Challenge, which was temporarily down for maintenance at the time I wrote this post. Keep trying to find it. It might turn out to be your favorite since you can join your kids in the fitness challenges. I highly recommend it for a way to motivate kids (and parents!) to keep working and improve on previous activity goals. Kids and adults can join as individuals or work in teams to earn awards and recognition.

Special Olympics

Children with special needs need activity to stay healthy, too. Visit the Special Olympics website to find a local group where a special needs child will feel welcome and able to participate. There are over 32 activities for participants to choose from and enjoy.  In the Young Athletes program, children ages 2-7 play simple sports and games. The focus is on fun activities that are important to mental and physical growth.

Stay active with your kids this winter!

Be sure to check out the other posts in the How To Homeschool For Free series too!

The following is an article by Jody Scott from Red Mixer Bakery!

———————————————–

Living in Texas, the weather here can change from hot to cold in a matter of minutes. For example, a few days ago I needed my wool overcoat to go get groceries. Today, I didn’t need a coat because it was about 70 degrees! I’m not complaining, because it is January after all. After growing up in Montana where it is winter for close to 8 months some years, I’ll take Texas anytime! It does bring questions from my kids, though, when the weather is so out of character for winter. We adapt and say our thanks that we have it pretty good here in Texas… until summer, of course. Then, we might just plan a trip to Montana to get out of the heat!

Here are some weather, climate, and natural disasters links for free lessons and activities for your home school pleasure.

Discovery Education

Discovery Education has activities, puzzles and project ideas to boost your interest of Weather & Climate. There are video and CD-ROM resources, which offer an up close exploration of Weather & Climate. It includes a glossary of terms and a quiz at the end of the activities.

CIESE

Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education offers Weather Scope: An Investigative Study of Weather and Climate for upper elementary, middle school and high school students (ages 11-18).

In this project the students will investigate local and world weather and climate. To complete this investigation, the students will have detailed instructions that describe how to create weather instruments, how to access the Internet to locate real-time weather information from around the world, and an online educational project to guide you along. It looks fun and I think my kids will enjoy it!

The Know Zone

The Know Zone has a lesson available for grades 4-6 about Evaporation and Condensation. Students explore how temperature affects the processes of evaporation and condensation. It has detailed instructions and a worksheet for checking for understanding.

The GLOBE Program

“ The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program. GLOBE’s vision promotes and supports students, teachers and scientists to collaborate on inquiry-based investigations of the environment and the Earth system working in close partnership with NASA, NOAA and NSF Earth System Science Projects (ESSP’s) in study and research about the dynamics of Earth’s environment.”

Keep in mind that this website looks to be pro-global warming, so if that’s something you don’t want taught to your children then definitely be aware of that.  It also has quite a few neutral lessons that are noteworthy though. I suggest just browsing around and seeing what is available. I liked the online picture books that come with a teacher’s guide.

The Weather Channel Kids

The Weather Channel Kids is chock full of links for parents, teachers, and kids. The downloadable lesson plans are found in the Teacher’s Guide. The Parent’s Guide is similar, but not as involved in lesson planning. The Kids’ section is almost endless with at least 6 games that I could find. Looks like it would be a lot of fun for the little ones.

Teach Engineering

Teach Engineering has numerous lessons that provide a real-world engineering context, helping students understand what engineers study and create to help people live with natural hazards & climate change.

F.R.E.E.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence has at least 16 links related to climate, weather, and natural disasters. Many of these links are to other websites, such as FEMA, to direct teachers to the various resources for education opportunities on many topics.

The Jason Project

The Jason Project has been mentioned before in this series. One of the features that my kids can hardly stop playing with is the Monster Storm games. They can track a hurricane, follow a tornado, and collect data as if they are the storm trackers who make the decisions to evacuate. In the end of a simulated game, they might be told that they were actually tracking Hurricane Rita and that they completed a successful evacuation… or maybe not! It’s exciting for them to make those decisions and learn from any mistakes or successes.

If your children might just want to collect data, here are some links for entering zip codes or city names to track the weather on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. I checked my hometown and I am happy to be living in Texas today! It’s cold up there!

World Climate

Real Time Weather Tracking