Earth Science & Astronomy for 6- & 7-yo

[Linda]

What are the must-have resources for earth science and astronomy for a 2nd grader (with K-er tagging along)?

WTM recommends The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Our World and The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space. Any btdt feedback on these spines?

How about additional resources for experiments or activities?

Any read-alouds on the topics that you'd strongly recommend?

Any other input on what did and didn't work well for you?

Thanks so much!

[mcconnellboys]

We used tons of library books. I have a list, if you're interested. We used activities from McGraw Hill's Complete Book of Science and the one related to the Solar System. I pulled some activities from the Reader's Digest How the Universe Works book, too. Janice Van Cleave has out good experiment books for both these topic areas. We used Science in a Nutshell's Rock Origins kit, and to a lesser extent, the Soil Studies kit, along with our earth science study and really liked those.

Regena

[whitestavern]

We are still going through astronomy. We finished up our study of constellations though, which my kids LOVED (which surprised me...I thought it would be kind of boring but I really enjoyed it too). We used Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey (of Curious George fame). It's a great book. We had it out of the library for 6 weeks...I don't think it would be expensive to buy though. My kids are 5 and 7 and after going through that book (which takes a while) they can identify lots of constellations. And again, they couldn't wait to read it each day. I also bought an e-book on Exploring Space from Evan Moor (around $12), which I thought was good if you want activity stuff. It covers consellations, each of the planets, the moon, the sun, etc.

[Sue in St Pete]

Check out the books by Franklyn Branley. They are wonderful and perfect for early elementary age. I actually wrote to him (he's deceased now) to tell him how much we enjoyed his books.

[WendyK]

For next year I bought this package (my son is 6 as if Jan 21st).

http://www.classicalhomeeducation.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=525&category_id=84


I also ordered DK pocket guides (Earth Facts, Rock and Minerals, Weather Facts, and Space Facts).

I have not officially used any of it, but it all looks really good. I am very excited about the R.E.A.L Science book.

[Linda]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

Someone recently posted that Google has nothin' on the Hive Mind. I wholeheartedly agree. :)

[Jennefer@SSA]

If you need more ideas check out Jessica's lesson plans for Earth Science and Space on her blog, Trivium Academy (http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/). If you scroll down the right side they are listed under her 2nd grade curriculum. You can download these for free. She has listed lots of ideas/resources in them that may support what you are already doing!

We are using her plans as our core Science curriculum next year.

Hope that helps!

[MelissaMinNC]

We used tons of library books. I have a list, if you're interested.

I'm interested! If you don't mind posting, I'd love to see your list.

I'm planning on doing earth/space next year as well, and I'm debating if I should go with spines and supplements (ala WTM) or lots of living books (which I just don't know how to turn into "lessons," but which I like better, LOL).

Thanks!
Melissa

[mcconnellboys]

He wrote a lot of books for the Let's-Read-and-Find-out-About-Science series. Also, Rey has out one other book on astronomy that's also good. I can't recall the title right now. Seymour Simon has out a ton of astronomy books with great photographs in them.

Regena

[ELaurie]

George's Secret Key to the Universe (link (http://www.amazon.com/Georges-Secret-Universe-Stephen-Hawking/dp/1416954627/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205036127&sr=8-2)) by Lucy and Stephen Hawking to my dc, 8 and 5. They loved it, I loved it, and we all learned a lot. It's an action paced adventure story, chock full of information about astronomy, including Stephen Hawking's latest theories about black holes. We couldn't put it down!

My dc have also enjoyed A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky (link (http://www.amazon.com/Childs-Introduction-Night-Sky-Constellations/dp/157912366X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205036354&sr=8-6)) this year.