Unit Study Resources By Grade

Friday, March 18, 2011

Unit Study: Sight and Light

This Unit study on Light started for my second grader begged the introduction of SIGHT as we start our unit for the kindergartners 5 senses. It blended well into our Unit study on Plants and photosynthesis.

Here's how it went:

LIGHT UNIT STUDY
physics unit study.

Concepts that we covered:
  • Light was Created. The Sun was created light.
  • Light is energy.
  • It travels in straight path.
  • Reflection is bouncing off.
  • Refraction is passing through and bending.
  • Translucent means light passes through and opaque means light cannot pass through.

 

DAY 1:

What is Light?

BIBLE: 

So of course the first place to start is the Creation of Light. So we pulled out our Children's Bible and began to read...And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Genesis 1:3.Then God created the SUN to govern the day. Our source of light is God himself.

MATH/SCIENCE/LANGUAGE
The Sun: Our created light source. (Pull up this AWESOME LESSON PLAN about the Sun! )
Here is a sample from Apologia's Sciencebook on Creation about the Sun.  (Choose sample module to see the pdf)

HISTORY: Thomas Edison: Creating light sources. Did Edison really create the light blub? NOPE! Watch it here:

VIDEO: Edison was Not the creator of the lightblub!

Interactive: Sources of Light




Library List:
Talk about Light by Webb & Faircloth
Light: A First Discovery Book By Scholastic
Kingfisher Young Knowledge Light and Sound by Dr. Mike Goldsmith

SCIENCE: 
Basic properties of Light - Reflection & Refraction with simple graphics

VIDEO: Bill Nye the Science Guy video properties of light


Language Arts: Copywork: Genesis 1:3
Read the poem: MY SHADOW by Robert Louis Stevenson

Other resources we didn't use this time around: 

Lapbook on Light
Popup Book on the Invention of Lightblub

DAY 2:


REFLECTION/REFRACTION - who do we want to reflect? 

Then me moved on to talking about Jesus who was called the Light of the World.
What does that mean?

BIBLE:

Being a Light to the World - The lesson explains how we do not have to do anything for the darkness to be there - it simply exists and it takes no energy or effort for it to be dark. But it does take energy and effort for there to be light and light pushes out the darkness. But it has to be an ongoing effort. The minute the light goes out, darkness encroaches.
This, of course, applies to the world of sin as well. It takes no effort to sin or allow sin to be around us. But we can be the light that pushes back sin but it requires effort on our part. We need to constantly shine our light to keep sin at bay and to be a light for the Lord. ..

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Write about How we can be the Light to others.


SCIENCE:

SHADOWS and LIGHT -
What makes a shadow lesson plan


REFLECTION:

Just an Illusion
Students are often amazed at the effects that a simple glass of water can have on light. Water can actually distort images in some fairly astonishing ways. To begin this activity, ask your students to drop a penny into a clear, standard-sized beaker of water and then stare at the penny through the side of the beaker. If they move their heads around a bit, it won't take much effort to make the penny seem much larger—almost the size of a silver dollar. Next, ask them to put a pen or pencil into the beaker, halfway out of the water, and then view it again from the side. The pencil will seem broken, as if the half below the water were unconnected to the half above it. Ask students to speculate about the reasons behind these optical illusions. (In the first case, the light reflecting off the penny diverges in the water before it reaches the students' eyes, making the penny seem larger. In the second case, the light reflecting off the submerged half of the pencil is refracted, whereas the light on the dry half is not, making the image seem disjoined.)

COLORS OF THE RAINBOW:
VIDEO: colors of a rainbow


HISTORY:

    RAINBOWS Noah's Ark (Genesis 6:1-9:29):

    RAINBOWS and REFRACTION: We have it easy we create rainbows everyday as the water dispenser is in the direct line of sunlight in the morning teaching hours. We used this video to explain WHY we see all the color. 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 3:

LIGHT LETS US SEE!

LANGUAGE ARTS:
  • Book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by B. Martin, Jr.

SCIENCE:


HOW OUR EYES SEE: VIDEO: Bill Nye the Science Guy - THE EYE 
How Important are our eyes?
At the Science Center, using the sense of sight only, a student describes the properties of a leaf. At the center, the students take turns comparing the properties of various leaves. In describing a leaf, students use numbers such as one,two,three as appropriate to describe the leaf. This leaf is dark green. Look, you can see its veins. This one has five points on it. This one has only three. This one has some fuzz on it. This leaf has jagged edges, but this one has smooth edges. After they have finished their work at the center they will report to the class.

2. The students go on a "sighted" (eyes open) walk and a "non-sighted" (blindfolded) walk. The students choose partners and take turns being blindfolded. The students compare the two walks, stressing the important role the eyes play in our everyday lives. When taking the walk, the students take care to observe the colors in the environment. They also note if they saw things moving, and if they saw things that were far and close. On returning they contribute to a list of objects observed and objects' colors. Teacher writes the responses on a chart.

HISTORY:


 Museum of Sight Lesson Plans




      Sunday, March 13, 2011

      Unit Study Explorers and the Ocean

      This unit study was designed for my kindergarten, 1st grade and second grader. For history my second grader was studying the Renaissance and we landed on the explorers the same time that the kinders were working on the World and the oceans. So I decided to combine the lessons and create a unit study for Explorers and Oceans.
      So far my children are not interested in lapbooks but I will include them simply because I enjoy making them. I have seen other mothers create lapbooks for their children for reference. I think perhaps I should do this too!

      Explorers & Ocean History Units Study Resources
      EXPLORERS
      History:
      World Explorers basic lesson plan 
       Trading cards for the explorers - these are a fun concept. 
      Explorers Lapbook resources
      Deep Sea Exploration
      National
      Geographic Sustainable Seas Expedition
      - deep sea exploration


      Naval Battles that Changed History
      The Maritime History Virtual Archives
      Myths - Atlantis, others?
      Sailing, Sailor’s stories, and Boats 
      Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships









      OCEANS:
      Sea Life:
      SCIENCE 


      Animals of the Ocean -
      Invertebrates in the Ocean - octopus, squid, crustaceans
      Plants
      Mammals - dolphins, whales, seals
      Microscopic Life - diatoms, plankton

      Sea Life Websites

      Safari
      Touch Tank
      Learn
      About Coral Reefs

      Coral Reef Lapbook 
      Whales:
      A Thematic Web Unit






      MATH
      Fish (Math activity)
      Counting-- Goldfish Fun
      What you’ll need: A muffin tin, a piece of paper torn into 6-12 small pieces (depending on the size of the pan), paper clips (as many as their will be players), goldfish
      Write numbers on small pieces of paper.  Place one number face down in each cup of a muffin tin. (determine what the numbers should be based on the numbers your child needs to practice with-maybe he always skips the number 15 when he counts, maybe he needs to practice 1-10). Give your child a paper clip.  Have your child throw the paper clip into one of the cups.  Let him take out the number and then count out the right amount of goldfish to match the number-then place them in the fish bowl (the muffin cup). Tell your child to place the appropriate number of Goldfish crackers into each "fish bowl" (the holes in the muffin tin).  Let him play until he is done then enjoy your goldfish snack (see the goldfish snack idea in the snack section)
      Ecosystems - deep sea, coastal, reefs 

      Counting and Estimation
      What you’ll need: see shells, a container
      Have your child guess how many shells it will take to fill the container. Count the number of seashells it takes to fill the container.  Was your child close?








      Geography:
      Ocean Floor
      Islands

      Names of the Seven Oceans
      Oceans vs. Seas
      Geography
      About Water Levels, Tides and Currents




      Websites
      General
      Neptune’s
      Web
      Ocean
      Planet - Smithsonian Exhibition
      Discovery
      Channel Oceans Lesson Plans
      Sea
      World - Educational Resources
      Woods
      Hole Oceanographic Institution








      Water

      Water
      Science for Schools
      Art
      Activity
      We created a diorama of the ocean using a cereral box, blue tempera paint and coloring pages from the internet. The children enjoyed creating their own Ocean.

      Language Arts
      Listmaking
      Make a list of treasures you can find at the beach.  After you and your child have finished your list, read Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier-and add more things to your list.
      Make a list of things you would pack to take for a day at the beach.

       

      Thursday, October 21, 2010

      Weather Links First and Second Grade Science K12

      Here are the wonderful links for Weather used for my 1st and 2nd grades science.

      SNOW - how does it form. (Here's a great animation that walks us right through it.)
      Snowflakes - under a microscope
      Snowflake Bentley -
      Computer Animation of snowflakes forming