Common Sense Science: Earth

Common Sense Science: Earth covers a variety of useful topics any geologist would love: the lithosphere, earthquakes, mountains, volcanoes, geysers, rocks & fossils, erosion, rivers, lakes, the ocean floor, caves, the desert, and much more. The course is one semester, organized into 18 weeks of science at a pace of three days per week. You will need the Student Book and Materials Packet.

The Student Book includes an introduction to the program and teaching through a multilevel approach, lessons with vocabulary and teaching information, and the lab and activity instructions. The hands-on labs are easy to do at home and require household items. To help students conceptualize, analyze, review, and apply the knowledge gleaned, the lessons each have at least one activity that involves the construction of 3D Graphic Organizers, a sort of cut-and-create method to create individual booklets. Graphic Organizer templates are found in the Student Materials Packet. The Student Book and reproducible Student Materials Packet are both required and available individually or as a package in both print and e-book format.

Additionally, students will need index cards, pencils, scissors, glue, colored pencils or crayons, letter-size manila file folders (or 12” x 18” cardstock), multicolored 8.5” x 11” paper, and a large zip-close plastic bag. Parents/teachers are encouraged to include topical library books, videos, or supplemental teaching tools from the internet to enrich student learning.

This type of learning requires more from the parent, but the payoff is great! When your students look forward to their science lessons and ask for related books to learn more, that is a homeschool win! Retention is high for hands-on learning and well worth the effort.