Homeschool: Science Experiments

Posted by My Heart Song

5/1/2012

We use Sonlight for our homeschool curriculum and this is yet another reason why I love it: the science experiments. For 3rd grade science, my daughter spent about a month doing corn and bean sprout experiments and another 3 weeks doing radish seed and sprout experiments. All of this was in conjunction with learning about plants and photosynthesis. 

The experiments were broken down into small daily activities, with things like weighing seeds and sprouts to see how they gained mass and then creating a graph to show their growth. 

 

We cut the food source (the cotyledons) off of one sprout to see if it could still grow. We smeared grease on the leaves of one plant to see how that would affect it's ability to "breath" (and yes, it did affect it). We covered some sprouts with foil so they couldn't see the light of day and a week later observed how they had changed due to the lack of sunlight. 

Fascinating studies. Very hands-on. My 4-year-old son was there each day too, wanting to help with the plants. He was as fascinated as the rest of us as we watched our seeds turn into sprouts and our sprouts turn into tall plants.

I also liked that most of our "lab equipment" was homemade, using what we already had around the house. Egg cartons became greenhouses. Paper towels were used as a "wick" to see when the soil was thirsty for water. We created a balance/scale out of a tin can, a straw, a pin, some foil and paperclips. So simple. And so economical! 

We just finished up the last of these experiments and it has led beautifully into our garden plans for this summer. The kids are excited to be involved with planting now, thanks in part to these plant studies we've done this year.

We all love learning this way!