Thursday, December 1, 2011

More Fantastic Horrible Science

This book makes for a good overview of the big concepts in science.  We are halfway through this entertaining endeavor; Max sure enjoys making up different voices for each of the miniature scientists as they encounter various 'horrible' situations.  Crawling around in someone's bacteria-laden mouth filled with bits of food and protists is well, kind of gross.  But these little scientist guys are up to the task and they 'teach' in an engaging manner.




The concepts start out very tiny size-wise (big bang to elements to atoms to molecules to proteins, etc.), so it's a logically presented order of how everything around us is put together.  It's ooey, gooey, microbial, slimy, stinky, disgusting...........and laughter-inducing.  The concepts presented here form a very nice spine for an overview of basic chemistry, biology, human anatomy, physics - - basically the big overriding umbrella that is SCIENCE.

I'm enjoying reading this one aloud together; it's helping me to tick off the things we can cover as we continue to learn about science.  As we go I'm having a greater appreciation for the way something is presented - order is making a lot of sense (who'd have thunk?)  I learned much of this material in college, but it was not offered, or at least I didn't perceive it, in an orderly manner.  Thus sometimes I feel like the bits and pieces are still floating around my brain, but have yet to be laced together into a big picture.

Maybe I can do a favor for Max and help him to see the big picture that is science in all of its wonder.  He is simply flabbergasted that our bodily atoms 'float' over the atoms making up, say, a chair because at an atomic level, the electrons are repelling each other.  He can't get over that one!  I love to see him discover new things!  And every day I wish that every child would have the same opportunity to discover.  Homeschooling certainly isn't perfect and it's dependent on several variables, but overall (there's that big picture thing again) it can offer an entirely different way of being.  And that's something that's worth investing energy into.  


No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...