heart dissection |
First Son read Brown Paper School book: Blood and Guts by Linda Allison independently. I asked him to create a notebook page as his written narration for the reading, which needed to have some drawings and notes about whatever he had read that day. On the activity days, I required an experiment page with three parts for each activity: What You Did, What Happened, and an Explanation. I would give him page numbers and let him choose one or two activities. Two were assigned, but if he chose a long or more detailed activity, I accepted one. Many of the activities are simple and take only a few minutes. Some of them require a few more esoteric ingredients, like iodine, which I ordered from Home Science Tools.
brain |
Everyone always gathered around for the dissections. First Son relished them. We tried to follow the instructions included in the pamphlets. Though it was often difficult for our inexperienced eyes to discern all the details, we noticed aspects of the organs we never would have realized without the dissections. I highly recommend devoting a little time, effort, and budget to them.
The other activity book was The Body Book: Easy-to-Make Hands-on Models That Teach by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne. The paper models cover all sorts of topics. Many of them are layered flaps, but some are three-dimensional. I personally liked the illustrations of the different kind of joints.
The Mater Amabilis website recommends cutting out the parts if you are short on time. I decided my time was worth more than his, so First Son did all the cutting as well as creating the structures.
I assisted occasionally with the sculptures. A few of them had more complicated instructions. For the most part, First Son was able to complete them independently.
I imagine most people purchase and use this book in the context of school, but I think a child interested in the body would enjoy working through the book just for fun.
The final book of the year was Galen and the Gateway to Medicine by Jeanne Bendick. First Son read one chapter each day at the end of the year. He was able to narrate fairly well orally though he struggled with written narrations of the book. (In hindsight, I wouldn't have asked for written narrations at all.)
I received my copy of Blood and Guts from another member at PaperBackSwap.com (an affiliate link). I purchased The Body Book used (twice). I bought Galen and the Gateway to Medicine directly from Bethlehem Books during one of their frequent sales. I ordered the dissection materials from Home Science Tools with one of their coupon codes over the summer along with a bunch of other supplies. The Amazon links above are affiliate links. If you click on one, add something to your cart (anything), and purchase it, I receive a small commission. Thanks!