Hands-on Science

We have been using the "God's Design for Science" curriculum from Answers in Genesis, and it has been great! This week, we have been learning about how to tell if something is alive, how living things are classified, and the different characteristics between plants and animals. We took a trip to the Minnesota Zoo (that is a membership worth having!) for more in-depth studies. We also made a game on poster board with "clue cards" describing a characteristic of a living thing, and the kids had to decide if the card belonged under the plant, animal or "both" category. It has been great fun, and we are all learning so much! :-)

Becca and Sam loved this new "Tropics" exhibit!



Christy really liked these black-and-white monkeys, but I thought they were skunks at first glance! ;-)



A diver was cleaning the rocks in the aquarium, and that was fun to watch!



Here is Daniel...happy in his swing while we set up the game!



Here is a close-up of the books we are using this year:



Some of the clue cards for the "plant" category were: Chlorophyll, photosynthesis, needs sun, cannot move around, needs carbon dioxide, created on the 3rd day of creation, etc.



Some of the clue cards for the "animal" category were: Moves around, cannot make food, carbon dioxide is a waste product, no chlorophyll, etc. Some of the clue cards for the "both" category were: Alive, cells, reproduces same kind, needs oxygen, designed by God, eaten by animals, etc.



All done!