Science

"A Singing Science Text for Understanding the Concepts of Life Science Using Traditional, Patriotic and Camp Tunes of Long Ago"

This clever learning set teaches basic concepts in Life Science through cleverly written songs (to tunes like Battle Hymn of the Republic and Dixie). There are eleven songs in all, with a chapter in the text and three pages in the workbook corresponding to each song. These are the song titles:

• "The Scientific Method" (to the tune of "Dixie")
• "All Living Things" (to the tune of "I Love the Mountains")
• "Invertebrates" (to the tune of "Clementine")
• "Coldblooded Vertebrates" (to the tune of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home")
• "Birds" (to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It")
• "Algae, Fungi and Nonvascular Plants" (to the tune of "Go Tell Aunt Rhodie")
• "Vascular Plants" (to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic")
• "Protozoa" (to the tune of "Listen to the Mockingbird")
• "Genetics" (to the tune of "Shortnin' Bread")
• "Viruses" (to the tune of "Yankee Doodle")
• "Oh Bacteria" (to the tune of "Oh Susanna")

The song lyrics are very creative and are loaded with worthwhile content. For example, here is the first verse and refrain to the first song, "The Scientific Method" (to the tune of "Dixie"):

Oh, what do you think a scientist does to solve a problem found because many scientists are scientists 'cause they're great problem solvers. There is a systematic way they go about 'most every day. It's methodical and it's logical, The scientific method.

[Chorus:] A way to solve a problem, a way, a way. The scientific method is a way to solve a problem. A way, a way, a way to solve a problem. A way, a way, a way to solve a problem.

Subsequent verses go on to explain the method in detail. My children and I really enjoy singing along with the CD in the car. The songs are performed with a silly tone (imitating the appropriate styles for each song), but by real musicians and with real instruments (no synthesizer - hurray!).

The text, in addition to the lyrics and music (including guitar chords) for each song, contains three to nine pages of information that further explores each topic. Children will memorize the basics (particularly terminology and basic facts) in the songs and then fill in the details by using the text. One could easily introduce the songs to quite young children and use the text a little later on or use the whole set together in upper grade school.

As an example, the segment on "All Living Things" covers (in seven pages) characteristics of living things (reproduce, move, grow, resond to a stimulus, carry on metabolic activities and have a precise structure); needs of living things (energy, water, oxygen, food, living space and proper temperature); the cell as the "building block" of living things; classification of living things and levels of organization. The text is simple and easy to follow and highlighted by pen and ink drawings and charts.

The workbook (reproducible for use in one classroom) includes three pages for each song. A fill-in-the-blanks lyrics page (with a list of words to choose from); an "objective" page (workbook-style review - true or false, matching, questions with short answers, etc.) and a page with a number of short essay-type questions. An answer key is included in the back of the workbook.

I am very impressed with the depth of content, creative presentation and reasonable cost (the workbook may be photocopied for use by your own family, but an additional workbook is only $6!).

A note in the beginning of the text gives some detailed info on how this resource can be used:

This book and CD and tape set can be used by students of many ages. Younger elementary students can benefit by becoming familiar with scientific terms through casual listening, yet may not fully understand the information until later. Middle school students often study life science in six grade; the text and musical arrangements are geared for this age and older students. The information covered in the songs and text should be very familiar to high school students before they study biology in greater depth.

...Ideally, these resources should be in addition to hands-on activities where observations and applications can be made. In this way the knowledge learned through reading and singing can become known through experience as well.

You can listen to some sample songs from the CD by clicking here.

Aliki, in her classic - simple and charming - style, explains each of the five senses for preschoolers. Text and pictures explain what each of the senses is used for - "When I drink my milk and eat my food, I use my sense of taste. I am tasting." My children ask for this book over and over.

Subtitled a Catholic Science Hands On Program of the Human Body, this is a program best used with kids in grades 4 to 8. My Temple of the Holy Spirit is a very practical study of seven of the systems of the body from a Catholic and prolife perspective. It covers various systems of the body, but not the reproductive systems, the integumentary system, or all of the excretory system. It is thoroughly Catholic, with the Faith integrated throughout. It is user-friendly for both parent and child and very nonthreatening, even for those who are frightened of teaching science. A typical lesson has a list of terms with definitions that will be used later, the material to be learned with the vocabulary words underlined, a page of comprehension questions, a diagram to label, a list of supplementary activities, and Fun Facts. The supplementary activities range from Bible reading to field trips to experiments to research papers. The wide range of acitivities make it easy to adapt this program for students of different ages. Patterns and directions for making a life-sized human body outline with cloth organs are in the back of the book. So are several activities covering all the systems studied, which can be used as a final exam if desired. To use this program properly, it is essential to have access to a library or lots of science books.

This is not a full-year study nor one for high school. Bearing those limitations in mind, this Catholic, prolife, easy-to-use, hands on, multi-level, and inexpensive study on systems of the human body is an excellent choice for science study.
Update: This is no longer sold as an individual title, but is available as a component to the 4th grade lesson plans from Catholic Heritage Curricula

You are probably already familiar with the animal stories written by Thornton Burgess in the early 1900s. These go by titles such as "The Adventures of Johnny Chuck" and "Old Mother West Wind" and are sold by Dover Press for only $1. Each book tells about the life and adventures of various animals in such a way that the child easily learns about animal habitat and woodland lessons. In "Old Mother West Wind" the book starts off telling about her children, "The Merry Breezes" who carry scents of animals as they fly along ruffling (tickling) the fur of different animals. Later in the book we read about a bird who, one night, almost looses her eggs to a skunk without a strip. Now we have an idea of why God gave skunks stripes. My daughter silently reads a chapter from these books each day and narrates them at dinner. These are written at the second grade level.