Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: A Science Curriculum for K-2


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Product Description



This is The most comprehensive science curriculum for beginning learners that you will find anywhere

* Here are 41 lesson plans that cover all major areas of science.


* Lessons are laid out as stepping stones that build knowledge and understanding logically and systematically.


* Child-centered, hands-on activities at the core of all lessons bring children to observe, think, and reason.


* Interest is maintained and learning is solidified by constantly connecting lessons with children's real-world experience


* Skills of inquiry become habits of mind as they are used throughout.


* Lessons integrate reading, writing, geography, and other subjects.


* Standards, including developing a broader, supportive community of science learners come about as natural by-products of learning science in an organized way.


Particular background or experience is not required. Instructions include guiding students to question, observe, think, interpret, and draw rational conclusions in addition to performing the activity. Teachers can learn along with their students and be exceptional role models in doing so. Need for special materials is minimized. Personal, on line, support is available free of charge (see front matter).

 

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Customer Reviews


Tracy L. Polyak Said: Nebel does not underestimate children ( Mar. 31st 2010 )

I purchased BFSU a couple of months ago with the intention of using it in the fall. After seeing the book, though, I ditched the $100 1st-grade science that I thought I loved, because BFSU was so much better. Dr. Nebel knows science and knows children, and that is a rare combination. And for a quarter of the price, I received three times the volume of lesson plans.

What is BFSU?
BFSU is neither a traditional nor a classical science curriculum. Rather, it is an entirely new approach to teaching science. There are two main ideas that drive this curriculum: (1) People learn more when it is relevant to their own lives, and (2) People retain more of what they learn if they are making mental connections. BFSU attempts to create and take advantage of "teaching moments," that is, those times when children are seeking to learn, asking questions and wanting to know. Although it is not marketed as using the Socratic method, I find the Socratic method used heavily to create these "teaching moments."

BFSU covers the following general areas of science, called "threads": Nature of Matter, Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and Space Science. There is not a specific schedule or order in which you have to teach the lessons. The lessons, however, are intended to be taught approximately in a spiral such that you are teaching one or two lessons from one thread and then moving on to the next. Each lesson plan tells you what lessons from all threads that are considered prerequisite. The earlier lessons are designed for the younger K level students, and the later lessons for the older students. In this way, the child learns to integrate the different areas of science. (For example, before teaching the distinction between plants and animals from the Life Science thread, the child should first have covered concepts of energy and making things go from the Physical Science thread, since how we get our energy is an important distinction between plants and animals.) As you spiral through the different threads, you continue to revisit what you have previously covered but just go into it in greater depth each time.

BFSU is written for the classroom, but it is very easily adaptable to the home school setting (and even acknowledges this in the Introduction). It is not just "for" K-2 students, but there are easily enough lessons for three years of material, unless you have a child that is extraordinarily driven in the science category. To quote another forum post, "This is not a cutesy Kindergarten science program." BFSU tackles some very advanced concepts while managing to keep the activities and material on a young child's mental level. (For example, DH is a high school physics teacher, and he has remarked that most of his new students have never even heard of the difference between mass and weight, a concept that is dealt with in the Physical Science thread.)

Is it secular or religious?
BFSU is a secular text. But as a Christian, I have not found anything controversial. It does not address topics like the creation of the world or evolution.

What kind of preparation does BFSU take?
Each lesson is very thorough and lengthy, most covering 6-8 pages, single-spaced, with no pictures or diagrams. It is absolutely necessary to read the whole lesson carefully. Dr. Nebel is meticulous about giving you everything you might want to know, including what misconceptions children commonly have, and what answers you might expect to get out of them.

A materials list is given for each lesson. Almost every material needed is something that you would likely have in your home, but occasionally you might find something that you need to pick up. As I browse through the lessons, I see that I will have to be prepared to acquire balloons for one lesson and an empty glass jar for another. My recommendation is to go through the materials lists for all of the lessons and make a shopping list of things you don't normally have and then store those things in an easily accessible location.

Each lesson also comes with a list of reading books that you can use with the lesson. So if you are using these book lists to supplement your lessons, you will need to check those out from the library prior to the lesson, as well.

The most difficult part of preparing for a lesson is that most of us will need to change how we teach and think about science. You have to figure out how you are going to make the lesson relevant to your own child. There are many ideas and lots of guidance, but BFSU recognizes that different children will be reached in different ways. It might be as simple as planning to talk about solids, liquids and gases in the bathroom as your child brushes his teeth or takes a bath. Or you might be inspired to elaborate on a given activity or go on a field trip. I do not personally like a scripted program, yet I lack the creativity to come up with my own activities and discussions. BFSU gives me just enough script with a whole lot of ways to tailor it to my own child, family and circumstances.

But just let me warn that BFSU does take some preparation. I am spending at least 30-60 minutes reading the lesson and setting up the activities, with most of that time spent just wrapping my brain around the lesson plan. If I did not have a science background, I would want to write down the questions I was supposed to ask and the answers I wanted to elicit from the child.

What about students older than K?
Dr. Nebel has been saying on his Yahoo group that books for grades 3-5 and for 6-8 are due out by this summer. In my opinion, you could easily use this book for grade 3 unless you have a particularly savvy student. Even with an older student that is really into science, I think much could still be gleaned from these lessons. I would just go through it faster. If I had a third grader, I would get the K-2 book and start working on it now so that I would not have to worry about when the 3-5 book came out.


A. Hendrickson Said: My science minded son is LOVING this curriculum ( Mar. 12th 2010 )

I started the book out with my 6 year old son late this summer. He is a super science kid who already knew a great deal of science. It had been challenging finding a curriculum for him that both matched his knowledge base and matched his age for appropriate activities and readings.

I had been looking at curriculum for older kids because I knew they would match his knowledge base, but they just weren't a good overall match. When I first ordered the book, I wasn't sure about the match because it started out at the K level. It turns out that although my son knew a lot of the information in the k-2 book, it has still been totally worth it going through it with him. For some lessons, we just do a quick discussion review. For many of them we have done the activities and discussions anyway since the lessons are easy, fun and so beautifully show the concept being taught. At times, I pick only parts of the activities and do quick reviews of the other parts. I have found that even for topics he is very familiar with, there are still deeper ideas we haven't fully explored that can be explored from the k-2 book.

I have to say that this is not cutesy kindergarten science. Deep concepts are discussed, but are so beautifully explained and shown that a kindergartener can understand the information.

The hardest part has been weeding out what he already knows from what he doesn't know. I have encouraged a lot of feedback from him and also emphasized that he might know the topic, but not necessarily from the angle being discussed. This has been a learning process for me for all parts of our homeschooling experience. Since we homeschool why waste time doing activities you already know? Yet, sometimes review is beneficial and sometimes taking the time to discuss deeply what you already know stretches your knowledge and understanding even more.

One issue that we've had is that he is beyond many of the book recommendations. I have learned which series not to bother with. The one series that we have always loved through the years (let's read and find out), I have noticed he has truly begun to mature out of.

This book has been great for my son because he loves to think, question, experiment and explore.

I expect that we will finish the book this year and will start the next one when it becomes available, which should be the summer of '10.

My almost four year old doesn't have such a deep thirst for scientific knowledge. I am still looking forward to using this curriculum with him. We might end up using most of the book recommendations and the process might be a little slower. The activities will be as meaningful to my youngest when he is ready as they have been for my six year old

This is the only curriculum that I use that requires thinking and work from me. I need to pre-read the lesson and absorb the info a little. I usually keep the book open and refer back to it when we are learning together. This extra bit of work from me has been totally worth it.

Hope this review helps someone. enjoy.

S. Wieland Said: Excellent! ( Dec. 28th 2009 )

I absolutely love this book. I am homeschooling 3 of my boys (ages 6, 6, and 7) and this is a complete science curriculum that my boys and I just love. All the activities and discussions have been fun for them and are presented in a way that makes sense to young minds. Plus, because of the hands-on focus and interweaving into other lessons already learned, my boys remember what they have learned. I REALLY like the flowchart in the beginning of the book that lays out all the lessons in progression based on what "thread" they fit under and also how they relate to other threads. It really helps me to see how we are progressing through the curriculum but also allows plenty of flexibility based on each child's learning rate. I would highly recommend this book for teachers, homeschoolers or even for parents who want to supplement what their kids are learning in school. This provides an excellent learning framework. As a bonus, the author has a yahoo group where he promptly answers clarification questions or any questions at all.

MG Said: I learn something every time I open it. ( Aug. 24th 2009 )

I am using this with an 4th grader(homeschool), even though it is labeled K-2, because every time I open the this book or Dr. Nebel's other book Elementary Education: Creating Tapestry of Learning, I find a new way to think about something I 'knew' or find out HOW something works. It is an excellent curriculum.

A. Weber Said: If you're looking for an excellent science curriculum, you've found it! ( Jun. 30th 2009 )

I am a former public and private- school teacer, and currently homeschool my three children. I was inspired to order this book by reading this review at the site [...]:

[...]

I read the book before implementing it with my 3, 5 and 7 year old children, and was impressed by its layout.
It is organized into four broad sections including:
1/ the nature of matter
2/ life science
3/ physical science and
4/ earth and space science

There is a flowchart showing how the lessons may be taught in an organized and systematic manner, which I have roughly followed in implementing the lessons, tweaking seasonally. For example, we did more life science lessons during the summer, when plants and animals were more readily observable in nature. This is one of the things that I love about this book; a system is suggested, but it is changeable according to one's own situation and environment.

The first two chapters examine the "big picture" of education, children and thinking and how lessons need to be child-centered, inquiry-based and relevant to a child's life. The larger picture of the whys and hows of teaching science is painted beautifully here, and these first two chapters deserve a reread or two.

Then, the lessons. They are organized into sections- first, there is an overview of what the lesson is about. Then, the time required to do the various parts of each lesson is described and then the objectives of the lesson are listed. Required background/ former knowledge that the child would need to "hook" into the lesson optimally comes next, followed by materials needed. Teachable moments show how to contextualize the lesson into a child's every day life. Methods and procedures show exactly what the children and the teacher are to do, followed by a "questions, discussion, and activities to review, reinforce, expand and assess learning" section. There are often notes or asides to parents after this, connections to other topics, and then the national science standards which the lessons correlate with are listed. Lastly, each lesson has a booklist of relevant books on the lesson's topic.

This organization makes the lessons easy to access, understand and implement. I teach the "academic" part of the lessons to my children on Mondays, and then follow up on Thursdays with our small co-op, with the activities and a read-aloud of Nebel's listed relevant books.

My children look forward to these science days, and the beautiful thing is that every day becomes a "science day" when this book is used to teach. This is because learning is presented as a mindset and lifestyle. When inquiry skills and critical thinking develop in a child's mind, the whole world becomes their laboratory.

For example, ever since doing the solids, liquids and gases lesson, my children identify states of matter in their everyday lives: "Mama, let's freeze this rain and make a solid!" (my 3 year old) and "Hey, look at the kettle- the water is boiling and it's turning into steam, a gas!" (my 5 year old).

For these reasons, I give this book the highest possible rating. In my twenty years of teaching and learning experience, I have not seen a finer curriculum. Thank you, Dr.Bernard Nebel!