Actually this post will describe how to extract DNA from a banana, a tomato and from yourself. The method is similar for all three. Extracting DNA samples I gave the children the choice of extracting DNA from tomatoes, bananas or from themselves. It is very easy to do requiring nothing more than water, salt, surgical……
Tag: Homeschooling
Scientist Study: Watson and Crick
Crick and Watson were 20th century scientists accredited (with help from Franklin and Wilkins) for discovering the structure of DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid), one of the most significant discoveries of that century. The three men were awarded a nobel prize for discovering the ‘secret of life’. Franklin had died and so missed out, even though it……
Living Maths, Anyone?
This week’s giveaway is full of fun maths books to help your child play maths. I found all these useful when I took my twins off a curriculum for a year. Being curriculum free allowed the girls to relax and enjoy maths. They lost their fear of numbers. That year of no pressure, fun maths,……
IGCSE Biological Science – Microbes
Our biological science is based on the specification of Edexcel for their Biology IGCSE. My goal is to very gradually work through the specification with the hope of digging a little deeper than is required and letting the children follow areas of interest. I aim to make this study as hands on as possible and……
More Unschooling Thoughts
Back when I first started home schooling I latched onto what seemed to be a very successful way to home school (according to friends who home schooled and to a blog I regularly read at the time). It was workbook home schooling using a very tight and regular half hour schedule. For a good couple of years……
Biology: Microbes – Protoctista
Protoctista The last micro-organism we need to cover for their IGCSE Biology is the Protoctista. This is basically the ‘rubbish bin kingdom’. Every organism which is living and eukaryotic but is not an animal, plant, fungi or bacteria belongs to this kingdom. Protoctista are more complicated than bacteria, containing a cell nucleus, but less complex……
Conquer Maths
I have been wanting to share the treasure of a maths program I had found for ages, but having enthused about various other maths programs and ultimately found them to no longer work, I chose to wait a while. However, it seems it is here to stay and I really do feel confident in recommending it. This……
Spar-Klean Science at Angelicscalliwags
Spar-Klean Science (Age 10+) Apologies, I am still attempting to organise my blog by grouping like posts together. These are all my posts within my home-made Spar-Klean Science course. It will be added to as and when we do lessons. Investigating where the dirtiest place is in the kitchen Is the loo cleaner than the……
Seasons of Joy: The Very Best Valentine….Ever!
It is Valentine’s day today. For the first time since they were born the older ones have been asking about it. Usually we do not make a huge deal. Gary and I swap cards with beautiful handwritten notes of love. But they are private messages, not to be shared with the rest of the family.……
Precious Moments – Unschooling
This week has been peppered with bad days and illness and very little has been achieved. I was going to write yesterday about new thoughts I had concerning our unschooling weeks but to be honest I really didn’t think it would be a fair reflection. However, I will say this – leaving the children completely to……
The Great Angelicscalliwags Book Bonanza: Maths Books
I am doing incredibly well clearing out some of my books and will absolutely continue to do so until the two shelves in our dining room are empty. I’m getting there slowly but surely. However taking a photo and posting it each day is taking up more time than I would like. So I’m going……
Continent Study: Antarctica – How do animals survive the sub-zero temperatures?
Antarctica doesn’t have the diversity of wildlife that other continents have. Those animals which are able to survive the sub-zero temperatures do so because they have adapted to this environment to reduce heat loss, often developing warm windproof coats and layers of blubber. We did an experiment to investigate how blubber helps to keep an……
Continent Study: Antarctica inspired Art
I really do feel that we made the most of our one day of snow! The older ones played in the park with their friends having snowball fights, they built a snow man, I built the younger ones an Antarctic Research Laboratory and proceeded to do waaaaay more experiments with snow than is strictly sane.……
The Great Book Bonanza Giveaway at Angelicscalliwags
Just a little reminder to all my British readers. Head over to the books page and find out what is on offer this week!
Living Maths at Angelicscalliwags
Maths has historically been a huge problem in our house. With a son who just gets it and two daughters who just don’t I have the humbling experience of coming to the conclusion I am a naff teacher! A year or so ago I took the girls off their curriculum and gave ‘living maths’ a……