Study of the Digestive System: Stomach & Small Intestine

For anatomy today we did a couple of quick activities to go along with our study of the digestive system.  We have been studying about the stomach & how it turns food into chyme in our Apologia course Exploring Creation Human Anatomy.   Now it takes the stomach 3 to 4 hours to turn food into chyme & this activity gives your kids a visual idea of how it works.

Put a piece of bread inside a Ziploc baggie & fill it with water (enough to cover the bread).  Then place that baggie inside another one to help prevent leakage.  Have your child squish & squeeze the bag like their stomach would do.  Let them see what happens to the bread & explain that this is how the stomach churns the food that they eat.

After the food leaves the stomach it goes into the small intestine & is processed another 3 hours.  That is really quick because the small intestine measures 20 feet!  So the food moves pretty quickly during this process.  

For an activity get a measuring tape & have your child measure out 20 feet.  This gives them a great visual of how long the small intestine is & they will be amazed that something that long is inside their bodies!

Another great tool in teaching digestion is Bill Nye The Science Guy: Digestion Classroom Edition.

Easter Study Unit

Don't Miss Amanda Bennett's Popular Easter Unit Study

Easter Unit Study by Amanda Bennett

Christians celebrate the heart of their faith during Easter, and this four-week study has been written to help parents and teachers share this important concept with their children. As we celebrate this season, we have the perfect opportunity to instill a better understanding of our faith and the reason for our joy at Easter.

The holidays of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter or Resurrection Day are included in the study, as well as the events leading up to Jesus' ascension to Heaven. The study includes the people and places involved, helping your students investigate and understand these events, as well as their history and meaning.

Of all of the people and history that I would like for children to understand and remember, it is the life of Jesus and His sacrifice that is most important. There is nothing as important as this throughout all time.

Does Your Middle Schooler Hate to Write?

Do you have a middleschooler who hates to write? I homeschool my middle school child who is a whiz at everything except...you guessed it...writing!  For some reason he has a terrible time putting thoughts on paper or doing any creative writing work.   He has a high comprehension score in reading & can read way beyond his age. He has a vivid imagination but cannot put it in ink. 

For the past 2 years it has been a non-stop battle as I have tried to come up with different approaches to conquer this problem.  So I thought surely there must be something out there, some course I could order for him to do that would help. 

At first I found systems that I had already been using, without success.  Then in my search I stumbled upon "Jump In: A workbook for reluctant and eager writers".  As I looked at the samples online I got really excited by what I saw.  Not only was it written in fun terminology with step by step building blocks, but it is also written for middle schoolers who have had trouble writing.    That way I did not have to start him on a course geared for elementary children that might seem silly to him.

There is a student workbook (Jump In) that they work in & then it also comes with the parents/teacher manual called "The Lifeguard's Locker".  In the parents manual are these great 10 minute plunges for your kids to do.  

The 10 minute plunges are a writing assignment for your child & you give them a choice of topics.  For example in week one the topics are: 1) You have just created a new dessert. Name it and write a short description of it for the menu. 2) "I just can't stand..." 3) "I'll never go there again!" (what happened and why you won't go back)  4) Kryptonite made Superman weak. What is your kryptonite?

These choices are interesting & imaginative to help promote creativity.  Plus these writings are not graded!  No checking spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.   Just get them to write!  Then at the end of the week they get to choose their favorite one & then at that time they rewrite it in correct form. 

The first week my son struggled a little but this week he sat & wrote a great report in just 5 minutes!  I wanted him to do the full 10 minutes so he went back to writing & added some more sentences to it.  I was so happy & proud of him.

So if you have a middle schooler who has trouble writing or who LOVES to write, this is a great course.  It is produced by Apologia Press, but I purchased mine from http://www.rainbowresource.com/.  They seem to have the best selection & prices for this.