Monday, November 12, 2012

And We Erupt! A Peak at My Volcano Study Planning

Photo Credit National
Geographic Kids
My little guy has a sudden fascination with volcanoes and eruptions and destruction. So, who am I to hold him back! Botany can wait, again.

"Would you like to do a volcano study?" 
"Yes! But I get to build a volcano, right? And put that stuff in it so it'll erupt everywhere?" 
"Suuurrrre..." 

Why do I have a feeling that this unit study will be messy?

Now, I'll admit that I tend to go overboard with these unit studies. One area leads to another area leads to another area...Well, you get the picture. We end up with a study that spans multiple sciences and history periods and "over-stays its welcome". I made sure to focus on the "rocks and boulders" of volcanoes, and planned our study by hitting all my favorite free sites, emptying the library book shelves and saving videos to my Netflix instant queue.


What? You don't plan unit studies on a PAPER PLATE?! Really?! ::wink:: I just grabbed the quickest, closest "piece of paper". ::grin::

Main Studies
Homeschool Share Lapbook
Enchanted Learning: Volcanoes
Volcano Mini Book
Paper Volcano Model
Earth Layers Flipbook

Books
TBD (when we go to the library later this week)

Hands-on
How to Make a Volcano
Molten Lava Chocolate Volcano Cakes

Websites
NeoK12
Volcano Explorer
CMS Volcanos

You Tube Videos
All About Volcanoes
Magic School Bus Blows Its Top
Rock Cycle Song
Bill Nye
Rock Cycle
Krakatau

Netlfix Movies

My Saplings dislike cutting, assembling and gluing together lapbook mini books. It's a battle that takes the fun out of the whole process for us, so I do it for them. Perhaps they're missing some vital skills by not doing the "prep work" - cutting? following instructions? planning? - but I would much rather they focused on learning and recording information than complaining. I usually assemble while watching TV. "The Voice" was a perfect time to snip! ::wink::



My plan is to take 3-4 weeks for this unit study, but you know how plans go...It might be 2 weeks or 8 weeks. So, stay tuned for our volcano study...and yes, eventually an eruption! Boom!

9 comments:

  1. Sounds like loads of fun. You have such neat handwriting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the paper plate planning! Looks like a great study :) My girls aren't into the cutting out and assembling of lapbook parts either.

    ReplyDelete
  3. (Now I am having trouble getting the comment box to come up. Hope this is working!)

    Those lava cakes look AMAZING!!!! Yum!

    My kids, also, do not like lapbooking construction. And, honestly, neither do I! I feel like it takes up so much of the time we could be learning and having fun!

    ReplyDelete
  4. My oldest, who is now 22 years old, loved studying volcanos. I am thinking that you are headed for a longer, not shorter, study. Thanks for sharing and as always please consider linking this exciting study on Look What We Did.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really like this. I love the paper plate ;) Keilee never liked lapbooks either. I felt the same way, too much time spent doing meaningless cutting and pasting. But I am loving this entire study. I am going to pass this along to Kei. I have always had a problem over-scheduling things too. Keilee told me a couple of years ago that we had studied the Civil War longer than it lasted! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just pinned this to my "Things That Go Boom" board because I crack myself up.... mwa ha ha ha ha

    ReplyDelete
  7. We did a volcano unit study at the beginning of school this year. It was a big hit and my guys are still revisiting the homeschool share lap book too. We got a Currclick freebie that was popular also. Here's my post about it in case you decide you need more :))

    http://motherofdiscussion.blogspot.com/2012/09/volcano-science-projects.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice unit study!! I love your plans.

    I also do much of the cutting for my kids. My 14yo helps me at times, but I don't see the point in making our study frustrating for my boys. The can cut, but they don't love to cut- and I would rather have them focus on learning.

    ReplyDelete
  9. These pictures are just amazing and beautiful. It is a nice informative post. Some questions are raised in this article. Now its time to avail Taxi near me for more information.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading! Please share your thoughts in the comment box. We love hearing from our visitors!