How To:
The following is excerpted from Five in a Row. © 1994 - 2008 by Jane Claire Lambert, all rights reserved. Through the wide door of children's literature you'll find within the stories a vast array of scientific, educational opportunities, from gazin at the stars, wondering about our sun and discovering how shadows are made, to exploring the world of insects. Learn how a lever works, read about volcanoes, pollution, seasons, nutrition, animal behavior and much, much more. After reading the book for the day, bring up conversationally the Science topics suggested in the lessons and other ideas that you may have. Don't try to use all the topics. Just choose the ones you think are appropriate and mark them on the planning sheet on whichever day seems best. When presenting your Science lesson, be sure to tie it into to the place in the story. For instance, in Paul Revere's Ride, you might say, "Remember the fog that rose over the river. What do you think might have caused that fog?" A Science section in your student's notebook with a page for the Moon and a page for Horse breeds, etc. will help in reviewing and in referencing. If he likes, let your student illustrate the topics with his own diagrams, magazine cut-outs or drawings of the story, and how the topic applies. This could be part of a beloved notebook by year's end. Sample Lesson:
The following is excerpted from Volume 1 of Five in a Row. © 1994 - 2008 by Jane Claire Lambert, all rights reserved. Here's a sample Science lesson taken from Lentil. Every Friday you'll discover fun, interesting lessons taken directly from the story you've been reading. Children love the experiments and hands-on activities. Mothers love how each lesson is fully explained. Science: Human Anatomy - Taste Buds Old Sneep's plan for destroying the town's celebration included the use of a lemon. In sucking on a lemon, Sneep causes all of the band members to "pucker up" so they can't play. Why do sour things make us "pucker up"? Discuss taste buds with your student. The human tongue has approximately five million taste buds which are capable of identifying taste. We replace approximately half of those cells every ten days with new taste buds. We primarily group tastes into four areas; bitter, salty, sweet and sour. Which one of these tastes does a lemon activate? Take a lemon and encourage your student to cut it in half. Each of you take a half to taste or suck on. Discuss the unique sensation of our mouth "puckering up" when we taste something sour. Now that you've sliced a lemon, consider making a glass or pitcher of lemonade. Try mixing two cups of water, three tablespoons of lemon juice and six to eight tablespoons of sugar.
You may want to make the lemonade as a science "experiment" by carefully measuring each component as if you were in a laboratory. For the best flavor, boil the sugar and water for several minutes. Let it cool for a bit and then, add lemon juice and pour it all over ice. As you share a refreshing glass of lemonade together, finish by discussing why watching someone else suck on a lemon can make us "pucker up" as we remember how sour a lemon tastes."
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