We don't have Science down to a Science.

I don't know about other homeschool families, but I find it really hard to fit science into our day. Perhaps it's just not my favorite subject, and other families excel at it. Perhaps other families struggle to teach the things I love and we all just gravitate to teaching the subjects that come easy to us. What I know for sure is, I can't skip it. My mother wouldn't let me!

My mother (a.k.a. Gramma Peg) is a former elementary school teacher and she looooooooves science. She loved teaching it before she retired and made it clear that if I didn't immerse my daughters in an in depth science curriculum, then she would do it for me. Take it away, Mom!

She came up to visit in October and we started our visit with a trip to see theBody Worlds Exhibit at the Franklin Institute. It's an exhibition that adults find fascinating and controversial and most kids find "gross!" Perfect.

Body Worlds is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared using a process called plastination to reveal their inner anatomical structures. This process was developed in Germany and has been used for this type of exhibition since 1995. It is controversial because even though the bodies have been donated to science willingly, some religious groups consider the plastination treatment and the display of skinless human bodies to be irreverent. In other cases, there is concern that proof of express consent to use the bodies for display was not easily obtained or provided, raising the question, "where, actually, did these bodies come from?"

To me, a dead body is a dead body, and in this case, a dead body is a very educational opportunity. So controversy aside, my mother and I took the girls to the exhibit. It was truly amazing! If you get the chance to visit a show in your area, definitely go. These aren't plastic models; these are the real thing. The pregnant woman and the smoker's lung were outstanding, but the whole exhibit was a stunning example of how complex the human body is. They don't allow photography in the exhibit, so in order to see more, either go to the show, or visit the website: www.bodyworlds.com/

After the exhibit, we took the girls to the IMAX production of The Body and like every IMAX film I

have seen at the Franklin Institute, it was fantastic. It was a great way to kick off our month of 6th grade science, specifically anatomy.

Later in the week, Gramma Peg started the girls on their first hands-on science experiment and instructed them on the process of testing a hypothesis. They hypothesized, tested, retested, recorded, discussed, plotted and graphed for the better part of a

day. Gramma Peg is an excellent teacher and the girls were exhausted at the end. (In these pictures, the girls are testing the impact of tinfoil on water temperature over time.)

We plan to pick up the hypothesis discussion in the spring when we do a unit on botany and experiment with hydroponics and vegetable gardening. In an effort to win the war against the groundhogs in our yard, we will pick up a short lesson on solar power when I invest in a solar electric fence. Can't wait to zap those little buggers who steal my tomatoes every year! Mwaah Ha Ha!

Hmmm...I may not love science, but I seem to have a little "mad scientist" in me ; )