Mater Amabilis™

Level 1A – Science – Year 1

THE NATURAL WORLD

A year’s study of the natural world, concentrating on insects, birds and plants.

Time requirement: Two weekly lessons of approximately 30 minutes.

Teacher involvement: You will need to work with your child for these lessons

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Bernard Nebel
This course covers the concepts in his B – LIFE SCIENCE thread. The book offers further activities and guidance for educators in developing scientific inquiry regarding these concepts with students. If followed closely, the activities can take the place of the scheduled activity book and kits.

Nature Anatomy by Julia Rothman
This lovely book offers hundreds of beautiful pieces of art illustrating countless concepts, collections, and observations throughout the natural world. We have scheduled it to accompany the science and geography lessons throughout Level 1. It is not essential, but as a single book, it does a lot of heavy lifting!


PLANT LIFE

Key Texts:

*Karl Get Out of the Garden
*Benny’s Animals (highly recommended but difficult to find-worth looking!)
*Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman
Mater Amabilis Level 1 Life Science Reader (pdf)
Science With Plants 1st Edition or 2nd Edition OOP, but used copies readily available

*These books are only scheduled once.

Highly Recommended:
These books are excellent picture book substitutes for/supplements to the Life Science Reader. You can use the program without them, but they are worth hunting down inexpensive used copies or requesting them from your local library, even if you cannot get them the week they are scheduled.

From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbon
Cactus Hotels
How Apples Grow by Betsy Maestro
The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
 A Tree for All Seasons
Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Trees
The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-ups
A Seed Is Sleepy

BIRDS

Key Texts:

Home Science Adventures: Discovering Birds (Kit includes lessons and materials for 14 activities)
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess (available online)
(Shorter) Alternative: Birds of the Air by Arabella Buckley (available online)

Optional: Schedule a third weekly lesson of science/nature and do the entire Burgess Bird Book over the year (2x a week during this term) using the Peterson Coloring Book as a supplement. Guide to Peterson and Burgess 

Recommended Supplement:
Peterson Coloring Book

Energy Makes Things Happen by Kimberly Bradley (Let’s Read and Find Out Science)
Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs by Patricia Lauber (Let’s Read and Find Out Science)
The Skeleton Inside You by Philip Balestrino (Let’s Read and Find Out Science)

INSECTS

Key Texts and Resources:

Children of Summer by Margaret J. Anderson OR The Tarantula Scientist by Sy Montgomery
Home Science Adventures: Discovering Insects (Kit includes lessons and materials for 22 activities)

Further Resources:

Field Trips: Bug Hunting, Animal Tracking, Bird-watching, Shore Walking by Jim Arnosky
Crinkleroot’s Guide to Walking in Wild Places by Jim Arnosky
Nature for the Very Young: A Handbook of Indoor and Outdoor Activities by Marcia Bowden
Fun With Nature by Mel Boring
More Fun With Nature by Laura Evert

Nature Friend Magazine subscription
Wild Monthly – back issues of online nature newsletter from MacBeth Derham

Note: More optional reading is listed for each term under the schedule.

Some of the books included in the optional reading lists are books we know and can personally recommend. Others are titles that come recommended but that we have not been able to pre-read.

TERM 1: Plants

Key Texts:

*Karl Get Out of the Garden
*Benny’s Animals (highly recommended but difficult to find-worth looking!)
*Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman
Mater Amabilis Level 1 Life Science Reader (pdf)
Science With Plants 1st Edition or 2nd Edition OOP, but used copies readily available

Highly Recommended:
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbon
Cactus Hotels
How Apples Grow by Betsy Maestro
The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
 A Tree for All Seasons
Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Trees
The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-ups
A Seed Is Sleepy

Ongoing Throughout the Year

  • BFSU B-2 – Distinguishing Living, Natural NonLiving, and Human-Made Things
    This section is long and dense. Spend some time reading through it, doing the activities as you feel necessary, and consider how you will foster this inquiry throughout the year.
  • Part 1 “Collecting Critters and Things”
    (Consider starting a leaf collection this term (p. 142) to supplement your study of plant life.) 
  • Part 2 “Beginning to Classify Things”
  • Part 3 “How We Make Separations
  • Part 4 “Keeping the Lesson Ongoing” 
  • BFSU B-4a – Identification of Living Things: Discerning Similarities and Differences
  • BFSU B-4b – What Is a Species?

Week 1: 

  1. Karl, Get Out of the Garden and Benny’s Animals  (optional)
  2. Science with Plants: Starting to Grow (2 pages)

    BFSU B-3 – Distinguishing Between Plants And Animals: The Plant and Animal Kingdoms
    • Helpful for framing discussion around the concepts covered in these books.

Week 2: 

  1. From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbon
    Or “The Shepherd’s Purse” from Plant Life in Field and Garden
  2. Science With Plants: Growing (2 pages)

    BFSU B-10 – Plant Science I: Basic Plant Structure
    • Part 1 “Roots, Stems, Leaves, and Their Modifications”
    • Part 2 “Functions of Roots, Stems, and Leaves

Week 3: 

  1. Plant Secrets
    Or Choose a “Life Story of a ___” from First Studies in Plant Life
  2. Science With Plants: Plants and water (1 page)

    BFSU B-12 – Plants, Soil, and Water
    BFSU B-10 – Plant Science I: Basic Plant Structure
    • Part 3 “Reproductive Structures”

Week 4: 

  1. Cactus Hotel
    Or “The Century Plant’s Wish” from Outdoor Secrets
  2. Science With Plants: Make a bottle garden (1 page)

    BFSU B-12 – Plants, Soil, and Water
    BFSU B-11 – Plant Science II: Germination, Seedling Growth, and Responses

Week 5: 

  1. “The Work Done by Leaves” from Plant Life in Fields and Garden by Arabella Buckley (pdf)
    Study Jams Video: Photosynthesis
  2. Science With Plants: Using light (1 page)

    BFSU B-11 – Plant Science II: Germination, Seedling Growth, and Responses

Week 6: 

  1. “Leaves: Their Shape and Position” from Trees and Shrubs by Arabella Buckley (pdf)
    Suggested Reading: Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Trees or The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-ups
  2. Science With Plants: Looking at leaves and leaf prints (1 page)

    BFSU B-11 – Plant Science II: Germination, Seedling Growth, and Responses

Week 7: 

  1. “How the Apple Blossom Came Back” from Outdoor Secrets (pdf)
    Suggested Reading: How Apples Grow by Betsy Maestro or The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
  2. Science With Plants: Flowers (2 pages)
    • Suggested Activity: Cut an apple crosswise to see the image of the blossom.
    • Taste test a variety of apples; compare their color, texture, sweetness, etc…

Remember to revisit the concepts from previous lessons and practice the skills emphasized in Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding B-2, B-4a, and B-4b in the remaining lessons.

 

Week 8: 

  • “The Horse Chestnut’s Name” from Outdoor Secrets (pdf)
    Suggested Reading: A Tree for All Seasons
  1. Science With Plants: Trees (2 pages)

Week 9: 

  1. “The Baby Plant’s Bed Coverings” from Outdoor Secrets (pdf)
  2. Science With Plants: New plants from old (2 pages)

Week 10: 

  1. “The Sower” from Outdoor Secrets (pdf)
    Suggested Reading: A Seed Is Sleepy
  2. Science With Plants: Plants leaving home (2 pages)

Week 11: 

  1. “The Uninvited Guest” from Outdoor Secrets (pdf)
    Suggested Reading: Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt
  2. Science With Plants: Plants and soil & Useful plants (4 pages)

Week 12: Catch-up/Exams

Optional Extras:

Welcome to the Museum: Botanicum 
A stunning book with beautiful illustrations of plant life as relates to the Tree of Life. Will be used as the key text for a more in depth study of Botany in Level 3.

Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots, by Sharon Lovejoy – gardening for children
Catholic Traditions in the Garden by Ann Ball
Mary Gardens – website with lots of information about how to make a Mary garden, and flowers associated with Mary
The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America’s First Naturalist by Deborah Kogan Ray
Miss Lady Bird’s Wildflowers: How a First Lady Changed America by Kathi Appelt
Wildflowers and the Stories behind their Names by Phyllis E. Busch (out of print)

TERM 2: Birds

Key Texts:
Home Science Adventures: Discovering Birds
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess (available online)
(Shorter) Alternative: Birds of the Air by Arabella Buckley (available online)

Recommended Additional Books:

Energy Makes Things Happen by Kimberly Bradley (Let’s Read and Find Out Science)
Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs by Patricia Lauber (Let’s Read and Find Out Science)
The Skeleton Inside You by Philip Balestrino (Let’s Read and Find Out Science)
Little Book of Backyard Birdsongs by Andrea Pinnington

Note: Lesson 3 of Home Science Adventures: Discovering Birds is optional. Lesson 14 is to be done before a family trip.

Week 13: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. Constructing Your Bird Feeder – Recycle a soda bottle by making it into a bird feeder.

    BFSU C-1 – Concepts of Energy: Making Things Go
    • Part 1 “Forms of Energy and What They Do”
      Suggested Reading: Energy Makes Things Happen

Week 14: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. Putting Up Your Bird Feeder – Choose the best spot for your new bird feeder. Optional: 3-Other Types of Feeders

    BFSU C-1 – Concepts of Energy: Making Things Go
    • Part 2 “Storage and Release of Energy”
    • Optional Activity: Moving Cars from page 32 Energy Makes Things Happen

Week 15: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. What to Expect at Your Feeder – Use your Backyard Birds guidebook to complete a crossword puzzle.

    BFSU C-1 – Concepts of Energy: Making Things Go
    1. Part 3 “Energy Changes from One Form to Another”
    2. Recommended Activity: Back to the Sun from page 33 Energy Makes Things Happen

Week 16: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. Observing Birds at Your Feeder – Learn how to make detailed observations of birds.

    BFSU B-6 – How Animals Move I: The Skeleton and Muscle System
    • Part 1 “The Human Skeleton”
      Recommended Reading: The Skeleton Inside You

Week 17: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. A Bird’s Eye View – Investigate an owl’s depth perception and a songbird’s peripheral vision. While you’re at it, test your own.

    BFSU B-6 – How Animals Move I: The Skeleton and Muscle System
    1. Part 2 How Muscles Move the Skeleton

Week 18: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. Birds of a Feather – Investigate the differences between flight feathers and down feathers.

    BFSU B-5 – Food Chains and Adaptations
    Part 1 “Food Chains”
    Suggested Reading: Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs

Week 19: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. Making a Quill Pen – Make a flight feather into a quill pen, then use it to write a letter.

    BFSU B-5 – Food Chains and Adaptations

Week 20: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. Energy in Flight – Use a bird glider to investigate how kinetic energy can change into potential energy and back again.

    BFSU C-3 – Concepts of Energy: Kinetic and Potential Energy

Week 21: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. Gliding – Investigate how hawks use thermals and updrafts to conserve their own energy.
    Video: How Bird Wings Work (Compared to Airplane Wings)

Week 22: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. Aerodynamics – Float a balloon over a straw to experience how an object is drawn toward a fast moving stream of air.

    BFSU C-2 – Sound, Vibrations, and Energy
    • Part 1 “Sound and Vibrations”

Week 23: 

  1. The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  2. Lift – the Key to Flight – Feel the lift on a flight feather. Learn how this lift is caused by the feather’s shape.

    BFSU C-2 – Sound, Vibrations, and Energy
    1. Part 2 “Transmission of Sound”

Week 24: 

  1. Bird Song Safari – Learn how to identify birds by their songs. (see this activity)
    Optional: Listen to /Read Little Book of Backyard Birdsongs
  2. Catch-up/Exams

Optional for a family trip:  

  1. Bird Watching on a Family Trip – This game can add a bit of fun to a family trip while pointing out birds you otherwise might not notice.
Optional Extras:

Non-Fiction

All About Owls by Jim Arnosky
Crinkleroot’s Guide to Birds by Jim Arnosky
Crinkleroot’s 25 Birds Every Child Should Know by Jim Arnosky
Looking for Seabirds: Journal From an Alaskan Voyage, by Sophie Webb
The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies

Fiction

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B.White
Coot Club by Arthur Ransome
Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome
Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Richard Atwater
The Wheel on the School by Meindert de Jong – story about storks set in Holland
There’s an Owl in the Shower by Jean Craighead George
Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat

Poetry

I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischmann

UK: See British Nature Study page for more resources

Links

Birdsongs
Coloring pictures of birds (American)
Bird Pictures

TERM 3: Insects

Key Texts:

Children of Summer by Margaret J. Anderson OR The Tarantula Scientist by Sy Montgomery
Home Science Adventures: Discovering Insects

Note: The last Experiment in Discovering Insects can be ongoing throughout the term and emphasized during your Nature Studies.

Week 1: 

  • The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “The Hermit of Serignan” and “The Two-Banded Scolia Wasp
  1. Spiders Don’t Have Wings – Discover what distinguishes insects from arachnids and other bugs.

    BFSU B-3 – Distinguishing Between Plants and Animals: The Plant and Animal Kingdoms

Week 2: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “Ground Wasps” and “Henri at School”
  2. Classifying Bugs – Play a game of classification with model bugs and a flow chart.

    BFSU B-3 – Distinguishing Between Plants and Animals: The Plant and Animal Kingdoms
    • Part 2 “The Distinction Between Plants and Animals”

Week 3: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “The Undertaker Beetle” and “Acorn Elephants”
  2. Bees, Butterflies & Blossoms – Observe how insects gather nectar and pollinate flowers.

    BFSU B-4 – Life Cycles
    • Part 1 “The Concept of Life Cycles”
    • Part 2 “Examples of Life Cycles”
      Recommended Reading: Terry’s Caterpillars

Week 4: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “The Caterpillar Parade” and “Lucie and the Ants”
  2. A Buzzing Chemical Factory – Investigate what chemicals bees make, and enjoy some bee products!

    BFSU B-7 – How Animals Move II: Different Body Designs; Major Animal Phyla
    • Part 1 “Animals with Skeletons Inside: Vertebrates”
      Optional Reread: Benny’s Animals from the start of the year.

Week 5: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “Henri and the Saxicola” and “The Feast”
  2. Compound Eyes – Try to see the world through an insect’s eyes.

    BFSU B-7 – How Animals Move II: Different Body Designs; Major Animal Phyla
    • Part 2 “Animals with Skeletons Outside: Arthropods”

Week 6: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “The Scorpion Theater” and “The Great Peacock Moth”
  2. Happy Trails – Discover and explore an ant trail.

    BFSU B-7 – How Animals Move II: Different Body Designs; Major Animal Phyla
    • Part 3 “Animals with No Skeletons: Snails, Worms, and Others”
      Optional Reread: Up in the Garden, Down in the Dirt

Week 7: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “The Leaf Cutter Bee” and “The Sisphyus Dung Beetle”
  2. Experiments on an Ant Trail – Be a scientist by testing theories of ant attraction.

    Recommended reading: Little Black Ant on Park Street by Janet Halfman

Week 8: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “The Sacred Beetle” and “The Noisy Cicada”
  2. Jumpers & Skaters – Two insects with unusual ways of getting around. (see part of this lesson)

    BFSU B-8 – How Animals Move III: Coordinating Body Movements; The Nervous System

Week 9: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “The Capricorn Beetle” and “The Great Peacock Evening”
  2. Arachnid Architecture – Explore the amazing complexity of spider webs.

Week 10: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist
    OR Children of Summer “About Henri Fabre”
  2. The Spiral Trap – Watch how a spider uses its web to trap an insect.

Week 11: 

  1. The Tarantula Scientist 
  2.  Inspect Your Insect – Characteristics of some interesting insects.

Week 12: 

  1. The Great Bug Expedition – Conduct a field study of local arthropod biodiversity (which means see how many types of bugs you can find in your backyard) 
  2. Insect Attitude Survey – Do our feelings about bugs reflect reality?
  3. Catch-up/Exams
Optional Extras

Non-Fiction
Creep and Flutter: The Secret World of Insects and Spiders by Jim Arnosky
The Icky Bug Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
Simon and Schuster Children’s Guide to Insects and Spiders by Jinny Johnson
Big Book of Bugs by Theresa Greenaway
The Tarantula in My Purse: and 172 Other Wild Pets by Jean Craighead George

Fiction
Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White – classic fiction about a spider and a pig
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

Poetry
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischmann

UK: See British Nature Study page for more resources

Print Friendly, PDF & Email