Mater Amabilis™

Level 3 & 4 Science

Levels 3 and 4 Science

Wonders of Creation – Level 3 Year 1

This course provides an overview of life science with a term each of Botany and Biology as well as a winter term of astronomy with an emphasis on star gazing. Experiments, demonstrations and further reading are woven into the course to enable students to build an understanding of the natural world around them as well as the history of the study of biology. Themes include classification, nature study, cell structure, and the human body. 

An introduction to Earth Science should be scheduled for an additional day each week.

Science Through Time (Secrets of the Universe) – Level 3 Year 2 and Level 4

This course provides an overview of the development of science from ancient times through to the early twentieth century. The framework for the course is the chronological development of science, showing how new scientific discoveries built upon the work of earlier scientists. Experiments, demonstrations and further reading are woven into the course to enable students to build an understanding of scientific principles. Themes studied include mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, and electricity. A more in depth study of the Earth is used over the course of these two year and require an additional day.

Time Requirements

Three lessons weekly for the main study, each lesson lasting approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

In addition to science, a student should study Geology and Earth Studies

    • One lesson of 20-30 minutes in Level 3 Year 1
    • Two lessons each week of 30-40 minutes in Level 3 Year 2 and Level 4.

Key Texts

Level 3 Year 1: 

BOTANY

Botanicum: Welcome to the Museum (Willis and Scott)

World of Plants (Howell / Usborne)

Alternative: Read First Studies in Plant Life (Atkinson) and follow the study guide schedule and activities from Sabbath Mood

ASTRONOMY 

Our Universe: A Guide to What’s Out There (Stannard) This book is out of print, but used copies are cheaply and easily available 

The Stars: A New Way to See Them (Rey)

Genesis 1: House of the Covenant (Daly) – Note: The Hedge School website is run by Mary Daly’s children in their free time. Orders often take a long time to be filled, and they are not good at responding to emails. This is an excellent book, but you can simply skip the few lessons using it if you prefer not to order a copy.

Optional supplement: Exploring the Sky: 100 Projects for Beginning Astronomers (Moeschl)

Alternative: Read The Planets (Sobel) and follow the study guide schedule and activities from Sabbath Mood Astronomy: Forms 3-4

INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGY

Men Microscopes and Living Things (Shippen)

Sabbath Mood Biology Guide

Level 3 Year 2: 

CLASSICAL AND FLUID MECHANICS

Objects in Motion (Fleisher) 

Liquids and Gases (Fleisher) 

TOPScience #16 Pressure (Book or ebook, Starter Kit #16*, if available)

THE PERIODIC TABLE AND ELEMENTS

The Mystery of the Periodic Table (Wiker)

TOPScience #10 Analysis (Book or ebook and Starter Kit 10*)

TOPScience #11 Oxidation (Book or ebook and Starter Kit 11*)

*Starter kits have all the supplies you need for the demonstrations and experiments and are highly recommended.

Recommended Supplemental Reading 

The Elements (Gray) (A motivated student may want to make a science journal entry on 1-2 elements per week.) 

Also Molecules and Reactions by the same author.

Alternative to TOPS Analysis and Oxidation kits: Use the schedule and activities for The Mystery of the Periodic Table in Sabbath Mood Chemistry: Forms 3-4. This guide moves at a faster pace than the schedule here, leaving you a few extra weeks for supplemental reading.

MATTER AND ENERGY

Matter and Energy (Fleisher)

The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements [documentary]

NOVA: Hunting the Elements [documentary]

Level 4

WEATHER 

The Weather Book (Sloane)

Thames/Kosmos Climate & Weather Science Kit

WAVES and ELECTRICITY 

Waves: Principles of Light, Electricity and Magnetism (Fleisher)

TOPScience #32 Electricity (Book or ebook and Starter Kit 32*)

DK Eyewitness Book: Electricity (Parker)

*Starter kits have all the supplies you need for the demonstrations and experiments and are highly recommended.

RELATIVITY and QUANTUM MECHANICS

Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics (Fleisher)

The Time and Space of Uncle Albert (Stannard)

ENGINEERING and FAITH AND REASON

The Paper Airplane Book (Simon)

Great Catholic Scientists: Discoveries and Lives of Faith (Consolmagno and Francl-Donnay)

Smarter Every Day [YouTube channel]

TOPScience #33 Magnetism (Book or ebook and Starter Kit 33*)

*Starter kits have all the supplies you need for the demonstrations and experiments and are highly recommended.

LEVEL 3, YEAR 1 

Weeks 1 to 6

Botanicum: Welcome to the Museum (18 lessons) 

Notes:

    • Choose one example from each type of plant studied to draw and label in a notebook.
    • Consider using the classifications studied in looking for specimens to observe and record during your weekly Nature Study.
    • Another recommendation is to make a leaf collection and to choose a single tree to observe throughout the school year, noting how it changes through the seasons.

Week 1

    1. pp. 1-5 “Welcome to Botanicum” and “The Tree of Life”
    2. pp. 8-11 “Algae” and “Bryophytes”
    3. pp. 12-15 “Fungi and Lichens” and “Club Mosses, Horsetails, and Whisk Ferns”

Week 2

    1. pp. 16-19 “Ferns” and “Environment: Carboniferous Forests
    2. pp. 22-25 “Conifers” and “The Giant Sequoia”
    3. pp. 26-29 “The Ginkgo” and “Temperate Trees”

Week 3

    1. pp. 30-33 “Tropical Trees” and “Fruit Trees”
    2. pp. 34-37 “Ornamental Shrubs” and “Environment: Rain Forests”
    3. pp. 40-45 “Cycads,” “Palms,” and “The Oil Palm”

Week 4

    1. pp. 48-51 “Flower Structure” and “Wildflowers”
    2. pp. 52-25 “Cultivated Flowers” and “Bulbs”
    3. pp. 56-59 “Belowground Edible Plants” and “Vines and Creepers”

Week 5

    1. pp. 60-65 “Environment: Alpine Plants” and “Grasses”
    2. pp. 66-69 “Crops” and “Cattail, Sedges, and Rushes”
    3. pp. 72-75 “Orchids” and “The Christmas Star Orchid”

Week 6

    1. pp. 76-81 “Bromeliads” and “Succulents and Cacti”
    2. pp. 82-85 “Aquatic Plants” and “The Amazon Water Lily”
    3. pp. 86-90 “Parasitic Plants,” “Carnivorous Plants,”  and “Environment: Mangrove Forests”

Weeks 7-11

World of Plants (links at Usborne Interlinked Library of Science) (15 lessons)

Notes:

    • This book does not lend itself to narration; keep a nature/botany notebook instead. Include diagrams, define terms and describe activities carried out.
    • Most sections of this book include a “see for yourself” activity.
    • Choose one or more internet links to follow for each section.

Week 7

    1. Plant cells
    2. Stems and roots
    3. Plant tissue

Week 8

    1. Inside older plants
    2. Leaves
    3. Leaf structure

Week 9

    1. Movement of fluids
    2. Plant food (4 pages)
    3. Plant sensitivity

Week 10

    1. Fighting for survival
    2. Plant lifestyles
    3. Plants and people

Week 11

    1. Natural cycles
    2. Classifying plants
    3. Genetics

Week 12
Catch-up or Exams Week

Weeks 13 – 23

Our Universe
The Stars
Genesis 1: House of the Covenant (33 lessons)

Week 13

    1. Our Universe: Leaving home
    2. Our Universe: First stop, the moon
    3. The Stars: pp. 9-16 “Shapes in the Sky”

Week 14

    1. Our Universe: The Sun: a bomb that goes off slowly
    2. Our Universe: Visiting the neighbours
    3. The Stars: pp. 17-20 “First Steps and Plain Facts”

Week 15

    1. The Stars: pp. 20-24 “Finding North and the Pole Star” and “Umbrella Planetarium”
    2. Our Universe: Birth of the Sun
    3. Our Universe: Great balls of fire!

Week 16

    1. The Stars: pp. 26-28 “Meet the Constellations”
    2. Our Universe: The life and death of a star
    3. Our Universe: Super-dense cinders

Week 17

    1. The Stars: pp. 30-47 Constellation charts 1-9
    2. The Stars: pp. 47-63 Constellation charts 10-17
    3. Our Universe: Island worlds

Week 18

    1. Our Universe: The Big Bang
    2. The Stars: pp. 66-72 
    3. The Stars: pp. 73-105 familiarize yourself with the charts on so that you can easily reference them during your star gazing

Week 19

    1. Our Universe: The creation of the Universe
    2. The Stars: pp. 108-115
    3. Our Universe: The future of the Universe

Week 20

    1. Our Universe: An unfriendly Universe, or is it?
    2. The Stars: pp. 116-121 
    3. The Stars: pp. 122-129

Note: The author of Our Universe is a lay reader in the Church of England and a retired professor of physics. The book is written for a secular audience, but in the last chapter when he addresses the origins of the universe Divine Creation is put forward as one of two or three hypotheses, with the statement that he believes this to be the correct explanation.

Week 21

    1. The Stars: pp. 130-135
    2. The Stars: pp. 135-140
    3. The Stars: pp. 141-145

Week 22

    1. The Stars: pp. 146-50
    2. Genesis 1: House of the Covenant, Genesis 1:1
    3. Genesis 1:2, Genesis 1:3, and Genesis 1:4-5

Week 23

    1. Genesis 1:6-8, Genesis 1: 9-10, Genesis 1:11-12, 
    2. Genesis 1: 14-19, Genesis 1:20-23, Genesis 1:24-25
    3. Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 1:28-31, and Genesis 2:1-3

Week 24
Catch-up/exams.

Weeks 25-36 

INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGY (33 lessons)

Men Microscopes and Living Things
Sabbath Mood Biology Guide 

Follow the Sabbath Mood Guide schedule and activities.

Consider starting an insect collection as a focus for your nature study this term: How to Collect Insects

LEVEL 3, YEAR 2

Weeks 1-11 (33 lessons)

Objects in Motion
Liquids and Gases
TOPScience #16 Pressure
*Denotes experiments we have found to require extra parental help.

Week 1

    1. Liquids and Gases – Introduction
    2. Liquids and Gases – Archimedes’ Principle (old edition pp. 10-12; stop at “That’s Archimedes’ Principle”). Complete the activity in the book by weighing displaced water.
    3. Liquids and Gases – Archimedes’ Principle – finish the chapter (old edition pp. 12-16)

Week 2

    1. Objects in Motion – Planetary Motion (first half; old edition pp. 10-14). Complete the activity in the book by drawing ellipses.
    2. Objects in Motion – Planetary Motion (second half; old edition pp. 14-17)
    3. Activity: The Unbelievable Pendulum Catch from Steve Spangler Science 

Week 3

    1. Objects in Motion – Pendulums and Falling Objects (up to “Law of Uniform Acceleration”; old edition pp. 18-22)
    2. Objects in Motion – Pendulums and Falling Objects. Complete the pendulum activity in the book.
    3. Objects in Motion – Pendulums and Falling Objects (remainder of the chapter; old edition pp. 22-28)

Week 4

    1. Objects in Motion – Newton’s Three Laws (first half; old edition pp. 29-34)
    2. Objects in Motion – Newton’s Three Laws (second half; old edition pp. 34-39)
    3. Objects in Motion – Newton’s Three Laws – Complete the two activities in the chapter (card over glass and balloon rocket)

Week 5

    1. Objects in Motion: The Law of Universal Gravitation (first half; old edition pp. 40-44)
    2. Objects in Motion: The Law of Universal Gravitation (second half; old edition pp. 46-49)
    3. Activity: Gravity Water Drop at Metro Family

Week 6

    1. Objects in Motion: Conservation of Momentum (first half; old edition pp. 50-55)
    2. Objects in Motion: Conservation of Momentum (second half; old edition pp. 56-61). Optional: Inverse Square Laws pp. 62-65
    3. Catch-up

Week 7

    1. Liquids and Gases: Pascal’s Law: Liquids (first half; old edition pp. 17-22)
    2. Liquids and Gases: Pascal’s Law: Liquids (old edition pp. 22-26)
    3. Amazing Honey Coiling High Speed Video!; Why Laminar Flow is AWESOME and Unmixing Color Machine (Ultra Laminar Reversible Flow) 

Week 8

    1. TOPS Pressure: Pascal’s Principle (card 3)
    2. TOPS Pressure: Press Your Advantage (card 4) and (optional) TOPS Pressure: Snap and Pop (card 5)
    3. Liquids and Gases: Boyle’s and Charles’ Law (first third, stop before the Cartesian diver; old edition pp. 27-30)

Week 9

    1. TOPS Pressure: Towers of Water (card 7)
    2. TOPS Pressure: Rise and Fall (1) (card 8) and TOPS Pressure: Bubbles Up (card 9) Note: These two will be easier to complete on the same day if a parent prepares the cup for Rise and Fall (1) ahead of time. (Optional) TOPS Pressure: Breathing Machine (card 9) Breathing Machine will be appealing to students interested in the human body.
    3. Liquids and Gases: Boyle’s and Charles’ Law (second third, stop when Guy-Lussac is mentioned; old edition pp. 30-35)

Week 10

    1. TOPS Pressure: A Closed System (card 11) and TOPS Pressure: Submarine (card 12) A parent may be needed to put the holes in the canning lids for cards 11 and 12. If so, doing these on the same day should not be too difficult.
    2. TOPS Pressure: Rise and Fall (2) (card 16)*
    3. Liquids and Gases: Boyle’s and Charles’ Law (finish the chapter; old edition pp. 35-39)

Week 11

    1. TOPS Pressure: Rise and Fall (3) (card 17)* and TOPS Pressure: Airfoil (card 21)
    2. Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics – Bernoulli’s Principle (old edition; pp. 40-43)
    3. TOPS Pressure: Bernoulli’s Principle (card 19)

Week 12
Catch up / exams.

Weeks 13-28 (45 lessons)

The Mystery of the Periodic Table
TOPScience Analysis
TOPScience Oxidation 

*Denotes experiments we have found to require extra parental help.

Recommended Supplemental Reading: The Elements by Theodore Gray (A motivated student may want to make a science journal entry on 1-2 elements per week.) Also Molecules and Reactions by the same author.

Week 13

    1. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.1: The Puzzle
    2. TOPS Analysis: Read a Flow Chart (card 1) and TOPs Analysis: Sand from Salt (1) (card 2) Begin heating your mixture immediately after pouring off the liquid.
    3. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.2: The First Chemists

Week 14

    1. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.3: Earth, Air, Fire, Water
    2. TOPS Analysis: TOPS Analysis: Sand from Salt (2) (card 3)
    3. TOPS Analysis: Write a Flow Chart (card 4)

Week 15

    1. TOPS Analysis: Reaction Table (1) (card 5)
    2. TOPS Analysis: Reaction Table (2) (card 6)
    3. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.4: TheAlchemists

Week 16

    1. TOPS Analysis: Powder Puzzles (1) (card 7) A parent will need to mix the mystery powders ahead of time for this and the following card.
    2. TOPS Analysis: Powder Puzzles (2) (card 8)
    3. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.5: “This Spirit, Hitherto Unknown”

Week 17

    1. TOPS Analysis: The Litmus Test (card 9) and TOPS Analysis: Dilute or Neutralize? (card 10)
    2. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.6: The Atomists Return
    3. TOPS Analysis: Titration (card 11)

Week 18

    1. TOPS Analysis: Cabbage Water Indicator (card 12) Making the cabbage water ahead of time would save time.
    2. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.7: The Strange Tale of Phlogiston, the Element That Wasn’t
    3. TOPS Analysis: Color Recipes (card 13)

Week 19

    1. TOPS Analysis: What’s the pH? (card 14)
    2. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.8: Mr.Priestley Clears Things Up (Sort of)
    3. TOPS Analysis: Beet Juice Indicator (card 15)

Week 20

    1. TOPS Analysis: Buffers Resist Change (card 16)
    2. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.9: Mr.Cavendish and Inflammable Air
    3. TOPS Oxidation: Candle Combustion (card 1) and TOPS Oxidation: Human Respiration (card 2)

Week 21

    1. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.10: Chemistry’s French Revolution
    2. TOPS Oxidation: I Feel Faint (card 3) and TOPS Oxidation: Bottom Burner (card 4)
    3. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.11: A Revolution in Names

Week 22

    1. TOPS Oxidation: It’s a Gas (card 5) and TOPS Oxidation: Limewater Reaction (card 6)*
      Many find the limewater instructions for the teacher to make unreliable. We recommend using the instructions from Home Science Tools and purchasing calcium hydroxide from them to make it.
    2. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.12: “Nature Never Creates Other Than Balance in Hand”
    3. TOPS Oxidation: Three Little Jars (card 7) and TOPS Oxidation: Chemical Overview (card 8)*

Week 23

    1. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.13: Mr.Dalton and His Atoms
    2. TOPS Oxidation: Glowing Splint (card 9)
    3. TOPS Oxidation: Iron Rusts (card 10)

Week 24
Catch-up/Exams

Week 25

    1. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.14: The Shocking Mr.Davy
    2. TOPS Oxidation: Percent Oxygen? (card 11)* and TOPS Oxidation: Does Iron Burn? (card 12)
    3. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.15: Gay-Lussac and Avogadro to the Rescue

Week 26

    1. TOPS Oxidation: Chemistry Puzzle (card 13)* and TOPS Oxidation: What’s Your Hypothesis? (card 14)
    2. TOPS Oxidation: Reproducible Results (card 15) and TOPS Oxidation: Isopropyl Investigation (card 16)
    3. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.16: Things Fall Into Place: Triads and Octaves

Week 27

Note: The last chapter of this book is more complex, and has been broken down into small units. You may find it helpful to use a science reference work such as the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia alongside The Mystery of the Periodic Table. You may also need to work with your child on this section.

    1. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.17: The Mystery Solved
    2. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.18: The Mystery Continues, Part I (pp.129-133, last para.)
    3. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.18: The Mystery Continues, Part I (pp.133 last para-137 4th para)

Week 28

    1. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.18: The Mystery Continues, Part I (pp.137 5th para -141 last para)
    2. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.18: The Mystery Continues, Part I (pp.141 last para – 145)
    3. The Mystery of the Periodic Table – Ch.18: The Mystery Continues, Part II (pp.145-151)

Weeks 29-35 (21 lessons)

Matter and Energy
The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements [documentary]
NOVA: Hunting the Elements [documentary] 

Week 29

    1. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – Law of Conservation of Matter pp. 10-12 to  “ to collect it in a laboratory.”
    2. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – Law of Conservation of Matter pp. 12-14 from “Lavoisier realized..” to end of chapter
    3. Watch: The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements Episode 1 “Out of Thin Air” (to 30:20 )

Week 30

    1. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – How the Elements Combine pp. 15-17 to “proportions by weight.”
    2. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – How the Elements Combine pp.17-20 from “Although it was Proust..” to “composed of atoms” (middle of page.)
    3. Watch: The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements Episode 1 “Out of Thin Air” (finish )

Week 31

    1. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – How the Elements Combine pp.20-22 from “You can see..” to end of chapter
    2. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – Mendeleev’s Periodic Law pp. 23-25 to “valence of each is also shown.”
    3. Watch: The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements Episode 2 “Unruly Elements” (to 25:50 )

Week 32

    1. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – Mendeleyev’s Periodic Law pp. 25-30 “But valence is only..” to “should be there.”
    2. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – Mendeleyev’s Periodic Law pp. 30-33 “Mendeleyev was familiar” to end of chapter
    3. Watch: The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements Episode 2 “Unruly Elements” (finish)

Week 33

    1. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – The First Law of Thermodynamics – Conservation of Energy pp. 34-37 to “form of energy.”
    2. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – The First Law of Thermodynamics – Conservation of Energy pp. 37-41 From “In the early 1800s,” to end of chapter
    3. Watch: The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements Episode 3 “Into the Atom” (to 26:50)

Week 34

    1. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – The Second Law of Thermodynamics – Entropy pp. 42-44 to “into unrecoverable heat.”
    2. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – The Second Law of Thermodynamics – Entropy pp. 44-47 from “Heat is the least useful..” to “forever is impossible.”
    3. Watch: The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements Episode 3 “Into the Atom” (finish)

Week 35

    1. Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics – The Second Law of Thermodynamics – Entropy pp. 47-49 from “The law of entropy..” to end of chapter, timeline.
    2. Watch: NOVA-Hunting the Elements (stop at 58:00)
    3. Watch: NOVA-Hunting the Elements (finish)

Week 36

Catch-up/ Exams.

Level 4

Weeks 1-35 (1 lesson weekly, 33 lessons)

The Weather Book
Thames/Kosmos Climate & Weather Science Kit

Weeks 1-15 (2 lessons weekly, 28 lessons)

Waves: Principles of Light, Electricity and Magnetism
TOPScience Electricity
DK Eyewitness Book: Electricity

Week 1

    1. Weather: Ch. 1 “The Human Side of the Weather” pp. 3-7 (2nd column, stop at “It’s that simple.)
    2. Waves: Optics: the Laws of Light (first half; old edition pp. 10-15)
    3. Waves:  Optics: the Laws of Light (second half; old edition pp. 16-24)

Week 2

    1. Weather: Ch. 1 “The Human Side of the Weather” pp. 7-12
    2. Waves: Law of Electromagnetism (first half; old edition pp. 25-28)
    3. Waves: Law of Electromagnetism (second half; old edition pp. 28-34)

Week 3

    1. Weather: Begin weather station and log:
      • Optional – Mini weather station from Home Science Tools
      • Climate & Weather Kit Exercises 8 and 9 (Construct a rain gauge and rainfall tracking chart)
      • Climate & Weather Kit Exercise 12 (Tracking Temperature-you will need an outdoor thermometer)
      • Set up a weather log for the school year. Draw charts in your nature journal using the examples in the Climate and Weather Kit or use a printable option like this one.
      • Use the chart on page 16 of the Climate & Weather guide book to help track the types of clouds you observe.
    2. Waves: Electric Current – Ohm’s Law and Joule’s Law (whole chapter)
    3. TOPS Electricity: It Works! (card 1)

Week 4

    1. Weather: Continue weather station: Climate & Weather Kit Exercises 15 and 16 (Build a Wind Vane and Anemometer) Add a way to track wind to your journal.
    2. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity pp. 6-11 “A mysterious force” ; “Ideas about electricity”; “The quest for knowledge”
    3. TOPS Electricity: To Light or Not to Light (card 2) and TOPS Electricity: Light Bulb Predictions (card 3)

Week 5

    1. Weather: Ch. 2 “The Anatomy of Air” pp. 13-15
    2. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity pp. 12-17 “Collecting electric charge” ; “Using charges” ; “A flow of charge”
    3. TOPS Electricity: Series Means in a Row (card 4) and TOPS Electricity: Parallel Means Side by Side (card 5)

Week 6

    1. Weather: Ch. 2 “The Anatomy of Air” pp. 16-19
    2. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity pp. 18-23 “Electricity from chemicals” ; “Circuits and conductors” ; “Resisting electricity”
    3. TOPS Electricity: Conductor or Insulator? (card 6)

Week 7

    1. Weather: Ch. 3 “Air Has Weight” pp. 20-24
      • Climate & Weather Kit Exercise 5 (Are You Stronger than Air)
    2. TOPS Electricity: Electric Puzzles (card 7) Note: A parent or sibling should make some puzzles before the lesson for the student to solve.
    3. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity pp. 24-29 “Measuring and quantifying” ; “Magnetism from electricity” ; “Electromagnets”

Week 8

    1. Weather: Ch. 3 “Air Has Weight” pp. 25-27
    2. TOPS Electricity: Build a Circuit (card 8)
    3. TOPS Electricity: Electric By-Pass (card 9) and TOPS Electricity: Circuit Symbols (card 10)

Week 9

    1. Weather: Continue weather station – Climate & Weather Kit Exercise 11 (Build a Barometer) Add a tracker for barometric pressure to your weather log.
    2. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity pp. 30-35 “Electromagnets at work” ; “Discoveries using electricity” ; “Electricity from magnetism”
    3. TOPS Electricity: Electro-Squares (card 11) AND TOPS Electricity: Map It – Draw It – Build It (card 12)

Week 10

    1. Weather:  Ch. 4 “Isobars” pp. 28-29
    2. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity  pp. 36-41 “Magno-electric machines” ; “Making things move” ; “Manipulating Electricity”
    3. TOPS Electricity: Series or Parallel? (card 13) AND TOPS Electricity: Resistance in a Wire (card 14)

Week 11

    1. Weather: Optional – Climate and Weather Kit Experiments 1-4 (Your Own Globe, Day and Night, The Seasons, and How the Sun’s Rays Strike Earth)
    2. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity pp. 42-47 “Early electricity supplies” ; “The power station” ; “Electricity in the home” ; “Electrical appliances”
    3. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity pp. 50-55 “Electricity and medicine” ; “Heat, pressure, and light” ; “Investigating cathode rays”

Week 12

Catch-up/Exams

Week 13

    1. Weather: Ch. 5 “Weather is a Circular Affair” pp. 30-32
      • Climate & Weather Kit Exercise 17 (Fall wind)
    2.  TOPS Electricity: A Flashy Experiment (card 15) (wear disposable gloves for this one) and TOPS Electricity: Surprise Circuits (card 16)
    3. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity pp. 56-59 “Communicating with electricity” and “Talking with electricity”

Week 14

    1. Weather: Climate & Weather Kit Exercises 18 & 19 (The Global Wind System & Winds and Vortices)
    2. TOPS Electricity: Build a Fuse (card 17)
    3. DK Eyewitness Books: Electricity pp. 60-63  “Communicating without wires” and “Television and the future”

Week 15

    1. Weather: Ch. 6 “Fronts and Masses”
    2. TOPS Electricity: Big Bang! (card 18) and TOPS Electricity: 2 Way Switches (card 19)
    3. TOPS Electricity: Bulbs and a Penny (card 20)

Weeks 16-24 (2 lessons weekly, 17 lessons)

Relativity and Quantum Mechanics
The Time and Space of Uncle Albert
Recommended Free Read: Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity (Cwiklik)

Week 16

    1. Weather: Drawing Conclusions – Surface Temperature Map
    2. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert Chapter 1: The Light Beam that Got Away
    3. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Chapter 1: Relativity (1/4; old edition pp. 10-12)

Week 17

    1. Weather: Ch. 7 “The Warm Front” & Ch. 8 “The Cold Front”
    2. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Chapter 1: Relativity (1/4; old edition pp. 12-14)
    3. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert Chapter 2: The Watch that Went Slow – But Kept Good Time

Week 18

    1. Weather: Drawing Conclusions – Dew Point Temperature Map
    2. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Chapter 1: Relativity (1/4; old edition pp. 14-17)
    3. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Chapter 1: Relativity (finish the chapter; old edition pp. 17-20)

Week 19

    1. Weather: Ch. 9 “The Line Squall” & Ch. 10 “The Weather Map”
    2. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert Chapter 3: The Spacecraft that Got Flattened
    3. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Chapter 2: Quantum Mechanics (first third; old edition pp. 21-26)

Week 20

    1. Weather: Drawing Conclusions – Surface Air Pressure Map
    2. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Chapter 2: Quantum Mechanics (second third; old edition pp. 26-29)
    3. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Chapter 2: Quantum Mechanics (last third; old edition pp. 29-34)

Week 21

    1. Weather: Ch. 11 “About Winds” pp. 49-53; Optional: The Nature Journal Connection episode 18, “Measure the Wind” (a video series from John Muir Laws)
    2. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert Chapter 4: Sun, Stones, and Heavy Energy
    3. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert Chapter 5: How to Win a Dead Heat

Week 22

    1. Weather: Ch. 11 “About Winds” pp. 54-57
    2. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Chapter 3: Conservation of Mass/Energy
    3. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert Chapter 6: The Biggest Surprise of All

Week 23

    1. Weather: Climate & Weather Kit Experiment 10 (Heat reservoirs) 
    2. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert Chapter 7: A Test for Turnip (Complete the test.)
    3. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Chapter 4: The Uncertainty Principle

Week 24

    1. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert Chapter 8: P.S. A Bit of Real Science
      Catch-up/exams.

Weeks 25-35 (2 lessons weekly, 22 lessons)

Great Catholic Scientists

The Paper Airplane Book

Smarter Every Day (videos on YouTube channel)

TOPScience Magnetism

Recommended Free Read: The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation (Landmark Books) (Reynolds); Cleared for Takeoff: The Ultimate Book of Flight (White)

Week 25

    1. Weather: Climate & Weather Kit Experiments 13-14 (Warm Air and Cold Air & Warm Air Rises)
    2. Great Catholic Scientists Chapter 1 (4 min intro) and Chapter 2: What Makes a Scientist Catholic? (Hildegard of Bingen, Georges Lemaître)
    3. Great Catholic Scientists Chapter 3: Overthrowing Aristotle (Hildegard of Bingen, Albert the Great, José de Acosta, Athanasius Kircher)

Week 26

    1. Weather: Ch. 12 “The World of Clouds” pp. 59-61 
    2. GOING SUPERSONIC with U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds! Pulling 7 G’s in an F-16
    3. The Paper Airplane Book pp. 6-21. Try all the activities suggested and make at least one paper airplane.

Week 27

    1. Weather: Climate & Weather Kit Experiment 6 (Create Your Own Clouds) 
    2. Great Catholic Scientists Chapter 4: Into the Depths of the Atom (Henri Becquerel, George de Hevesy, Roger Boscovich, Amedeo Avogadro)
    3. Great Catholic Scientists Chapter 5: What Is Life? (René Haüy, Louis Pasteur, Gregor Mendel, Marthe Gautier and Jérôme Lejeune)

Week 28

    1. Weather: Ch. 12 “The World of Clouds” pp. 62-65 
    2. Smarter Every Day DEEP DIVE #1 – Helicopters Physics!
    3. The Paper Airplane Book pp. 22-37. Build lots of airplanes and report on what you learn.

Week 29

    1. Weather: Ch. 12 “The World of Clouds” pp. 66-71 
    2. Smarter Every Day-Deep Dive #2 | Bird Flight and BAT Flight vs BIRDS
      OR HOW ROCKETS ARE MADE (Rocket Factory Tour – United Launch Alliance) 
    3. The Paper Airplane Book pp. 38-48. Continue experimenting with paper airplanes.

Week 30

    1. Weather: Climate & Weather Kit Experiment 7 (How Do Rain Droplets Form) 
    2. Great Catholic Scientists Chapter 6: Materia Medica (Hildegard of Bingen, Georg Joseph Kamel, Pierre Joseph Pelletier, John Clark Sheehan, René Laennec, Ethelbert Blatter)
    3. Great Catholic Scientists Chapter 7: Merciful Science (Laudato Si, Mary Poonen Lukose, Bernardo Alberto Houssay, Carl Ferdinand Cori and Gerty Theresa Cori)

Week 31

    1. Weather: Ch. 12 “The World of Clouds” pp. 71-77
    2. Great Catholic Scientists Chapter 8: God’s Language (Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy, Pope Sylvester II)
    3. TOPS Magnetism activities:
      • Is it Magnetic? (card 1)
      • Name That Pole (card 2)
      • Pin Magnets (card 3) Note: Prepare steel pins ahead of time. Provide a hole puncher. Students may benefit from assistance.
      • Invisible Gears (card 4) and/or Up in the Air (card 5)

Week 32

    1. Weather: Ch. 13 “Winds That Do No Good” pp. 79-84
      • Do activities described on p. 83
    2. Great Catholic Scientists Chapter 9: Explorers of a New Space (the Sisters of the Holy Child Mary: Sisters Emilia Ponzoni, Regina Colombo, Concetta Finardi and Luigia Panceri, Mary Kenneth Keller, Mary Celine Fasenmyer, Francesco Faà di Bruno, Roberto Busa)
    3. TOPS Magnetism activities:
      • Strength of a Magnet (card 6)
      • Magnetic Models (card 7) Note: Prepare pennies ahead of time.
      • Hairline Compass (card 8) Note: Be certain to use a hair. Thread will be too heavy.
      • Letter Puzzles (card 9) and/or Which Way? (card 10) Note: Card 10 requires labeling your room with letters in the corners.

Week 33

    1. Weather: Ch. 14 “Atmospheric Antics” pp. 85-87 (first column)
    2. Great Catholic Scientists Chapter 10: Taking the Temperature of the World (Jean Leurechon, Nicolas Steno, André-Marie Ampère, Alessandro Volta)
    3. TOPS Magnetism activities:
      • Map a Magnetic Field (card 11)
      • Opposite Fields Attract (card 12) and/or Like Fields Repel (card 13) 
      • Hat-Pins Compass (card 15)
      • Optional activity: Build an Electromagnet (card 14)  Note: Card 14 would probably require a devoted day and parent assistance. If you choose to complete it, you could also try cards 16, 17, and 18.

Week 34

    1. Weather: Ch. 14 “Atmospheric Antics” pp. 87 (second column)-90
    2. Catholic Scientist Chapter 11: Not Where but What (Angelo Secchi, James Macelwane, Eduard Heis, Agnes Mary Clerke)
    3. TOPS Magnetism – Catch-up on any of the previous Magnetism cards or choose from the remaining activities:
      • Pin Motors (card 16)
      • Dots and Dashes (card 17) and (optional) Does It Buzz It? (card 18)
      • Rice Roundup (card 20)
      • Optional activity: On-Off Motor (card 19) Note: Card 19 would probably require a devoted day and parent assistance.

Week 35

    1. Weather: Optional – Climate & Weather Experiments 20-21 (Ocean Currents & Salt as an Engine)
    2. Catholic Scientist Chapter 12: Our Place in the Universe (Maximilian Hell, Johann Georg Hagen, Georges Lemaître)
    3. Catholic Scientist Chapter 13: There is always more to know (Marie Lavoisier, Blaise Pascal, René Descartes)

Week 36

Optional: Climate & Weather Experiment 22 (The Climate Weather Station)

Catch-up/Exams

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