Did you that there are science experiment kits to go along with the Magic School Bus books? I spotted them on accident once while browsing Rainbow Resource, looking for something cheap-ish to meet the minimum shipping requirements. At $16, this wasn't as cheap as I had in mind, but Levi loves the books so much, and we were planning to do ten weeks on the human body this winter already, and I couldn't resist!
I give it four stars out of five. The giant human body poster (with stickers!) is a huge hit in our house. (It's too big for a decent picture, but you can see a lot of it in the background from Toby's first birthday pictures.) The kit includes most of the materials you'll need for all of the experiments (minus basic things like tape and scissors, and a few bigger things like an empty two-liter bottle). It lost a star because the materials aren't clearly labeled, and a few times I've grabbed the wrong size tube, for example, and then been frustrated when I couldn't get the experiment to work.
The instructions are mostly clear enough, though there isn't always a lot of explanation as to why we're doing some of the experiments. Not being a big science person myself, I need all of the information spoon-fed to me if at all possible. :) So far we've soaked bones in vinegar to make them rubbery, created a model of a ball and socket joint and then added oil to mimic synovial fluid, attached a muscle to a paper leg to make it bend, made a working lung and diaphragm, and measured the difference in lung capacity between an adult and a child.
That last one required a bucket and water and potential catastrophe, so I wisely put Isaac in charge of it one Saturday morning. The boys had a fantastic time (and I think the grown-up boy did, too!)! Yes, we had a huge mess on the kitchen floor, but water messes don't bother me!
I give it four stars out of five. The giant human body poster (with stickers!) is a huge hit in our house. (It's too big for a decent picture, but you can see a lot of it in the background from Toby's first birthday pictures.) The kit includes most of the materials you'll need for all of the experiments (minus basic things like tape and scissors, and a few bigger things like an empty two-liter bottle). It lost a star because the materials aren't clearly labeled, and a few times I've grabbed the wrong size tube, for example, and then been frustrated when I couldn't get the experiment to work.
The instructions are mostly clear enough, though there isn't always a lot of explanation as to why we're doing some of the experiments. Not being a big science person myself, I need all of the information spoon-fed to me if at all possible. :) So far we've soaked bones in vinegar to make them rubbery, created a model of a ball and socket joint and then added oil to mimic synovial fluid, attached a muscle to a paper leg to make it bend, made a working lung and diaphragm, and measured the difference in lung capacity between an adult and a child.
That last one required a bucket and water and potential catastrophe, so I wisely put Isaac in charge of it one Saturday morning. The boys had a fantastic time (and I think the grown-up boy did, too!)! Yes, we had a huge mess on the kitchen floor, but water messes don't bother me!
Filling up a half-gallon under water.
(Levi is playing a harmonica in this picture.)
Blowing into the half-gallon to displace the water with air.
Marking how much air filled the half-gallon.
Daddy's turn! He was able to empty the entire half-gallon with one big breath!
Meanwhile, the little boys made a water mess of their own by shaking their sippy cups hard enough. :)
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