Not only because it makes our school day flow much easier in that I only have to teach the material once (even though there is 3 yrs. difference in the age of my kidlets) but because my kids learn best when one topic is presented which peaks their interest and lots of info is given or found about that topic.
So, this week we spent time with a unit study called Magnificent Moon”which is the latest installment in the Download N’Go series…
In short, (if you are not familiar with these) ~ it is an e-book series that takes the best of unit studies adds some lap book elements and puts it all in one printable product! You choose which activities are the best fit for your family and you’re off and running.
Videos, copy work, vocabulary, science, and geography is all in there for you. Also included is a suggested book list for additional reading, family fun activities, and lots more!
We’ve done several DNG’s and though each one was different, we have loved them all.
Our latest adventure with Magnificent Moon was really fun. In it we spent the week looking at:
1. What Exactly is a Moon?
2. Getting to know the Moon
3. The Story of the Moon
4. Science Secrets of the Moon
5. Cool Things about the Moon
This unit was heavy with science and that suited our family to a tee ~ since we love science. We investigated the lives of Issac Newton and Galileo. Discussed the importance of gravity, the Earth’s tug on the moon and spent a little time doing an experiment involving gravity.
One of our activities was to observe and record the phases of the moon which we had some difficulty doing because of the cloud cover. But we looked thru the online almanac to see what the moon was supposed to be doing and what phase it was in and placed it on our graph. And there was even fun learning to be had with Oreos.
We took a lot of time talking about and getting to know the moon which included tides and their relationship to the moon ~ something my son was really interested in. We discussed the rocks on the moon and the surface of the moon ~ “terra, maria, and craters”.
Libby decided to make a “Man in the Moon” craft.
The kids enjoyed learning about the Apollo missions and how spacesuits keep astronauts alive and well. The kids loved meeting the astronauts but they were not big fans of "Tang" orange drink. I was surprised that only 12 have walked on the moon within a 3 yr. period and 6 Apollo missions..
I even shared with my kids a report I had written in high school about a hero of mine "Sally Ride” who was the first American woman in space on the shuttle and happens to have also been home-schooled.
We even did a few math activities like calculating our weight and our weight on other planets / moon.
Some of the books we used this week were:
and these too
And one really neat book I want to share is “Choose the Fate of the Apollo 13”. This was my son’s favorite read during our time this week.
One of favorite things about DNG units is the small amount of prep work that goes into it for me. Basically I read over the unit and print what we need and that’s it. (30 minutes to an hour at most)…Then if I need to, I can reserve our books from the library ~ this week was a busy one for us and I wasn't going to have the extra 1 1/2 hrs. it takes to drive round- trip to the library we use, so we used books we had at home.
Finally the best thing about a DNG is that there are activites for my daughter (2nd grade) and also at my son’s level (5th grade)… And since I learn something new (actually a lot) every time we do a unit ~ it makes our learning together that much more fun!
Here’s some upcoming specials from DNG that you will not want to miss!!!
You can purchase Magnificent Moon for $7.95 here!
Jan. 26th ~ Australia Day, $3.95 off Expedition Australia
Jan. 28th ~ Cool Moon Map giveaway
Jan. 16 - 31 and the Cabin Fever Fun Pack which includes Magnificent Moon, Winter Wonders, Expedition Canada, and Popcorn on sale for $20 (regularly $28).
And if you would like to see what others are saying about Download N’ Go units just click on the linky tool ~
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I was given this unit to use for my personal use in exchange for my honest opinion in review.
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