Homeschool Resources: Science: Museum of Science – Exploring Leonardo

The Mommies Reviews

Good morning, I wanted to share new Homeschooling Resources: Museum of Science – Exploring Leonardo for the week. I have a question for you. Are you teaching Social Studies in your Homeschool? If so for what age and grade students?

Charlie is in 2nd grade, and I’m not sure if this is a class I need to be teaching or not? Although we plan on checking out the  Museum of Science – Exploring Leonardo

Even if Charlie doesn’t need this class he will be prepared for 3rd grade and be ahead. If it is something Charlie should be learning he will not be behind. Here are two new Homeschooling Resources from ClickSchooling I will be checking into and I thought you might like to as well.

If you have used either of these Homeschooling Resources for Social Studies what did you think of them? Would you use them in the Future?

If you haven’t used them is it something that you would like to use? Or is there something else you use? If so may I ask what it is and why you use that Homeschool Resource?

Museum of Science Logo
Age Range: 9-14 (Designed with grades 4-8 in mind, with parental supervision. Students of all ages will enjoy aspects of this site.)
Leonardo da Vinci died on May 2, 1519. Born in 1452, he painted the Mona Lisa, invented the diving bell, and designed the airplane, helicopter, and parachute. The Boston Museum of Science offers this free online exhibit with activities to explore the life, times, and scientific inventions of DaVinci.
When you get to the site, you’ll see an introduction and a menu that includes:
  • Inventor’s Workshop – Explore Leonardo’s fascination with machines and how they work including:
    • Wheel and Axles
    • Pulley System
    • Screw
    • Lever
    • Gears

You’ll also learn about Leonardo’s interest in gadgets. Use your imagination to sketch a device and invent the useful machine.                                    Take a quiz to see if you can identify Leonardo’s machines from his sketches.

  • Leonardo’s Perspective – Discover painting in the Middle Ages and learn about techniques of linear perspective.
  • Become Leonardo’s virtual apprentice to play with size and distance and investigate aerial perspective.
  • Leonardo: Right to Left – Find out how to do “mirror writing” and generate hypotheses about da Vinci’s reasons for writing backward.
  • What, Where, When? – Take a virtual tour of Italy in the 15th century and find out what life was like in Rome, Florence, Milan, and Venice.
Museum of Science – Exploring Leonardo is an engaging online presentation that demonstrates how Leonardo da Vinci creatively applied the scientific method in every aspect of life.
 
Age Range: 6-11 (Grades 1-5, with a separate page for ages 3-5, see details below)
Children’s book author, Rohini Chowdhury, retells a collection of timeless tales for kids that you can read online or print out to read offline. There are no bells and whistles at this website just exciting stories that children will enjoy reading or hearing.
When you get to the site, you’ll see a menu that includes:
  • Fables
  • Folktales
  • Fairytales
  • Myths
  • Festival Stories
  • Tales from History
  • Classics
  • Science Fiction & Fantasy
  • Stories Behind Great Discoveries
  • Tales Behind Nursery Rhymes
  • Short Stories

Click on any item, and a new page opens with a brief historical introduction and a short menu of stories in that tradition. Most are retold by Chowdhury unless otherwise indicated. The stories presented in plain text. A few of the stories accompanied by colorful illustrations.

NOTE: Because myths, fairy tales, legends, fantasy and the like can touch on many themes and topics, parents (as always) should preview the material on this site to determine the suitability of content for their children.

Chowdhury also offers a collection of stories for young children (about ages 3-5) called “Pomegranate Pips.” These stories are all accompanied by illustrations.

In addition to the stories available on the site, you’ll find some free, printable, activity pages – a crossword and word search for older children, and a maze for young children.

Age Range: All (All grades; children with parental supervision)- recommended website is part of the more extensive NSF Exploratorium website, The Accidental Scientist – Science of Cooking.
Today’s link provides two brief tours of:
  • Kendon Candies in San Jose, California – Tour a lollipop factory.
  • Fudge House at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, California – See how fudge made.

When arriving at the link, find the “Behind the Scenes” section and select the text link for either the lollipop factory or the fudge house.

When you get to the lollipop factory page, you will see an introduction about Kendon Candies in San Jose, California – the most significant lollipop producer in the United States. Click on the “next” buttons for a brief tour through text and photographs. OR, AND EVEN BETTER – watch the Quicktime or RealPlayer video on the first slide and see the lollipop-making process at the Kendon candy factory.

When you finish learning how to make lollipops visit the “Candy Home Page”  at the bottom of the slide. That will take you back to the “science of candy” page where you can learn how to make candy at home, find out about the chemistry of sugar, and you can take a tour of the Fudge House in San Francisco!

When you have finished with your candy tours, select the “Science of Cooking” image link in the upper left. Lollipop Factory and Fudge House Virtual Field Trips will take you to the main menu of the website. Select the “Eggs” page and look for the “Visit a Farm” section to tour an organic egg farm in Petaluma, California.

These short but sweet virtual tours provide an excellent overview of the locations. When you have finished your trips, be sure to check out all that the “Science of Cooking” website has to offer.

 Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates