We just wrapped up our first science unit study of the year focusing on Space. Using a variety of books, food, and activities we learned so much together!
In this post, I’ll share with you how I plan a unit study like this and all the things we did for the study. This post will be more of an outline of our study. For a detailed description and a variety of pictures, head to my YouTube channel where I discuss it all in detail.
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Planning
This unit consisted of a daily science devotion, a variety of books from the library, food, shows, and different crafts or activities. I am looping our science and history subjects this year so my goal was to finish the unit in two weeks.
The way our days play out is important when it comes to planning a unit study. I plan our school days to have space in the afternoon (around 3-5pm). Check out my video about our daily routine to learn more about why I do this, but that space is so important to us.
It allows me to catch up on anything I need whether it’s school related or house related. We can run errands if we need to OR…we can throw in a fun, enriching activity for our unit studies! This space allows me to be flexible with our afternoons.
Once I choose what we are studying, I start to make a “wishlist” of activities that I think we could do at home. This is not a checklist by any means. I simply browse Pinterest and different blog posts related to the subject and collect ideas. I know the things I like to do so I only choose those types of activities.
For example, I’m not a fan of an activity that requires an odd supply. If it’s not something I can get at the grocery store or I don’t have it around my house, I look for other activities. If you aren’t a fan of paint, don’t pick paint! That’s the best part about these units. Make them work for you!
Now, keep in mind this is a wishlist. We are not trying to get all of these done by a certain time. Instead I have a goal of having a list of things I can choose from when time allows. This is so important when trying to keep this simple. If we do them all, great. If not, no big deal! Our reading and discussions will be enough.
All extra activities are considered enrichment. By reminding myself of this “motto”, I am able to approach the whole unit study with less pressure, less stress, and more excitement to learn!
Daily Devotion
This year we are using “How Great is Our God” by Louie Giglio. This is our second devotional book by this author and we love them! The devotions are short, engaging, and interesting. This book in particular has a page that gives the reader four different categories: Space, Earth, Animals, and People.
For our space unit, we will read all of the devotions listed in the space category. I try to read one devotion each school day during our morning time. To learn more about our morning time, click here.
Library Books
Before our unit begins, I make a trip to the library to gather more books for our study. I’m really bad about putting books on hold. I can never remember to do it on time, so I usually just show up and head to the nonfiction section.
I look for books that would be great for my kids’ age group and start filling my bag! I take as many as I can fit. They might not all get read, but they’ll be there if I need it.
There are times where I am able to browse the children’s section as well. If something pops out to me, I’ll grab those, but the non-fiction section is usually a great source for books!
I have some shelves in our school room at home that I use to display these books. For some reason, when they are on display, my children become much more interested! They are easy to access and inviting to read.
Books We Loved
Even though I don’t plan out my book choices at the library, we still came across some great books by chance! The following books were some of our favorites that we checked out at the library. If you see them at your local library, be sure to grab them!
- “If You Were the Moon” by Laura Purdie Salas
- “The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happened to Pluto” by Elizabeth Rusch
- “The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System” by Joanna Cole
- “There’s No Place Like Space…” (Cat in the Hat Series) by Tish Rabe
Shows/Movies
Sometimes when I’m preparing lunch, I’ll let the kids watch an educational show or a YouTube video that relates to what we are learning. We didn’t do this every day, but we did see a couple of things that we enjoyed.
- Magic School Bus: Lost In Space
- YouTube: ISS-International Space Station-Inside ISS
- YouTube: Blippi Builds A Rocketship! Learn About the Solar System (This was mostly for my youngest two!)
We also have a family movie night each week. We watched “Rocketman“, made in 1997, which is super silly and fun. Another one we watched was “Galaxy Quest“. I will warn you that it has quite a bit of bad language and was scary for a couple of my kids. It’s probably better for your older elementary.
Enrichment
As you read in my “planning” section, I come up with a wishlist of things I want to do with the kids for our unit studies. I try to keep it low key and less stress, and the following is what we were able to accomplish. For more details on the activities or how I fit these into our day, check out my channel where I explain it all.
Solar System Cupcakes
We were able to learn all about the characteristics of different planets with one library book and a box of cupcakes! As I read about the planets, the girls colored a free print out that had the sun and the planets. We learned so much!
We cut them out, taped them to a toothpick and let them become our cupcake decoration. Before we ate them, we even lined them up in the correct order! This was fun, simple, and delicious!
Moon Phase and Oreos
You’ve probably seen this activity before, but I can’t pass up a good snack lesson. I had a couple books about the moon from the library that we referred to. One had an excellent diagram of the different phases of the moon.
We used that diagram to create the different shapes of the moon using the Oreo cream.
Foil Painting of the Moon
I know some people aren’t a huge fan of paint, but don’t let this one scare you away. It’s very simple and really only requires one or two colors. We mixed different shades of grey and used a crumbled up piece of foil to paint our moons. Each one turned out unique! My three year old was even able to participate and I love an activity that works for a variety of ages.
Field Trip
We aren’t too far from the Houston Space Center, so I couldn’t pass up on visiting after our unit. Our studies made the trip so meaningful. We even got to see an astronaut in training. What a cool experience!
Some other great ideas for a field trip could be an observatory, a planetarium at your local museum, or you can even check out the Imax showings at your local theatre.
Notebooking/Narration
At the end of each unit study, I am trying to have the girls complete a notebook page for their portfolio. This is the first year we’ve done this, and so far I’m really happy with the results.
I’ve been letting the girls watercolor (use watercolor paper – it’s amazing!) but you could definitely just color any picture with crayons or colored pencils. Then, each girl tells me about what they’ve learned and I’ll write it on the back. My oldest will write her own.
This has been such a great way to close out our units and I can’t wait to look back on them all at the end of our year.
Future Unit Studies
Is this information helpful? Let me know in the comments or connect with me on my YouTube channel to let me know. I really hope to do this in order to give families ideas on how to throw together a unit study that’s fun and simple and low-stress.
As I mention before, we plan to loop our science and history, but I’m thinking a “Weather” unit is in our near future for science this year!
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