For the month of March, we are welcoming Spring by ‘diving’ (see what I did there?) into an ocean/marine biology-themed unit study! This is a community loop unit study that I’ve organized on Instagram and you can follow along under the hashtag #oceanschooling. If you study ocean life this month (or in the future), use the hashtag #oceanschooling in your posts to contribute to our growing array of inspiration! It is my goal to create diverse portfolios on many different subjects so that people around the world with homeschoolers of any age can see what activities and resources are used to teach a particular subject!
I don’t even know where to begin with our resources for this study in all honesty. Living in Florida, we have a TON of books, nature collections and more to study the ocean and ocean life! But, below you’ll find a small selection of the curriculum, flashcards, books and more!
4. DK/Smithsonian Sticker & Activity books
6. Safari Ltd Toobies
+ (Read aloud) 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea-Junior Classics Edition by Verne, Jules
I cannot say enough positive things about The Good And The Beautiful science curriculum! Each lesson is broken down into vocabulary words, read aloud sections, facts, experiments and activities, and more. To be quite honest, I learn A TON each and everyday because there is so much information jam-packed into every page! We typically spend 1-2 days on each lesson, but you could easily spend a week (especially with older children). As it is K-6, it is easily adaptable to all elementary ages and can be revisited as your children grow and age with new and more complex information added in. These science units are an investment that will be used again and again in our home!
Below you will see a series of flat lays that encompasses what we accomplished within each lesson.
Lesson 1: Ocean Characteristics
Lesson 2: Tide Pools
Lesson 3: Marine Life
Lesson 4: Coral Reefs
Lessons 5-6: Marine Invertebrates
Lesson 7: Marine Reptiles
Lesson 8: Fish
Lesson 9: Sharks
I am super big on field trips, and living in Florida, this unit wouldn’t be complete without some outdoor exploration. We visited TECO’s Manatee Viewing Center, Tarpon Springs sponge docks, and the beach for some hands-on learning!
We even brought home some treasures of our own to study and add to our nature collection!
Learning by unit study and immersing ourselves in what we’re learning via field trips gives us such a well-rounded education and life experience.