by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | May 9, 2019 | Education Materials
The heart is an extremely complicated organ. No matter how many times I have studied it, including in college, and while teaching my son, I have had difficulty remembering the details. Sara Bean's Heart Unit Study simplifies many of the difficult-to-grasp concepts. This complete curriculum set is for all ages, kindergarten through 12th. (Post contains affiliate links).
Three examples of science based unit studies: Sara Bean's Heart Unit Study, Penguin Unit Study and Plant Unit Study.
Adding color and fun to the process of learning always makes learning more fun. with Sara Bean's Heart Unit Study, your children can learn about the heart while having fun.
Sara Bean, from “Love at Home Education” designed this curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Regardless of Your Child's Age, Kindergarten through 12th grade, they will benefit from the Heart Unit Study.
Also, like I said before, remembering the facts of the heart is not as easy as it sounds. So, even if your child has already studied the heart, this cute little study will be perfect for a review.
Also, since the unit study pack provides activities for all school-age levels, if you have several kids at different ages. They can all work on the unit together. This would be an awesome opportunity to practice collaborative learning.
What's Included in the K-12 Heart Unit Study
- Heart Sight Words for younger kids with directions on how to use them
- Two Heart Words to Learn for Kindergarten through second grade, complete with definitions. Cards can be printed and have a pretty red border.
- A total of four words for 3-4 grade (the two previous plus two added).
- Two additional for 5-6, another two for 7-8, and two more for 9-12. This may not sound like a lot of words, but the heart is a complex organ and the definitions of these words are hard to remember.
- Super interesting heart trivia facts, for example, how many times does a heart beat, how much blood does it pump, and more.
- Parts of a heart diagrams – for K-6, for coloring and labeling, with beautiful color pictures and cut and paste labels.
- For 7-12, more advanced labeling, learning and memorizing
- A black and white diagram for coloring and labeling
- Questions on “How Does it Work?”
- Memorization exercises for all grade levels
- Research assignments for 7-12 grades
- Copy writing practice for Kindergarten through 1st
- Three Writing prompts for K-1; Three writing prompts for 3-6, with more advanced requirements. For example, sentences to paragraphs. Specific questions are provided.
- More advanced writing prompts for 7-12 grade
K-6 Parts of Heart – Coloring and Labeling Activity – Sara Bean's Heart Unit Study
And the price for Sarah Bean's Heart Unit Study is right. If you want a digital-only copy, it's just $6.00. She even offers the option to purchase a digital and printed copy as a set, for only $10 plus shipping (which is very reasonably priced).
One thing I want to mention, since I have a son with learning challenges.
Just because a curriculum is set up for specific grade levels doesn't mean you have to stick strictly to each grade level.
For example, if your child is in third grade but is still struggling to form letters with a pencil. In this situation, I would strongly suggest to use the copy work exercises in the heart study, even if he or she is older than the stated age.
Writing stuff down helps everyone learn better.
And don't forget something important. Typing can be a form of copy work as well. If you have a child like mine, who is now 14, and has too many writing assignments to do, for example. It would not be time-efficient to make them write everything down. Instead, have him or her type some of the work. It's okay to allow your child to type instead of handwrite everything.
Never Forget: The Goal is Learning
So, if your child is in 1st grade, is brilliant, and can handle the 7-12 grade activities, then give it to them! Whatever is developmentally appropriate is, well, appropriate. 🙂
I have discovered that kids never really outgrow the “hands-on” stage despite that most traditional schools stop hands-on work for most subjects. So, no matter how old your kids are, they're not to old for some hands-on work! All of Sarah's unit studies, including the heart study, will give your children plenty of opportunities to do hands-on activities.
To check out this awesome heart unit study, and to grab a copy for yourself, click here.
About Homeschooling Dietitian Mom
For other k-12 curriculum reviews, click here.
For Sara's MLK Jr. K-12 History Curriculum, click here.
For a book review on a cute book about what snow teaches us about God, click here.
by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | May 3, 2019 | Creation Education Resources
When did dinosaurs live? Is there evidence that dinosaurs existed with man? (post contains affiliate links).
Most people aren’t aware of the fact that it wasn’t until 1841 when Sir Richard Owen first termed the word “dinosaur,” (great or terrible lizard).
This means that the term “dinosaur” did not exist in the human vocabulary until 1841—thousands of years AFTER the bible was written.
Not only that, but when dinosaur fossils were discovered in the 1800s, there were very few specimens.
Thus, scientists would reconstruct the skeletons based on the specimens they did have and extrapolate the rest. The attempt of scientists of this time period to reconstruct the fossils into how they imagined they would look is comical in light of what we know today about how they looked.
However, an intriguing thing is that ancient cave paintings, murals, tapestries, rugs, statues, carvings in stone throughout the world dated hundreds, and even thousands, of years ago depict accurately what we only know today about dinosaurs. So, how did these people know how to draw these amazing animals so accurately?
Is it possible that men saw dinosaurs with their own eyes?
I mean isn’t that what artists do? Draw and paint what they see?
It makes perfect sense that they would know what the dinosaurs looked like IF THEY SAW THEM WITH THEIR OWN EYES! And there is A LOT of evidence that this was the case. For example, legends and “myths” from all over the world include stories of sightings of animals that very closely match what we know about dinosaurs.
Haven’t you ever wondered why, out of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac, all are REAL LIVING ANIMALS, except the last one, the dragon, which is supposedly fictitious?
We need to be careful when we evaluate evidence. We don’t want to put our pre-conceived ideas into the mix. When we do this, we are often guilty of doing what even “objective” scientists do when they dig up a dinosaur fossil.
Consider the following scenario. A paleontologist discovers a dinosaur fossil in Montana, USA. He or she already “knows” that the dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago. So, the scientist doesn’t bother with the actual dating process. (This is basically what paleontologists do). As a result of this assumption, the scientist uses the date attributed to the fossil to date all of the surrounding finds.
But how do today’s scientists date dinosaur fossils?
Have you ever heard of the term “index fossil?” An Index Fossil is defined as “a fossil that is useful for dating and correlating the strata in which it is found.” In other words, a fossil that has ALREADY BEEN DATED is used to date a like fossil when discovered and dug up.
To save time and money, dinosaur fossils are dated using “index fossils” instead of going through the rigamarole of testing and dating the new fossils when they are discovered.
But, wait a second! Isn’t science supposed to be based on observation?
And what about the index fossils? How are they dated? I did an internet search recently. I couldn’t find anything from a non-creationist background that explained how the index fossils got their original dates. Another term for you to learn is “circular reasoning.”
Circular reasoning is defined as “a logical fallacy in which the reasoner begins with what they are trying to end with.”
Applying index fossils as an example. The index fossils are dated based on an assumed age and then the assumed age of the index fossils is used to date new fossils dug up. Index fossils are dated based on rocks they were found in:
Pre-determined Date of Original Rock –>Index Fossil dated based on Pre-determined Date of Original Rock–>Like Fossils Dated Based on Date of Index Fossil.
So, a group of scientists, at some point in time, determined that a particular rock in a particular strata was 65 millions years old. Then the fossil later used as the “Index” Fossil is based on the supposed age of that rock. Thus, the conclusion is that the Index Fossil is 65 million years old.
And the final conclusion is: since the rock is 65 million years old, the index fossil found in that layer is 65 million years old. Thus, the dinosaur fossil found in this layer of rock – must be 65 million years old.
Wait a second! What did they use to date the Original Rock?
That’s circular reasoning for you. That does not sound scientific to me! 🙁
So, what would happen if an honest scientist decided to date their newly found dinosaur fossil and it showed up to be much younger than they assumed it was?
There are several types of dating methods used, one of these is called radioactive carbon dating. C14 is the isotope used because of its instability.
Carbon dating is limited and is only used on “newer” fossils less than 60,000 years old.
This is because C14 has been determined to have a half-life of around 5,000 years.
One half-life refers to the length of time a substance takes to break down by one-half.
For example, if you start with 10 grams of carbon-14, you will theoretically only have 5 grams left after 5000 years, and then only 2.5 grams after another 5000 years, etc.
What this means is that if a fossil is 65 million years old, there would not be any carbon-14 remaining. Unless the specimen has been contaminated. This is why Carbon-14 isn’t used to date dinosaur fossils.
The assumption is made by most scientists today, that since dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago, C14 dating can’t be used.
Have you ever heard of double-blind or single-blind experiments? These blind experiments are conducted to reduce bias either in the experiment population, in the researchers, or both.
Blind experiments are conducted to prevent bias on either side.
For example, when a group of creation scientists decided to have a dinosaur fossil carbon-dated (C14) by the University of Georgia. They did not tell the lab what kind of fossil it was. Thus, a single-blind experiment was conducted. The University conducted the dating without knowing what kind of fossil they were testing. Thus, they were not biased for or against C14 dating, or the results thereof.
When the University of Georgia conducted the tests, the first thing they did was decontaminate the specimen. They then used radiocarbon (C14) dating to determine the relative age.
Can you guess what the results were?
Based on the amount of C14 found in the dinosaur fossil, the maximum age given by the University was around 25,000 years.
That is quite a bit shorter time period than 65 million years, wouldn’t you say?
Unfortunately, if you were to try to tell an evolutionary scientist about these results, he or she would most likely not accept the test as valid. Instead, he would come up with some sort of alternative explanation for what they would view as “inaccurate” results. ☹
However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
Sometimes we need to chip away at an unbeliever’s belief-system foundation, a little at a time, before it will come crumbling down.
https://answersingenesis.org/wild-brothers/missionary-blog/2015/09/15/keep-chipping-away/
IN PART TWO OF THIS SERIES I DISCUSS A FEW AMAZING EXAMPLES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL ARTIFACTS. EXAMPLES THAT GO BACK TO THE MAYANS IN 200 AD. ARTIFACTS THAT MAKE IT NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DENY THAT HUMANS AND DINOSAURS ONCE LIVED TOGETHER THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
In the meantime, my ALL TIME FAVORITE dinosaur/dragon book is “Dire Dragons, untold secrets of Planet Earth.” Absolutely AMAZING book, and where I have gotten most of my examples that I will be talking about soon.
If you ever buy a dinosaur book, this should be the one. This book is a MUST HAVE. “Dire Dragons” discusses the University of Georgia C14 test as well as providing picture after beautiful picture. It begins with the history of the first dinosaur discovery complete with photographs of the first attempted reconstructions by early dinosaur paleontologists.
Also, be sure to pick up a copy of my Paleontologist Kids Dinosaur and Fossil Unit Study.. It is a thorough study of the issue of the age of the earth from a flood geologist versus evolutionist perspective and is complete with an AWESOME Jeopardy game that I made myself! Click here to see it.
Paleontologist Kids Unit Study and Jeopardy Game
Is the Paleo Diet Biblical?
What Does the Bible Say about Race? Free Workbook
What the Bible NOT Say about Race Article
Dinosaurs and Fossils Activity Pack for Kids
Dinosaurs, Dragons, and the Bible Bundle
References and Further Reading
Dire Dragons Vance Nelson
Job 40-41
https://creation.com/crouching-tiger-hidden-dinosaur
https://creation.com/chinese-new-year-dragon
Dragons of the Deep – Carl Wieland
https://answersingenesis.org/wild-brothers/missionary-blog/2015/09/15/keep-chipping-away/
https://creation.com/dragons-animals-not-apparitions
https://creation.com/the-dragons-of-komodo-island
https://creation.com/vietnamese-emperor-sees-flying-dragon
https://creation.com/are-there-dragons-in-the-british-museum
https://creation.com/mary-anning-fossil-hunter
https://creation.com/dinosaur-questions-and-answers
by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Apr 25, 2019 | Careers for Stay-at-Home Moms, Education Materials, Homeschooling High School
Etsy Master Class for Teens
(Post contains affiliate links).
I realize I am not a teen, though sometimes I feel like one. 🙂 However, when I had the opportunity to try the Etsy Master Class for Teens in exchange for a review, I jumped at the chance.
I have been trying to get going on Etsy for a few months now. And I had tried previously with no success.
This was why I was excited to learn that I could take an Etsy Master Class to help me do better on Etsy.
I must say that this class will most definitely help your teen (and you if you are creative) get started on Etsy.
And if your teen has beautiful handmade products, she (or he) will be successful at selling them.
All of the tools and directions are included in the Etsy Master Class for Teens. Your teen will not only have their store up and running by the end of class, but will have a better handle on the business side of things.
A full 70 plus page workbook is included with the class. This workbook will help your teen sort out new ideas, brainstorm, plan, and glide easily through the process. The workbook complements the videos.
If your teens have never set up a store before, they can use Abby's link and get 40 free listings. That alone is worth 8 bucks. Which reminds me. Of course, the class can be used by more than one person. So, every separate store set up by a unique individual, as long as you use Abby's link, will get 40 free listings.
Some Highlights:
- In the first module – Abby gives you a background of where Etsy came from, how long they've been around, how it works, etc.
- She recommends several excellent books, one of which I read and found enormous value in. The book, “My Story Brand,” helped me to sharpen my focus and to gain further insight into how to reach my readers and better assist them.
- She provides an outline for how to set up your Etsy store as well as 40 free listings, like I mentioned before.
- Abby provides guidance and worksheets (click here for a sample) to help with keyword and tag research (as well as defining what these terms mean).
- There is help on how to determine the best price for your products; how to create profit margins, etc.
- You will receive extensive advice on creating better photos, including where to go to get the best lighting, the best tools to use for great photos, and more.
- Help with creating a logo (which I used and now am very happy with).
- A log sheet for keeping track of time spent and work on class.
- And Much More.
Up to 1 full unit of high school credit can be obtained, depending on your state's laws, and how much time your teen spends on the class. There are forms to fill out to help with recording keeping for this.
Direction on how to use keywords, tags, and how to determine price is included, and will provide valuable insight on how to market your product so that people actually see it on Etsy.
Abby also provides assistance with creating logos. I found this section particularly helpful because I had been struggling with finding the right look. After going through the section on logos, I actually found a logo I like and will probably stick with. That was very satisfying to me!
Another helpful topic was her section on photos, lighting and photography.
As you know, I take a lot of pictures. However, many of the pictures are not up to the best standards. This is because my husband and I lack experience. After gaining wisdom from Abby's experience with photography, my husband, especially, is well on his way to making outstanding pictures.
After going through this awesome class, I decided Etsy is not the right platform for my products because they are all digital.* However, I most certainly did not waste my time. I learned many valuable skills and insights that I am applying to my blog and other areas of my life. My husband also completed parts of the master class and learned as well.
*UPDATE 5/4/2020 – Abby updated her course to help with selling digital products. YAY!
Also, when my son is in high school. I plan to have him work through this class for high school credit. So that's three people taking the class for the price of one. When you consider the fact that an unlimited number of people in your household can take the course, the value seems even greater.
To give you a little tiny taste of the course, here is a brainstorming sheet to get your teen started. AND last but not least, here is a 20% off coupon available through me only.
The code is homeschooldietmom and will only be available for a limited time.
Not ready for Etsy? Want to try to make some extra cash selling on Ebay? Well Abby also has a mini-course that you can take (or your teen can take) to learn how to sell on Ebay. Click here to check out the EBay mini-course now.
For other k-12 curriculum reviews, click here.
Click here for awesome Ready for Reading Phonics curriculum review.
Awesome Father's Day Gift Ideas
The Importance of Good Nutrition: Fruits
