This year for one of our Co-op's I am teaching “The Human Body” again. I had put together a set of lessons for my daughter and her friends a couple of years ago. It was something I wanted to cover, but I was dissatisfied with the “age appropriate” materials out there. This was a very smart group of so-called 3rd Graders, and the 3rd grade level stuff just seemed really dumb and kinda boring. Also, I don’t believe in running away from big scientific words. I figure you aught to give it to them straight and when they encounter the material again it'll at least be somewhat familiar.
I took a 5-8 Grade curriculum as my guide and put together a slightly simplified version for them (though retaining much of the language and content) and added fun experiments and activities I had gleaned for the internet. We also ended almost every class with a Bill Nye video. (Gotta love Bill Nye! Here's a quick out-take.)
That first time I did it in my house. This time it is in a borrowed classroom, but my son and 7 other kids are having fun with it. It’s a lot less work for me too, because I’m not creating everything as I go this time.
So far, we have covered “Cells”, “The Muscular System”, “The Skeletal System”, and the “Cardiovascular System”. Next week we will cover the “Respiratory System”. For our second round of lessons (this will go for 10 weeks total) I think it’ll be the “Central Nervous System”, “Peripheral Nervous System”, having fun with the “Senses”, the “Digestive System”, and the “Excretory System”. That last one always gets a lot of laughs.
Here are some resources that have been great for this age group:
websites
games and other hands-on materials
books
See inside Your Body lift the flap book
The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body (this is also a video)
The Human Body: A Visual Guide to Human Anatomy (this is a huge book - as in tall and wide - with awesome pictures in it)
videos
Over the years I have collected several of the Bill Nye videos because I love them so much. Unfortunately, being produced by Disney, they are well guarded and overly expensive to buy. Netflix doesn't have them, but you can rent them from these people. I have also picked them up at about half price from the Homeschool buyers co-op, though they don't appear to have any right now. I think I'm getting my money's worth though. Because they are such a hit, I use them with many of the classes I've taught.
Of course, you can find videos on almost any topic on YouTube these days.
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