Some of my most vivid school memories come from using BJU Press Homeschool's Science and Heritage Studies books. I distinctly remember the day I dissected the crayfish on our kitchen table in Biology with my mom. I have fond memories of the day we spontaneously made pueblos and cliff dwellings out of clay and pine needles because we had been studying the different types of Native American houses during Heritage Studies. These are the types of memories I hope to create with my children as well! This year we are using Science 2 (4th edition) & Heritage Studies 2 (3rd edition), and I love that this curriculum has cultivated learning experiences that have enhanced my children's understanding of the material! Science 2 & Heritage Studies 2 are both half-year courses. (These subjects become full-year courses in 4th grade.)

Science 2 has 90 lessons. The course begins with a study on what scientists do and what it means to classify, observe, infer, experiment, and measure. Then you jump into a study about living things: animals, plants, habitats, and the basic foundational concepts of an ecosystem. After that, students begin a study of fossils, the Earth's layers, the Earth's natural resources, and the rotation and orbit of the Earth. The final section of the book teaches students about how light works, how matter changes, how things move, and how the body works.

What we have enjoyed most as we have worked through this book are the experiments! Each chapter has one experiment built into the student textbook and the activity manual, but the Teacher's Edition gives even more suggestions for experiments to try. We love taking the book knowledge and making it a tangible learning experience!

In chapter 11, students will learn about force. My children loved learning about friction! We did an experiment to see which surface would have more friction. We gathered a big fan, a hand towel, and a couple of ping-pong balls. We set the fan on the kitchen floor, and then we laid the towel in front of the fan on the right side. Then we set one ping-pong ball on the towel and one ping-pong ball on the kitchen floor.

Next, my kids turned the fan on to watch the balls roll! They quickly understood that the towel created more friction than our slick kitchen floor, which is why the ball on the towel didn't roll very far.



One of the new topics introduced in Science 2 was fossils. Other than going to the Petrified Forest National Park last November, our family had not spent any time talking about fossils, so this was a very new concept. I was thankful to find a fossil kit for my family! It was neat to be able to pull a fossil out of the box and say, “This is a fossil of a snail, and this is a fossil of horn coral!" It was another way to make the information become real to my children!

My daughter was also excited to find a rock collection with different rocks and minerals. She has been trying to create her own rock collection, mostly from broken pieces of cement she finds in parking lots, so she was very excited about this collection! My children have enjoyed getting to look at all of the different types of colors, shapes, and textures rocks have!



To "Look Inside" the Science 2 Teacher's Edition, use this
link: https://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/product/502724

Heritage Studies 2 also has 90 lessons. Toward the end of Phonics & English 1, students learn about a missionary family, Mr. & Mrs. Judson. I love how in the opening chapter of Heritage Studies 2, students are reminded of the story of Mr. and Mrs. Judson, who were Burmese Missionaries and worked on translating the Bible into Burmese. This is a great tie into previous learning and an amazing reminder of God's great love for His people!

Some of the highlights of this book include learning more about your community, the three levels of the American government, what being a citizen means, and some of the national symbols. This book continues to incorporate map-reading skills into the lessons, and students learn about different landforms. Students will learn about the Native Americans and explorers such as Christopher Columbus, Leif Ericson, and Ponce de Leon. Students will also learn about several of the first colonies and even about the Great Awakening! The book ends with the Revolutionary War, the writing of the Constitution, and George Washington becoming America's first President.

One of my favorite parts of Heritage Studies is adding to our timeline! BJU Press Homeschool offers an add-on timeline called Timeline Snapshots, and you can use it with Heritage Studies 2 – Heritage Studies 5. Each year you add events to your timeline that correlate with your lessons. This timeline stretches from 1600 A.D. to 2010 A.D. Each piece of the timeline is printed on cardstock, and you cut the pieces out as needed. We really love how clearly you can see when each event occurred!





To "Look Inside" the Heritage Studies 2 Teacher's Edition, use this
link: https://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/product/287201
Heritage Studies Timeline Snapshots: https://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/product/269480

For more information on these courses and to order with special pricing, contact a HomeWorks Consultant at www.homeschoolhelp.com/map.