{REVIEW} The Good and the Beautiful Science: Water and Our World

This post is LONG overdue but I am so excited to share how much we truly loved our Water and Our World unit from The Good and the Beautiful!

“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.”

– Lao Tzu –

Our first science unit of the year was AMAZING! It was extra special because this was Sarah’s first time “officially” joining in on science and it was so fun to have her with us. This was Jacob and I’s second time doing this unit and it was honestly BETTER than I remembered it {make sure to check out the pictures at the end of little Jacob when we did this unit a couple years ago}!

Topics

All About Water
States of Water
Evaporation, Condensation, and Precipitation
The Water Cycle
Bodies of Water
Water Shapes the Earth
Oceans, Currents, and Tides
Icebergs and Glaciers
Groundwater
Water Power
Clean Water

Vocabulary & Science Wall

This science wall was TOO fun! I loved it and we were all a little sad to take it down!

Vocabulary for this unit included:

Properties of Water (Cohesion, Adhesion, Universal Solvent)
Capillary Action
Surface Tension
The Water Cycle (Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation)
Water Vapor
Salt Water
Fresh Water
Weathering
Erosion
Deposition
Sediment
Delta
Density
Salinity
Tide
Current
Glacier
Iceberg
Groundwater
Hydropower
Water Wheel
Turbine
Conserve

Example of Jacob’s vocabulary page on the left, Sarah’s on the right

Supplies

This unit does have a decent amount of supplies required. I feel a little shame saying it, but sometimes the experiments feel like too much for me. It’s just MORE work! However, I will also say, that once we are actually doing them, I am always glad we took the time.

The amazing thing about the newer additions of science is that there are now videos of ALL of the experiments! This was so nice. For us, we would do at least one experiment for each lesson, but if there were multiples and I didn’t have everything easily accessible, we would watch the experiment. It was awesome and I seriously wish it had been around during my last pregnancy!

Another great perk about the supply list is it shows the supplies needed for each lesson AND breaks it down even further by listing what supplies are needed for experiments and what supplies are needed for activities.

They really do make it as easy as possible!

I will compare more about the new and old edition later…

Science Journal

I love our science journals. They make science so much more enjoyable for me and definitely keep us organized.

All you really need for a science journal is a notebook or binder of some sort where you have blank paper and a place for the worksheets included in the curriculum. At the beginning of the year, I put together a giant science notebook for each of my kiddos with all of our science goodies for the year. Do what works for you.

Example of Sarah’s journal on the left, Jacob’s on the right

Read Alouds

This is the only part of the newer additions that I was a little bummed about. They no longer included as many read alouds as they had in their old editions. I love adding good books to our lessons and my kids love reading them and diving into them during their free time.

Luckily, since we had done this before, I just pulled out what we had used previously, and added that.

I will add, The Good and the Beautiful DID add three new books with the release of their new addition. These books are beautiful AND very informative:

Wonderful Waterfalls of the World by Molly Sanchez
Famous Floods by Shannen Yauger
The Water Questions & Answers Book {this is geared toward Grades 7-8}

The other books we included in our study were:

A Drop Around the World by Barbara Shaw McKinney
All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon
Everybody Needs Water by Ellen Lawrence
Flood Warning by Katharine Kenah
Water by Emily Neye

If you’re looking for a fictional reader for your kiddos to read independently, When the Dikes Broke by Alta Halverson Seymour is on my radar (but would be for a more middle school aged kiddo). We haven’t read this but it looks fantastic!

Length of Unit

This unit has eleven lessons. We were able to complete each lesson in one sitting (45-60 minutes) and try to do two lessons a week. So I would plan on this unit taking about six weeks.

New vs. Old Edition

We have been HUGE fans of The Good and the Beautiful for the last four years. YES – we have been using it for that long and we still love it. I don’t feel like the old edition was lacking at all. In fact, the main reason I got it is I just loved the fresh look they gave it. I am sure as with all companies, as they have grown, they have been able to give more focus on layouts and overall appearance. So…I got the updated version.

Now, first off, just look at that cover. It is just pretty. And a lot of the book is very similar…

The main addition to the new version is some much improved guidance and instruction for teaching your middle school aged kiddos. We, obviously, haven’t had to work with that yet, but I am really grateful for the update and how it is laid out now.

The only thing I am missing is the read aloud list!

Our Favorite Activities

Capillary Action – this experiment never disappoints and it is so fun to watch the watch itch up throughout the day

Aren’t they the cutest?! They did such a good job on their water cycles!

labeling maps with the different bodies of water

learning about the different ways water shapes the earth – I showed the kids pictures of when we visited Arches National Park {that is me pregnant with little Sarah by the way}

Service Opportunity

This year, we had our family participate in a humanitarian project with Walk 4 Water. This organization is all about making safe water available to all. This truly changes lives. The organization also provides hygiene and sanitation education to help put a stop to waterborne diseases in communities.

This year, because of COVID, they did a virtual Walk4Water fundraiser. I honestly hope they continue to have these in the future so that you can participate despite where you live.

These “walks” are to have a moment where you get to walk in the shoes of another. This is from their website: “For millions around the world, today began with a long walk to collect water. Mile after mile…hour after hour…40 pounds at a time…to and from watering holes, lakes, and streams riddled with disease. Every day, they fill their buckets over and over again with unsafe water that brings sickness and pain. Every hour they spend walking for water is one less hour for school, work, or time with loved ones.”

So the aim of the “walk” is to carry forty pounds for 3.7 miles {which is the average walk women and children in the developing world walk daily to collect water}.

Can you imagine that? Honestly, it is difficult for me to wrap my head around it.

Since my children are young, we didn’t make them carry 40 pounds for 3.7 miles, but we DID have them walk it. And we did have them feel what forty pounds feels like. It really helped put things into perspective for them.

I hope to make this a tradition every time we do this unit. Because water is oh so important, as we all know, and everyone deserves to have clean water accessible.

Note: You can donate to their website anytime, not just for the Walk4Water fundraiser.

Field Trips

A field trip that I had initially planned for this unit was to visit our nearby dam to learn about water power. However, we ended up talking our family vacation to Glacier National Park while doing this unit and I felt like that gave ample opportunity to get up close and personal with the effects of water. But a visit to a dam would be a great learning opportunity as well.

Final Thoughts

This unit was so much fun. It’s amazing to me how much I learn along with my children – and is selfishly, one of my favorite perks to homeschooling! Jacob and Sarah were excited every. day. to do science.

I am always surprised with how often I hear people comment about how they would never repeat the units because it would be boring and useless. I completely disagree. Jacob and I both learned new things this second time around. AND I think it is actually a boost in confidence for him, when he DOES remember something from before and motivates him to learn more.

That is priceless to me. Love of learning is goal number one around here.