Dissection Kit for Exploring Creation with Biology Review (Biology Dissections)

Today I want to share with you the Dissection Kit that we have been using for Biology from Timberdoodle, the Dissection Kit for Exploring Creation with Biology distributed by Home Science Tools.

What's included in this kit?  This kit includes 4 preserved specimens (earthworm, crayfish, perch and frog - individually wrapped), frog dissection guide, dissecting pan and an advanced dissecting tool set.  Everything is reusable except the specimens themselves.

There are a few common household items that I would recommend having that don't come in this kit such as a magnifying glass, rubber gloves, science notebook, etc. that we already had on hand.

How we used it?  I actually ended up getting a second set of specimens so that I could have dissection days with both A and B.  B is currently taking Biology and A finished it a few years ago (I thought it would be great for her to have even more experience with dissections).  We spent one afternoon dissecting both the earthworm and crayfish and a second afternoon dissecting both the perch and frog.

{1st Afternoon}

 

 

B's earthworm specimen

B studying her earthworm prior to dissection.

Starting the earthworm dissection.

A look inside our earthworms.

 

About to start our crayfish dissection.
 

B's Crayfish specimen

Starting the dissection

A great view of the gills.

A close-up look at a crayfish gill.

Studying the inside of the crayfish.

A look inside...

 

{2nd Afternoon}

 

About to start our perch dissection.

 

B's specimen was quite large.

A's was smaller.  Above she is pointing to the lateral line on her fish.

B cutting into her perch.

 

A good look at the gills.

Finding all the organs inside our perch.

The probe is a great tool for identifying various organs.

Moving onto our frog dissections.

Once again B's specimen was larger than A's specimen.

 

Examining inside the mouth.

After pinning down the front legs, the girls began cutting open their frogs.

Inside A's frog

We were surprised how large the stomach was so we decided to see what the frog's last meal was since it had eaten recently before it died.

 

Cutting open the stomach

 

We found 3 June bugs and 1 fly!

Inside B's frog.

We cut open the stomach in our second specimen but it was fairly small and didn't really have anything in it.

 

We did end up finding quite a few eggs in B's specimen so we know it is a female.

 

If you can't tell, this kit helps make dissections super convenient and easy to do at home!  It's such a great way for students to explore and learn.  Of course, safety should be used at all times as the dissecting tool set contains a scalpel, blades, scissors, probe, etc.

Our Dissection Kit can be used with Apologia Exploring Creation with Biology 3rd edition (or 2nd edition) and if you can't tell we highly recommend it!

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received this dissection kit at a discount in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Oh Hail

Just a little bit of what our afternoon looked liked yesterday!  What about you?

Happy Easter

 

I hope you had a fabulous Easter!  We had an egg hunt all throughout the downstairs of the house set up for the kids when they woke up.  We made our traditional Resurrection Rolls for breakfast.  We enjoyed going to church.  Afterwards, we had our annual egg toss - it gets messy!  And this year we enjoyed fajitas for dinner.  I'm so thankful for my kids and the memories we make each year!

Dying Easter Eggs

Today we dyed 6 1/2 dozen hard boiled eggs.  The kids were excited and had a lot of fun making different designs, patterns, and colors.

 

Getting ready to dye Easter eggs!

 

 

Some of our eggs, I love the vibrant colors above.

 

Some of our fun egg designs.

Hope you are having a great weekend!  We are all excited for tomorrow ✞.

Inchimals Review

I have another product to share with you from Timberdoodle, Inchimals!  Inchimals is manufactured by Fat Brain Toys and is geared for kids 3 and older or toddler through Kindergarten/First.  This fun and colorful block set is a great math introductory tool for younger learners.

What's included in our set?   There are 12 wooden Inchimals blocks, a dry-erase marker, and a spiral-bound dry-erase book containing 100 math puzzles.

Each wooden block is a different length and represents a different animal.  There is the one-inch ladybug all the way to the twelve-inch giraffe.  I really like that one end of each block has the number of inches, and the opposite end has the corresponding amount of dots.  The sides of the block have the unit measurements marked as well!

 

Above you can see one end of the blocks that has the numbers on it.

And above you can see one of the block ends with the corresponding amount of dots.

And here you can see the side unit measurements.

There are so many great things about this set.  It's very hands-on and the younger boys love to play with it.  It helps encourage creative thinking and dramatic play and the boys love to build towers and creations.

Above you can see that G created a staircase for his figurine.

The spiral math puzzle booklet helps children explore counting, number value, addition, subtraction, multiple numbers, etc.  The puzzles continue to increase in difficulty so kids will be challenged as they progress through the booklet and there is an answer key for all the puzzles.  Puzzles 1-25 use the addition of two numbers and only use the first 10 wooden Inchimals blocks.  Puzzles 26-50 are subtraction problems that likewise only use the first 10 blocks.  Puzzles 51-58 uses the addition of three numbers.  In the last few puzzles, students will find multiple ways to create a given number.  Let me show you some examples.

 

Puzzle 1

Puzzle 27

 

Puzzle 53

Puzzle 65

 

Puzzle 97

This is such a fun way to do math with young kids.  One frog plus one snake is equivalent to one ostrich.  I like that these blocks help children learn sequencing, shortest to longest.  They can also be used to guess measurements of household objects.  There are so many games you can use these for.  You can even discuss the animals on each block and learn basic zoology facts 😉.

G wanted to see how much taller all the blocks were than him!

 

Check out the Timberdoodle video on Inchimals below to see more for yourself!

 

 

Inchimals is a great hands-on resource to have in our homeschool that can be used both at home and on the go and if you can't tell we highly recommend it!

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received Inchimals at a discount in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

LeapFrog Academy® from LeapFrog® Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}

We were blessed to receive a one-year subscription to LeapFrog Academy® from LeapFrog® for F and G!  This interactive, online, learning program is designed for children 3-6 years old.  There are over 2,000 games, eBooks, activities and more!  Children can play on the go!

Learning Adventures covers curriculum for PreK - 1st grade and includes subjects like math, reading and science.  I really appreciate that it tracks your child's learning progress and provides extra practice in the areas they need help with, such a cool feature.  

I set G up on the Introduction to Pre-Kindergarten (ages 4-5) and F on the highest level Introduction to Grade 1 (ages 6-7).  Both boys enjoy this program but G has played the most of the two.  It's part of his "school" and he begs to play.

In this program, students move along their map or world by completing activities and games.  These activities are specifically designed for their level and as they continue on their journey, they build bridges (see above) which allows them to access even more of their map!  It's colorful and fun and G enjoys it.

There are also many options for activities outside their map.  One section that G particularly loves is art!  There is so much to do here.  G loves to build things, sort things, and color things.  There are so many fun activities and games to partake in.  He can also play games, puzzles, music, videos and more.

Above you can see G's dashboard.

When he selects art, here are a few of his choices.  The hearts show the activities that he likes the best.

The boys have both enjoyed earning certificates along the way!

One of F's certificates.

I really like that LeapFrog Academy® helps students with problem solving skills and creativity.  If you are looking for an educational program for your 3-6 year old, we highly recommend it.  They also have a free trial available!

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of LeapFrog Academy®.

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Happy Birthday Stevie Dawg

We are celebrating a big birthday today - Stevie Dawg! 🐶  Some of us think he is 9 while others (me) think he is 10.  One thing is for certain, he’s been with us for 7 years and we love him to pieces!  Happy Birthday Stevie!!  Check out all his birthday fun.

 

Typical birthday around here, chicken minis for breakfast!

 

Stevie & The Kids

Party Animals

Stevie even got to paint!  The kids and I put paint blobs onto several canvases.  We then put them inside of Ziploc bags that were covered in peanut butter.  We put them down on the ground and as Stevie licked the peanut butter off the bag, he created a few masterpieces.  This was super fun and Stevie loved it!

 

This was Stevie's 1st painting.

 

And this was his 2nd.

 

And his 3rd.  I think this was his best work!

 

Stevie got to go on several drives, which is his absolute favorite.

 

We had hot dogs for dinner (even Stevie).

 

And of course, Stevie's cake (celebrating the 7 years we have had him)!

 

Happy Birthday Stevie Dawg - we love you so much!