Pages: 328

Grade level: most appropriate for K – 2nd grade

Course type: textbook

REAL Science Odyssey- Life 1 is a year-long, secular homeschool life science curriculum for early elementary grades. Students learn key concepts in life science through an incremental series of lessons and hands-on exploration.

What is Life Level 1?

REAL Science Odyssey- Life is a year-long, secular homeschool life science curriculum. Students learn key concepts in life science through an incremental series of lessons. They start with the definition of life itself, and work up to the diverse creatures that share our world. Age-appropriate math and labs are woven into the course, providing students with many opportunities to apply the scientific method and reinforce their knowledge.

The course guides elementary-age learners as they Read, Explore, Absorb, and Learn life science:

Read– Fun, engaging readings introduce big ideas and details for the chapter. The text is designed to be read aloud to students, fostering questions and discussion.
Explore– Carefully crafted, hands-on experiments demonstrate life science concepts. Your student will observe and record the subtle patterns of nature throughout the course.
Absorb– REAL Science engages visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic learners, to help every student understand and retain key concepts
Learn– with RSO Life, you don’t just learn about our amazing natural world, you get your hands dirty and learn how science is done!

It’s also important to understand what REAL Science Odyssey is not. This curriculum is NOT:

A random selection of labs. It’s a fully developed, incremental homeschool science curriculum.
Children will learn REAL life science, in the real world, and they’ll use the real scientific method.
Dry or boring. Children will get their hands dirty with this elementary life science curriculum! They will play, sing, dig, and get outside, bringing concepts from the page alive.
Influenced by religion. All REAL Science Odyssey courses are secular and based on valid, empirical science.

Who can use RSO Life?

RSO Life is an elementary life science curriculum designed for grades K-2.

Elementary-age students are naturally curious about plants, animals, and the natural world. The RSO elementary life science curriculum leverages this curiosity. It gets children into the natural world to explore the diversity of life with all five senses. It starts with their own body, and broadens into a systematic study of the animal and plant kingdoms. The curriculum deepens their understanding of living systems through fun songs, observation, and experiments.

What’s more, you don’t need to have a science background to use this homeschool science curriculum! All materials are written with the life science novice in mind, so you don’t need to do a lot of extra research in advance of the lessons.

You can also use RSO Life as part of a co-op or with multiple students. If you’re using the curriculum with more than one student, you can purchase extra copies of the consumable student pages separately.

Life 1 - REAL Science Odyssey - K-2

Name: Life 1 - REAL Science Odyssey - K-2
Brand: Panda Press

$186.95

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RSO Life starts with the basics, and each unit builds on the last. Every unit reinforces aspects of the scientific method and critical thinking. Each unit explores a big idea or question in depth through reading, experiments, and conversation.

What Is Life?

How do we know if something is alive or not?

Living things are made of cells

Animal Kingdom

Animal classification

Animal phyla examined in detail: the squishy and the spiny, the scaly, and the winged. (And their real names: cnidaria, echinoderms, reptiles, and more)

Comparative anatomy of different animal phyla

Vertebrates vs. Invertebrates

Warm vs. Cold Blooded

Plant Kingdom

Plant classification

Flowers, pollination, and seeds

Leaves make energy from sunlight

Human Body

Body systems

Structure and function of various systems–Respiratory, digestive, circulatory, etc

Growth and genetics
In addition to being a complete, homeschool science curriculum, RSO Biology Level 1 will guide your student in learning essential skills that will serve them throughout their education and life, such as:

Applying the Scientific method

Critical Thinking

Observation

Presenting scientific data

Reading and interpreting informational texts

Lab Experiments

No homeschool science curriculum would be complete without hands-on experiments. In addition to the fact-based and conceptual aspects, as with all REAL Science Odyssey courses, the labs and activities use a scaffolding approach to help students build their skills in critical thinking and the practices and procedures integral to science. The scientific method, basic lab report writing, and the use of observation to form conclusions are learning skills incorporated into the course. Scientific modeling is also included to help learners get a better understanding of more complicated systems. The intentional scaffolding and “learn by doing” approach lead to a more complete understanding of how scientists conduct science and of how science works.

Lab sheets guide your student through implementing the scientific method. Your student will gain experience:

Formulating hypotheses based on knowledge gained from the reading
Recording observations and results
Drawing conclusions based on those results
Reinforcing their knowledge by answering questions about the experiment.

Planning and Scheduling
Research shows that science is best learned in deep investigations of a single subject, rather than short hops from one field to another. All REAL Science Odyssey curricula align with this methodology. Each RSO curriculum is designed as a full-year homeschool science curriculum.

It includes:

36 weeks of material, assuming you teach science two days per week.

Suggested weekly schedule for the entire year
Supply list break down for each week
Instructor pages that guide you in implementing each lesson and lab
Student pages are available if using the curriculum with more than one student (coming soon)
Most supplies are normal household items that you can find either in your home or at the grocery, craft, or big-box store. You’ll also need a 3-ring binder for lab and notebook pages. Field guides to your local birds, insects, and plants will also be helpful.

Microscope: The four microscope labs in RSO Biology 1 are optional. Microscopy does add a depth of understanding to any general biology course, but they can be left out for elementary students.

Life 1 - REAL Science Odyssey - K-2

Science Topics Covered

Science Skills Covered

Co-Op, Groups & School Pricing

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