science
World Wide Telescope: turn your computer into a planetarium
Offered free by Microsoft, this web-based software acts as a "virtual telescope" letting you and your homeschol students explore the night sky, and the planets. The interface was not immediately intuitive to me, and so I'd recommend you begin with a tour (click on the "tour" option on the menu along the top of the screen.) You can also use the lesson plan provided here: http://www.microsoft.com/education/lessonplans/explorethestars.mspx
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (free download)
This classic book about nature study is out of copyright, and available for free online viewing, or download in pdf, kindle, or a range of other electronic formats.
Great for Charlotte Mason-style homeschooling. I'm embedding the online viewer below, follow the link for a full screen view, or to download.
Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Art to Zoology
The Smithsonian has linked to a broad range of materials here, including history, science, art and culture. A good first source for material or information. Some topics include lesson plans, and all are fully referenced. The entries are aimed at adults, but most topics are appropriate for children. It is all available for free.
My favorites so far: Zoology
CK-12: Free, quality math and science curriculum
This site features textbooks in a flexible format called "Flexbooks" available for free download and printing. Most programs include a Teacher's Edition, workbooks, and other supplementary material, all for free. The topics at the moment include middle school and high school level math and science. The science is mainstream (evolution is included in Life Science and Biology programs). The Chemistry course includes labs. The math is fairly traditional and includes Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Probability & Statistics (AP), and Calculus (AB). Free S
The Science Spot: Nature Center Lessons
Headed to the Nature Center? This site has lessons, worksheets, and other ideas to help you get the most out of your trip. Most of the lessons are middle school/upper elementary level.
Easter Science Activities!
Natural egg-dying! Homemade colored chalk! Peep and chocolate science!
Too fun not to share!
KidsGardening.com: Ideas for using gardening as a tool for learning
This website is focused primarily on school gardens, but there's little here that couldn't be done as easily by homeschoolers. The "Classroom projects" section includes a wide variety of gardening related projects-- from poetry and photography to meteorology to cooking and food preservation and more. "Thematic explorations" has information to help you plan your learning garden, including ideas for families without much space to devote to the project. If you want even more, check out the "pollinator curriculum", a free complete curriculum for upper elementary, which seems i
National Geographic Kids website - games, geography & more
There's a lot of quality content on this free site. There are:
Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading - Strategy guides for grades 2-5
Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading is an integrated reading and science curriculum for elementary school classrooms designed by the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California. The complete curriculum is not available to homeschoolers, but "strategy guides" are available online for free. The strategy guides are lesson plans for teaching reading, text analysis, and research skills along with science via 63 different books, from relatively simple picture books to reference books.
