Layers of Learning Unit 4-1 is a complete unit study for history, geography, science, and the arts.
- History: American Government
- Geography: U.S.A.
- Science: Heat & Temperature
- Arts: Patriotic Music
Layers of Learning Unit 4-1 begins with the new American government. Learn how the government is set up, how it works, checks and balances, and the Constitution. In geography learn about the geography of the U.S., time zones, and postal codes. Then in science, experiment with heat and temperature, latent heat, pressure and volume effect on temperature, the ideal gas law, conduction, and convection. Finally learn some patriotic American music.
In each unit you’ll find a recommended library list, important background information about each topic, and lots of activities to choose from for kids of all ages. Sidebars include a bunch more ideas including Additional Layers, Fabulous Facts, On The Web, Writer’s Workshop, Famous Folks, and Teaching Tips. Printable maps and worksheets are included with each unit and may be printed as often as needed for your family or class.
Age Range: 6-18
Grade Level: 1-12
Pages: 65
Angela –
This unit, as with all the others, is fantastic. I love that you can pretty much open and go, but if you do add library selections they add an extra facet. My kids range from elementary to high school, I love that the units open up lots of wonderful discussions, the questions within the units make us think. The fact that you can do an exploration with all age ranges that is completely appropriate to the students ability and interest is genius. Sometimes, I find that I plan to do certain explorations…but then life gets in the way, the fact that I can quickly choose a different exploration, that’s less time consuming, yet completely relevant, has been exciting and refreshing.
Sara –
We started with this Unit because my three children (ages 11, 9, and 7) were interested in continuing our American history journey, and we had not studied the Constitution or the founding of our government. So we started here. We loved it! We were able to use living books, but tie them all together coherently using the ideas in the unit. I (as the teacher) loved the focus on the arts and geography, and the children loved the hands-on activities. They even surprised me by loving the map-making! We were not able to find much on Heat for the science topic, but that’s because we live in a small town and have a small library. We were still able to cobble together some reading on heat transfer and thermodynamics, and the experiments were a great addition. I highly recommend Layers of Learning!