Hands-On Science & Nature Projects for Upper Grades
Spring and summer are a fantastic time to take your homeschool outside! Hands-on projects can be completed year-round, but during these times, it’s easier to incorporate nature and do big, messy projects. Getting hands-on helps students to become more engaged, involve their senses in learning, and prevent burnout. It also helps to flesh out abstract ideas in a more concrete format, applying difficult-to-understand concepts into a real-world application. This not only helps the student understand more, but also retain more.
Each of these resources is appropriate for middle and high school students. If you prefer family-style teaching, they can be tailored down, or you may eliminate some of the more complicated aspects, for elementary students. Want to create your own hands-on nature study? Download the unit study planner, and get started exploring your family’s interests!
Exploring the outdoors is a great way to learn! Soak it all in, homeschool mama, and wear your homeschooling style proudly!
Think Like a Scientist
Mathematical concepts and the scientific method are a good place to start…
- Pi Game / Pi Day
- Measuring Practice
- Real World Math
- Math & Physics Round-Up
- Physics & Calculus for High School
Get Inspired
Sometimes we just need a little inspiration to get started!
Take a Field Trip
Here are some virtual field trips that will inspire you to take one of your own…
Get Outside
Unplug and get your hands dirty!
Go Wild
Is it animals, wild plants, the jungle, or the human psyche that intrigues you?
- Zoo Studies
- Permaculture
- Foraging Basics
- Forensics unit study
- Ecosystems unit study
- Endangered Animals Project
A Little of This; A Little of That
Projects and ideas that didn’t really fit in a box…
- Stars & Constellations unit study
- Holiday Science Activities
- Notebooking Pages for science topics
- Doughnut Math
- Botany Class
- Tinkers’ Club
- Tinkering Lab Kit
- Snap Circuits & Electricity
- Ultimate Coding Kit
Explore through the Pages
A literature study is a fantastic jumping-off point for further exploration. Pick a topic, read all about it, and then get hands on with the additional projects!
- Girl of the Limberlost & Butterflies
- Golden Hawks of Genghis Khan & Raptors
- Science of Breakable Things & Scientific Method
- Nick & Tesla 6-book Physics Bundle
- The Lorax & Earth Stewardship
- Fuzzy Mud & Microbiology
- Shouting at the Rain & Stormy Weather
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- The Call of the Wild
Use a Complete Curriculum
Maybe you’re not quite ready to head outside…or maybe you’re required to have more structured learning. Either way, these curricula incorporate real-world learning projects into the lessons!
- Energy Science
- Homestead Science
- Farming & Ranching Plan
- Berean Builders
- Apologia vs Berean
- Friendly Biology
Hands-On Subscription Boxes You’ll Love!
Learn about forensic science and methods. Go hands-on with techniques like fingerprinting, collecting shoe prints, and more. Use the same tools the pros use to detect the presence of blood and identify theft suspects. Each box comes with gear that real investigators use along with activities designed to let you learn by doing. Your first box contains a free one-year subscription to our online detective game. Examine the evidence and solve the case.
MATTER
We search planet Earth for the most interesting forms of matter. Each month we ship fossils, tools, specimens, materials, or artifacts that have been carefully selected as some of the most interesting pieces of matter in our accessible universe. Part museum, part laboratory, perfect for quarantine! Feed your curiosity or spark someone’s else’s. This one is for the kid who knows everything!! It will spark an interest for further research…Beautiful Discovery
Beautiful Discovery kits use visually and kinesthetically engaging patterns of nature to unleash your hidden pattern power and give you STEAM skills. Items include eco-games, art, origami, drag and drop code, models, natural wonders, full color informational cards, full color picture books and booklets, paints and colored pencils, drawing sheets with art lessons on patterns seen in the natural wonders.Perfect for the student who is hesitant about math, but all about art! This box combines the beauty of nature with real-world math through projects with seashells, crystals, dried leaves, flowers, for their beautiful patterns. There’s even an computer coding element with simple drag and drop block coding that will simulate the patterns seen in the natural wonders studied in each box.
Spangler Science
Let’s make science fun one month at a time! A subscription to Spangler Science Club is a guarantee that we’re working together to prepare your young scientist for a future STEM-based career. Choose from one of three levels of hands-on science kits and subscribe to amazing science delivered every month!
Groovy Lab in a Box
With Groovy Lab in a Box, you will receive boxes full of everything you need to learn about and do hands on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiments for ages 8+. We blend Scientific Inquiry and the Engineering Design Process, which allows children to create ingenious inventions, enhance problem solving skills and FUN!It’s NOT Ancient History! Making Connections with World History
Although the people we study in history lived decades or even centuries ago, their actions impacted how we live our lives today. Names, dates, facts…these are some of the things that I hear students complain about when they talk about disliking history. It’s too confusing…they can’t put it into context. A visual display, however, can help tie everything together in an easier-to-digest format! Our two favorite, visually-appealing ways to link historic events include this book (fantastic for those with small spaces) and this wall chart (for those with a dedicated homeschool area).
But it’s not just faceless names and random dates; history is full of transitional events that have altered the world’s story. By learning about different eras, you start to see what changes might happen in the future and what would drive that change. For example, learning about the fall of Rome teaches you that even the most powerful society can fall apart—and what happens to cause that crumbling.
By studying history, humanity has a chance to learn from its mistakes, theorize about alternative options based on correcting past mistakes as it moves forward with future events. After all, history rhymes…so it’s likely that there will be a chance to act differently in the future.
There are five concepts – or 5 Cs – of history. These are at the heart of every question historians ask as they seek to better understand the past, and they include (from most easily understood to the more complex): change over time, causality, context, complexity, and contingency. The strangeness of the past enables us to step back and look at our society and ourselves from a new perspective—indeed, we might start to look a bit strange to ourselves! (Think not? Check out Motel of the Mysteries)
There are five concepts – or 5 Cs – of history. These are at the heart of every question historians ask as they seek to better understand the past, and they include (from most easily understood to the more complex): change over time, causality, context, complexity, and contingency. The strangeness of the past enables us to step back and look at our society and ourselves from a new perspective—indeed, we might start to look a bit strange to ourselves! (Think not? Check out Motel of the Mysteries)
General Ancient History
Classes
- Sparks Academy Co-Op World History (or self-paced version)
- Ancient World History course
- History of Ancient Civilizations course
- Understanding Ancient History course
Printables
- World History Literature Bundle
- World History II Literature Bundle
- A World of Adventure
- Write Bonnie Rose
- Writing Through History
- Using Primary Source Documents
Extras
- Mysteries in Time adventures
- Bricks / Legos Through the Ages
- Ancient Artistic Pursuits
- History of the Ancient World
- Tales of Ancient Worlds
- Drive Thru History – Ancient History & DTH Adventures
- Ancient Cities (dvd)
- Audiobooks for World History
Egypt
Greece
Rome
- Eagle of the Ninth book club
- Ancient Rome online unit
- SPQR: History of Ancient Rome
- Famous Men of Rome
- Caesar’s Legions
Asia / Middle East
Medieval
- Sir Gawain & the Green Knight book club
- Legendary Swords morning plans
- Renaissance unit
- Renaissance Time Travelers
Mythology
Rabbit Trails
- Daily Life in the Ancient World
- Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Unconventional Warfare in the Ancient World
- Independent Research
- Archaeology
- Mansa Musa
- Ancient Mayans
- Vikings
- Wulf the Saxon
Innovative Ways to Study World Geography
Geography gets a bad rap for being boring, but usually that’s just because it’s not being taught in an engaging way. After all, who wants to look at a bunch of maps for places they’ve never been (or possibly never even heard of) and think about people and things they will never see? To really get kids interested in geography, you have to bring it to life!
Why study geography?
Geography is the study of humans and people through space, throughout time, and how those spaces have shaped history. Every place has a history behind it, shaped by humans, earth, and climate. By studying geography, we gain meaning and awareness to those places, which also puts history in context. It helps us see the why, when, and how of what happened in history. Learn more about History, Mythology, and World Cultures.Studying countries also helps with spatial awareness and mapping skills. If you don’t know where a place is, or the physical context of the area, how can you understand what is being reported on the news? Learning about land, resources available, and how that has shaped a culture of today helps you understand the uniqueness of each local culture.
Geography helps us to explore and understand the differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes, and environments across the world. By understanding these things, we can explore the connections between them. As we learn how all people are interconnected, it makes the world a little bit smaller, making us care just a bit more about our fellow man…even if he is halfway around the globe.
Read All About It
- Read Across America pack
- World Literature Book Club (elementary)
- World Literature Book Club (middle school)
- World Literature Book Club (teens)
- Living Literature Units
Walk through the 50 States
- Everyday Explorers USA unit studies
- God Bless the USA (full curriculum)
- Lego States & Capitals
Play a Game
Rabbit Trails
- Independent Research
- Learn map / GPS skills
- Dive into geography trivia
- History & Geography Connections
- Adventurous Mailbox Curriculum Guide
- Let’s Go Geography!
- Christmas Around the World
- (Online) Christmas Around the World
Experience It
Rabbit Trails & Child-Directed Studies
Unlike traditional schooling, homeschooling affords you the opportunity to jump down rabbit trails! What’s a rabbit trail? This is when your child develops a sudden interest in a topic, and you spend the whole day (or week, or month) exploring that topic in-depth, following the trail as far as it goes, or until your child moves on to another interest. Regardless of age, this is a valuable tool to add to your homeschooling toolbelt!Educational Philosophies Encouraging Rabbit Trails
Charlotte Mason
Developed by a 19th century educator who believed in reading ‘living books’ rather than ‘twaddle,’ this approach involves living learning. It revolves around reading aloud together as a family, and following child interests. Nature walks, art museums, and living books are all a part of this approach.
Unit Studies
This approach takes all of the subjects and smashes them together in an in-depth study of a topic. For example, a unit study of Rome might include reading and writing about Rome, studying the history of Roman emperors, calculating timelines and marketplace purchases, creating artwork and projects from Ancient Roman times, and studying water (from the aqueducts built during this era). Units may be literature-based, and this is a great style for teaching multiple grades together.
This approach takes all of the subjects and smashes them together in an in-depth study of a topic. For example, a unit study of Rome might include reading and writing about Rome, studying the history of Roman emperors, calculating timelines and marketplace purchases, creating artwork and projects from Ancient Roman times, and studying water (from the aqueducts built during this era). Units may be literature-based, and this is a great style for teaching multiple grades together.
Unschooling
Definitely for the Type B family, this is a child-centered approach to schooling. There are no formal lessons, or even formal curriculum, but the children follow their interests and learn from life experiences. Schedules are not utilized, and there is much flexibility and freedom. This does not mean that they don’t read, write, and do math, but that they follow their interests. Math might be adding up the tab at the restaurant, or figuring the tax.
Places to Find Rabbit Trail Ideas
- Cratejoy Boxes
- Focused Learning Center
- Homeschool Garden
- Literary Adventures for Kids
- Online Unit Studies
- ST Unit Studies
Parent Guides & Resources
- Top Ten Boxes for Teens
- The Charlotte Mason Homeschool Journal & Delight Directed Learning Handbook
- Twenty Best Educational Subscriptions
- The Unit Study Project Handbook
- How to Create a Unit Study
- Chasing Rabbit Trails tee
- In-Depth Summer Studies
- Making a Historic Newspaper
- Notebooking Pages for any subject
Pre-Dug Rabbit Trails (to get you started!)
- All Literature Rabbit Trails
- Geography Rabbit Trails
- History Rabbit Trails
- Ancient History
- Colorado Gold Rush
- Elections
- Government & Finance
- Horses in History
- Medieval Times
- Middle Ages
- Renaissance
- September 11th
- Vikings
- World War 2
- Science Rabbit Trails
- Anatomy
- Bears
- Earth Day / Lorax
- Endangered Animals
- Energy, Oil & Gas
- Flight / Aviation
- Forensic Science
- Marine Biology
- Survival Skills
- Miscellaneous Rabbit Trails

Come Fly With Me!! Aviation & Flight Resources for Your Homeschool
Aviation history is over two millennia old, with earliest forms existing in China’s kite-flying. DaVinci dreamed of man flying in the 15th century, and the Montgolfier brothers began manned flight with hot air balloons in the 18th century. Lilienthal experimented with gliders in the 19th century, but it wasn’t until two brothers took a short break from gravity, in December 1903, that flight really ‘took off!’
Since that time, modern scientists and aviators have worked together to grow the industry by leaps and bounds, including zeppelins, jet engines, flying boats, pilotless drones, space flight, and long-distance space travel…
Aviation Field Trips
- Kitty Hawk – First Flight
- Tulsa Air & Space – WW2 Flight
- Bush Pilots & Planes
- Korea, Vietnam, and Modern Aviation
- Airplanes & Air Shows
Space-Themed Field Trips
- Johnson Space Center
- Kennedy Space Center
- US Space & Rocket Center
- Stafford Air & Space Museum
- Sea, Air, and Space Museum
Aviation / Space Unit Studies
- DaVinci & Early Aviation History
- The First Flight
- World War I Pilots
- Women in Aviation
- Astronomy
- The Rocket that Flew to Mars
- The History of Air Travel
Aviation / Space Resources
- NASA educational collection
- Solar System worksheets
- Space & Beyond Fun Box
- Doctor Aviation
- YWAM: Orville Wright & Alan Shephard
- Civil Air Patrol curriculum (free)
- Aviation Notebooking Pages
- Tales of the R.A.F.
- Flygirl
- Wings of Victory
- Dave Dawson
- Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
- Aeroplane Boys
Hands-On Learning
(we have both of these…and love them!)
For more AMAZING flight-themed resources and projects, check out the Flight Unit Study, Aerospace Engineering collection, and the FAA Aviation Curriculum (all grades represented).
Homeschooling Around Town – The Art of the Field Trip!
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A big part of our school year is the field trips. Generally, we will study a topic ahead of time and then take the field trip – this helps them to fully understand the hands-on experiences. The kids have been to nearly every state, and experienced a wide range of of historical, scientific, and cultural activities that they wouldn’t have been able to do solely in our home state. Not every family is able to road school, but that doesn’t mean that field trips shouldn’t be a part of your school.
Field Trips in Town
- Attend a library program
- Local historic architecture
- Air Shows
- Historic Re-enactments
- Climb rocks
- Historic Museums (some are free)
- Pick-Your-Own Farm Visit
- Zoo (only free on certain days, or with a pass)
- Local newspaper
- Factory tours (some are free)
- Visit the beach, lake, or riverbank
- State Fairs have homeschool days
- Visit the local airport
- Work in a community garden
- Shadow a business (teens)
- Animal workshop at the pet shop
Field Trip Starters
- Zoo Studies — unit study bundle with sixteen zoo features
- Free & Easy Field Trips — printable idea planner
- Out of the Box Activity Calendar — VERY local ideas for daily fun
- Field Trips Planning Pack — get your co-op together for a trip
- Stars Study — nighttime field trip!
- Ecosystems — study your region and compare it to others
- Famous Artists — visit a local art museum and compare the pieces
- Rocks & Minerals — get down in the dirt and learn local geology
- Homeschool Uniforms — matching shirts mean it’s easier to spot a roaming kid!
Unique Field Trips
- Recording Studio (music)
- Doughnut Shoppe (math)
More Field Trip Ideas
- Check out the Roadschooling Page to find unit studies and field trips built around your location. There’s something for just about every state in the United States up there!
- Finally, though these aren’t free, educational subscription boxes are a great way to bring the field trip into your home. Here are some of our favorites!
- Use the world diversity book studies from Literary Adventures to travel the world from the comfort of your own home. You can go anywhere!