Science B

Teach your children to think like a scientist, to use the skills and practices that real scientists use. Each weekly experiment helps bring to life the scientific content read each week. Sonlight’s great books provide the context, while the experiments help students apply scientific practices and principles to the topics they read about each week.

Sonlight Science B will prepare your children to become future scientists by training them to think scientifically. Beyond studying classic scientific topics, Sonlight Science B creates a learning environment in which students can gain the skills and practices used by scientists and engineers to answer questions, solve problems, and innovate and improve their own designed solutions.

From the rock cycle to elements on the periodic table, Sonlight Science B nurtures children’s natural curiosity and provides daily opportunities to explore the world around them. They will use real scientific skills and practices as they unearth plants, observe animals, excavate rocks, explore the features of solids, liquids, gases more. Science B includes a high-level introduction to coding and how things are made and other STEM topics that will prepare students for a lifetime of scientific curiosity, learning and application.

Each easy to complete experiment helps the topics you’ve read about that week bloom into practical, real-world experiences. Each experiment provides students with a topic-related question to explore. As they discover answers to the questions for themselves, they gain experience in solving problems independently. Do you know how to classify materials by their physical properties? Or why microwaves heat unevenly? Have fun watching for the many “aha!” moments this course will provide.

Instructor’s Guide

Each Sonlight science program is anchored by a customer-renowned Instructor's Guide. The IG provides the structure for your entire year—the framework for what books to read and when, and what experiments to do. No need to create your own lesson plans.

The IG also includes question prompts, explanations, hands-on activities (beyond the experiments), and additional notes to enhance the reading and reinforce what your students are learning.

Each IG includes a list of what supplies you will need both for the current week and the week to come. (Need to save a milk carton for next week? Now you know!)

Instructor's Guides in levels K-J also include Activity Sheets filled with questions and simple activities, charts, illustrations, and pictures to help your children remember what they’ve learned.

Overview of the Literature

Earth, earth, what's it all about? Your students will explore our blue planet and the life that thrives on it from almost every angle this year. Did you know plants support all other life on our planet? In DK's Eyewonder: Plant, find out what a plant is, how they attract pollinators, and the fantastic ways they keep predators at bay.

From ecosystems to the rock cycle, dig deep into earth science and geography through DK Findout! Earth. Then hop on the Magic School Bus and journey Inside the Earth for an entertaining and fact-filled geology field trip.

And what's a good study of the earth without finding out what it's made of? What is the World Made of? Introduces the basic principles of solids liquids and gases. Then explore matter and elements more in-depth through the engaging and interactive presentation of Lift-the-Flap Periodic Table.

Later, re-join Ms. Frizzle's class as they trace the path of a water drop from a cloud to the bathroom sink in Magic School Bus: At the Waterworks.

Explore the diversity of life in Earth's vast array of habitats and discover the unique ways each species has been specially designed to live best in their home habitat in the Usborne World of Animals.

This year's biography, Marie Curie's Search for Radium, will transport you back to 1902 as Marie Curie's scientific research marks the beginning of the modern nuclear age. This engaging, inspirational story exemplifies one way humans have found to make great use of one of Earth's many resources.

And how have humans adapted life on Planet Earth and made it more comfortable? Through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, of course. Have you ever wondered how apples turn into juice or trees become pencils? Discover through step-by-step photographs how 20 different everyday products are designed and manufactured in See How It's Made (5-Day program). Then step into the world of computer language and programming when you complete the engaging projects found in Coding for Beginners using Scratch (5-Day program). Scratch is a free and easy to use app (available on multiple platforms) that allows students to code through a fun, drag-and-drop interface.

Hands-on Science Experiments

Discover & Do: Level B Science Experiments provide weekly experiments that help students explore the reading topics even further. Each experiment relates directly to the weekly reading material for a more linear progression from reading to doing. The guided exploration helps students dig deeper and reinforces the concepts learned in the reading while providing an experience that trains them to think like scientists.

With Discover & Do: Level B Science Experiments, your children will not just memorize the steps of the scientific process. Rather, students will conduct simple, engaging, hands-on experiments at home and use the scientific method to explore their world in an enjoyable and interactive way. Each experiment begins with an overview of the key concepts, so the instructor has a big-picture view of the main goals of the lesson. As you work through the experiment together, you will discuss and discover how these concepts work in the real world.

Experiments are designed to help guide your students through exploration, rather than simply showing them a demonstration of a scientific principle. Each experiment begins with an observation and a question—something to be curious about. Your students then make a prediction based on their observation, and carry out an investigation to see if their ideas were correct. As they draw conclusions from their experiments, they will be able to adjust their thinking and gain an appreciation for the scientific process (and principles!) they just experienced for themselves.

But the learning doesn’t stop there! Your students will then make connections to broader scientific ideas and go further with fun ways to apply and appreciate what they have discovered. The Science B package also includes the Discover & Do: Level B Science Experiment Videos. Included in digital-only format, these highly entertaining videos reenact all the 36 experiments your students will perform, and reinforce the concepts observed during the experiment. Filled with fascinating activities and peppered with humor, the new Discover & Do Videos bring science to life!

Check out the trailer below.

With Sonlight Science B, your children learn by actually doing the science!

Each experiment connects topics and ideas from the reading to real-world experiences. For example, when you read about the layers of the Earth, you’ll conduct an experiment to explore how caves form. When you read about the arctic tundra, you’ll complete a STEM activity to design a structure on permafrost. You can then watch an enthusiastic instructor explore the same experiment on video, creating an interconnected experience that reinforces the learning.

Science Supplies Kit

Most of the experiments in this program can be done with common household items, but to minimize prep time, we’ve created a Discover & Do: Science Supplies Kit that includes many of the supplies you need to conduct each experiment. No planning necessary and minimal prep time!

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

Sonlight Science B is designed to follow the classic Sonlight model of learning (reading, discussing, and doing) while also adhering to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These research-based, up-to-date science standards are simply good instructional practice. Dozens of scientists, esteemed scientific institutions, and science-based businesses have put their support behind these standards.¹ Now you have even more assurance that Sonlight Science provides an outstanding science education — at home.

Sonlight’s Science B helps prepare students to think for themselves, evaluate different perspectives, and innovate solutions. Your students will use key scientific and engineering principles to explore ideas that connect across all subjects: cause and effect, patterns, structure and function, systems, stability and change, cycles, and more. Come play with us! Open your children’s eyes to the truths of the world around them and prepare them for a bright and confident scientific future.

¹ https://www.nextgenscience.org/voices-of-support NGSS is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.