Thursday, May 6, 2010

The Science of Harry Potter

I can't quite decide which book to review next. I just finished "Kingom Keeper III," "Keepers of the School," and I am halfway through "Trackers." When I am not reading I am busy researching schools in my free time. That got me to thinking about how easily some books fit into a school curriculum.

Even though the "Harry Potter" series ended it is far from old news. The last two movies (book 7) are set to be released this year and Universal Studios Orlando just opened an exciting new theme park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Needless to say, "Harry Potter" is still popular. You can even use the series for teaching science.

A couple years ago, when we were homeschooling our eldest son we read "Harry Potter and the Socerers Stone." We incorporated science into the lessonplan with a couple Harry Potter Spells and Potions Science Activity Kits. We covered flight, chemistry, snakes, physics and more. We were teaching science at a second grade level and were able to adapt the projects to fit. The kits could easily be adapted for kids in second through fourth grades. The projects were fun and actually worked to get our son interested in science. Although anyone who knows our son knows that wasn't a difficult task.

We still have some of the materials. We have found that they also make great summer fun activites.

Enjoy.