Science subjects

We've just started our latest chemistry class. The older kids are using Ellen McHenry's book Carbon Chemistry, and the younger kids are doing various experiments, some the same as the older kids and some different. Yesterday everyone's favorite was mixing cornstarch and water to make what I've heard called "goo," "ooze," "plasma," or "oobleck." Last time we did this with a group, I had just bought a new tablecloth. This time I was smarter and had saved our old tablecloth specifically for this activity.

This class will run for about a month and a half, and I've been thinking about having a class for some other science subject later on in the spring. I printed out a list of different sciences and went through it yesterday with my children to see what they would be most interested in learning about. Predictably, each had a different top choice. M. wants to study psychology, A. wants to study forensics, and T. wants to study computer science. (Mike says we should cover all three at once by programming a computer to analyze criminals' thinking patterns.)

So now I need to figure out which of these three choices will work best in a group setting and which we should do on our own, and then start finding resources for them. Not just that, but all three children also want to learn about astronomy, geology, engineering, and archaeology, and there were also individual requests for genetics, environmental science, geography, botany, and nutrition.

That's what happens when you ask an open-ended question! I guess I had better get busy learning about some of these myself.