The closest city to our little homestead, Oklahoma City offers some great opportunities in the fields of science and history! We spent a week exploring the city, learning about the land rush, fossils and skeletons, Native American history, cowboys, and a lot more! Come join the fun!
Museum of Osteology
Bones are a fascinating topic in this house! Whenever we find a dead animal on the property, the first thing that the kids want to do is dissect it and check out it's bones (which occasionally gets to happen, depending on safety).
When we go for nature walks and stumble across a bone, it comes home with us until we can identify it. Once, my son actually found a fossil, which a museum told him was either a tooth or a claw!!
The Osteology Museum in Oklahoma City is the largest collection of bone-related exhibits in America. It's unique exhibits are a great tool for teaching anatomy, biological history, adaptation, or classification.
I love this caption!
Dinosaurs & Fossils
- Plesiosaurus 3-D Puzzle
- Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks & Minerals
- Time Train
- Dinosaur Detectives
- Dinosaurs Before Dark
- Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House) unit study
- The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs
- In the Time of the Dinosaurs (Magic School Bus) unit study
- Dinosaurs unit study (younger)
- Dinosaurs unit study (older)
- Dinosaur Cove Collection - 10 books set
- The Magic School Bus kit: Back in Time with the Dinosaurs
- X is for X-ray lapbook (younger)
Harn Homestead
As we approached the anniversary of the Oklahoma Land Run (April 22, 1889), we spent a few weeks at home learning about Oklahoma state history. "Pin on Pinterest")
We culminated our studies with a co-op trip to the Harn Homestead in Oklahoma City. Here, the kids learned about life in the 19th century and homesteading, and they re-enacted the Land Run. I was surprised at the strategizing!
One worked with a friend to capture side-by-side plots covered in trees and a river. The other took a nearby plot with a tree. When asked about the choice, I received this reply : "Well, I have trees to build a house and barn, and my brother has water. I'm sure he'll share with me." Once they were settled, it was time to start tackling everyday chores and schoolwork.
 "Pin on Pinterest")
Oklahoma Land Run Activities
- We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run
- S Is For Sooner
- Oklahoma Land Run unit study
- Pioneer theme resources
Sam Noble Science Museum
At the Sam Noble Museum of Natural Science in Norman, there are extensive exhibits on dinosaurs, Native Americans, early Oklahoman history & ecology, and early world history (my son's favorite is the Permian Period, for some reason). There are usually a couple of travelling exhibits as well. While there, stop by the Discovery Room, a completely hands-on area for kids to further explore the concepts from the exhibits.
Omniplex
The new Curio-City section of the museum is awesome! I can't even begin to put into words the collection of exhibits they have in this huge Walmart-sized center of the building. If you go for no other reason than to visit this area, your trip will have been worth the while. The gist of it is that it's set up like a city, and each building is a new exhibit. We're playing around at the radio and television stations in these photos...
The little one doesn't care so much for things that go boom, so while the big one attended a Live Science show (they're free), we explored the art section and took a flight in the space capsule. I'd like to add that this photo was snapped about a second before he freaked out.....if you have a child with sensory issues, please be aware when putting him / her inside the capsule!
Finally, what trip to the science museum would be complete without a spin on the little scooter thingy and a visit to the dinosaur section?? If you live in Oklahoma, make sure to schedule a field trip here this year!
Finally - what Oklahoma unit study would be complete without a little info on cowboys?! Check out more with our We Were There on the Chisholm Trail novel study.
Cowboys Resources
Literature
- Bill Pickett : Rodeo Riding Cowboy
- Why Cowboys Sleep with their Boots On
- Cowboys & Cowgirls
- The Indian in the Cupboard (a classic series!)
- Billy & Blaze series & free lapbook
- Armadillo Rodeo & free lapbook
- Boss of the Plains & free lapbook
- Cattle lapbook
- Cowboy preschool pack
- Make a Cowboy
- Chuck Wagon Recipes
- Cowboy Costume
- Six-Shooter Set
- Lego : Cowboy, Sheriff, and Bandit
Fun! We are considering moving to Oklahoma next year, but are unsure of what area, so I love hearing about what areas have fun family stuff going on!
ReplyDeleteTulsa also has a lot going on in the homeschool community, and Shawnee is rapidly growing (and close enough to rural areas that you can live in the country but still play in the city).
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