On Science, Part Deux.

We did some science after supper tonight. It happened spontaneously.

Someone said "hair" and I remembered that was our next lesson on the human body. So, I whipped out our very informative, heavily illustrated book on the Human Body, (one of those Kingfisher Encyclopedia things) turned to the chapter on hair and began to read, picture book style.

The kids were immediately grossed out by the picture of a microscopic itch mite. They asked about lice. So, we went to the computer and looked them up in google images. We came across this particularily interesting one. My boy said, it looks like a monster! I answered him, "Yep, God made monsters, but he made them microscopic."
(Which is a very interesting thing to think about, someday.)

They were thouroughly engrossed and grossed out. My son finished reading the spread in the book on skin. We got out our nasty magnifying glass and looked at our arms. We chatted about skinand sweat and moisturizure and goosebumps and capillaries.
And that was it. 20 minutes tops.

I wonder if I should run off the diagram and have them label "epidermis, dermis, etc., as a follow up--or just leave it?

How formal/informal do I want to be with this?
How rigorous?

Like those experts in English who say, "get your children to love reading and all will be well" there are those scientists who say, "get your kids to love finding things out and all will be well." Well, not quite all in either case, but it may be a place to start. And I'd only be a few clicks ahead.

Something else to think about.