A great way for parents to teach kids biology is through homeschool biology experiments. Reading from a textbook doesn’t have the same impact on most students as actually exploring the subject first-hand, and your child may even discover an interest in the sciences.
Kids are naturally curious about other people and themselves. There are a variety of biology experiments you can do with body parts, teaching them how our senses work, about our organs, muscles, and bones, or showing them how biology-related topics they are studying actually relate to their lives. One way to do this is through genetics. When they’re learning about Mendel’s pea plants experiment, they could try to replicate it. To make it more personal, have your kids trace their various family traits through the generations or follow the inheritance patterns for any family disorders or diseases. If you have access to a microscope, the children can examine a hair, skin cell, piece of nail, or other body part under it and see just how it works.
Another area of interest in biology is animals (birds, insects, mammals, and more). If they don’t want to dissect animals, don’t make them do so – they can learn a lot from live animals, too! A kid can easily learn about the development of an egg into a chick, feed birds from a backyard feeder, find and investigate an ant colony, set up their own ant colony, track migrating monarch butterflies, or track bumblebees to their hives. There are many more experiments that can be performed, depending on just what you’re studying in biology. Investigate natural science museums in your area, as they often have interesting and informative exhibits, and may have ideas for experiments that can be performed at home. A microscope comes in handy when learning about animals, too; you can often get premade slides with samples of various animal byproducts or insects to examine.
Finally, plants and the natural environment are a prime type of thing to study in biology. Students often enjoy learning about the different types of habitats, from freshwater biomes to tropical rainforests. They can study the diversity within each environment, create exhibits about each type of environment, or even take road trips to investigate nearby biomes. Your child may get involved in saving a rainforest, or think smaller-scale and investigate a patch of ground in their own backyard. Stake out a three foot by three foot area of ground (smaller for younger kids) and give your child a pencil and notebook, and a magnifying glass. They can record everything they find in that area, from grass to beetles, and how the different animals and plants affect one another.
The best way to drive home the lessons learned in biology class is by having your kids do experiments on their own. They will see the truth of the facts they learn for themselves, perhaps challenge some of them, remember them all better, and have fun, too. You might even learn something you’d forgotten from the experience!