Study of the Human Body: Includes Worksheets and Free Test

This will be our fifth year homeschooling and we are starting up the life science cycle of the trivium for the second time.  When we first began homeschooling I purchased all Apologia's elementary science books, but back then they did not have a book for the human body.  Since "necessity is the mother of invention" I wrote a 7 week study of the human body for my then 1st and 3rd graders using four books:

World Book's - Young Scientist - Human Body/Communication (pages 9-61)

Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (pages 98-143)

The Human Body Super Science Activities - worksheets/activities

Reader's Digest How the Body Works

I have linked the books to Amazon for your convenience.

A quick look at the 7 week schedule:
To use this curriculum I had my children read the required pages from either the Kingfisher or the World Book's.  Then if they were old enough they would write a short synopsis or, if they were younger, I would have them tell me what they remembered and then I would write it down for them.  I also included quite a bit of activities from either the Super Science Activities or the Reader's Digest.  If I couldn't find an activity I liked from my own books I found few worksheets and activities on line.  At the end of the 7 weeks I wrote up a final test.   I have included the 7 week schedule, the extra activities and worksheets, and a final test in the following link:  Human Body Curriculum.

This make your own skeleton
is included in my 7 week
schedule of the human body.

What else you should know:
First off, I admit this is a quick study of the 12 systems of the human body and it can be tough to get it all done in seven weeks.  We do science 5 days a week, but I know many families only spend 2-3 days a week on science.  If this is the case, just slow things down.

Second, in regards to the books.  The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia is a fairly difficult book for the average first grader to read and for most of the lessons I had my younger child read the World Book's - Young Scientist (though now and then the youngest read the Kingfisher).  Most of the activities came from the Super Science Activities book, but now and then I supplemented with the Reader's Digest or a worksheet I found on line.

If you are frugal like me and want to save money I would suggest only purchasing the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia for the main text.  The reason I suggest this is every lesson uses the Kingfisher.  As I said earlier, Kingfisher is a bit tough for a young child to read, but it can be done and the book is a wonderful resource to have in your school room.  If you think Kingfisher is too difficult for your child to read, then you would also need to purchase the World Book.  It is no longer in print, but you can find it used for a reasonable price.  Or, don't purchase either book and use my schedule to find suitable articles on line for your child to read.

The second book I would suggest purchasing is the Science Activities Book as there are some truly wonderful activities in it.  But again, if you are extremely frugal this book is not necessary as you could find similar activities on line.  The Reader's Digest is rarely used, but I included it in my curriculum since I already had it on the bookshelf and it offered some fun alternatives.

Finally, for reproduction, which is studied week #7, I had my children read some wonderful books from Concordia Publishing House.  There are two sets of books, one written for boys and one for girls with 6 books in each set.  The first book starts at the basics for ages 4-6 and the last book in the series discusses marriage.  I just had my children read the book for their age level.  Here is a quote from the publisher:

From preschoolers to adults, the updated and revised Learning About Sex series makes the awesome gift of sexuality understandable to all. Age-appropriate language and graphics throughout the six books help the reader recognize gender differences as one of God's great gifts designed as part of His creation plan.

I hope this schedule for the human body will help you in your homeschool.  Please let me know how it works and if there are any errors or if I should add or subtract from it.  I am always looking to make our homeschool better and I hope this helps make your school better too.