"Planning" BFSU

[buddingnaturalistParticipant]

I love the flexibility of BFSU and how all of the threads are integrated with each other. However, when I tried to make lesson plans, I would get overwhelmed every time I looked at the flow chart!

Instead, I typed out a list of the lesson names along with their prerequisites, which I printed and cut out into strips.

This allowed me to experiment and rearrange as needed until I came up with a progression which worked best for our family. It also helped me visualize what topics we would be working on at a given time of year and adjust it so that topics such as plants could be covered in the spring.

In case anyone else finds this method to be useful, here is the prerequisite list for the second edition of BFSU in a printer-friendly format:

A/B-1 Organizing Things into Categories
Prerequisites: None

A-2 Solids, Liquids, and Gases and Change with Temperature
Prerequisites: A/B-1

A-3 Air is a Substance and the Concept of Atmosphere
Prerequisites: A-2, B-2, D-1

A-4 Matter I: Its Particulate Nature
Prerequisites: A-2, A-3

A-5 Distinguishing Materials
Prerequisites: A/B-1, A-2

A-5A Magnets and Magnetic Fields
Prerequisites: A-5, D-3A

A-6 Matter II: Air Pressure, Vacuums, and the Earth’s Atmosphere
Prerequisites: A-3, A-4, D-1

A-7 Air: A Mixture of Gases (Mixtures and Chemical Reactions)
Prerequisites: A-4, A-5, B-3, C-3, [A-8 close proximity]

A-8 Matter III: Evaporation and Condensation; The Basis of the Water Cycle
Prerequisites: C-1, A-2, A-4, A-6

A-9 Matter IV: Dissolve, Solutions, and Crystallization
Prerequisites: A-4, A-7, A-8

A-10 Rocks, Minerals, Crystals, Dirt, and Soil
Prerequisites: A-4, A-5, A-9, B-2

B-2 Distinguishing Living or Biological, Natural Earth, and Human-Made Things
Prerequisites: A/B-1, A-2

B-3 The Plant and Animal Kingdoms: Distinguishing Between Plants and Animals
Prerequisites: B-2, C-1, C-3

B-4 Life Cycles
Prerequisites: B-2, B-3, [B-4A may be concurrent]

B-4A Identifications of Living Things and Why Plants and Animals Live Where They Do
Prerequisites: B-2, B-3

B-4B What is a Species?
Prerequisites: B-4, [B-4A concurrent]

B-5 Concepts of Adaptations, Food Chains, and Energy Flow
Prerequisites: C-1, B-3, B-4, B-4A [concurrent], D-4 [may be concurrent]

B-5A Adaptations and Survival
Prerequisites: B-4, B-4A [concurrent/ongoing], B-5

B-6 How Animals Move I: The Skeleton and Muscle System
Prerequisites: None

B-7 How Animals Move II: Different Body Designs; Major Animal Phyla
Prerequisites: B-3, B-4A, B-5, B-5A, B-6

B-8 How Animals Move III: Coordinating Body Movements; The Nervous System
Prerequisites: A-7, A-9, B-6, C-1, C-3A

B-9 How Animals Move IV: Energy to Run the Body (Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology)
Prerequisites: A-7, A-9, B-7, B-8, C-4

B-10 Plant Science I: Basic Plant Structure and Reproduction
Prerequisites: A-7, B-4, B-4A, B-4B, B-5A

B-11 Plant Science II: Germination, Seedling Growth, and Responses
Prerequisites: B-5A, B-10, C-3

B-12 Plants, Soil, Water, and Erosion
Prerequisites: A-10, B-5, B-9, B-11, D-8

C-1 Concepts of Energy I: Making Things Go
Prerequisites: None; Integrate with A-2, B-3, D-1

C-2 Sound, Vibrations, and Energy
Prerequisites: A-3, A-4, C-1

C-3 Concepts of Energy II: Kinetic and Potential Energy and the Flow of Energy
Prerequisites: A-2, A-4, B-2, C-1, D-1, B-3 [may be concurrent]

C-3A Energy and Force
Prerequisites: C-1, C-3, D-1

C-4 Concepts of Energy III: Distinguishing Between Matter and Energy
Prerequisites: A-2, A-3, A-4, C-1, C-3

C-5 Inertia
Prerequisites: C-1, C-3, C-3A, C-4

C-6 Friction
Prerequisites: C-1, C-2, C-3, C-3A, C-4, C-5

C-7 Push Pushes Back
Prerequisites: C-1, C-3, C-5, C-6

D-1 Gravity I: The Earth’s Gravity; Horizontal and Vertical
Prerequisites: None; Integrate with A-3, C-1, C-3, C-3A

D-2 Day and Night and the Earth’s Rotation
Prerequisites: D-1, D-3 [concurrent or soon after]

D-3 Reading and Drawing Maps
Prerequisites: None

D-3A North, East, South, and West
Prerequisites: D-2, D-3 [previously or concurrently]

D-4 Land Forms and Major Biomes of the Earth
Prerequisites: D-3, D-3A, B-4A [concurrently], [ties in with A-8]

D-5 Time and the Earth’s Turning
Prerequisites: D-2, D-3, D-3A

D-6 Seasonal Changes and the Earth’s Orbit
Prerequisites: D-2, D-3A, D-4, D-5, [concurrent with B-4A]

D-7 Gravity II: Rate of Fall, Weightlessness in Space, and Distinction Between Mass and Weight
Prerequisites: D-1, A-3, A-4, C-5, C-6

D-8 Rocks and Fossils
Prerequisites: D-4, A-10

E-1 Resources: Developing an Overview
Prerequisites: A-5, A-10, B-2, B-12, C-1

[carriedeParticipant]

Thank you for this list!

To help me organzie/plan, I’ve written each lesson on an index card along with page numbers, prereqs, materials needed, and special considerations for that lesson. Now I can order them however I see fit and easily redo it if needed!

[grhuffParticipant]

Thanks! This is great.

[ATPisitParticipant]

Oh, Carriede, what I would give to see those cards!!!!

[hmreesParticipant]

What a great idea! I just got my copy of BFSU, and am planning to start using it with my two oldest boys (ages 7.5 and 5.5, 2nd grade and kindergarten) at the end of March. I was a little daunted in trying to figure out what to do when, and this suggestion is so helpful, thank you!

[Author]

Posts