Things to See & Do in Alabama
Sci-Quest
Located in a 40,000 square foot facility within America's second largest research park in Huntsville, Sci-Quest boasts more than 150 interactive exhibits covering areas of science such as engineering; electricity and magnetism; world ecosystems and weather sciences; fluid dynamics; physiology; waves, light and sound; chemistry and material sciences; and early childhood education. Sci-Quest's newest component is the one-of-a-kind Immersive Theater. This new format captivates audiences with majestic, high-definition 3D images projected onto a 12 ft. by 26 ft. screen and state-of-the-art stereo surround sound. Visitors are given control of the various program scenarios through the use of touch-screen monitors and pop-up facts and questions, enabling each audience member to have an individually customized experience. Sci-Quest offers more than 200 public educational programs each year for children of all ages. Instead of using a traditional classroom format, however, Sci-Quest's science educators use interactive demonstrations and hands-on experiments to enhance the audience's experience.
Southern Museum of Flight
Visit the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham to see some of the machines that helped the world take to the skies. Aircraft on display include one of Delta Air Line's first planes, a Huff Daland crop duster, a 1912 Curtiss Pusher replica, an A-12 Blackbird and F- 4 jet fighter. The museum also houses aviation memorabilia, including the gloves worn by Germany's Red Baron on his last flight, a landing light used by the Wright Brothers at their Montgomery flying school and artifacts from the "Flying Tigers" of World War II. Also features historic photos and the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame. The Flight Simulator Hangar offers an opportunity for pilots of all ages to try their wings.
Mercedes-Benz Visitor's Center Museum
Explore the pioneering spirit of the people who developed the first automobile in 1886. Witness some of the greatest racing triumphs in history. Discover the technological innovations that make the Mercedes-Benz stand out among the world's safest automobiles. Each exhibit takes you one step closer to understanding why Mercedes-Benz is a world leader in automotive performance, engineering, safety and quality.
Air Force Enlisted Heritage Hall
The Air Force Enlisted Heritage Research Institute is dedicated to preserving the rich and dramatic heritage and tradition of the enlisted corps of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army Aeronautical Division, Air Service, Air Corps and Air Forces in the development of air power to defend the United States. The Institute achieves this by featuring artifacts, art collections, and pictorial exhibits, written and oral documentation, audiovisuals, equipment, and selected aircraft parts. Additionally, students use the in-house and on-line research capabilities to enhance learning and complete enlisted heritage research projects. It is located at Maxwell AFB, Gunter Annex in Montgomery, Alabama.
Mercedes-Benz U.S.International Factory Tour
The Mercedes-Benz Visitor Center showcases the history, quality, safety, and innovation of Mercedes-Benz. Offers guided walking factory tours showcasing how the M-Class is built. The factory is located in Tuscaloosa.
Electrified Learning Tour
The best way to learn about electricity is to come see for yourself by touring a power plant. You'll learn how power plants change energy into electricity. Come see each process at work: a hydroelectric dam, a fossil fuel generator, or a nuclear reactor. The tour is free.
McWane Center
See the wonders of our world in action, and leave with new-found perspectives. Through amazing hands-on exhibits, larger-than-life IMAX® films and quality educational programs, McWane Center in Birmingham strives to make learning an adventure for all ages. Features ScienceQuest, Just Mice Size, and World of Water exhibits.
Physical Science Teaching Tips & Ideas
Physics Songs
A collection of wacky physics songs on everything from waves and oscillations to solid state physics, and more. A funny way to learn some of the concepts in physics.
How I Teach a Large Family in a Relaxed, Classical Way: Science
Family style learning is a great way to tackle lots of different subjects, including science.
Physical Science Activities & Experiments
ExploraVision
ExploraVision is a competition for all students in grades K-12 attending a school in the U.S., Canada, U.S. Territory or a Department of Defense school. Homeschooled students are eligible to enter. It is designed to encourage students to combine their imagination with their knowledge of science and technology to explore visions of the future. Teams of students select a technology, research how it works and why it was invented, and then project how that technology may change in the future. They must then identify what breakthroughs are required for their vision to become a reality and describe the positive and negative consequences of their technology on society. Winning ideas have focused on things as simple as ballpoint pens and as complex as satellite communications. The student teams write a paper and draw a series of Web page graphics to describe their idea. Regional winners make a Web site and a prototype of their future vision.
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Featured Resources

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A Little Way of Homeschooling
This book is a compilation of the experiences of 13 different homeschoolers and how they incorporated an unschooling style of teaching in their homes. This book addresses the question of whether a Catholic can happily and successfully unschool. This home education approach is presented as a sensible way to access the mystery of learning, in which it operates not as an ideology in competition with the Catholic faith, but rather a flexible and individual homeschooling path. 
Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning: An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education
Author Douglas Wilson makes the argument that education must have a foundation of religion, which informs worldview. Education is the asking and answering of questions, and learning to read and write is simply the process of acquiring the tools needed to do that. 
For the Learners' Sake: Brain-Based Instruction for the 21st Century
This proposal for a platform of education reform needed to prepare students for a 21st-century workplace and society draws on information and ideas from two current areas in neuroscience: brain research (physiology and applications to learning) and systems thinking (mental models). Analyzing the history of education methodology over the past two centuries, this book shows how the 19th-century factory model prevalent in schools today fail to produce the kinds of flexible thinkers and problem solv...
A Charlotte Mason Education: A Home Schooling How-To Manual
The immensely popular ideas of Charlotte Mason have inspired educators for many decades. Her unique methodology as written about in her six-volume series established the necessary protocols for an education above and beyond that which can be found in traditional classroom settings. In A Charlotte Mason Education, Catherine Levison has collected the key points of Charlotte Mason's methods and presents them in a simple, straightforward way that will allow families to quickly maximize the opportuni...
Visual Brainstorms
Children who love word games, logic puzzles, secret codes, mazes, and math mysteries will stretch their mental muscles with Visual Brain Storms. This set of 100 cards, each of which includes a humorous, full-color drawing, promises "the world's best brainteaser questions." The characters in the questions often have funny names (Professor Pith Bugby pops up often) or faces or dilemmas to solve. The answers and explanations are on the back of each card, along with a related bonus question. Many of...