Lessons By Design
Mary Anne Cheraz
Learning Through Discovery
Science & Writing
We bridge the gap between curiosity and mastery with immersive science labs and structured writing workshops designed for experiential growth.
Science Lab Fun !
Active exploration in every lesson!
About...
Mary Anne Cheraz
Mary Anne Cheraz has taught students of all ages for over 30 years in a variety of settings including public, private, homeschool, enrichment, intervention, and online classes/tutoring. She is a fully credentialed teacher who enjoys working closely with parents and students to address individual growth and progress. Watching students enjoy classes that she has created is one of her most favorite activities.
Mary Anne was originally a registered nurse which has fueled her love of the sciences. Mary Anne has also enjoyed the art of writing since she was very young. Over the years she has written grants, articles, and many pieces both serious and funny. She is a wife, mother, and homeschooling parent.
Contact: pathfinders.ed@gmail.com OR
lessonsbydesign2015@gmail.com
Science & Writing
Join Our Local Weekly In-Person Lessons! in Glendora and San Dimas
Online Tutoring Upon Request
[ Subject to Availability}
Science 2nd - 8th
Writing 6th - 8th
Schedule and Locations
Pricing
All classes $300 per Semester
[ For Self-pay or Direct Charter Vendorships ]
Fall dates: August 31, 2026 - December 14, 2026
Spring dates: January 25, 2027 - May 20, 2027
Charter Vendorships
Aveson
Blue Ridge
Cabrillo Point
Compass
Excel
Granite Mountain
Innovations Learning Academy
Sage Oak
Sky Mountain
Taylion
Any other charter students, please use Homeschool Coaches for PO and make PO for $353
Class Descriptions
Science of Energy 6th-8th Fall
FALL: Energy and
SPRING: Marine Biology.
FALL: ENERGY! Get ready to turn up the energy! In this hands- on class. We will dive deeper into the wild world of Energy!
We’ll cook up heat experiments while tracking temperature changes and watching heat transfer in action. We’ll play with light using lenses, mirrors, and diffraction gratings to measure angles, follow how light bends (refraction), and split white light into a rainbow of colors. We’ll make sound ‘visible’ as we explore sound waves, amplitude, and frequency. Then we’ll spark things up with chemical energy and reactions that show how energy can be stored, released, and transformed.
Class will include weekly readings and homework assignments. There will be a test at the end of the semester. If you are enrolled in two Cheraz middle school science classes, you can choose for which class you wish to complete the homework.
Marine Biology 6th-8th Spring
FALL: Energy and
SPRING: Marine Biology.
SPRING: MARINE BIOLOGY
Dive into the science of the sea in this hands-on marine biology class! You’ll examine real marine specimens—shells, seaweeds, and preserved sea creatures—and use microscopes to zoom in. As you build and model food webs, you’ll see how predators, prey, and decomposers are all connected in coral reefs, the open ocean, the deep sea, and tide pools.
You’ll investigate amazing adaptations like camouflage, bioluminescence, and streamlined bodies that help animals survive crashing waves, total darkness, and crushing deep-sea pressure. In the 'lab', you’ll test how salinity, temperature, and pH affect marine-like environments and the organisms that live there.
**Field trip to the Tide Pools or Aquarium in Spring!
Class will include weekly readings and homework assignments. There will be a test at the end of the semester.
Astronomy 6th-8th Fall
FALL: Astronomy and
SPRING: Anatomy
FALL: ASTRONOMY
Grab your notebook and your curiosity and get ready to explore the vast and surreal universe! How do we know what stars are made of? Why do some planets have rings and others don’t? What actually happens near a black hole, and how do galaxies form and change over time? Using hands-on simulations, simple math, and physical models with light sources, we’ll analyze craters, orbits, gravity, and explore phases of the Moon, eclipses, and seasons.
You’ll use real or simulated telescope images and star charts to identify constellations, star types, and deep-sky objects, and explore how stars live and die—from nebulae to red giants, supernovas, neutron stars, and black holes. Through labs, simulations, and data-based activities, we will investigate the universe!
**Field trip to the Planetarium in the Fall !
Class will include weekly readings and homework assignments. There will be a test at the end of the semester.
Anatomy 6th-8th Spring
FALL: Astronomy and
SPRING: Anatomy
SPRING: ANATOMY Welcome to the upgraded Body Lab, where we treat the body like a high‑tech system to be investigated, measured, and understood. We will investigate both the structures and how they function. Learn about the chambers of the heart and its electrical system. How do your lungs and blood work together to trade oxygen and carbon dioxide? What’s really happening in your neurons when you feel pain, react to a fast ball, or remember a song?
We’ll analyze detailed models of major body systems (circulatory, respiratory, digestive, nervous, musculoskeletal), measure and graph your own physiological data (like heart rate recovery, breathing rate, and reaction time), and investigate homeostasis—how your body maintains balance in temperature, hydration, and energy levels. Through labs and data analysis, you’ll think like a biomedical scientist.
Class will include weekly readings and homework assignments. There will be a test at the end of the semester.
Boom Room 3rd-5th Fall
FALL: Boom Room, Energy and
SPRING: Marine Biology.
FALL: BOOM ROOM!
The Science of Energy! From tiny, quiet glows to big, booming blasts, we’ll investigate how energy zooms around, changes shape, and makes our world do all its coolest tricks.
We’ll experiment with sizzling heat, we'll bend and bounce beams of light, make invisible sound waves dance, tinker with chemical energy and energy transformations.
In the Boom Room, if it buzzes, bounces, flashes, or booms, we’re testing it! Class will include optional weekly readings and homework assignments.
Marine Biology 3rd-5th Spring
FALL: Energy and
SPRING: Marine Biology.
SPRING: MARINE BIOLOGY
Splash into science in this wacky, hands-on marine biology class, where the ocean is your laboratory and curiosity is your snorkel!
You’ll examine real marine specimens—shells, squishy seaweeds, and some very strange-looking preserved sea creatures. You’ll build food webs and study ecosystems to discover who eats whom in coral reefs, the open ocean, the deep sea, and tide pools, and find out why even “gross” decomposers are ocean heroes.
We’ll investigate wild adaptations like camouflage (the ultimate underwater hide-and-seek), glowing bioluminescence (nature’s glow sticks), and odd and freaky body structures. **Best of all, we’ll take a field trip to the tide pools or aquarium in spring, where you can meet real marine organisms face-to-face (or face-to-tentacle)!
Optional at home reading and assignments provided.
Astronomy 3rd-5th Fall
FALL: Astronomy and
SPRING: Anatomy
FALL: ASTRONOMY
In this Wacky Science Astronomy class, we’ll zip past planets, dodge asteroids, make space snacks, and search for the strangest space facts we can find. Do stars really twinkle? Why is Mars red—did space ketchup spill? What would happen if you tried to have a picnic on the Moon?
Together we’ll explore planets, moons, stars, galaxies, and black holes, and discover what’s REALLY out there! Through games, experiments, crafts, and lots of laughter, students will learn real space science while using their imaginations to the fullest. By the end of class, they’ll know their way around the solar system!
**Field trip to the Planetarium in the Fall !
Optional at home reading and written assignments provided.
Anatomy 3rd-5th Spring
FALL: Astronomy and
SPRING: Anatomy.
SPRING: ANATOMY
In this fun, hands-on anatomy class, you’ll be a “Body Detective,” exploring bones, brains, muscles, and more to figure out how the amazing machine called YOU works. Why does your stomach growl like a hungry bear? What’s really happening when your foot falls asleep or you get goosebumps? How many bones are you carrying around, and could you really “laugh your head off”? We’ll build bendable skeletons, try moving like we have “no bones,” explore how muscles help us run and jump, and follow a bite of food on its journey through the digestive system. You’ll listen to your own heartbeat before and after jumping and dancing, and test your five senses with mystery smells, sound guessing, optical illusions, and tricky touch games. Through goofy games, stories, crafts, and simple experiments, you’ll discover what’s going on under your skin, why bodies burp, blink, breathe, and boogie—and you’ll never look at a hiccup the same way again!
Optional at home reading and assignments provided.
Literature-Based Writing 6th-8th
FALL & SPRING SEMESTER
Students will analyze literature through discussion and writing. Students will learn to structure writing by incorporating the TBEAR paragraph model (Topic-Background-Evidence-Analysis-Return To Topic). Students will advance to five paragraph papers.
A variety of writing genre to be covered with an emphasis on how to think about, organize, and plan writing. Writing genre to include informative, narrative, and argumentative.
One CAASP Writing test prep assignment per semester.
Readings are meant to stimulate class discussion and writing. Selections chosen are award winners or popular texts. Text or audio versions are acceptable. Books are subject to change if necessary. Book test after each text. Books TBD.
No grammar component this year. If grammar is desired go to Tuesday’s grammar class.
Writing Foundations 6th-8th
FALL & SPRING
This class will focus on the 'nuts and bolts' of writing for older elementary and middle school students who need a slower pace to solidify their basic writing skills.
Emphasis will first be placed on creating solid paragraphs early in the year leading up to five paragraph papers by the end.
Students will start with the hamburger
paragraph style and move into T-E-A-R paragraph model.(Topic-Evidence-Analysis-Return To Topic).
The pacing will then follow the students' abilities. When they master the basic skills, students will be advanced to multiple paragraphs later in the year.
A variety of writing genre to be covered with an emphasis on how to think about, organize, and plan writing. Writing genre to include informative, narrative, and persuasive.
We will have one CAASP Writing test prep assignment per semester.
There will not be a grammar component in this class. If desired, please go to Tuesday’s Middle School Grammar class.
Some weeks students will have homework to complete at home, some weeks we will be completing work in class.
frequency.
Grammar 6th-8th
FALL & SPRING
Sharpen your sentences and power up your writing in this no‑nonsense, low‑stress grammar lab. In this class, we won’t just circle errors—we’ll learn how grammar actually works so you can use it on purpose. You’ll break down sentences to see how subjects, verbs, phrases, and clauses fit together, and practice spotting common trouble spots like run-ons, fragments, and comma splices. We’ll experiment with parts of speech, punctuation, and sentence types to see how tiny changes can totally change the meaning or tone of your writing. You’ll revise short paragraphs, fix “grammar fails,” and play with sentence-combining and style so your writing sounds clearer, stronger, and more like you. Through mini-lessons, games, and lots of practice with real examples, you’ll build a solid grammar toolkit you can use in every class—from essays and lab reports to stories and speeches.
Info:
Mary Anne Cheraz
pathfinders.ed@gmail.com OR
lessonsbydesign2015@gmail.com