Living science, Nature Study, and Home Science Tools

I would love some help planning science for our upcoming 1st/4th grade year. I’m looking for a resource/website/blog that lists living books by topic and offers hands-on activity ideas for each topic. So far my dc have been nature journaling and learning a lot from nature stories. I’ve loosely added a science component for my 3rd grader this year based on zoology and mans relationship with animals by reading living books like Gentle Ben and A Dolphin Named Bob, and following that up with animal encyclopedia research and notebooking/narrating. We are learning to draw animals when we notebook too. It’s fun, BUT:

1. I’m wondering if we should go deeper, such as studying Life Science and learning the different classifications, etc. I’d like to cover Earth Science with living books while learning terminology, etc.

2. I love the Home Science Tools website but I have NO idea where to start or what to order.

My 3rd grader is in his second session of a science program offered in our area where they study a topic using hands-on materials. He loves it, and there is nothing textbook about it. The first session was called Daring Designs and the children built a different design each week and learned about engineering, etc (all designs were different, the children could creatively come up with their own designs for each area). Now he’s in a Chemistry class where they are mixing “options” and baking, etc. it’s very well done.

Is there any resource like this? Where a topic is covered in 8 weeks or so using all hands-on activities and living books, with maybe some info for me to share with him? The next session of the program is Life Cycle. My son has chosen not to take this next session but I’d love to do something like this at home.

I don’t want anything texbookish, and I’m not interested in worksheets/video instruction.

Thanks for any help!

Vanessa