Learning About Science Level 1 ~ Review

I’m not a science person and it takes me a long time to research what science curriculum to use each year. My oldest son loves science and I wish I had had these science supplements from WriteBonnieRose when he was younger. I am using the Learning About Science Collection, Level 1 with my 7 year old daughter. She also loves learning about animals and how things work. The level 1 science collection includes Familiar Plants and How They Grow, Fruits and Vegetables Around the World, Animal Habitats of the World, Our Senses and Systems and How They Work, Learning About Life Cycles, Earth: Layers, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes, and Exploring States of Matter.

This science collection comes as a pdf download and has pictures to color and simple copywork. Each topic is a different length. We worked through the senses topic and it is 19 pages long. It can be easily finished in a short time. Each page has a short paragraph to read. There are pictures to color and a word or multiple words for your child to trace. At the end of each topic/book there is a review for your child to see how much they remember about the topic.Some of  the other topics/books are around 30-40 pages. The one my daughter was most interested in is Animal Habitats of the World and the book is 51 pages! We are still working through this one and my daughter is loving it . The topics within this topic are African Savannahs, the Arctic, the Desert, the Australian Bush, Antarctic, the Beach, Caves, Coral Reef, Cypress Swamps, Farms, Fresh Water, Prairies, Forests, Bamboo Forest, Rain Forest, Mountains, Pets, and Oceans. There are so many animals to learn about where they live, what they can do, and how big some of them grow. This has been my daughters favorite topic/book so far and she loves learning about all of the different animals of the world.

While looking through the other topics to decide what to use next, I liked how the Life Cycle book is laid out. It tells about different animals and how they grow from a baby to an adult. It talks about how some animals lay eggs and how some animals start off as larva. It also tells about how mammals look when they are born and how they will look when they are older.

You will also receive a discussion guide with the level which tells about different websites to visit to learn more about each topic if you wanted to expand each topic/book.

My daughter has enjoyed going through the topics and learning more about God’s world. She (and I) love that the lessons can be short or long depending on the interest of your child. She loves to color and loves that the pictures are black and white and can be colored the way she wants them. I also like that the topics are kid friendly and focus on creation. I highly recommend these science packets if you are just looking to supplement or if you want to use these as your main science for the year.

Right now, until August 15,  WriteBonnieRose id offering my readers a 50% discount on any of the science levels with the coupon code REVIEWCREW50.

Go Science (Series 2) DVD’s ~ Review

We recently were given two Go Science (Series 2) DVD’s from Library and Educational Services to review.  Library and Educational Services is a wholesale distributor that sells products to homeschools, churches, missionaries, schools, and some others. They have been in business for 35 years. They offer material that is wholesome and Christian related.



About Go Science DVD’s:

The Go Science Series 2 DVD’s are a collection of segments that were originally shown on a Christian television broadcast. They are hosted by Ben Roy. He has an audience of children where he picks out a few to be his volunteers. There are approximately 10-15 segments (of experiments) on each DVD. Each segment lasts approximately 3-10 minutes. Each DVD has about one hour of science experiments on them. Ben Roy tells the children which experiments are safe to do at home and which are probably not safe (fire tornado). He also talks about the Bible and God throughout the experiments.

These DVD’s are recommended for ages 4-12 and are available for $8.97 each or $59.82 for the set of seven.



Our DVD’s:

We picked out Volume 2 and Volume 6 to review.

Volume 2 is about Life Science and Weather and has the following experiments on the DVD:

Life Science:

• Flashlight-Animal Eyes
• Animal Skulls
• Bobby Pins
• What Are You Looking At?
• How Much Do Your Lungs Hold?
• Eating Nails for Breakfast
• Naked Eggs

Weather:

• Fire Tornado
• Ping Pong Cannon
• Liquid Nitrogen Cloud
• Cloud in a Bottle
• Garbage Can Vortex

Volume 6 is about Chemistry and has the following experiments:

Chemistry 1:

• Milk and Food Coloring
• Elephant's Toothpaste
• Stains
• Staying Dry-Diapers
• Lava Lamp

Chemistry 2:

• Instant Snow
• Silly Slime
• Hydrogen Bubbles
• Grain Elevator
• HHO Generator
• Mentos Fountain

 

How we used the DVD’s:

My boys (the science lovers in the house) wanted to watch the Life Science/ Weather (Volume 2) DVD first. Since these DVD’s are an hour long, I had them watch 3-4 segments at a time. Even though you are able to choose which segment you want to watch from the main menu, we watched them in order so I could remember where we left off. My boys favorite experiments from the volume 2 DVD were naked eggs and fire tornado. My 8 year old daughter said her favorite one was the garbage can vortex. My 3 year old also enjoyed watching the segments.

After we finished volume 2, we watched volume 6, chemistry. We again only watched 3-4 segments at a time on this DVD. My favorite experiment on this DVD was the instant snow. My boys  and older daughter liked the silly slime experiment best.

What we thought:
My boys and girls did like watching the videos, but my oldest who is 12, thought they were a little “babyish” for his age level. He did say he liked watching all of the experiments, but wanted something more mature. He also told me, “Since I want to be a Creationist, I liked how Mr. Roy talked about how the Bible fits in with the experiments.”

My 10 year old son said he enjoyed the experiments and “we should watch them again during the school year.” My 8 year old said she liked them and would watch it again during science time.

My thoughts: I enjoyed watching these with my kids. Mr. Roy is very energetic and loves to get the children in the audience involved. He explains the experiments well. We will definitely use these videos during our science time in the fall, especially if the segment pertains to what we are learning. I really liked how Mr. Roy tied in the Bible and God with each experiment and always ended each segment with the same quote ~ “Every time we learn something about science, we learn something about our Creator...God!"

I liked that when you put the DVD in, there was a main menu to choose which segment you want to watch. That will help in the future when trying to find a specific segment. I do wish the experiments were listed on the DVD case, though. But that is such a minor thing. I am giving these DVD’s 5 stars.

Amazing Science DVD ~ Review

Have you ever wanted to do some science experiments with your child but don’t know where or how to get started? Do you want to do science experiments without the mess? Or do you want simple science experiments that use items from around the house? Then, Amazing Science, Volume 1 DVD from ScienceandMath.com may be for you.

I am going to admit that I really don’t like doing science experiments with my children because of the mess some of them can make. I also can’t explain the science behind some of the experiments that my children would want to do. I was interested in the Amazing Science DVD because it looked like something my children could benefit from.

 

 
What is Amazing Science?
Amazing Science, Volume 1 is a 2 disc DVD with twenty three experiments for your 1st through 3rd grader to watch. The experiments are demonstrated and explained by Jason Gibson who worked as a Rocket Scientist for NASA. Each experiment is shown step by step. The science behind the experiment is explained to the student after the experiment is shown. Each experiment is short and does not take a lot of time. Most of the experiments take under 10 minutes.

Many of the experiments use items from around the house such as milk, dish soap, empty glass, candle, string, paper, and batteries (just to name a few). A few items that you may not have around the house are copper pipe, dry ice, and a flat battery.

 
 
 
How We Used The DVD:
I put the DVD in for my 3rd grade daughter during our science time about three times a week. She (and her brothers who were also interested) watched the experiment on the DVD and, if we had the materials, did the experiment after watching the DVD. We did not do all of the experiments, just a handful. We only did the ones that the kids wanted to see in real life.
 
What We Thought:
My school age children are 12, 10, and 8 years old. Even though the recommended grades for this DVD are 1st through 3rd grade, my boys enjoyed watching these experiments and learning some new things.

Some of their favorite experiments that we did were color changing milk, egg in a bottle, ocean in a bottle, and soda can fizz. Some of the favorite experiments that we did not do were build a lemon battery, unburnable money, and dry ice bubbles.

My boys enjoyed this DVD more than my daughter. My boys are into science and love reading all that they can about science. In fact, my 12 year old wants to be a scientist when he grows up, so he really enjoyed watching and doing the experiments. My daughter said she liked watching the experiments, but the explanations were sometimes boring.

I enjoyed watching and doing the experiments with them. They are very easy to set up and only take a few minutes for us to do them.

This is just a small thing, but one con of the DVD is that the materials were listed right before each experiment. There is no main list anywhere on the DVD or website. I had to go through and watch the beginning of each experiment and write down the materials needed to make sure we had them on hand. It would be nice if a pdf list was either available on the DVD or on the website. 
 
Check out some sample science experiments, and follow ScienceandMath.com on Facebook.

Amazing Science, Volume 1 DVD is available on their website for $17.95. It is also available for download for $14.99.

Be sure to check out what the other Schoolhouse Crew members thought about this DVD and also some math  DVD’s.

Apologia: Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics ~ Review

My children love science, but the science curriculum we have been using for the past 7 years was starting to get too repetitive and not challenging enough for my boys. I was hoping to be able to review a science curriculum this year. I am so glad we were able to review Apologia Educational Ministries newest science curriculum, “Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics.” We were also able to review each of the journals that go along with this curriculum. My 3rd grade daughter used the Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior Notebooking Journal and my 5th and 6th grade boys shared the Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Notebooking Journal.

 

About Apologia:

Apologia is a Christian homeschool company that was started by just a few families who wanted a good, solid Christian based science curriculum. Apologia means to defend. Apologia science is designed to help the student “make a reasoned defense of the Christian Faith.”

About Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics textbook:

This textbook is part of the Young Explorers Series and is written by Jeannie Fulbright. The elementary science is designed for children in grades K-6th. Apologia homeschool science curriculum follows a Charlotte Mason approach.

The textbook is a hard cover, full color book that is 272 pages long (lessons, supply list, and index). There are 14 lessons filled with so much information and many experiments. Each lesson can be taken at your own pace. You are able to spend as little (or as much) time as you would like. The accompanying notebook journals give a suggested schedule.



The lesson topics are as follows:

• Chemistry and Physics Matter
• Moving Matter
• Building Blocks of Creation
• Compound Matter
• Multitude of Mixtures
• Mechanics in Motion
• Dynamics of Motion
• Work in the World
• Sound of Energy
• Light of the World
• Thermal Energy
• Electrifying Our World
• Mysterious Magnetism
• Simple Machines

Each lesson includes many “Try This” experiments that use everyday around the house items. These mini experiments help the child understand the concept that is being taught.



The textbook includes a great introduction that explains the notebooking activities, projects and experiments, and how to use the book. Each lesson gives the child a chance to explain what they have learned so far. The end of the lesson gives the child the notebooking activities they are to complete.

About the Notebook Journals:

 

These Notebooking Journals are filled with many activities, copywork pages, “test it out” experiments, and end of lesson questions. The junior notebook, designed for younger students, also has coloring pages throughout the book.

How we used the curriculum:

I read the lesson pages to my children and when we got to a “try this” section, we would read it and decide if we wanted to do it. We did not do all of the”try this” experiments, but we did do several of them. We followed the lesson plans in the notebooking journal. It gives a guide of doing each lesson in two weeks. I went with the suggested daily schedule since I was using this with my 3rd, 5th, and 6th graders. My 3rd grader likes to go at a slower pace than the boys. My daughter worked in the junior notebooking journal while my boys shared the regular notebooking journal. Both of the boys dislike doing any copywork, so I had them take turns doing it.

What we thought:

My 5th and 6th grade boys are really enjoying this science curriculum. It is such a change to what we have been doing. They love all of the hands on experiments. My 6th grader wants to be a scientist when he grows up and this curriculum is right up his alley. He kind of wouldn’t listen while I was reading because he “already knows all of it.” He has learned some new things and cannot wait to do the many more experiments in the book. My 5th grader also loves science. He said he learned some new things and liked all of the experiments we did. My 3rd grade daughter said she was bored during the lesson, but liked to work in her notebooking journal. :)

I have really enjoyed using this curriculum and will definitely be looking into the other titles in this series for next year (or when we finish this book).

My favorite things were :

• A Christian curriculum
• Has many hands on experiments
• Can be used with multiple grades
• Is easy to understand

The textbook can be purchased for $39. The Notebooking Journal is $24 as well as the Junior Notebooking Journal.

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Science Naturally Review

I was given the opportunity to review One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science by Science Naturally. This book was written by a father and daughter, Eric and Natalie Yoder. One Minute Mysteries is a book that contains 65 short mysteries that you solve with science.  This book is geared for children ages 8-12. One Minute Mysteries is available for $9.95. (Read to the end for a special offer)


 
One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science is split up into four different sections which are Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical and Chemical Science, and General Science. Included in this book is a bonus section of five One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Math.  There is also an index at the back of the book to easily find stories.

How we used this book and what we thought:
When my boys finished their schoolwork for the day, I would sit down and read a few of these stories to them. I would let them tell me what they thought the answer to the story would be.  My oldest son, age 11, loves science and could usually guess the solution. My younger son, age 9, had to really think about some of the answers and did get a few wrong. Overall, my boys loved this book. They loved that the stories were short and that they had to figure out the solution. When I finished reading them the stories, they went back through and re-read some of them again. They give this book 5 stars! I really enjoyed reading this book to my boys to find out how much they really knew about science. It also helped strengthen their listening skills. They had to pay attention so they could get the answer. I also give this book 5 stars!

Special offer:
You can purchase any 3 books at Science Naturally for only $19.95 with a shipping rate of $2.95. Just enter coupon code 3SPEC in the shopping cart at checkout.