Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Science Should be Fun and Gooey

This year we did something that we've never done so far in our 5+ years of schooling.... we bought a brand new full blown Science curriculum.

Some of you are thinking, well, what did you use for science before. We used experiment books:) And science encyclopedias, library books on what we were studying and gotta love Magic School Bus;)

While we learned lots about all aspects of Science, these last 5+ weeks of using Apologia has been awesome!! We purchased the brand new Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics textbook and notebooks (one for each of the kids).

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Chris working on making an oxygen atom to join his two hydrogen atoms;)
 I like the emphasis of explaining the concepts using very kid-friendly language and examples.

 I love that they use the real scientific words and we get to practice using them as they notebook and work on activities. I feel like we've already learning at a deeper level than what the experiment books (and all the "extras" I was trying to add) were giving us.

And we all love that it's very hands-on:)

While I'd love to say I do the hands-on activities and labs/projects as we're reading... I don't :/ Usually I save some of the messy stuff for a quiet afternoon when we can really dig into the activities and not have to rush through them.

Here is a recent LAB DAY!!  Which resulted in two kids and a dog needing a bath... LOL!! A good lab day;)
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working on lab/project reports with Nate joining in with his "notebook"

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the classic floating egg experiment to introduce density


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lava bottle - oil, water and alka seltzer to demonstrate chemical reactions

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challenge to build ship that will float with the weight of pennies, counting out pennies on Chris' vessel

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Anna's turn!!

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And this was an activity from the following week that we all thought was cool;) Cornstarch and water....

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The gooey cornstarch concoction had both liquid and solid tendencies! Introducing all of us to all sorts of new terms;)

Even just looking back at our science fun makes me smile and know why they are excited when I say it's Science or Lab Day;) We definitely have loved using Apologia Science!!! 

Who wouldn't when it's this fun and gooey!

Have you used Apologia before? Which unit do you recommend??

*** We have done this post completely without the request of Apologia or any company related to their products; purchasing all books and supplies on our own as well. We will not, nor have not, profited financially from this post or any links from this post! We just really have enjoyed it and we wanted to share our great experience!***

1 comment:

Michele said...

We are reviewing this book right now! Love it! I have used all the others with great success. Apologia is a wonderful company. Looks like your kids had a lot of fun...that is what homeschooling should be about! Good for you!