About the Product
Apologia is an award winning company for homeschool materials. One of the areas where they collect the most awards is through their fantastic science curriculum. Apologia’s newest curriculum,
Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition, is designed to be the first science course taken during junior high. It presents middle school students with an understanding of the world that they are in every day of their lives--and by viewing it this way, help them to appreciate the "real-world relevance of scientific inquiry and the beauty of creation." The General Science course has been rewritten to help walk students from the teacher-led elementary sciences into the independent learning style of the high school sciences.
This Basic Set includes:
Textbook (hardcover)
Student Notebook (spiral bound)
Solutions and Test Manual
Set of Test Pages (included with manual)
The General Science curriculum includes 14 modules:
1. The History of Science--Search for the Truth
2. Scientific Inquiry and the Scientific Method
3. Documenting and Interpreting Experimental Results
4. Scientific Analysis and History
5. Earth Science--Astronomy
6. Earth Science--Geology and Paleontology
7. Earth Science--Meteorology and Oceanography
8. General Chemistry
9. General Physics
10. Life Science
11. General Biology
12. Marine Science
13. Environmental Science
14. Science and Creation
Each of the first 13 modules contains 1 to 3 lab experiments with some minor "explore more" experiments tucked in. The experiments include simple things like improving observation skills, to more detailed projects like making edible ocean layer, making a barometer, and studying fish and shark buoyancy. The culmination of the curriculum is designing a Rube Goldberg Machine in Module 14.
The key element for making this program work is the use of the Student Notebook which provides not only an organized lesson plan for the year, but also lets students check off their progress as they work their way through it. It has journal and question prompts, places for notes, vocabulary, lab charts, and tables to record findings.
While designed to be able to be used independently by the student, the student book also contains pages to assist with grade tracking for the parent.
Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition, is designed to be the first science course taken during junior high. It presents middle school students with an understanding of the world that they are in every day of their lives--and by viewing it this way, help them to appreciate the "real-world relevance of scientific inquiry and the beauty of creation." The General Science course has been rewritten to help walk students from the teacher-led elementary sciences into the independent learning style of the high school sciences.
This Basic Set includes:
Textbook (hardcover)
Student Notebook (spiral bound)
Solutions and Test Manual
Set of Test Pages (included with manual)
The General Science curriculum includes 14 modules:
1. The History of Science--Search for the Truth
2. Scientific Inquiry and the Scientific Method
3. Documenting and Interpreting Experimental Results
4. Scientific Analysis and History
5. Earth Science--Astronomy
6. Earth Science--Geology and Paleontology
7. Earth Science--Meteorology and Oceanography
8. General Chemistry
9. General Physics
10. Life Science
11. General Biology
12. Marine Science
13. Environmental Science
14. Science and Creation
Each of the first 13 modules contains 1 to 3 lab experiments with some minor "explore more" experiments tucked in. The experiments include simple things like improving observation skills, to more detailed projects like making edible ocean layer, making a barometer, and studying fish and shark buoyancy. The culmination of the curriculum is designing a Rube Goldberg Machine in Module 14.
The key element for making this program work is the use of the Student Notebook which provides not only an organized lesson plan for the year, but also lets students check off their progress as they work their way through it. It has journal and question prompts, places for notes, vocabulary, lab charts, and tables to record findings.While designed to be able to be used independently by the student, the student book also contains pages to assist with grade tracking for the parent.
We reviewed this curriculum during our summer school schedule with my 13-year-old.
Our Thoughts on the Product
This curriculum was a good test for us. Thus far we've only had experience with the elementary science curriculum from Apologia. While we liked it, we really wanted to start going in the direction of independent study for my oldest who is entering 8th grade in the 2019-2020 school year. The General Science course is specifically geared to help with that change so I really was curious to see how it was laid out.
One of the first things I noticed is that the Student Notebook is a major step up from the elementary courses. It has all the prompts and questions written out. It is already separated by week/day work noting the readings that had to be done. All the pages are together for easy reference. There are also notes on each assignment throughout the notebook guiding the student to be able to work through it on their own. The student notebook starts with about 15 pages of introduction as well as grading charts, and a daily schedule. Next comes the sections for the Modules which is separated by Module (14 of them) and includes place for the guided module notes, "on your own" questions, and study guide. Next comes the pages for the Lab Reports for each of the modules. Finally the Lab Report Checklist.
The Student Notebook allows for my son to work independently. He simply finds the week/day he's on and works through it. All the reading pages are noted, as well as everything he needs to complete for the day. Once done, he marks them off the daily plan and then off the lesson plan at the front of the notebook.
This notebook really was a major time saver. It didn't just have basic written note spots, but it also included diagrams or pictures to be completed for things like the Explore More sections. It was completely guided and he rarely had to ask me for any assistance. All the experiments were easily recorded in the very back.
A bonus of keeping it all in one notebook--record-keeping or portfolios! This notebook will be a great thing to have tucked away to showcase the learning completed in Science.
So how did we use it? How far did we get?
We are on our summer schedule where we are only doing 1-2 hrs of school 3 days per week. This curriculum is designed to be done 4 days a week for about 45-90 minutes a day. Because we ALSO had to take a break while my son went to a week-long summer camp, we only finished the first module through the study guide and exam. This is about 10 days worth on the lesson planning pages, but for us, it was more due to spacing it out to fit into our schedule--so the 3 weeks worth of work took us the entire review period. I'm not sure how doing science 4 days a week would work in our usual school schedule as we currently only do science in blocks on M/W or T/TH. But I think we could still make it work.
Now a few thoughts from my son regarding this program...
Things he liked
1. The Student Notebook
He liked the way it was designed so he could work through things all on his own. Everything was partially filled in, instead of the lines and lines where he had to guess what to write. He liked having the lab reports laid out for him, as well as having the extra diagrams and photos so he didn't have to do them himself.
2. He liked the way it was laid out day by day. He always knew what had to be done and it was easy to work through it on his own.
3. The text was easy to read and interesting.
4. The Study Guide
He liked that it was a mix of questions including simple multiple choice or true/false. Also that he could use his previous lessons to help answer the questions if he needed to.
5. The Exam
He liked that the Study Guide material prepared him for the exam and that the questions weren't tricky. Also that he could use his notebook for the first module exam in case he forgot anything.
Things he didn't like
1. The Length of the Readings
He felt that some of the readings were pretty long. When he had to read 4-5 pages worth for the day. He asked me to read a couple of those for him.
2. The "boring" experiments
Now--I will put in that this was only the first module. I showed him the other experiments and he decided that there were going to be more exciting experiments later in the book. And he did admit he really liked the mechanical hand he made.
3. The Topics
He felt that the topics were boring, but he looked ahead and understands that General Science means a wide range of things. So this is only a "con" for the first two modules. LOL.
What is funny to me, is that when he was reading a text for history he told me that some of the scientists mentioned in this first module were mentioned in the text he was reading about inventors and inventions of the late 19th century. He thought it was cool that he already knew them. We also had excellent discussions on the spontaneous generation and how he doesn't understand how scientists can still hold so tight to the idea of evolution and the "Big Bang" if they've already proved spontaneous generation is a false idea. Which then led to one of the main lessons of the Module 1, scientists personal beliefs and worldview will influence their data. And he learned WHY the information presented in Module 1, while boring, was important for studying the rest of science. LOL.
Here are some photos from the work we did during this review...
Now the big questions...is this going to be our 8th-grade science curriculum? I don't know. I will have to talk about it with him. I'm inclined to go with it in order to give him more practice at working independently. I think that once he gets into the survey of the different sciences included in this curriculum that he will enjoy it more. I also have no trouble adding in extra experiments if they fit with what is being covered. I think he will do well with it, so that's not the issue at all. I think that if we DO go with it, I will purchase the mp3 audiobook that will read the text to him. I think he will be MUCH more inclined to do it if he can follow along with the material since he is a VERY audial learner.
One of the first things I noticed is that the Student Notebook is a major step up from the elementary courses. It has all the prompts and questions written out. It is already separated by week/day work noting the readings that had to be done. All the pages are together for easy reference. There are also notes on each assignment throughout the notebook guiding the student to be able to work through it on their own. The student notebook starts with about 15 pages of introduction as well as grading charts, and a daily schedule. Next comes the sections for the Modules which is separated by Module (14 of them) and includes place for the guided module notes, "on your own" questions, and study guide. Next comes the pages for the Lab Reports for each of the modules. Finally the Lab Report Checklist.The Student Notebook allows for my son to work independently. He simply finds the week/day he's on and works through it. All the reading pages are noted, as well as everything he needs to complete for the day. Once done, he marks them off the daily plan and then off the lesson plan at the front of the notebook.
This notebook really was a major time saver. It didn't just have basic written note spots, but it also included diagrams or pictures to be completed for things like the Explore More sections. It was completely guided and he rarely had to ask me for any assistance. All the experiments were easily recorded in the very back.
A bonus of keeping it all in one notebook--record-keeping or portfolios! This notebook will be a great thing to have tucked away to showcase the learning completed in Science.
So how did we use it? How far did we get?
We are on our summer schedule where we are only doing 1-2 hrs of school 3 days per week. This curriculum is designed to be done 4 days a week for about 45-90 minutes a day. Because we ALSO had to take a break while my son went to a week-long summer camp, we only finished the first module through the study guide and exam. This is about 10 days worth on the lesson planning pages, but for us, it was more due to spacing it out to fit into our schedule--so the 3 weeks worth of work took us the entire review period. I'm not sure how doing science 4 days a week would work in our usual school schedule as we currently only do science in blocks on M/W or T/TH. But I think we could still make it work.
Now a few thoughts from my son regarding this program...
Things he liked
1. The Student Notebook
He liked the way it was designed so he could work through things all on his own. Everything was partially filled in, instead of the lines and lines where he had to guess what to write. He liked having the lab reports laid out for him, as well as having the extra diagrams and photos so he didn't have to do them himself.
2. He liked the way it was laid out day by day. He always knew what had to be done and it was easy to work through it on his own.
3. The text was easy to read and interesting.
4. The Study Guide
He liked that it was a mix of questions including simple multiple choice or true/false. Also that he could use his previous lessons to help answer the questions if he needed to.
5. The Exam
He liked that the Study Guide material prepared him for the exam and that the questions weren't tricky. Also that he could use his notebook for the first module exam in case he forgot anything.
Things he didn't like
1. The Length of the Readings
He felt that some of the readings were pretty long. When he had to read 4-5 pages worth for the day. He asked me to read a couple of those for him.
2. The "boring" experiments
Now--I will put in that this was only the first module. I showed him the other experiments and he decided that there were going to be more exciting experiments later in the book. And he did admit he really liked the mechanical hand he made.
3. The Topics
He felt that the topics were boring, but he looked ahead and understands that General Science means a wide range of things. So this is only a "con" for the first two modules. LOL.
What is funny to me, is that when he was reading a text for history he told me that some of the scientists mentioned in this first module were mentioned in the text he was reading about inventors and inventions of the late 19th century. He thought it was cool that he already knew them. We also had excellent discussions on the spontaneous generation and how he doesn't understand how scientists can still hold so tight to the idea of evolution and the "Big Bang" if they've already proved spontaneous generation is a false idea. Which then led to one of the main lessons of the Module 1, scientists personal beliefs and worldview will influence their data. And he learned WHY the information presented in Module 1, while boring, was important for studying the rest of science. LOL.
Here are some photos from the work we did during this review...
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| Noting the results of his first experiment in his notebooks |
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| Determining Density |
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| How Heat Changes Density |
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| Completing the "On Your Own" Questions |
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| Adding images of the scientists he's learning about to the timeline |
Want to Know More?
For the last several weeks, we have been reviewing the Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition course from Apologia. You have read our review on it, but I encourage you to visit other crew members and learn their thoughts, and explore more of the modules the book contains.
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