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Forces & Motion, Matter, Energy, and The Earth

Forces & Motion

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There are four courses thus far in this science series for grades 3 through 8:

- Forces & Motion: Elementary Physical Science
- Matter: Elementary Chemistry
- Energy: Elementary Physical Science
- The Earth, Its Structure & Its Changes: Elementary Earth Science

Each course should take about a semester to complete, so any two of the courses together provide a full-year curriculum. Key features of this series are a biblical Christian worldview, solid science content, and hands-on activities.

A Biblical Christian worldview underlies all of the content in the texts. They teach a young-earth perspective. However, in contrast to Truth in Science, the biblical connections are sometimes more subtle. They are built into narratives such as one about how different scientists pursue knowledge, or biographical sketches of famous scientists. Occasionally there will be an overt mini-Bible study, but these are rare and found primarily in The Earth.

The content for these books is based primarily on the National Science Education Standards for grades 5 through 8, although some content reflects standards for K through 4. However, these books are focused on fewer topics which are each covered extensively unlike most science textbooks that attempt to cover a multitude of topics, rarely with much depth. The present books cover earth science, physical science and chemistry, and I expect future titles will delve into life science. Consequently, the broad areas of science are likely to be covered with this series, and the approach is likely to engage students in ways that help them actually learn and remember the information better than with traditional textbooks.

Lessons begin by raising a question and having children do an “investigation.” Some investigations are relatively simple (e.g., marking latitude and longitude lines on and orange, then cutting along some lines to make it into a flat map) while others are quite complex (e.g., constructing and experimenting with a small catapult). After students have become engaged in the topic, they read “The Science Stuff” that teaches the lesson content. “Dig Deeper” follows with suggestions for a number of follow up activities, many of them research oriented, but some directing students to pursue activities or experiments. Older students should pursue some or all of the Dig Deeper activities, but younger students should have plenty of learning activity with the core lesson. Lessons end with “What did you learn?” questions that review lesson content including the investigation. Students should be completing about one lesson per week and there are 20 in each course.

Lessons sometimes suggest comparison of student results, implying a group setting. While students are likely to have more fun sharing the investigations with other students, they could still work with only a parent/teacher. The design of the lessons and activities actually lends itself better to home education settings than to traditional classrooms since there is more opportunity for discussion and it will be easier to complete the investigations, all more supportive of the “inquiry” methodology of this program. It’s also easier to guide only one or a few students through choosing and completing “Dig Deeper” activities. This series really does a nice job of addressing various learning styles, but some of that benefit is dependent upon taking time to choose which activities (e.g., research on the internet, creation of a timeline, hands-on project) work best for students.

For experiments and activities you will need to collect quite a few resources such as safety glasses, C-clamps, light bulbs, mirrors, clothespins, a metal slinky, Epsom salt, six-volt battery, sandpaper, plastic film canisters, plastic tubing, balloons, and screws—most of which can be found in local stores. Some items such as a graduated cylinder and spring force measure might need to be ordered from science suppliers. Plan ahead since some items might not be readily available or might take a little time to locate.

There are three components for each course: Student Text, Student Journal, and Teacher’s Guide. All are very attractively presented in softcover books. The Student Text is printed in full color with at least 50% of the space taken up with illustrations. The Student Journal, printed in black-and-white, still features an attractive graphic design. The Journal serves as a place for students to record observations and conclusions from the investigations. Charts are included when appropriate. A boxed area is set aside for “Dig Deeper” reporting although I expect that students might sometimes need more space than is allowed here. “What did you learn?” questions are repeated here with space for answers. The Teacher’s Guide has reduced reproductions of Student Text pages in black-and-white, although these are sometimes difficult to read because of the original colors of the text and graphics running behind them. The Teacher’s guides have brief introductory information on the course then accompany reproduced text pages with objectives, brief notes, and answer keys. Note that for The Earth the publisher experimented by combining the Teacher’s Guide and Student Journal into a single book with perforated Journal pages for easy removal. I suspect most parents and students will prefer the separate journal, but it remains to be seen what arrangement will be used in future courses.

Step-by-step instructions make it easy for the parent without a strong scientific background to teach these courses. However, significant preparation and presentation time are required.

The combination of solid science content with a biblical Christian worldview and hands-on activity make this series a great choice for many home educators.