We're approaching the month of June in a couple of days. Teachers everywhere are wearily lifting their heads up off of their desks as they see the finish line of the school year, that is, summer break! Speaking for myself, I am ready for the recharge and refreshment that comes with a bit of time off, and hopefully, some sun and warm weather activities. BUT, there are still a few weeks to go, and we have a little more work to do, which includes finishing up our science lessons. My daughters are dragging by this point in the calendar year, so I was more than happy to receive a year long subscription for all levels (K-12) to the e-Science Homeschool Science Curriculum to review, from Supercharged Science .
Watching the recorded lesson about carbon dioxide.
You'll see from the name of the curriculum that this is an online program. It's fantastic because it can work for the entire family, spanning grades K-12. The creator and teacher is Aurora Lipper, which in my humble opinion, is a fantastic name for a science teacher. Her background is nothing short of amazing, and I suspect that you'll agree as you read her credentials. She is a mechanical engineer, university instructor, pilot, astronomer, oh, and she also is the mother to four children. She has worked for NASA, and began teaching at the university level when she was a mere 21 years old. I suspect that she may have a cape somewhere in the back of her closet, lol. All that to say, she knows a bit about science!
The Intro video with Aurora Lipper- she's fantastic!
There are two ways that this program can be used, by topic, or by grade level. Using this by topic allows you to pick and choose from any and every scientific concept out there. Simply click on the Topics link at the top of the page, and they all come up for you to browse. This option is great for families who are looking for specific lessons, or are taking a relaxed approach to the subject. It's also great for families who are also supplementing with another curriculum, but perhaps need assistance with experiments, or require more help in the lessons. If you do go with the lessons by topic route, you will find that by starting with the first unit, and then going through sequentially, they all build on each other.
Use by Topic...
Other families will choose lessons by grade level. You can begin this way by clicking on Grade Levels at the top of the page, and it will take you to those options. You'll find that in this section, the grade levels seem to stop at 8th grade. After that, there are options for Advanced Topics. Those advanced classes are for high school and on up. They are not specifically labeled that way, so that any student who progresses through the work quickly can use them. But, they are high school classes. The concepts that are under each grade level are the ones that would normally be taught at that age. In addition to the regular grade level work, there are two other sections for Teaching Resources, which includes various articles for parents/teachers, and the blog, and a Science Fair section, where you can get tips and ideas about creating an award winning presentation. As you can see, there is much flexibility in the application of this program, as well as a ton of material.
Or by grade level.
Before you begin the lessons, there is an introduction video that is about 40-45 minutes. This is well worth watching, so I would advise you not to skip it. Aurora Lipper is not the typical science teacher, at least not in my personal experience. Forget the stereotype nerdy male with the slicked back hair, pocket protector, and B-O-R-I-N-G presentation, where he is the only one who knows what he's talking about. I'm having a flashback to my high school physics class, lol. Aurora, if I may call her by her first name, is enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and engages the students. She has a very approachable manner about her, and encourages questions, feedback, and suggestions for other lessons.
The lessons include a video with the presentation, and demonstration of any related experiments. There are assessments for use after the experiments, so you can record your results, including successes, and maybe a flop or two. Every unit includes a downloadable shopping list for each experiment. Many items are one that you already keep in your home. Others will be able to be used multiple times, and are generally affordable. Links are included to direct you to sites where they can be purchased.
Shopping list for Unit 8.
I used this primarily with my just about graduated 8th grader. We decided to use it by topic, since we're at the end of our school year, and needed some fun in our science lessons. I wish that I had recorded my daughter's initial reaction to this program as she scrolled through the possible topics. "Astronomy, Chemistry... Oh, I'm so excited!", were her words. She loves science, and experiments. I have some photos here of a few of our experiments. We tried out the bread chemistry, which satisfied two of her loves, science and cooking. We also fiddled around with carbon dioxide lessons, and had some messy fun with vinegar, baking soda, chalk, and washing soda. In the short time that we've used this, we are really enjoying the material. We love that the experiments are demonstrated for us on the recordings, so we can see exactly how to do them. The pdf's make our shopping a breeze, and Aurora's enthusiasm is contagious. My girl will be playing with a few of these lessons over the summer for fun, and we will be using this with our science material this upcoming school year.
Testing the results of what happens when either chalk, baking soda, or washing soda is mixed with vinegar.
Here we go.
Aurora understands our impatience, lol.
And we have a reaction!
More carbon dioxide fun. What happens when we mix yeast, sugar, and warm water? Lots of fizz and bubbles!
Time for Bread Chemistry. We mix...
This isn't cooked yet, it's only rising, yikes, is the pan too small?
Umm, yeah, should have used two loaf pans, ha!
Anyone who lacks confidence in teaching science will benefit from checking out this program. They offer free science activities too, so you can take it for a sort of test run. The curriculum meets and exceeds school requirements. Even if you have another resource that you use for science, there is a curriculum conversion chart included in the resources that will show you how to use this program with your current choice. It's worth checking out. I like how Aurora put it in a video, "Science is messy, just get started."
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