Description
Apologia’s General Science award-winning curriculum is written to the student in a conversational tone. Our Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition, course is designed to equip middle school students with the tools they need to easily transition from elementary to middle school level sciences.
This is a true General Science course covering a variety of branches of science including astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, earth study, geology, paleontology, and environmental science modules giving students a solid foundation in that broad field of study.
What’s Included In Apologia’s Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition, Basic Set?
This Apologia Basic Set includes:
- Apologia’s Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition, Student Textbook
- Solutions and Tests Manual
- Test Pages (included with the manual)
When used together, these items provide your student with a complete homeschool learning experience.
Overview
In Apologia’s Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition, students will gain an understanding of the world that surrounds them so they can appreciate the real-world relevance of scientific inquiry and the beauty of Creation.
Along with a thorough science study, students will also learn:
- How to utilize the proper scientific method in a detailed and engaging way.
- How to record data and report it.
- How to read, create, and utilize several types of graphs (a skill that is found on SAT and ACT exams!).
Lesson Plans and Materials
The Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition, Student textbook is written in a conversational format with the author talking directly to your student. Your student is guided through key learning strategies like how to think critically about what they are learning, identify important parts of the information presented, take meaningful notes, and complete experiments.
The student notebook (sold separately) pairs perfectly with this process, providing easy-to-understand graphics where students fill in the blank spaces as they read. Students learn how to take information out of a text, identify key points, and critically think through what they are learning.
A suggested daily schedule is included in the student notebook (sold separately), so students easily understand what is expected of them each day, yet there is still room for flexibility in the schedule to meet the needs of the student and family.
History of Great, Godly Scientists
Throughout this General Science course your student will learn about many great historical and modern-day scientists who studied our world out of a desire to better know God as its Creator. As they engage with the curriculum, they will not only be invited and inspired to better understand science and the world around them, but also the God who created it all.
Hands-on Experiments
In early modules, specific portions of the text are highlighted so students know where to find important information and are guided through the lab write-up process. Although students may complete more than one experiment in a module, they are given the opportunity to choose to complete a single lab report, thus building on interest-driven learning. Lab report samples are provided so the students learn proper formatting. All of the experiments in this course utilize easy-to-obtain household materials to demonstrate complex scientific principles, so no special equipment is necessary.
The student notebook (sold separately) contains lab report forms for each experiment in the text, which will help your student master the process of writing a formal lab report.
Explore More with Bonus Hands-on Activities:
Middle school-aged children still greatly benefit from hands-on exploration, so like our elementary series, we include several optional Explore More activities to allow students to further explore the scientific concepts presented in each module.
Character-building Elements
Middle school students are in a transition period between childhood and adulthood and we believe that emphasizing and cultivating their character is an important step in their development. Thus in each module, parents are encouraged (and guided) to incorporate character performance into their student’s grade.
Test Taking Skill Building
There are tests provided for each module. The first two module tests are assigned to be given as open-book tests so that students learn the format of this course and more easily transition to improve the skill of test-taking–a valuable skill for upper grades and even college work.
Final Hands-on Project
The final module is a fun and exciting culmination of the course. It has no exam! Instead, your student is given step-by-step instructions to build a Rube-Goldberg machine as a final project. This project incorporates many of the scientific principles learned throughout the year (such as combustion, buoyancy, simple machines, and more). Amidst the set-up instructions, your student will read testimonies from modern-day scientists, sharing how they see God’s hand as they work in their respective fields of science.
Easy Grading
Complete, step-by-step grading rubrics are provided in the student notebook (sold separately) for you as the parent, guiding you as you calculate your student’s module grade from their test, lab work, and character.
