Exploring Creation with Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures Textbook (2nd Edition)

Items listed in this section tend to be complete science programs with a teacher and student component, requiring few supplements besides science supplies.

Apologia Science courses are written from a Biblical worldview with the homeschool in mind. At the elementary level, courses follow a Charlotte Mason-inspired methodology, with lessons organized around narration, notebooking exercises and hands-on activities or projects. Children at different ages can use these together, learning at their own level. Each course is designed to be teacher-student interactive, so teacher involvement is fairly high at this level. At the junior high and high school levels, science courses are more traditional in nature, with the textbook written to the student. Teacher involvement time at this level is much less than at the elementary level. Textbooks contain student reading, lab instructions, "On Your Own" questions and Study Guide questions. A Solutions Manual provides the answers to these and the test questions. Lab kits are available separately for both the elementary and upper-level science courses which include most of the harder to find items you will need.

This popular elementary science series was originally created when Jeannie Fulbright, author and homeschool mom, was looking for a quality elementary science series that was creation-based using the Charlotte Mason approach. When she didn't find the curriculum she was looking for she decided to create her own. These books use the classical and Charlotte Mason methodology including narration and notebooking to develop critical thinking, logical ordering, retention, and record keeping. The series has since expanded to cover more science topics. New for 2021 is Earth Science, authored by Rachel Yunis, author of Exploring Creation with Advanced Biology.

Since the Charlotte Mason method is employed, every lesson is organized with a narrative, notebook work, an activity, and a project. The student notebook is emphasized in the lessons. Activities and projects bring the lessons to life and use simple household items. While the author's intent is for the parent to read these books to elementary students, a student with a 4th-grade reading level could read these books on their own. The books come from a strong creationist viewpoint, including sections called "Creation Confirmation" and Scripture interwoven throughout the book. Apologia recommends spending an entire year covering each book, taking about two weeks to explore most lessons (some lessons may require more time).

Notebooking Journals were a later - and welcome - addition to the series. As they complete the courses, students were encouraged to compile a notebook to collect and display the information they are learning. The Apologia Notebooking Journals now provide a place for the student to complete every assignment, to record experiments and to display work. Included are weekly lesson plans, templates for recording fascinating facts and assignments, and scripture copywork in both print and cursive models. In addition to full-color Miniature Books (for recording facts and information and pasting directly into the notebook), there are optional ideas (Take it Further in Astronomy; Dig in Deeper in Botany; Fly Higher in Zoology, etc.) for lots of additional activities, projects, experiments, books or videos, all of which correlate with specific lessons in each course. Along these lines, the Personal Person project in both of the Anatomy notebooks is special providing clear vinyl overlays of each body system. Be prepared to cut these out, though.

Junior Notebooking Journals are a simplified version of the orignal Notebooking Journals and require less handwriting but have the same reinforcing activities. These books include coloring pages, project pages, and cut and fold miniature books (same ones as in the version for older students). There is space for notebooking assignments (more drawings, no questions to answer) and scripture copywork (shorter verses to copy either in manuscript or in beginning cursive). Biblical quotations are from the NASB, KJV, NIV or NKJV.

To complete the books all you will need to provide is scissors, glue, colored pencils, a stapler, and a few brass fasteners. There are plenty of activity options in the journals, but keep in mind that based on your student, you may not want to complete every activity. Work can be tailored to each student by simply tearing out unwanted pages from the spiral-bound book. Serving both as a uniquely expressed record of the student's work and as a prized reminder of acquired knowledge, these books will become a homeschooling heirloom.

For convenience, we now offer either Advantage Sets or SuperSets. Advantage Sets include the textbook and either the Junior or original Notebooking Journal. SuperSets include the text, the MP3 Audiobook CD and either the Junior or the original Notebooking Journal.

We also offer lab kits from Nature's Workshop for the elementary courses. Kits contain most of the materials for the experiments, and are conveniently packaged by lesson in the corresponding book (sold separately). There are still a few items you will need from around your house, but with these kits the list becomes extremely short. ~ Janice / Jerry