Exploring Creation with Physical Science Student Notebook (3rd Edition)

Completely revised, this new edition of Exploring Creation with Physical Science offers a greater focus on chemistry and physics compared to the previous editions. Maintaining a Creation focused, rigorous approach to the sciences, the updated content changes are a more natural progression of Apologia’s upper level scope and sequence that began with the General Science, 3rd edition. A careful introduction to the scientific process, methods, and measurement/data collection are covered in the first module, followed by a focus on chemistry (4 modules) and physics (6 modules). Additional chapters cover earth science (2 modules), and chemistry and physics in the life sciences. Physical Science Research concludes the course, showing students what is involved in research from brainstorming to making a presentation. A total of 15 modules are included, and will take 2 or more weeks to complete. Students should plan on spending one hour per day on science. Like the previous courses, the text is written to the student and most students will be able to complete the readings and most activities independently. Labs are integral, with 29 formal experiments and 47 “Explore More” activities included. Hands-on experiments use household supplies. Safety glasses are required. For your convenience, a Nature’s Workshop Plus Lab Kitis available. Students will learn how to create both informal and formal lab reports in this course. Completion of all lab activities are expected, and students will document all labs through either the informal or formal report. One formal lab report is completed per module. Not compatible with the previous edition.

There are 2 required components. First is the softcover Student Text which includes all student reading, experiments, "On Your Own" exercises (with answers and discussion later in the chapter), and Study Guide questions at the end of each chapter. The second book, Solutions and Tests, contains the chapter test booklet, answers to the test questions and solutions to the "Study Guide" questions. Tests are not reproducible. Test booklets can be purchased separately.

Optional but recommended, the Student Notebook, provides a suggested daily schedule, a place to record study notes, lab charts and tables and space to answer the “On Your Own” and Study Guide questions. Not reproducible. Also available, the optional Audio MP3 CD provides an audio reading of the textual information and "On Your Own" questions.

This 8th grade science course has transitioned to a new 3rd edition in 2020 and the 2nd edition course is now out of print with limited inventory. The two editions have a different scope and sequence are not compatible.

Written specifically for use in a homeschool environment, these biblically-centered courses take a lot of pressure off the parent teaching the course. The main component of each course is the textbook. Please note that most textbooks have switched from hardcover to softcover format. The student text includes all the student reading, instructions for labs, "On Your Own" exercises, and fifteen to twenty "Study Guide" questions at the end of each chapter. Unlike many upper-level science texts, we have found these to be extremely readable! The text has a conversational tone, and concepts are explained in an easy-to-understand way. Plenty of helpful diagrams and pictures are included which add interest and break up the text. Answers to the "On Your Own" exercises are also included with discussion at the end of each chapter. The labs are designed to be done easily, and most require only household items to complete; unlike high school courses, like Bob Jones which require investing in some lab equipment and chemicals to complete the labs. Where a microscope or dissecting materials are required, a reasonably-priced complete kit of materials is available, for ease in collecting the items.

The Solution Manual contains test questions for each chapter, answers to the test questions and solutions to the "Study Guide" questions. For some courses, a separate Perforated Tests booklet is available; please note that this is only necessary if you want an extra copy of the test questions.

TheStudent Notebooks are a user-friendly companion that provides space for answering the On Your Own and Study Guide questions as well as for developing Lab Reports. Study helps include graphic organizers and a Module Summary for each module (fill-in-the-blank). Digging Deeper sections provide opportunity for practical applications and writing activities. For the teacher there are grading rubrics for lab reports and suggested answers for some of the graphic organizers. The History of Science module includes a nicely done timeline. Grading rubrics for the lab reports are provided in the Appendix.

MP3 Audio CDs are also available for most courses. The audio files are in MP3 format, and will require an MP3-compatible CD player to use (these can also be run on most computers). Tests, study guides, and answers are not included - this is simply an audio version of the text.

Apologia also offers Video Instruction for Biology, Chemistry, Marine Biology and Advanced Biology. These have transitioned to USB flash drive format. Sherri Seligson, author and scientist, is your host and takes you to interesting locations, incorporating animated diagrams (over 20 hours of instruction) to help students better understand the concepts being taught. The content is more of a summary of the textual information found in each section of the modules than a narration of the text. Students will either see Sherri Seligson on location or in a lab during the speaking portions or they will see animated illustrations and examples. Sherri takes students through each lab and talks about what needs to be done and the results of the experiments.

System requirements for USB drives: USB port (PC or Mac), media player capable of playing mp4 files, and an internet browser. DVD requirements: DVD drive on your computer (PC or MAC) capable of playing mp4 files; these are not compatible with a DVD player.

We now offer SuperSets and Advantage Sets which include multiple items. Advantage Sets include the text, solutions manual (with a copy of the test), notebooking journal, and the MP3 Audiobook CD. SuperSets include everything in the Advantage Set (text, solutions manual with tests, otebooking journal and MP3 CD) plus the Video Instruction USB Flash Drive.

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.

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