My Pals Are Here! Science International Edition Activity Book 4B

My Pals Are Here! Science (MPH) just got a facelift. This Singapore Approach science curriculum has been revamped so it is more user friendly and transitions easier. MPH is now available for grades 1-6, and the format is more similar to the Singapore Approach math programs having parts A and B within an academic year. Every level now covers topics in the areas of life, earth & space, and physical science in an age-appropriate manner.

The program implements the BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) E5 instructional model. This model has been shown to be one of the most effective strategies in science education today. The 5 Es in this model are engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation, and every lesson is set up in this manner. Engagement makes a connection between past and present learning and cause students to think toward the current topic. MPH stimulates interest at the outset of each unit by showing an engaging picture and offering some thinking questions. Exploration develops concepts through hands-on activities - this is accomplished through the textbook and activity book of MPH. Explanation communicates information and offers opportunities for students to demonstrate their conceptual understanding. Elaboration is applying concepts in context and extending understanding through real-world application. Evaluation is the fifth E and provides opportunities for assessment of the student's understanding. MPH offers assessment in three different ways. 'At a Glance' is found at the end of each unit and is a concept map of the big ideas found in that unit. This offers students a chance to see a summary of what they just covered. 'Self-Check' is also found at the end of each unit and offers fill-in-the-blank exercises to summarize the chapter content. The third opportunity for evaluation is a bit more formal and can be used as semester assessments - the 'Revision Exercise.' This exercise includes a variety of question formats - short answer, multiple choice, completing charts, fill-in-the-blank, etc.

The textbook for each level includes colorful photography, illustrations, and textual information. Also included are 'flashbacks' which draw on previously learned material, and 'explores' which require a student to develop skills such as analyzing information, investigating for further facts, making inferences, and so on. 'That's Cool' informational boxes offer interesting facts that enhance the content for that section. 'At a Glance' and 'Self-Check' are found at the end of each unit in the textbook, along with a glossary of words for that unit.

The activity book begins with an explanation of the BSCS 5E, a concept map of process skills, an explanation of safety in the laboratory, and activities for each unit. Activities vary greatly and may include observation, labeling, drawing, short answer questions, coloring, charting, crossword puzzles, classifying, circling answers, etc. Activities may include items that are easily accessible and others may require items that are more specialized. You may have to skip certain activities or substitute accordingly. Each activity is easy to follow and lists the aim or objective of the activity, materials needed, procedures, observations, questions, and conclusions. These books are the only consumable portion of the curriculum, so this is the only part of the program you would need to replace for multiple students.

The Teacher Guide offers an overview of the book and how to use it, an explanation of process skills and BSCS E5 model, table of contents with learning objectives, pacing schedules for every unit and a place for notes. The pacing guide or schedule includes page references for lesson plans, textbook and activity book, the number of periods to be used for each lesson, objectives, process skills, and resources. Each unit is divided into lesson plans, which contain all of the instruction, learning objectives, and teaching suggestions to complete the 5 Es of instruction. Small format student text and activity book pages are surrounded by teaching and activity suggestions. Answers are included for the activity book, revision exercises, and self-check exercises. The Teacher Guide includes some information that isn't found in the student text, so it plays an important role in the teaching of this course.

Although this series has been revised and is much easier to use, the curriculum is still written with metric measurement (no English measure) and C° rather than F°. There are also references to items that may not be easy to get, such as Duckweed (a water plant), or quail eggs (you may substitute chicken eggs). Some of the language used may also seem unfamiliar since the publisher does use European spellings for words like 'analyse' and groundnut (peanut). Overall, the curriculum is easier to use, more comprehensive, and more engaging for elementary students. There is currently no correlation to US standards for this curriculum; however, it has performed well in science testing in the international arena. ~ Donna

Because of multiple requests, we have now picked up Singapore Math's science curriculum, My Pals Are Here Science. Each grade level consists of two parts, an A and a B set. Rather than chopping up the different branches of science into different grade levels and books, a thematic approach is taken, where concepts from different areas of science, including life science, physical science, chemistry and physical science are all linked together under the theme. This approach is meant to help children think about the relationships between different science concepts to lead to a better, more complete understanding of our world. One or more themes are presented in each text, with different science topics featured within each theme unit. The texts themselves are designed to be highly engaging, and feature lines of informative, factual text at an age-appropriate level, surrounded by an abundance of great full-color, well-labeled photos, fun drawings, and diagrams. The text is sprinkled throughout with little "Bits 'n Bites," which feature unique and interesting facts and "Group & Share" questions designed for discussion. Each chapter wraps up with a series of objectives that have been learned, as well as a list of related websites or activities to check out to extend the chapter. The corresponding workbook contains activities directly related to the text pages, with the topic being studied clearly printed at the top of the pages. The worksheets test student's knowledge of information from the text as well as their critical thinking skills, are intended to guide the student through each concept through a wide variety of activities such as classification, matching, labeling, listing, answering thinking questions, filling in graphic organizers, fill-in-the-blanks sentences, crossword puzzles, true/false questions, and many more. The activity book takes the concept a bit further than straight recollection and features pencil-and-paper as well as more hands-on activities that challenge the student to use their critical thinking skills and understanding of the scientific concepts to study the relationships between things. The use of graphic organizers as worksheets, more open-ended thinking questions, and observation are all used more frequently here than in the workbook. The teacher's edition for the activity book includes all the activities in the student book, with the answers in red. I haven't seen the teacher's edition of the textbook, but according to Singapore Math's website, the teacher's edition of the text contains the student text with teaching hints and tips. I would guess that if you feel fairly confident teaching science at this level and with these topics, that it may not be necessary. There is no teaching component to the workbook, although a separate answer sheet is included. Altogether, this looks like a very solid, complete, enjoyable program for elementary grades, and one that even science-haters may come to regard as fun.

Test books are also available for MPH science. Test books contain chapter summaries for review, tests, continual assessments, and semestral assessments. Five to eight tests are included in each test book, with two continual assessments and a couple semestral assessments scattered throughout for more testing. Test questions vary in format and include multiple-choice, short-answer, true/false, and matching. Higher-order thinking questions are marked with an asterisk. Answers to all tests are found at the end of each book. The tests are not reproducible, so you will need a test book for each child.

Note: This is not an Americanized edition, and although this is really not an issue through most of the books, a few places, foods, and animals from the Singapore regions may be occasionally mentioned, and several spellings are different, but these "variations" are few and far between - and hey, it's science - being introduced to these items might add a cool dimension. - Jess

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