D.I.V.E. Earth Science Lab Kit

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.

What D.I.V.E. courses have done for math, they can also do for science! If you don't feel confident teaching lessons and labs for high school science courses, using these digital courses can be a lifesaver. Each course includes lectures, a syllabus, video labs, workbook pages, and a lab manual. You will need a textbook for several of the courses (not required for Earth Science) although you have some flexibility in choosing one. Online texts or physical texts from Abeka, Apologia, Bob Jones and Saxon (Physics) are options for most courses. Biology and Chemistry are available as a download only; Chemistry & Physics and Physics are available as a Stream and Download. For these courses, a syllabus is available for several different textbooks, giving you the flexibility to choose. Each DIVE lesson consists of several parts: definitions, reading, video lectures, review and labs. After defining a given list of vocabulary terms, the student watches the lecture, takes notes, completes the worksheet review questions, and then returns to the video for solutions and explanations of the review questions. The lectures are especially helpful for homeschoolers as they help them feel as if they are participating in a classroom lecture, listening to the instructor and taking notes (great college prep!). If you are familiar with DIVE Math, you will have a good idea what the lectures are like. Each lecture has a visual component that resembles basic PowerPoint slides, accompanied by an audio lecture. Occasionally the instructor will "write" on the board which gives the lecture an interactive feel. The corresponding printable PDF worksheets are also found in the download course. The worksheets for each lesson will need to be printed and completed before the lecture is viewed. The lab portion of the course is also helpful for homeschoolers without access to laboratory equipment. Students can either watch the lab videos without participating, or do the lab activities themselves with the addition of lab materials (most courses have a corresponding lab kit available, although this is a separate purchase). Lab manual pages are included in the course to be printed and completed along with the lab. Finally, a syllabus of the course is included which provides a schedule including quarterly reviews. Download courses are compatible with all Mac OS (including Mountain Lion and Maverick), Windows XP+ (including Windows 8), Chromebook, Mobile devices that support Flash, IE 7+, Chrome, or Safari Browser. High Speed Internet access needed. Download & Stream system requirements are as follows: For Mobile Devices: iPhone: iOS 7.0+ iPhone 4 and up, iPad: iOS 7.0+ iPad 3 and up, Android: 4.2+. For Computers: Stream or Download using the following browsers: IE 10+ Safari 7+ Firefox 31+ Chrome 37+. - Jess