Science in a Nutshell anyone?

[mamamace]

Has anyone ever used any of the inquiry-based hands-on science kits from Delta Education? They have a pre-k to k set of materials as well as a grade 2-6 set called “Science in a Nutshell.†My husband really likes them but wants to know what other people think about them before spending a ton of money on them.

 

 

http://www.delta-education.com/productgallery.aspx?subID=1&menuID=16

[Orthodox6]

We used some of these about twelve years ago. [science in a Nutshell] Expensive, but very handy, and very easy to use with 2-3 dc at once. I liked the concept of these kits a lot.

[mamamace]

Thanks! I thought it was quite expensive myself. I hope the "bug" of it will pass soon...;)

[Susie in CA]

We are currently using the Human Body once. I think they are a great starting point for further studies; very easy to use and fun.

 

Susie

[Suzannah]

We used two of them in 4th grade per WTM recommendation. We really enjoyed them, they were easy to use, just about everything you need is right there in the kit (which is a nice plastic box, not a cardboard one that gets torn-up.) And I like that there are enough materials for multiple kids. We used a couple of experiments out of one kit for a co-op class and I still have what I need to use it again when my younger kids are ready for it. I am notoriously cheap and while the price initially bothered me, they are quality kits that we'll use again. I found that two were plenty for the year (they were Electricity and Planes & Motion) since we spent a couple of weeks using a book on simple machines and of course, sometimes we didn't get to science. We do science twice a week, usually reading and copying definitions one day and an experiment or activity the next.

 

HTH

[SeekingSimplicity]

I'm going to be the odd ball in this post ;)

 

I was going to buy them for physics experiments this year, but it seemed to me that they were too expensive considering a lot of the components seem to be things I could come up with on my own easily. So I figured all I really needed were ideas for experiments, then I could come up with the rest on my own.

 

I found an ebook free online of physics experiments for kids (if you're interested, let me know and I'll dig it up for you). Then found a book at the thrift store, was given some books on things like magnets, then bought a couple books inexpensively from someone on here. We've got tons of ideas now, and they all use things that are hanging around my house anyhow, and can be supplemented with library books. This promises to be a very cool, very fun year for science.

[EKS]

I have used several Nutshells and I've decided that I don't like them--here's why:

 

While they are fabulous with regard to quality of materials and completeness (don't require many "common" household items that aren't necessarily so common), they, as you know, are inquiry based. What this means from a practical standpoint is that there is no teacher's guide that indicates what the expected answers will be. While I can usually figure out what the answers should be sometimes I can't (and my degree is in biochemistry so I have a strong science background). I think this lack of a teacher's guide is a major problem with the kits and is unfortunate because they are really good in many ways.

 

I think that inquiry based science experiences can be wonderful, but only if it is guided inquiry. The Nutshells seem to adhere to the idea that anything goes and all answers are valid. This simply isn't the case.

[mcconnellboys]

I really like the Science in a Nutshell kits, which WTM used to recommend (and still does for logic stage science in their resources section). They come with 3 student workbooks, so you can use with multiple children, or over multiple years, and perhaps still have at least one workbook left to sell the remainder of the kit (or, extra student books may be purchased for about $2 each). They don't include a ton of written material on the subject matter, so I still think you need to do more reading along with working the kits, but they're great for hands on stuff!

[fractalgal]

Has anyone ever used any of the inquiry-based hands-on science kits from Delta Education? They have a pre-k to k set of materials as well as a grade 2-6 set called “Science in a Nutshell.†My husband really likes them but wants to know what other people think about them before spending a ton of money on them.

 

 

http://www.delta-education.com/productgallery.aspx?subID=1&menuID=16

 

Yes, we use them. I have Clever Levers and Pulley Power. They are great for experiments.

 

I use them along with the Harcourt Science Textbooks (from Kolbe Academy). First we read in the text about Levers and Pulleys, then I choose several related projects from the "Nutshell" kits. They come with an activity guide which is helpful. There is also an Activity Journal.

 

The kits make it possible to go more deeply into the topics in the text. Then I use the text for questions and answers -the idea being that the experiments will help enough to solidify the material in the text.

 

They are meant to be a supplement I believe.

[Suzannah]

What this means from a practical standpoint is that there is no teacher's guide that indicates what the expected answers will be. While I can usually figure out what the answers should be sometimes I can't (and my degree is in biochemistry so I have a strong science background). I think this lack of a teacher's guide is a major problem with the kits and is unfortunate because they are really good in many ways.

 

I have to agree with you. That part was a bit frustrating. But our overall experience was a good one. We looked-up topics and definitions in our Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia and really had fun with the experiments.

 

I'm not sure whether we'll use them in the logic stage. I actually thought 4th grade was just about perfect for us.