CPO Earth Science? Anyone using this now and care to comment?

[DarlaS]

I found copies of the student book, teacher's book and investigations manual brand new cheap at amazon--and looking at it now, I'm a little freaked out.

 

How do you handle experiments that seem to require their pricey equipment? Just read and discuss? Rig something up out of train tracks and blocks?

 

I cannot buy all that equipment, and just figured I could substitute activites from Earth Science for Every kid. Maybe Physics for Every Kid would help too? Has anyone used the VanCleave books to supplement this course/make it a little more homeschool friendly?

 

Help?

 

:001_unsure:

[happygrrl]

Darla- We'll be starting this in the fall. When my books came in I totally freaked out too! I had to put it aside until last week. When I finally sat down to plan it it all made sense. Do a search on CPO Earth here at the boards and you will witness my freak out and the helpful responses I received. :)

 

We won't be doing the first few investigations due to the fact that we don't have the photogate timer thing. Instead we'll use the lab skills labs from the back of the book. The point of these first few investigations are all about recording data and understanding lab reports and the like, so the actual experiment you use won't matter.

 

We'll be doing science twice a week, in 2 hour blocks. Here is what I have planned:

"motivate" (demos and introductions) 15 min.

"Explore" (investigations) 60 min.

"Explain" (read text) 30 min.

"Assess" (questions) 15 min.

 

If we have extra time or want to go longer we'll do the "Extend" part.

 

By doing 2 sections a week and then using up an entire class time for the chapter activity and review questions, we will get through the book with a few weeks to spare for rabbit trails or make-up times.

 

It helps a lot to have the student book out when you are planning- the text is in there (not in the teacher manual) and it really gave me a feel for what the sections were about.

 

Home Science Tools had everything I needed except the stream table and Geo box. I will make those from large plastic shoe boxes. (haven't done that yet).

 

I have to run now, but do search here on the boards and you'll get some help. I was totally lost with this, but it all came together after a few minutes of messing around with all the texts in front of me at once. HTH!

[Pixie]

We did earth science last year, we were able to do a lot of the investigations by adapting them with household items. The ones I really couldn't do we talked about the setup, what she was thinking would be happening, and then used the sample results from the teacher book to do the interpretation of the results. It is not ideal, but better than nothing, I thought.

[DarlaS]

Thanks both of you for the replies.

 

Happygrrl, I've looked back through some of your threads and found the ones you were talking about and bookmarked them. I probably read them before, but just kinda blanked today.

 

Pixie, I've started to :chillpill:. Thanks!

 

I just realized (Duh!) my eldest has had Apologia Physics (We still have the text) and will be a big help with some of these labs. He can help me construct a workable ramp--he's done it before. The Apologia text probably has at least a lab or two that we can adapt (without so much of the math...). There are even some in the Physical Science book that might work.

 

I'll likely be dissecting the investigations manual for what's do-able and most relevant. I plan to focus on the skills she's supposed to be acquiring (forming hypothesis etc) and not obsess about getting every lab done.

 

Hey, there's probably even a wealth of videos on youtube to demonstrate these concepts.

 

Phew! :tongue_smilie:

[happygrrl]

OH man, i hadn't thought about youtube videos! Thanks!

[DarlaS]

OH man, i hadn't thought about youtube videos! Thanks!

 

If you happen to come across any that actually apply, let me know.