Science for Middle School

[AllBoys]

I am trying to decide what to use for science this year for my 12 year old boy. We have mostly used Apologia in the past. He says he would prefer learning about a lot of different topics (as opposed to just one subject in Apologia) and doing experiments. Any suggestions?

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Have you looked into Apologia General Science? That starts with the history of science, then goes on to what science is and what it is not, then a module teaching how to analyze and interpret experiments, then applied science an technology, the history of life: archaeology, geology and paleontology, then the foundations of geology, the the fossil reconrd, then uniformitarianism and catastrophism, then it gets into what is life, classifying life, the human body: fearfully and wonderfully made, energy and life, the human digestive system, the human respiratory and circulatory systems, the human lymphatic, endocrine and urinary systems, then the nervous system.

 

This book really breaks away from the elementary one subject per year type of science. My 12 year old dd loves it and she loves the experiments included!

[Lovedtodeath]

Did you see SL Science 6? I am drooling over that one.:tongue_smilie:

[HollyDay]

BJU 6 is good. Apologia General is good too, but I think I would use it over 2 years - 6th and 7th.

[AllBoys]

Have you looked into Apologia General Science? That starts with the history of science, then goes on to what science is and what it is not, then a module teaching how to analyze and interpret experiments, then applied science an technology, the history of life: archaeology, geology and paleontology, then the foundations of geology, the the fossil reconrd, then uniformitarianism and catastrophism, then it gets into what is life, classifying life, the human body: fearfully and wonderfully made, energy and life, the human digestive system, the human respiratory and circulatory systems, the human lymphatic, endocrine and urinary systems, then the nervous system.

 

This book really breaks away from the elementary one subject per year type of science. My 12 year old dd loves it and she loves the experiments included!

 

I will look into Apologia General Science. I am not sure but I think one of my older boys may have used that, it sounds familiar anyway. Thanks for the suggestion, it's good to know your daughter likes it.

[AllBoys]

Did you see SL Science 6? I am drooling over that one.:tongue_smilie:

I have used SL history in the past but I have never looked into their science programs. Have you used any of them before? Thanks for the suggestion.

[AllBoys]

BJU 6 is good. Apologia General is good too, but I think I would use it over 2 years - 6th and 7th.

 

I haven't used any BJU at all so I will check this out too. Thanks!

[Lovedtodeath]

I have used SL history in the past but I have never looked into their science programs. Have you used any of them before? Thanks for the suggestion.

No... I probably shouldn't have mentioned it. :D I just noticed that 6 does have a variety of topics. I used SL 1 and it didn't go well... but the general consensus is that SL 1 and 2 are not as good as the other programs. I plan to use 4 and 6 in the future.

 

Come to think of it Rainbow is mostly hands-on... I think they do two topics per year instead of just one.

 

Anyway, I am giving you things to look up. LOL

[AllBoys]

 

Anyway, I am giving you things to look up. LOL

 

Thanks! I need more excuses to stay on the computer! :lol: I just looked at SL 6 and it looks interesting. I wish these companies would offer more information though. I could spend a lot less time on the computer if I could get a better look at them and see if they would work for my boys.

[Lovedtodeath]

 

Thanks! I need more excuses to stay on the computer! :lol: I just looked at SL 6 and it looks interesting. I wish these companies would offer more information though. I could spend a lot less time on the computer if I could get a better look at them and see if they would work for my boys.

I agree!:iagree:

[Mom22ns]

I would think Rainbow would be a good fit for general science with lots of hands on. I do love BJU 6, its my favorite year of BJU, however BJU 7 is life science, so you would only have one year before you'd either have to switch or go to single topic.

 

If you prefer secular, Singapore science has mixed topics in their middle school series.

[Harriet Vane]

Prentice-Hall Science Explorers--recommended by Ria, who used to hang around here a lot and both wrote curriculum (elementary) and taught science

[SBP]

I am having kittens over Rainbow so far. I love having all the stuff for the experiments on hand. I love that my kids can set up and clean up experiments on their own. I love that it's getting done, which, I'm ashamed to say, really makes it stand out among the other programs I've tried. I love that the lessons are short but full of information and fun for the kids to read. I even love that the first test kind of kicked their behinds, because this is a great subject for them to really work on study skills, outlining their reading, mastering the vocabulary, etc.

 

It doesn't really fulfill your desire for a multi-topic science program, however. It covers Physics and Chemistry the first year and Biology the second. But if that sounds acceptable, I'd really suggest giving Rainbow a look. Worth every penny, IMO.

 

SBP

[Poke Salad Annie]

Here is a website that was shared earlier today. If you go to the "Browse" section at the top and click that, then click "Topics", it will bring up boo-koodles of things to look through. By clicking on the topic listed, it will bring up the study units to go along. I clicked on Physics, and it brought up a unit on building a solar city that looks awesome. We are going to work through the "Lost in the Amazon" unit over the next several weeks. The best thing of all about the website is that it is free! Just print out your unit and the go-alongs, gather the supplies, and you're set.

 

http://www.teachengineering.com/browse_subjectareas.php

 

Actually, I think I linked directly to the subject areas, so you can browse through at your leisure.

[mktkcb]

Well, I would look at Exploration Education if your boys want hands on. Lot of cool stuff to build & use for experiments, all the stuff included to do all the experiments. Very well laid out, step by step.

[cschnee]

You could take a look at the books by Bryce Hixson. Very humerous and lots of experiments. I also recommend the Stop Faking It! series for chemistry and physics.