3 chemistry choices -- can you help me choose?

[Keniki]

I've found Christian Kids Explore Chemistry, Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry Level 2, and Elements: The Ingredients of the Universe Introduction to Chemistry. They all look interesting, but I need to decide on just one. I've read all about each one at their websites and at Rainbow Resource. Can anyone help me narrow this down? This would be for next year's 7th grader who loves science, and the mom who isn't naturally inclined towards science, but does get a little more interested when she sees her son enjoying it. The mom also tends to be a little on the disorganized side.

 

Any thoughts on which one would work best for us?

[hillfarm]

We just finished with Elements: Ingredients of the Universe. It focused mainly on the basics of atomic structure and the periodic table. We are not particularly hard core when it comes to science and we finished it at a very easy pace in only one semester. I tried to supplement with Fizz, Bubble, Flash (or whatever the title), but had many of those experiments flop.

 

We just started the follow-up Carbon Chemistry: Organic Chemistry for Kids. So far (we're on chapter 2), I like it better than the intro book. Seems like there is a lot more to sink our teeth into with this one. Or perhaps it is just my attitude, starting a new semester when everything is fun and new.

 

Unfortunately I haven't tried the other two, so can't comment on them. Hope our experience with the McHenry books helped.

[Corraleno]

IMHO, you would need to do both The Elements and Carbon Chemistry to be equivalent to RS4K's Chem II book. McHenry's books are "cuter" and more engaging, and the activities and worksheets are built-in. If I remember correctly, most of the labs in the lab workbook for RS4K Chem II just say for the student to design their own lab (which is great in theory, but perhaps not so helpful to a parent trying to plan the units).

 

Have you looked at the ACS Middle School Chemistry program? It's totally free, very lab-based (most of which use household materials), and it includes lots of interactive activities and links to related videos. Click on Lesson Plans to get an idea of how it works.

 

Jackie

[amtmcm]

We've used CKE Chemistry, Rainbow Science and RSK 1 Chemistry.

 

If price is not an issue, I'd highly recommend Rainbow Science, especially for a mom who isn't "naturally inclined" towards science. All of the lab materials are provided. You will cover Physics & Chemistry in one year. It is excellent for a kinesthetic learner as most of the learning occurs during the weekly labs.

 

CKE Chemistry is good too, but a bit more work for mom. There is a complete supply list which makes it easy to buy items ahead and have them on hand. It is a pretty basic introduction geared towards 4th-8th grades.

 

From looking at RSK 2 Chemistry on their website, the text is very thorough. It looks like there are 10 labs, which wouldn't be too hard to do in a year, but if PP is correct that the student designs their own labs, then I would hesitate to use it. It looks like the Teacher's Guide provides suggested experiments. The text looks great, and we liked Level 1.

 

CKE and Rainbow are open & go for about 30 weeks of material. It looks like RSK needs a lesson plan?

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

We tried one of the Christian Kids Explore books before and dropped the book after 3 weeks. There were no real experiments and I felt it was very watered down. The chemistry book might be different, but from what I saw of the samples it looked like it was similar to the one we tried.

[Keniki]

Thank you, ladies. Your info is very helpful. The one thing I was a little concerned about with CKEC was that I don't care for volume 1 of MOH, so I wondered if I would like this. I know they've included a resource list. Does the curriculum depend on those books as much as the MOH seems too? (I know MOH CAN be used as it, but it does seem pretty basic for middle school.)

 

I'd LOVE to do Rainbow, but yeah, the price is kind of an issue.

 

I downloaded the ACS one a few weeks ago, and I had already forgotten about it. Thanks for bringing it up. I will take another look at it, because "free" curriculum helps pay for a lot of supplies.

 

Creating our own lab experiments doesn't sound too great too me. I'd like Apologia type experiments. You know, the ones that use only household items and always work (well, almost always) and have step-by-step instructions.

 

 

So, now I'm leaning to Elements and ACS.

 

Thanks again!

[redsquirrel]

I am going to say something unpopular. I didn't like "the elements" that much. There, I said it.

 

Now, I do think it is a well put together program and has lots of great ideas. I have a friend who used it, more or less, to put together a great co-op.

 

But I didn't like it much. My son wasn't thrilled by it either. Now, it was prob my own fault. We used it in third grade and it is supposed to be used by 4th grade at the youngest. For some reason, that slipped by me.

 

But

 

There were not enough hands on experiments to keep my son't attenion. It would have been even worse were he to be older. In third grade he sort of accepted it. As a 5th or 7 grader, he would flat out rebel. To be honest, he would have only been happy with flat out explosions. It was very heavily focused on memorizing the periodic table, or at least that is what it felt like to me. I remember having to memorize the table in 8th grade. I'm not really all that convinced it is a necessary thing to memorize. I can be convinced otherwise..would like to be, in fact.

 

I didn't find it all that easy to use. I just sort of read at him and did the discussion questions. I had a hard time knowing when the lesson had ended or where to stop. I would stop when he seemed like he was done but then it felt weird when we started in the middle of a chapter.

 

I supplemented with "experiments with Atoms and molocules' and then just used that for the rest of the year. However, that didn't seem to have much connection to The Elements and it seemed disconnected.

 

Now, I can see pulling it out again when he is in 7th grade to refresh his memory about the periodic table and atomic weights etc. He does seem to have retained what we learned. The description of radioactivity was great.

 

So, it might not have been a great fit for us, or my son might have been too young. I think the information of The Elements is very well presented. I do believe that it would benefit from more hands on experiments.

[Keniki]

I am going to say something unpopular. I didn't like "the elements" that much. There, I said it.

 

Now, I do think it is a well put together program and has lots of great ideas. I have a friend who used it, more or less, to put together a great co-op.

 

But I didn't like it much. My son wasn't thrilled by it either. Now, it was prob my own fault. We used it in third grade and it is supposed to be used by 4th grade at the youngest. For some reason, that slipped by me.

 

But

 

There were not enough hands on experiments to keep my son't attenion. It would have been even worse were he to be older. In third grade he sort of accepted it. As a 5th or 7 grader, he would flat out rebel. To be honest, he would have only been happy with flat out explosions. It was very heavily focused on memorizing the periodic table, or at least that is what it felt like to me. I remember having to memorize the table in 8th grade. I'm not really all that convinced it is a necessary thing to memorize. I can be convinced otherwise..would like to be, in fact.

 

I didn't find it all that easy to use. I just sort of read at him and did the discussion questions. I had a hard time knowing when the lesson had ended or where to stop. I would stop when he seemed like he was done but then it felt weird when we started in the middle of a chapter.

 

I supplemented with "experiments with Atoms and molocules' and then just used that for the rest of the year. However, that didn't seem to have much connection to The Elements and it seemed disconnected.

 

Now, I can see pulling it out again when he is in 7th grade to refresh his memory about the periodic table and atomic weights etc. He does seem to have retained what we learned. The description of radioactivity was great.

 

So, it might not have been a great fit for us, or my son might have been too young. I think the information of The Elements is very well presented. I do believe that it would benefit from more hands on experiments.

 

LOL, my ds's twin! :lol: We ought to get these boys together!

 

So, have you found any one program for middle school chemistry that the two of you like or did you just end up putting together a "little of this and a little of that"?

[amtmcm]

Is your DS somewhat advanced? Would he be intimidated by a big textbook? Could he use Conceptual Chemistry?

 

The website is really, really helpful with video lectures by the author and worksheets with answers for each chapter. For a 7th grader, I'd only complete the first 12 chapters, so about 1 chapter every 3 weeks. The online videos go through chapter 12 and they are coordinated with the 3rd and 4th editions of the text. Completing through chapter 12 would be 430 pages in the 3rd edition, so about 12 pages per week for 36 weeks (you could go at a pretty slow pace since it's a highschool text).

 

There are hands-on activities in the book with clear instructions. This is probably enough for middle school, though you might add a whizzy chemistry kit. But he'll do more serious labs in high school using something like the MicroChem kit. Here are a couple examples of the hands-on activities:

 

Gumdrop Molecules

Racing Temperatures

Crystal Crazy (making rock candy)

A Slice of Ice (A metal wire can be made to pass through a block of ice)

etc...

 

The text is friendly, written directly to the student and includes a lot diagrams and pictures. There are solutions to the odd numbered problems in the back of the text. Then maybe you can use the worksheets on the website as tests?

 

Here's the website:

http://www.conceptualchemistry.com/

 

You can buy a 3rd edition on Amazon, still in shrink wrap for $12.27 + shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0805382216/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291822654&sr=8-1&condition=used

Edited December 8, 2010 by amtmcm

[EKS]

I wouldn't use The Elements as a primary program.