Any comments regarding Exploration Education for 8th gr. physics?

[hillfarm]

I am trying to find a good physics or physical science curriculum for dd for 8th grade. We used McHenry for chemistry in 7th, and I thought it was just a bit light, but fine with supplementation. Dd loves the conversational, humorous style.

 

Have any of you used Exploration Education materials? Am I correct that the main teaching tool is a DVD?

 

We have already done a year of biology and one of earth science, so I am not too keen on buying a curriculum for physical science that has a heavy emphasis on those subjects.

 

Thank.

[Matryoshka]

I'm thinking of getting the intermediate level for my younger dd next year, who'll be at a 5th/6th grade level, and I think it'll be a good fit.

 

However, the "advanced" level looked light to me for older kids - it seems like the same base lessons as the younger level but just adds more topics? Might be fine for 8th, though; I may have been thinking of high school level. I'm planning on using CPO for my 8th graders rather than EE, but I am curious how they line up. We'll be doing CPO with a small group of other families, my younger dd will be doing EE independently.

 

Anyone else have a chance to see the advanced level vs. the intermediate?

 

The teaching tool is, I think, a CD-ROM rather than a DVD - meaning it's interactive. I do like that.

[Capt_Uhura]

I just ordered the Advanced level. It seems the advanced level is the same sequence of topics as the intermediate level but adds another experiment or two to the intermediate level in order to go deeper. KWIM?

[hillfarm]

Can you let us know what you think when you get it?

 

So far, it seems like the best choice for us, but I always like to get more input if possible.

 

Dd liked the McHenry. I think she is at a phase where she actually thrives with the lighter curricula, because she is easily able to grasp the "required" material and then usually goes off on her own tangents and picks up some more indepth things.

[Capt_Uhura]

I sure will! :001_smile:

[mollyrs]

Any updates?

[Melabella]

I have been to the Exploration Education website several times and always thought it seemed overpriced. However, I had the opportunity to check it out at the Greenville convention last week and was thoroughly impressed. It may not be as rigorous as BJU, but it certainly is a full course with an excellent lab component. I love the fact that the program comes with ALL of the lab supplies because that seems to be my road block to getting science done on a regular basis.

 

Okay, so you have the online lessons, a text and lab notebook, and the lab supplies. There are 5 online lessons per topic. The author said you could do 1 lesson per day, or lessons 1 - 3 on day 1 and lessons 4 and 5 together on day 2 or separate on days 2 and 3.

 

Labs: At the Advanced level (grades 7 - 9?), they construct a glider and a stick frame house complete with wiring. The Intermediate level has the student buidling a scale and race car. There were many other projects as well, but those are really caught my eye. They truly looked like quality, fun labs. I wanted to do the labs and I hate physical science.

 

I think most 7th or 8th graders could do this fairly independently. You could easily add in some living books on the topics if you want. So, yeah, I will be using this for physical science. I had planned to do life science next year, but, honestly, I'm so excited by this program that I'm considering doing physical next year and life the following year for 8th.

 

*I promise I do not work for EE in any way, shape, or form. I just REALLY fell liked what I saw. Keep in mind that science is not my strong suit at all and I haven't actually used the program yet. And, if anyone posts a negative review, I'm going to plug my ears and close my eyes, because I have never been excited about a science curriculum before.

[Melabella]

Anyone else have a chance to see the advanced level vs. the intermediate?

 

The teaching tool is, I think, a CD-ROM rather than a DVD - meaning it's interactive. I do like that.

 

I didn't really answer you questions, did I? Yes, the advanced scope is the same as the intermediate, but it does go deeper and has different labs. The online portion is interactive which is a plus in my book, too.

 

Your 5th/6th grader should be able to do most of the work independently. I'd imagine some assistance would be needed with the projects.

 

Here's something to consider: When combining students, they recommend buying the higher level package and adding on the lab pack for the younger student. However, you could buy the Intermediate level package for your 5th grader and have your older student do the Advanced level labs in addition to CPO. I recommend this only because the older child may be envious of your younger student's labs. In fact, a woman at the booth next to me anticipated that she would have that problem if she purchased the program for only one child. Alternatively, you could just have the older child assist the younger one with the labs.

 

I probably wouldn't use this as is for a high school credit science, but I think it is perfect for late elementary through middle school.

 

Hope that helps!

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Melabella,

 

I'm going to do CPO with my 8th grader and EE with my 6th grader (letting a 3rd grader watch and "help").

 

I've tried to combine CPO with EE like you're talking about so that the older one can use the EE lab stuff, but the TOCs don't line up very well. The same topics are covered, but the order isn't the same. I just decided to let each child follow the TOC as is because combining them didn't work.

 

Have you successfully combined these two?

 

One more question.... would you think I would need to buy two EE experiment supplies- one for each of my older kids? Or, can they both use just one? I was soooo relieved when the rep from CPO told me that the experiments from EE would work with the CPO stuff. CPO's lab supplies are in the neighborhood of $2000!

 

 

 

I didn't really answer you questions, did I? Yes, the advanced scope is the same as the intermediate, but it does go deeper and has different labs. The online portion is interactive which is a plus in my book, too.

 

Your 5th/6th grader should be able to do most of the work independently. I'd imagine some assistance would be needed with the projects.

 

Here's something to consider: When combining students, they recommend buying the higher level package and adding on the lab pack for the younger student. However, you could buy the Intermediate level package for your 5th grader and have your older student do the Advanced level labs in addition to CPO. I recommend this only because the older child may be envious of your younger student's labs. In fact, a woman at the booth next to me anticipated that she would have that problem if she purchased the program for only one child. Alternatively, you could just have the older child assist the younger one with the labs.

 

I probably wouldn't use this as is for a high school credit science, but I think it is perfect for late elementary through middle school.

 

Hope that helps!

[radiobrain]

I will be buying the advanced level at the Cincinnati Convention.

 

Last year, when I decided I would get it this year, he explained that the Advanced level is the intermediate level, with a few more projects, and more "in depth" advanced explanations. I knew that made the most sense to me!

 

Does that help?

[Luckymama]

Another thing to add to my look-at-the-Northeast-convention list :D Thanks!

[mollyrs]

Would the advance curriculum be ok for an 8th grader? I love that it comes with all of the experiment stuff.

[Robin in DFW]

He has enjoyed it. It has many hands on projects. The student builds various structures and then uses them in different experiments throughout the course.

 

The textbook is on the cd-rom. It is interactive in that the student answers questions after reading the lesson. There are occasional videos to show or explain a concept and sometimes the experiment instructions show a video so the student knows if they are conducting the experiments correctly.

 

There is a teacher answer booklet and student workpages. Oftentimes, the student answers the computerized questions and then logs his answers on the student pages as well. There are graphs and grids to fill in, experiment write up pages and templates. The student book is quite hefty.

 

There are online quizzes, quarterly tests, etc. We handle these in varying ways depending on how complicated the concept is and whether or not I feel my son would benefit from using his notes and student pages rather than memorizing just for the sake of memorizing, iykwim.

 

He has built some really neat things and is very proud of himself when he's done. We display the completed projects in our schoolroom. Most of the experiments are decent; a few are cheesy. The putt-putt boat is a favorite here.

 

I bought this at convention last year and it was well worth the money. Other than a few household items like vinegar, laundry soap, etc. everything comes with the kit. We had some issues (user error) with a couple of the experiments and the author helped us out over the phone and sent replacement pieces for things we messed up. He's super nice and helpful.

 

We do not use anything else with this program unless it's to look up something we want to know more about from a particular lesson. We tend to do lighter science until high school. By lighter, I mean more interest oriented rather than textbook and drill. My dd18 graduates in a few months and will be heading off to college to major in Biology. She followed this same method until high school and has always loved science. My ds13, using EE, is the same way and will probably go into a science field as well.

 

He looks forward to doing science every day and it has been one subject that doesn't get avoided like the plague!!!

 

Hope this helps!

[Capt_Uhura]

Robin - Thanks for your post! How long would you say it took your DS each week and how many weeks to complete advanced EE?

[Robin in DFW]

Some days are very short...20-30 minutes...usually for reading about the week's topic and answering a few quick questions.

 

Experiment days take about 30-40 minutes. If the experiment involves building something, it could take much longer. On some of the building lessons, we split it up over 2-3 days (which made us get off on the M-F schedule...the lessons are numbered 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3...and so forth for each chapter----so a week's worth, M-F). But it has been fine and has not affected the program any.

 

I know for some it is necessary to have lessons generally be the same length each day, but for us it's not a big deal. We work with it and adjust or eliminate another subject on a long science day.

 

If 20-30 minutes is not enough for your student, you could add in reading from a physical science book of some sort I suppose. We don't, but I can understand some might want to supplement. I learned not to supplement so much and my kids enjoy the "main" curriculum so much more now than when I was trying to make the classes last a certain amount of time because that's how school does it! ;)

 

It's a nice introduction to physical (physics) science and chemistry. Kind of like an integrated physics and chemistry program, but more interesting!

 

ETA: The program is set up for a full year. I guess if you wanted to spend more time per day, you could do 2 lessons each day. I don't have to log hours in my state, so I have no idea how long we spend.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Robin in DFW

[Melabella]

Melabella,

 

I'm going to do CPO with my 8th grader and EE with my 6th grader (letting a 3rd grader watch and "help").

 

I've tried to combine CPO with EE like you're talking about so that the older one can use the EE lab stuff, but the TOCs don't line up very well. The same topics are covered, but the order isn't the same. I just decided to let each child follow the TOC as is because combining them didn't work.

 

Have you successfully combined these two?

 

One more question.... would you think I would need to buy two EE experiment supplies- one for each of my older kids? Or, can they both use just one? I was soooo relieved when the rep from CPO told me that the experiments from EE would work with the CPO stuff. CPO's lab supplies are in the neighborhood of $2000!

 

No, I have never even seen CPO Physical Science. We attempted to use CPO Earth & Space this year, but the labs ended up being the downfall of that program. I was most definitely not going to spend thousands of dollars on CPO's kits and I need a kit!

 

You do not need to buy two EE supply kits. In fact, I heard the author say that while each student might want their own kit, one can be shared if two aren't in the budget. I guess it just depends on how well your kids share. ;)

 

Good luck!

Edited March 26, 2011 by Melabella

[HSing...AndLovin'It]

We will be using this for 7th grade this year and I was wondering if this could work in a co-op situation. Could a co-op get together once a week and either do the building projects or the experiments?

[Capt_Uhura]

Thanks Robin!

[Kalmia]

We just received our Exploration Education kit and will begin next week. I'll be using it in conjunction with Prentice Hall's older versions of their middle school physical science book: Prentice Hall Science Sound and Light; Prentice Hall Science Electricity and Magnetism; and Prentice Hall Science Motion, Forces, and Energy. I have been thrilled with the free physics lectures on www.brightstorm.com. We especially love the crazy instructor who lectures on waves.

 

These three sources combined may make for our most comprehensive science year yet!

Edited March 26, 2011 by Kalmia

[Sweet Home Alabama]

No, I have never even seen CPO Physical Science. We attempted to use CPO Earth & Space this year, but the labs ended up being the downfall of that program. I was most definitely not going to spend thousands of dollars on CPO's kits and I need a kit!

 

You do not need to buy two EE supply kits. In fact, I heard the author say that while each student might want their own kit, one can be shared if two aren't in the budget. I guess it just depends on how well your kids share. ;)

 

Good luck!

 

 

Thanks so much, Melanie!