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Ellen McHenry's The Elements, Carbon Chemistry, etc.


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My co-op class on The Elements was for 5th-8th graders. We then did Carbon Chemistry at home with my 5th grader and my 2nd grader tagging along. I'm sure there are people successfully using them in 4th grade, but I found the above age range to be a good fit for these courses. Especially Carbon Chemistry--I think it is more advanced than The Elements.

 

We did The Elements in 8 or 9 weeks (you could take longer and do more activities) and we did Carbon Chemistry in 11 weeks. I added in about half of Adventures with Atoms and Molecules to my co-op class. We're are rounding out our year of chemistry by reading Mystery of the Periodic Table and possibly John Tiner's book (but haven't even started that yet).

Edited by Ali in OR
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My co-op class on The Elements was for 5th-8th graders. We then did Carbon Chemistry at home with my 5th grader and my 2nd grader tagging along. I'm sure there are people successfully using them in 4th grade, but I found the above age range to be a good fit for these courses. Especially Carbon Chemistry--I think it is more advanced than The Elements.

 

 

You say you found the "above age range" to be a good fit. Do you mean those successfully using it in 4th grade or 5th to 8th grade? Also, if a student has some previous chemistry experience, would these be a waste of time?

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My co-op class on The Elements was for 5th-8th graders. We then did Carbon Chemistry at home with my 5th grader and my 2nd grader tagging along. I'm sure there are people successfully using them in 4th grade, but I found the above age range to be a good fit for these courses. Especially Carbon Chemistry--I think it is more advanced than The Elements.

 

We did The Elements in 8 or 9 weeks (you could take longer and do more activities) and we did Carbon Chemistry in 11 weeks. I added in about half of Adventures with Atoms and Molecules to my co-op class. We're are rounding out our year of chemistry by reading Mystery of the Periodic Table and possibly John Tiner's book (but haven't even started that yet).

Thank you for your help!

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You say you found the "above age range" to be a good fit. Do you mean those successfully using it in 4th grade or 5th to 8th grade? Also, if a student has some previous chemistry experience, would these be a waste of time?

 

I liked teaching it to 5th-8th graders. And the older the student, the more they got out of it I think. I helped 5th graders along whereas 8th graders were asking interesting questions. Could my dd have done this when she was in 4th grade? Probably. But I think she got more out of it in 5th grade. I don't think you need to wait for 7th or 8th grade, but I think kids in that age group will do really well with it.

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