Prentice Hall Science Explorer vs. How the ___ Works for Astronomy

[Catherine]

and Earth Science. What are the pros and cons?

 

I found last year when I used the Reader's Digest books for Biology (fifth grade) the advance planning needed to use these books did not happen often enough. I will plan each lesson in advance, this summer, if I use them again this year.

 

I'm not very good at putting materials together myself, I prefer something that is more pick up and go. Is Prentice Hall pretty pick up and go? What is needed other than the student test? Thanks!

[Karen in TN]

We like Science Explorer, but if you plan on doing many of the activities, you do need to plan ahead. And since it is designed for schools, some of the activities simply aren't feasible to do at home. I've found that the only way for me to deal with it is to sit down with the book and make a list of what activities I plan to do and what supplies I'll need for the whole year, and I order them all together. Then when the time comes, I know I have what I'll need. The books could be used without doing many of the activities, but it wouldn't be nearly as interesting. It's a lot of work up front, but the hands-on activities are what really grab my son.

 

Besides the text, I buy the lab manual and the study guide, both of which are inexpensive.

 

Karen

[GraceinMD]

What is needed other than the student test?

 

Hi, Catherine!

 

I'm not familiar with the RD books, but PH has been a good fit for us. Besides the text, I liked having the "Guided Workbooks" (or some similar title) - I thought it was a good transition (I HOPE it's a good transition) to learning notetaking skills. The workbooks seemed (to me) to be good at helping the student to extract information and organize it in a useful way. As far as other items, I remember reading a post about the LabZone EZ Planner (or something similar) and wishing I'd gotten it, but never did and now can't remember what I thought would have been in there.

 

We did not do all that many experiments, but ds seemed to retain a fair amount of the ones we did (e.g., genetics / statistics experiments, using M&Ms and paper bags ... lol - ok, it was probably the candy that cemented the info in his brain, not the textbook!).

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[GraceinMD]

I buy the lab manual

 

Karen, can you tell me (us) what the lab manual consists of? I don't recall seeing that one on the (confusing, imo) website.

 

Thanks.

[Catherine]

nt

[Karen in TN]

They have the 2 labs for each chapter duplicated from the book, with any charts, graphs, etc. that need to be filled out there. In other words, you start out with a blank form, as opposed to having to draw the form yourself. They also include 1 extra lab for each chapter that is not in the book. You could certainly do without it, but it makes my life easier, and sometimes that extra lab is pretty interesting. It costs about $6.

 

Their website is terrible. I requested the science catalog and place all my orders over the phone.

 

Karen

[Karen in TN]

The LabZone CD has teacher notes for all the labs in the book, including answers for many activities throughout the textbook. Sometimes it will tell you where you can get certain supplies. It also includes some teacher demonstrations that are not mentioned in the student text. One thing it does NOT have is any information on the extra activities from the lab manual.

 

Karen

[Karen in TN]

There are times I think it would be nice to have answers prepared for me instead of having to hunt them out myself, but I have never bought them, so I'm not sure what they have in them. But after buying the student text, study guide & lab manual, and supplies, I've spent about as much as I can afford on one subject! I am glad to have the LabZone CD, but I found that used. I don't know if I would have paid new price for it.

 

Karen