Tell me about CPO Earth Science

[Nemom]

I have already purchased Holt Earth Science for next year (7th grade) but I am feeling overwhelmed by over 700 pages...

 

What is CPO science like? Are you purchasing it used from Amazon? What resources would I need besides the student book? She does like experiments.

 

I am looking for something straightforward without a lot of extra fluff. I would like to watch a lot of documentaries to go along with what she is reading so I would like the reading part to be short and to the point.

 

Science is my least favorite subject to teach. I want something that is open and go, some worksheets to help with remembering stuff, but otherwise EASY for me. :-)

 

Everything else is planned, printed, and sorted into weekly file folders.

[redsquirrel]

Well, I used CPO Earth and Space but I wouldn't call it open and go. But I also don't know what it is that you are planning to do.  What would you be willing to do? There is a textbook and it is also very handy to have the teacher's book because it has all the answers as well as solutions to "Student Record Sheets".  The CPO website has all the other stuff to print out. There are 'skills and practice' sheets and some graphic organizers and teaching illustrations.  I used some of all of that when we did it.

 

The book itself isn't anything special. It is just a textbook. IMO, the meat of CPO is in the hands on part and that is not 'open and go'. You do an 'exploration' (those are the student record sheets) and then you read the section in the book and answer the questions at the end of the section. You end up doing two and maybe three hands on per week, depending on the chapter. The reading sections refer to the hands on parts that the student did. We made a commitment to doing some science four days a week, and we got through the book easily. If you are just planning to read the book and skip all the hands on part then really any earth science text will do. You can do that with the Holt textbook you have because it prob isn't that different. If it is the length, well, CPO is close to 500 pages so again, not really different from Holt.

 

Here is a hive member's blog about her experience using CPO earth and space:

http://nowisthebesttimeofourlives.blogspot.com/2010/09/adapting-stream-table-lab-investigation.html

 

I found this to be very helpful.

 

I really like CPO and we had a great earth science year!

 

Middle school science in general can feel a little overwhelming. It just requires more from us, I think. At least it did from me. Now that I am on the other side of 8th grade I am really happy with how thing went. I worked really hard on science but I think it was all worth it.

[Krystan]

We just finished up CPO Earth.  The previous year we had used CPO Life, and are getting ready for CPO Physical next year.  CPO Earth is definitely the easist of the three content wise, so it would be good to do first.  However, it is NOT open and go, mostly because the labs are written for classroom use using expensive equipment, and many need to be altered or replaced.

 

I really like the text book.  I found that I had to use a school-y textbook instead of a homeschool program to make sure important topics like evolution and the big bang were covered well.  CPO is written well, though the amount of time spent on certain topics is maybe not what I would have chosen.  You can tell physics is the author's favorite topic as it is brought up in all three books consistently, which is not necessarily bad.  As a nurse, I was horrified in the human body section (of Life) with one sentence on the kidneys and one paragraph on the digestive system (!).  However, all in all, I really like the text and the writing.  It is not too "busy" like some of these newer text books that are trying to look like websites, but it does have pictures and charts on almost every page, which are helpful.

 

How we used CPO Earth: We did this program with two other families, a total of 6 kids ranging from grades 4 to 7.  They all met at my house for lab/activities once a week over 2 hours or so.  At home they would read one or two sections per week and do the section review questions for each.  When we met, we would go over homework, watch some online videos, and do whatever activity I had planned for that week.  We definitely did not do all of the labs.  I didn't like all of them, and some of them required expensive equipment, and we only met once a week.  I did make alternatives for the stream table (plastic bin with a hole cut out) and the GeoBox (cut up Ziploc container).  These CPO-specific lab items are too expensive for home use, but are used in several labs.  I replaced a lot of the labs with my own from usgs.gov, middleschoolscience.com, science-class.net, and other websites.  There are a lot of neat ideas out there that teach concepts a little better with a smaller group.  For example, during the solar system chapter, there is a lab that says, "Use a dark gymnasium with at least 20 students and 10 flashlights," or something like that.  Ummm, no.  However, we loved the planet distance lab we adapted to fit in my back yard.  I also had them do research projects periodically to present to the group.  We got through the book in a year, no problem, doing 1-2 sections per week, depending on length and difficulty of content.  I wish I had kept track of all the activities/labs/videos we did, as I think it would be helpful for other homeschoolers.

 

I do feel like you need the teacher's guide.  I bought both the teacher's guide and the text book used on Amazon.  I think I paid about $60 for the teachers book and $15 for the text.  The prices of the texts fluctuate depending on time of year.  I  bought CPO Physical in March because I saw it for $2.50!

 

I'm still waiting for the perfect middles school science program.  I want one that is not just secular, but actually includes the study of evolution (a whole unit in CPO) and the origins of the universe, and with labs that are easy to do at home.  A lot of these "secular" programs just avoid the issue, which leaves an important and interesting section of science out.  However, most school texts are written for classroom.  I'm hoping REAL Science Odyssey comes out with Level 2 Earth and Physical, but at the rate they're going it will be too late for my kids.  Their Level 2 Biology looks great!

[MEmama]

Following...

 

These reviews are great! I am planning to use CPO Earth this year, and it's really helpful to get an understanding of how tweakable it is and how other people have used it. I'll be ordering it soon so I can plan each chapter ahead of time this year, instead of winging it like I usually do. There's something that seems so...serious...about middle school! Eek!

 

For you wise veterans, how much writing did you require for this program? Did you have your kids answer/discuss most questions orally or make it more formal?

[Nemom]

Is it not open and go because you have to organize the explorations ahead of time along with any needed worksheets printed from the website? What would you say an average exploration takes time wise? I understand some are likely to more labor intensive than others.

 

If everything is clearly laid out-then I can probably handle it. :)

[Krystan]

I would say what keeps it from being open and go is having to adapt the labs to the home environment.  There are quite a few CPO-only supplies (NO one else makes a "geobox") that you'll need to make an alternate version of, fork over tons of money, or skip the lab altogether.  Doable, but not open-and-go.  I found quite a few acitivites online that I preferred to their labs, but that's not necessary I guess.  I also added in videos from various sites/channels.  But *can* you open and go if you want?  Yes, but only if you have a well-stocked science lab.

 

I had my kids write out the answers to all the chapter review questions.  We did the test out loud as a group mostly, but I occasionally had the older ones do it written.  And I added a few written research projects in there for fun.

[MEmama]

Thanks, Krystan. This is very helpful! :)

[redsquirrel]

I didn't find Earth or Life science to be difficult to adapt at home at all. But, we have always been a hands on science type of family. I am used to pulling together materials. The Geobox wasn't all that difficult. Turns out it is a fairly common thing to do in a science class and there were demonstrations on Youtube.

 

The thing we actually had trouble with was the contour mapping and that was because I was too cheap to buy one

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/contour-model-kit/p/RM-CONTOUR/

 

Now I wish I had. Typical, right?

 

But, after several attempts to get physical science to work at home I called Uncle and switched to Derek Owens. That was a very frustrating experience.

 

And I did not have my son write out all the answers to the questions. But, we did do them, every single one. And I had him answer any questions in the text. I did have him do all the writing for the demonstrations and other worksheets. But the end of section questions just took toooo long to write out. We had a much better having discussions. The end of chapter questions had to be spread out over several days. They took a lot longer. Sometimes I would just have him go over the vocabulary words and then the conceptual questions or anything involving math.

 

And in terms of the explorations, if you have the material then it feels like open and go. At least to me it did. I just got everything out that I would be needing in the coming week on Sunday. I checked that everything was printed out and in his binder and we were good to go. I got it all together in the summer. I just opened up the PDFs for the student record sheets and looked at the materials list and then opened a tab to Home Science Tools and filled up my cart. I have it all for my next kid, so I am very happy I got it.

 

There are a lot of resources online at CPO, but mostly you need the student record sheets. The other stuff is just extra. I had him read the occasional scientist biography and the odd skills and practice sheet, but really there was more than enough to keep us busy doing exploration, read section and answer questions, exploration, read section and answer questions, read section and answer questions, two days of end of chapter questions, exploration, read and answer section questions etc, etc.