Need Physics/Physical Science Rec. for 8th Grade

[DragonFaerie]

My son has decided that he wants to come back to homeschool this year, so now I'm scrambling trying to find curriculum for him, especially for science.  He has asked to do physics/physical science. Here's what we need:

 

-Secular

-Needs to have lots of hand-on experiments/activities

-Needs to be an actual, pre-planned curriculum (DS does not want the "collection of books" type of curriculum where he has to go read these pages in this book and this chapter in this book, etc. and I need something with planned assignments, worksheets, quizzes, etc.)

-Really, REALLY cheap

 

I'm thinking Mr. Q might fit the bill, but it seems rather light for 8th grade.  Any other ideas?

[travelgirlut]

I was going to suggest Exploration Education, right up until you said really cheap.

[fourisenough]

Derek Owens Physical Science

 

ETA: just saw the 'really cheap'. Oops, DO isn't exactly cheap; although, if you do all the grading, you can enroll for half-price I believe.

Edited July 10, 2016 by fourisenough

[HollyDay]

Holt has a program.  You might be able to find it used somewhere

 

[DragonFaerie]

I was going to suggest Exploration Education, right up until you said really cheap.

 

 

Derek Owens Physical Science

 

ETA: just saw the 'really cheap'. Oops, DO isn't exactly cheap; although, if you do all the grading, you can enroll for half-price I believe.

 

 

Does this mean there aren't any really cheap options that would fit the bill?  Any thoughts on Mr. Q?

 

 

Holt has a program.  You might be able to find it used somewhere

 

Do you mean the Holt textbooks?

[GeoKitty]

For my eighth grader, we are planning to use DIVE ICP ($50).  It has video labs.  

For an extra hands on portion we bought Thames and Kosmos kits - Physics Pro and Chem 1000, as well as Snap Circuits which we already had.

[Janeway]

What about ck12.org and then a collection of experiments.

[SilverMoon]

Bite-size Physics by Science Jim and middleschoolchemistry.com :)

[DragonFaerie]

What about ck12.org and then a collection of experiments.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but this isn't pre-planned enough.  I know nothing about physical science and don't feel comfortable trying to match up a collection of experiments with lessons.

 

 

Bite-size Physics by Science Jim and middleschoolchemistry.com :)

 

Thanks for the suggestion. The middleschoolchemistry site is confusing to me. Is this an actual curriculum?  Science Jim might be good, but he doesn't seem to have much info on his website right now. I'll check back again as the school year approaches. I see that he has online classes. Do they include some type of curriculum and hands-on activities, too?

[SilverMoon]

Middle School Chem is a real curriculum, but you do have to poke around to see how the site works. There are videos for the experiments if you can't track down all the supplies. It's been since my 11th and 12th grade kids were younger since I've used it, so I don't remember specifics. There used to be threads around here with exhaustive supply lists and other helps for it. It's made by the American Chemical Society.

 

Bite-size Physics is a curriculum with LOTS of hands on to demonstrate the concepts. I don't know anything about the actual classes. I bought the main book from CurrClick and just worked through it ourselves. An 8th grader could probably complete this easily in a semester.

[DragonFaerie]

Middle School Chem is a real curriculum, but you do have to poke around to see how the site works. There are videos for the experiments if you can't track down all the supplies. It's been since my 11th and 12th grade kids were younger since I've used it, so I don't remember specifics. There used to be threads around here with exhaustive supply lists and other helps for it. It's made by the American Chemical Society.

 

Bite-size Physics is a curriculum with LOTS of hands on to demonstrate the concepts. I don't know anything about the actual classes. I bought the main book from CurrClick and just worked through it ourselves. An 8th grader could probably complete this easily in a semester.

 

I looked at the Bite-size Physics on CurrClick.  It does look good, though I'd have to combine it with something to make a complete school year, maybe just a physical science workbook from Amazon or something.  One thing I noticed is that it seems to be written as a script for the parent to read.  Can an 8th grader work through it independently?

[SilverMoon]

Yes. An 8th grader should have zero problems running it themselves.

 

Middle School Chem should also take about a semester for that grade.