Corraleno Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 If anyone is looking for a secular textbook-based middle school science program, I highly recommend CPO Science. It's completely secular, the company that publishes it is owned by a physicist from MIT. I have all three sets (Life Science, Physical Science, Earth Science) and I've been really impressed with them. I also bought several standard middle school & high school science texts (Pearson, Prentice Hall, Holt, etc.), and the thing that drives me nuts about them is they're so busy and distracting, with 47 colors and sidebars and bulleted lists and every fourth word highlighted, that it's incredibly difficult to sort through it and find the actual information. IMHO the CPO books have a much cleaner design, the illustrations are excellent, and the material is presented in a clearer and more straightforward way. Each chapter summary also includes some math problems and interesting writing prompts. You can check out sample chapters and table of contents on the website: http://dev.cpo.com/home/Default.aspx?alias=dev.cpo.com/home/2 There is a TON of free resources on the website, including Powerpoint slides, graphic organizers, student worksheets, tests & quizzes, mini-videos, and science simulations, as well as correlations to state standards for several states, if that's important to someone. Click on "For Educators" then click on the subject (e.g. "Middle School Life Science"). You will find the resources in three sections, under Presentation Slides, Media (videos & simulations), and Ancillaries (quizzes, organizers, etc). Even if you're not interested in the books, check out the Ancillaries subsection called "Teaching Illustrations" for excellent free poster-type graphics (e.g. cell structure, human anatomy, geologic processes). And best of all, the 2007 editions are available on ebay, brand new, for under $20 for the set of hardcover textbook plus softcover workbook -- just search for "CPO science" and you'll have plenty of choices. The only disadvantage is that the lab workbooks were written with the assumption that the student would be using the CPO lab materials, so for some of the suggested experiments you would need to cobble together your own equipment or skip that particular experiment. But for me the lab workbooks are basically a free bonus anyway, so that doesn't bother me. (I don't have any connection to this company, these were recommended to me on another list and I was amazed to find them because I'd never heard of them before, so I'm just passing it on, since I know a good secular middle school science text is hard to find.) Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildiris Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 :001_smile: Thanks for the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Well, heck, where have these been hiding?? They look really good. I totally agree with you about the PH stuff being so visually distracting - it seems to be a disease of many middle-school texts, not just science. I have such a hard time wading through all those sidebars and bullets and boxes and superflous graphics. I really appreciate a clean layout. Anyone else who's been obsessing over this have an opinion on how these look compared to the Singapore Interactive Science books? Does the content look as good as the clutter-free layout? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAberlin Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Public middle school math books have the disease as well. It's no wonder the teachers of the students I tutor never use the math book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Wow those look great! and I really like all the ressources on that website. i think I have finally found our science for next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanaTron Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Anyone else who's been obsessing over this have an opinion on how these look compared to the Singapore Interactive Science books? Does the content look as good as the clutter-free layout? :) Especially if they are that inexpensive on e-bay. :bigear::bigear: Oh, and I, too, don't like the look/layout of PHSE. I had decided to ignore that, and just make SE work (which I may still do since I can get the books for free), but I'd really be happier with a clearner layout in the books. My gut tells me that cluttered pages are hard for my dc to wade through, also, and that a cleaner page will help their ability to focus in on what they need to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUV2EDU Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Wow! The books are beautifully laid out.:001_smile: I don't see a price list on their website. Do you know how much the textbooks are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 How do you know the answers to the online tests & quizzes as well as the chapter reviews? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetTN Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 This looks great! I ordered their catalog since I don't usually do ebay. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUV2EDU Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Bump.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted April 22, 2009 Author Share Posted April 22, 2009 Wow! The books are beautifully laid out.:001_smile: I don't see a price list on their website. Do you know how much the textbooks are? I just looked at their website again, because I know the prices were on there about 2 months ago, but I don't see them now. I think it was around $60 for the text & workbook set. I got all of mine on ebay for under $20 though. Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted April 22, 2009 Author Share Posted April 22, 2009 How do you know the answers to the online tests & quizzes as well as the chapter reviews? They do publish teacher's manuals, but I don't have them. I don't do much formal testing, we usually just discuss things so I have a good idea if they understand the material or not. If I wanted to use the online tests, I would probably just print it out and fill in the answers as I read through the chapter, to make my own answer key. The books are also VERY well laid out, with one topic per page, so if you happen to forget the difference between diffusion and osmosis and need to check your child's work, you can flip to the pages that say "Diffusion" and "Osmosis" at the top and quickly find the answer. :) I like the more open-ended activities at the end of each chapter, for example: "Write a letter to a friend from the perspective of an amoeba, paramecium, or euglena. Tell your friend what you've been up to lately. Be creative!" Or "Your friend thinks the world would be better off without bacteria. Convince him that bacteria are vital to life on Earth using at least three specific examples." Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlockOfSillies Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 These look really good, although the Earth Science has only 3 chapters on Astronomy. Duh, it's EARTH science. Still, this one's definitely in the running for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimnactmom Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 We do secular science and I was looking for Life Science for 7th grade. I will seriously consider these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUV2EDU Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 (edited) I found this under the simulation section.:001_smile: Astronomy http://dev.cpo.com/home/Portals/2/Media/post_sale_content/moon%20phases.swf Water Cycle http://dev.cpo.com/home/Portals/2/Media/post_sale_content/water%20cycle.swf Edited April 23, 2009 by LUV2EDU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanaTron Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I see the page count, and these look like hefty books. How are you scheudling? And what labs are you using? The ones in the CPO materials, or are you using labs from another source? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissa123 Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Thanks for posting this. We've tried PHSE, and my daughter really doesn't like it. These books look great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Bumping this up in hopes someone can answer LanaTron's question about scheduling. Does anyone know how to schedule CPO Science? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula in PA Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I was just looking on Ebay and have a question. I found some with a 2007 copyright with a title of CPO Focus on...(Life, Earth, Physical). Are these the same ones, with similar content, as the ones on the CPO site, just a different title/cover? Are these maybe state specific versions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I was just looking on Ebay and have a question. I found some with a 2007 copyright with a title of CPO Focus on...(Life, Earth, Physical). Are these the same ones, with similar content, as the ones on the CPO site, just a different title/cover? Are these maybe state specific versions? Gosh, I hope so - that's what I just bought and didn't even realize the covers were similar but not identical. I can't imagine the content could be all that radically different from 2007 to 2009, and the price sure was right! Well, guess I'll know soon... :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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