Apologia Science Homeschool Methods and Beliefs

I absolutely love Apologia Science and I believe it is the best homeschool science curriculum out there. What I love the most about it, is the fact that if I didn't teach it to my children, they would still learn it!

This is because Apologia Science is written in such a way that it requires no instructor. It talks directly to the student and teaches them the same way an instructor would. However, I do still like to participate in teaching it to my children as well, the text just makes it a whole lot easier on both me and my kids.

Apologia Science was designed by a former university professor to take advantage of the best ways to express ideas to children so that they will be excited about learning.

The experiments that Apologia Science offers are very engaging and get my children very excited about science. In fact, because of Apologia, science is my son's favorite subject.

One really fun experiment we just did was about the sun. First, we learned about how far away the sun was, how long it takes for the sun's light to reach the earth, and the danger of looking at the sun for too long.

Although there is a lot of really great information and instructions in the Apologia Science curriculum, the experiments are what truly set it apart. To show the damage that the sun could do to our eyes, we used a magnifying glass to set a piece of paper on fire. My children tell everyone about that experiment and the danger of looking at the sun for too long!

Apologia Science is great for the experiments, because you won't usually need to purchase anything for them. Most things that you will need are things that you already have in your home. The immersion into the world of science with Apologia Science is what makes the children love learning the material.

Since the Apologia Science curriculum is based on Christian teachings I know that none of the material will ever contradict with our religious beliefs. Everything is based around the fact that God created the world. This makes it the perfect science curriculum for Christian families.

For an average lesson we will start by reading over the lesson material. After we have done this, I will use the scripted questions to get input and answers from my children. We discuss things for a while, and when I know that they have a great grasp on what the concepts are, we will do the included experiment.

I will then have them write their thoughts about the lesson, and any notations about the experiment that we thought were interesting. Before we're ready to stop learning, the lesson is complete, and my children have learned a lot!

Having a curriculum like Apologia Science one that your children look forward to learning, is invaluable to a home-schooling parent. This is one of the reasons that I stick by Apologia, their ideas and views, and their curriculum.

Want to save money on your homeschool programs? Visit Used Homeschool Curriculum to snatch up great deals on used curriculum and to discover more about different homeschooling options.

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Apologia Science Curriculum - Having Fun With Lasers

Lasers remind us of Star Wars and parties. Lasers are associated with fun and although many other educational programs such as the Apologia science curriculum have touched the surface, I want to delve deep and enable kids to safely experience lasers and their diffraction.

    

L.A.S.E.R. stands for Light Amplification by Simulated Emission of Radiation. The light emitted by an incandescent bulb spreads in all directions, and therefore lights up the room, while the light coming from a laser is in the form of a thin beam made up of photons travelling in a straight line. Therefore a laser beam makes just a dot of light on your wall. I have gone through many homeschool curriculums such as the Apologia science curriculum, and I felt that I must take learning one step ahead by introducing some practical and fun ways of learning science.

 

How Lasers Work

When a light source throws light into the tube of your laser pointer, the particles of gas in the tube begin to vibrate harder (imagine your excited pet dog running all over your living room). When these excited particles relax (imagine your dog lying lazily on the couch), they release light energy in the form of photons. These released photons now collide with other gas particles in the tube and make them vibrate or relax. After some time many photons of light are released. They bounce off mirrors in the tube and are released through the opening of the tube (imagine a doggie door) in a controlled manner, forming a thin and straight beam.

 

Now let's do a couple of fun experiments. You can use a keychain laser or a simple red-laser pointing device for the same. Green lasers from astronomy stores are dangerous and should not be used. Remember to wear eye protection even if it feels weird to wear them in the dark.

 

Beam through Bottle Experiment: Fill a plastic soda bottle with water. Add a few pinches of cornstarch till the water turns slightly milky. Now switch off the lights and flash your laser pointing device through the bottle. What do you see? Do you see the original laser beam? Can you find the reflected and the pass-through beam?

 

Laser-Fog Machine Experiment: You can do a slight variation to the above experiment by using a fog machine instead of cornstarch water. Turn on the fog machine and flash a couple of laser pointing devices through the fog. Enjoy the spectacular laser show!

 

CD Laser Diffraction Experiment: Place an old scratched CD and a new smooth CD on a table. Turn on the fog machine around the CDs, and flash the laser pointer on both the CDs. What do you see? Which CD sends out more reflections, the scratched one of the smooth one? See to it that there is enough fog so that the laser beams are seen clearly. You can also place other shiny objects near the CDs and enjoy the laser patterns!

 

Homeschool science can be really cool, and I want to take you beyond your Apologia science curriculum experience. Click the link below to check out the free "Homeschool Parent's Guide to Teaching Science", for more great science experiments and activities.

A great free resource for really cool science activities and experiments is to download a copy of the Homeschool Science Experiment Guide.

Another good homeschool resource for science ideas, experiments and activities, is the homeschool science blog (just click on the "Blog" link). Definitely worth bookmarking.

Good luck!

About the Author Aurora Lipper has been teaching science to kids for over 10 years. She is also a mechanical engineer, university instructor, pilot, astronomer, a real live rocket scientist (You should see the lab in her basement!) and a mom. She has inspired thousands of kids with the fun and magic of science.

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