Science: Order and Design Student

Instilling an academically solid, God-centered understanding of all branches of science from the early elementary years through high school is the mission of this traditional curriculum. Uniquely, Abeka focuses on mastery of the sciences from a young age through two pathways. First, the science curriculum follows a spiral approach to learning, which means students review previously learned concepts each year, expanding on known concepts and learning new material. The second path, if you chose to use Abeka curriculum in other subjects, is the integration of the grade level scope and sequence, which takes the material taught in science and reinforces it in other subjects like language arts and reading comprehension. While this approach is helpful for mastery, it is not necessary to use other Abeka courses to gain a thorough understanding of the sciences. Scripture references are KJV.

Following a traditional philosophy of education, the basic components include a student text and a teacher edition and/or answer key. Student textbooks are full color and written at a level that each learner can read and understand. Teacher edition content will vary depending on the grade. At all grade levels, Abeka science is teacher led and not designed for independent student work, although at the higher levels, students may be able to do some reading and related activities independently. The K-2 teacher guides include all the information needed to teach science successfully from the scope and sequence and lesson plans with teaching notes, to the activity suggestions and answers (except kindergarten). Beginning in Grade 3 through the high school courses, teacher resources have been divided into separate categories. While this may seem overwhelming, targeted teacher resources help parents and teachers find what they need quickly. Additional supplemental resources may be available. Student and teacher books are not reproducible. See individual descriptions for more information. ~Deanne

Rigorous and college preparatory, the upper-level science courses from Abeka continue to provide a God-glorifying, traditional approach that follows a standard scope and sequence. Parents/teachers remain directly involved in the teaching process at the upper levels and may feel more comfortable to teach Abeka science at home if they have a strong science background. But don't let this hinder you from choosing this rigorous science curriculum! Abeka offers online courses to meet the needs of homeschool parents who feel uncomfortable teaching upper-level science courses. See their website for more information. Student books are softcover. Teacher guides are spiral bound and hardcover. Separate answer keys are softcover. Lab experiments are more complex and may require special equipment (especially at the high school level). Student and teacher books are not reproducible. See individual descriptions for more information.

Presenting life science from a creation perspective, students will learn about the scientific method, habits, classifications, and do investigations (experiments). Topically, they will learn about plants and trees, anatomy and physiology, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians, insects, invertebrates, cells and genetics, and ecology. Evolution is examined in light of conflicting interpretations and Scripture. Healthy living is covered and focuses on making choices regarding nutrition and regular exercise, viruses, first aid, and spiritual and emotional health. Drug use and abuse is covered from a Biblical perspective. Daily lessons will take about 50 minutes, although some students may need longer.

The student textbook provides textual readings, section and chapter reviews, and investigations (hands-on activities). Space to record answers is not included, so students will need a separate notebook. Investigations vary from nature observations to hands-on experiments. You will need to provide numerous common household and lab specific supplies. Examples of required supplies include a 400x stereo microscope, iodine, forceps, spring scale, planarians, petri dishes, test tubes, eye dropper or pipette, scalpel, microscope slides and coverslips, elodea, cork, Celsius thermometer, etc.

The course teacher guide is divided into two volumes. It includes a scope and sequence, daily lesson plans, and reduced student pages with teaching notes for each chapter. Lesson plans include a teacher preparation and procedures section to help parents more efficiently prepare for class time. Also included are teaching notes with chapter overviews, lab notes, in-class activities ideas, section review answers, and additional information to enrich your lessons. Highly recommended for comprehensive instruction, the teacher guides are available individually or in a set. Volume One covers chapters 1-6 and Volume Two covers 7-13. If you prefer not to invest in the teacher guides, the Science Order and Design Answer Key is available and includes answers to the text questions.

Additional resources include the quiz book, test book, and the activity book. Answers are not included, and each book has a separate answer key. The test book provides a grading overview and 12 tests (8 tests, 2 quarter exams, a semester exam and final exam). Questions vary and include multiple choice, matching, short answer, true or false, and essay questions. The quiz book includes 40 quizzes with matching, short answer, and true or false questions. The activity book offers a variety of activities from puzzles to matching and labeling. Also included are instructions and resources to complete a STEM project. Answers for each of these student resources are found in the corresponding answer keys. Student and teacher resources are not reproducible.

Also available to simplify your purchase are Student and Parent Kits. The Student Kit contains the textbook, test book, quiz book, and the activity book with STEM project resources. The Parent Kit includes the Volume 1 and Volume 2 Teacher Editions, the Test Key, Quiz Key, and the Activity Book Key.