Physical Science Homeschool Student Kit - Revised

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.

Building a foundation for upper-level chemistry and physics, Science Matter and Energy, rejects the theory of evolution and presents creation as the only reasonable explanation for the origins of the universe. Beginning with an introduction into the general principles of physical science, students study matter and energy, mathematics in science, chemistry, motion, light and color, electricity and magnetism, and electronics/robotics. Lessons will take about 50 minutes per day, with some students needing longer.

The student textbook provides textual readings, application questions and section and chapter reviews. Space to record answers is not included, so students will need a separate notebook. Feature boxes called A Closer Look highlight God's design in science or provide additional information and application of the lesson. Numerous graphics and colorful illustrations appear throughout the text and aid student understanding.

The teacher guide provides the full student text at the beginning and the teacher resources in the back section. Teacher support includes the scope and sequence with a suggested teaching schedule and grading scale, daily lessons, and answers to the text questions. If you prefer to not use the teacher guide, a separate answer key is available that includes the answers to section and chapter reviews from the student text.

Additional resources include the Lab Manual, Quiz Book, and the Test Book. Answers are not included; each book has a separate teacher guide or answer key.

The lab manual provides 36 experiments. Each experiment begins with an overview, equipment and supply lists, step-by-step instructions and a report sheet. You will need to provide numerous items including a lab coat/apron, safety glasses/goggles, scale balance, graduated cylinder, bathroom scale (kg), measuring cups with ml measurements, beakers, petri dishes, microscope, liquid nitrogen, test tubes, spring scale, copper sulfate, glycerin, sodium hydroxide, filter paper, Bunsen burner, bar magnet, etc. You may be able to modify some of the activities to make them manageable in a homeschool setting.

The Lab Manual Teacher Guide includes the teaching notes for each lab activity, plus the student lab pages with answers for the report sheets and discussion questions.

The test book provides a total of 12 exams: 8 tests (one every 3 weeks), 2 nine-week exams, a semester exam, and a final exam. Short answer, multiple choice, matching, and essay questions are included on each test. The quiz book includes 39 quizzes with matching, true or false, short answer questions and mathematical equations are all represented. Answers for the test book and quiz book are found in the corresponding answer keys. Student and teacher resources are not reproducible.

Also available are the Physical Science Student and Parent Kits. The student kit includes the textbook, test book, quiz book, and lab manual. The parent kit includes the teacher edition, the test key, quiz key, and the lab manual teacher edition.

Recently revised, Science Matter and Energy offers reorganized and expanded content that includes a greater focus on scientific reasoning and engineering design, while maintaining a worldview that rejects evolution. The text material builds a foundation for upper-level chemistry and physics. The revised edition is not compatible with the previous edition.

Beginning with a look into the scientific method, scientific reasoning, and engineering design, students are then introduced to matter and energy. Subsequent topics covered are motion and forces, fluid mechanics, energy, heat, waves and sound, electricity and magnetism, electronics, foundations of chemistry, molecules, chemical reactions and thermodynamics, acids and bases, and organic and biochemistry. The book concludes with a section on creation and evolution. Lessons will take about 50 minutes per day, with some students needing more time.

The softcover Student Textbook provides textual readings, section reviews with application questions, and chapter reviews. Space to record answers is not included, so students will need a separate notebook. Feature boxes called A Closer Look highlight God's design in science or provide additional information and application of the lesson. Numerous graphics and colorful illustrations appear throughout the text to aid student understanding.

Spiral-bound, the Teacher Edition is divided into two volumes to better prepare you to teach teens successfully. Volume 1 covers chapters 1-8 and Volume 2 covers chapters 9-16. Each volume includes reduced student book pages, teaching tips, suggested lessons plans, writing prompts, topic demonstrations and answers to the text questions. STEM and biblical worldview topics are integrated. An Answer Key is available separately for those wishing to quickly check student answers.

Additional resources include the Lab Manual and the two-volume Quiz and Test Book. Answers are not included; each book has a separate teacher guide or answer key.

The Lab Manual provides 29 experiments plus an appendix with optional labs covering data recording investigations, engineering designs and more. Each experiment begins with an introduction, equipment and supply lists, step-by-step instructions, and a report sheet to complete. You will need to provide numerous items including a lab coat/apron, safety glasses/goggles, scale balance, graduated cylinder, digital scale (kg), measuring cups with ml measurements, beakers, petri dishes, test tubes, spring scale, copper sulfate, glycerin, sodium hydroxide, filter paper, a Bunsen burner, bar magnets, etc. You may be able to modify some of the activities to make them manageable in a homeschool setting.

The Lab Manual Teacher Guide includes the teaching notes for each lab activity, plus the student lab pages with answers for the report sheets and discussion questions. Lab procedures, grading suggestions and supply lists are also included.

Test and Quiz Book Volume 1 covers the first semester (chapters 1-8) and Volume 2 covers the second semester (chapters 9-16). Sold separately, the Answer Keys (one per volume) include answers, as well as suggestions for essay questions. It also includes a grading scale for each test and quiz. Student and teacher resources are not reproducible.

Student and Parent Kits are also available with the print resources for one student and the teaching parent respectively. ~Deanne