Amazing Science! A TOS Review

Today I am going to tell you about a DVD set called Amazing Science, by ScienceAndMath.com.

This past month I had the opportunity to review Amazing Science, Volume I, which is a two-DVD set.

Now, before I go any further I need to explain to  anyone who has not read any of my previous reviews, my son that I am homeschooling is like the old Life Cereal commercials from the 1970's, where the kids were trying out this new cereal, and then they say, "Let's give it to Mikey! He won't eat it. He hates everything!" My son is like that kid when it comes to things I receive to review. Where other reviewing moms are telling me how excited their kids are over each new box that arrives in the mail, my son just rolls his eyes and groans. So...

Imagine my delight when I came out one morning to find my son delightedly watching the Amazing Science DVD 1!  And loving it! What a treat for me as a mom!

Now before he had even started the 2nd DVD, he was tired of it, but that's okay. That just means that I have more experiments in my arsenol that I can be prepared with to have him do, experiments I can spread out over a period of time, and be able to explain to him what exactly happened and why.

So on that first day, he watched experiment after experiment after experiment. And then he pulled out supplies and began doing experiments!  He was going so fast I had no time to photograph; I had to go back later and do some myself so I could provide some photographs! Get this: when I was doing the experiments on my own, photographing, my 22-year-old was watching and thought it was so cool that she had to do it again herself. She wanted to change an aspect to see how it would change the outcome!

So, the experiment that I recreated is called "Color Changing Milk". The materials required are a dish of milk (preferably whole milk, but I used 2%); some food coloring, some grease-cutting dish soap, and a cotton swab.

Once you have the milk on the plate or in the bowl, you put food coloring in. (I used only red because my son had used so much food coloring doing this on his own before I got there...)


 You need to put some soap on the tip of the cotton swab.
 
Then you dip the cotton swab into the middle of the food coloring color blotch, and watch what happens!
 

 

 

 

 

 Isn't that cool stuff!

Now, let me clarify for you what I love, love, love about these DVDs: Jason Gibson, the experiment demonstrator, explains clearly and completely, in a scientific way, exactly what has happened in the experiment. I can't tell you how many cool experiments I have done from books where, well, that was cool, but what does it mean? And I would be unable to explain anything to my students, but merely say, "Wasn't that cool?" 

So, what a treat to watch Jason's demonstration and then have him explain so that I can understand what is happening. "It's an interaction between the soap and the milk,..." and "What's happening is this is an example of how soap really works..."  He explains that good quality dish soap specially made to bond to those fat molecules and proteins, and these fats and proteins are in milk. So the soap is actually bonding to those molecules, latching on to them. The soap bonds to the proteins, and makes them swirl and move. After a while the experiment won't work any more because all of the fat has bonded to the soap. And the surface tension is also disrupted by the soap. 

We did another science experiment called "Exploring Air Pressure". We started with a dish of colored water, a candle, and a jar that was able to fit over the candle.

 Next we lit the candle. We want the air around the candle to get hot.

 Now, with the candle burning nicely, we lowered the jar down over the candle.

 The candle is using the oxygen in the jar and heating up the air. As the candle burns, the water level begins to rise in the jar.

 The candle went out, because there was no more oxygen in the jar. The air that was left behind starts to cool off, contract, and had lower pressure, lowering the pressure inside the jar. The higher pressure outside the jar pushes water up higher in the jar. So, first the water went up because the jar used some of the oxygen; second, the water rose even higher because of the air pressure inside the jar being higher than the air pressure outside of the jar. Very cool. Well explained. I feel so smart!

There is also a free demonstration video for you to see on YouTube:

 Amazing Science Volume 1 sells for $19.95. Go to that link to see the Table of Contents -- 23 experiments in all, using mostly household items. (Okay, I'm sorry, I don't own copper pipes, special magnets, and I don't even own the right size jar to do the hard-boiled egg trick right now, but the items that you don't own are not hard to get at your local hardware store.) Because this was labeled "Volume 1", I know they must be planning to do more of these wonderful Science demonstration DVDs in the future!

 ScienceAndMath.com has a goal to "bring you the very best Science and Math videos to tickle your curiosity and entice you to want to learn more about the world around you!" In addition to the Amazing Science DVDs, they have Science DVDs for Chemistry and Physics, and they have Math DVDs for

Basic Math DVD Course Algebra 1 DVD Course Algebra 2 DVD Course Advanced Algebra DVDs Geometry / Trig DVDs Calculus DVD Course

They also have a Basic Math Word Problem DVD, which I own, so it was fun to make the connection that, "Oh! I've seen this guy before!"

I really think this company has a bright future, and this Science DVD is worth the price. I am looking forward to integrating the rest of it into the rest of our school year, and I am sure I will be looking to buy more materials from this company in the future.

• This product is a non-consumable.
• This product's popularity in our house ranged from 12-22, because that's the range that we have. I think this product would hold the attention of all of your homeschool students.
• The purpose of this product is to excite your students about Science, and teach them in an educated fashion.
• This DVD set can be watched all at once, in sections, or spread out to do one experiment per week, and then you can research deeper into the topic of that experiment. The experiments in this DVD set will be performed when your backs are turned, even though the warning is clearly and regularly stated, "Do this with adult permission and adult supervision." You will run out of food coloring, matches, eggs, milk, and anything else these experiments call for.
• You and your students will have fun.

Hey, what can I say? "Mikey" liked it!

DISCLAIMER:
I received DVD set of  Amazing Science, Volume I  in exchange for my honest review. I was not paid for my review, and this is my personal opinion of the product. I tell my own opinion, whether it is good or bad.

This has been a TOS Homeschool Crew Review.
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Go to the TOS Homeschool Review page to see more reviews of this product.

Let me know what you think. Throw me a comment. Thanks!

Fabulous Fractions: A TOS Review

My son is in the 6th grade. This year much of his math curriculum has covered fractions. He "survived" fractions, and then the curriculum moved on to decimals, but I could tell he did not completely "get" fractions. When I learned that I could have the opportunity to review Fabulous Fractions, by the AIMS Education Foundation, I jumped on it hoping that more time spent on fractions would help my son.

I've been aware of AIMS materials for twenty years (pre-internet, pre-computer days). My first AIMS materials were Science materials, and I loved them and reused them with every child. Since then, I knew AIMS must still be out there, but I had never gotten ahold of any additional AIMS materials.

I am happy to report that the materials have gotten better and better!

Fabulous Fractions is very nicely put together. The paperback book includes a CD in a plastic pouch inside the back cover, as well as a zip-lock bag of additional transparent, colored plastic manipulatives that I learned called "Fraction Squares" and are used to illustrate multiplication of fractions.

This picture shows the transparent Fraction Squares highlighting pictures in the book:

 I really like having the PDF files on the CD to print from. (Remember, my previous materials I had to take somewhere to photocopy... back in the '90's.) What was a little difficult for me was that the CD files are in Alphabetical Order according to subject title. I would have found it easier if the files were in the same order as the book. This could have been done by having numeric-alpha titles to the files, such as the file name starting with the page number, or something along those lines.


Fabulous Fractions has 185 pages of materials. It is not broken into chapters, but has sections covering the following: Fraction Number Sense; Concepts, Models and Operations; Circle/Sector Models; Linear Models; Slide Ruler Fractions; Area Model; Commentary on Division of Fractions; Coordinate Plane Model; Applications; Playful and Intelligent Practice; and Assessment.

Fabulous Fractions is geared for students grades 3 through 5, but flexible for grades 3-9, and the concepts are presented in order appropriate to introduce each concept in order. In other words, concepts for 3rd graders come first, concepts for 4th graders come next, and concepts for 5th graders come last. I am very pleased that the materials are not marked according to grade level -- that way the materials can be used for remedial work, without the student feeling self-conscious about being given materials age-appropriate for a younger child. (The book does tell the teacher which concepts are appropriate for which age levels.)  You can look at a preview here, to see better pictures than the ones here in this review.

My son's areas of weakness were in the areas of multiplying and dividing fractions, as well as the area of common denominators. Fabulous Fractions teaches multiplying fractions in a really cool way using the Fraction Squares. Here you see 1/2 times 1/3, and the illustration with the Fraction Squares superimposed over each other shows how the answer becomes 1/6 (the square where they intersect, and shows how the original square is now in sixths):

 Fabulous Fractions has a really cool method of discussing common denominators. They call them "CD's" (as in "compact disks", but meaning instead "common denominators"). This section works with circles that are the size of CD's, and explains various types of divisions (I would call them "pies"). Then the book also uses the circle manipulatives to show comparative value of fractions of different denominators. It also uses the circles to demonstrate fraction to decimal conversion!

There is also a section using "slide rule" manipulatives to demonstrate fractions and fraction/decimal comparisons.

There was a section discussing circles as a way to illustrate fractions. It even has a great exercise sorting, dividing, and graphing jelly beans! Our jelly beans from Easter are all gone! I need to go get some more!

I was pleased to find a large section of the book teaching fractions using Tangrams and Pattern Blocks, which is great because I own these manipulatives but did not know how to use them to teach fractions!

There is so much to this curriculum that we still have not gotten to, but I am looking forward to seeing how well it does to help him get a better understanding of fractions, common denominators, multiplying fractions, dividing, and converting to decimals! This looks like a great tool to create understanding and to cement concepts into the brain through real hands-on learning.

Fabulous Fractions book is available from AIMS Education Foundation as a paperback, for $21.95, or as an e-file download for $19.95.

AIMS Education Foundation makes oodles of other materials, with the goal of making math and science fun and understandable for children. I love their materials.

The Nitty Gritty:
Did my son like the program? ...He doesn't like much. He hates math. What can I say...
Is it worth the money? If I were buying this myself, I would not have purchased it. I am too cheap. I have only one child to use it with, and he's at the top end of the age range, and I know how to make my own manipulatives. That said, if I weren't so cheap, my so really did need this extra help, and buying it would have been a good idea.  If I had more children behind him and could use it multiple times, no question it would have been worth the money to me!
Consumable


DISCLAIMER:
I received a paperback copy of Fabulous Fractions  in exchange for my honest review. I was not paid for my review, and this is my personal opinion of the product. I tell my own opinion, whether it is good or bad.

This has been a TOS Homeschool Crew Review.

Go to the TOS Homeschool Review page to see more reviews of Fabulous Fractions and other products by AIMS.

Let me know what you think. Throw me a comment. Thanks!

This review was updated to correct a link and to correct a misspelling of AIMS Education Foundation

Write with World: A TOS Crew Review

This month I have been blessed to have the opportunity to review a new product by WORLD Magazine.

Their new writing program, Write with World, is written for middle-schoolers, so it was a perfect fit for our home school.

 Write with WORLD is a two year writing program, with separate student and teacher book, one set for each year, and additional on-line resources to correspond to the year you are using. They plan to keep the website updated so that the writing prompts will stay relevant and interesting for the students.

WORLD knew you might wonder why they decided to create a writing curriculum, so the created an answer page: Why Another Writing Curriculum?

From their website, "Write with WORLD is the middle school writing curriculum developed by education and media professionals. Use it to inspire and train your students to become proficient communicators who can meet educational requirements and navigate today's growing new media and conflicting worldviews.

"Write with WORLD exposes students to:

• reading and critical thinking that develop discernment
• contemporary subjects and professional guidance to pique interest
• flexible exercises to build confidence and skill for using today's new media
• a thoughtful and meaningful Christian worldview"

If you click HERE, you can read an article from WORLD magazine about this new approach to teaching writing.


The Year 1 program is laid out with four Units. Each unit contains four Lessons. Each Lesson contains five Capsules, to be completed one per day. So, theoretically this curriculum could be completed over a 16 week period. 


Looking through the various lessons, it is clear that this curriculum has been laid out in a systematic fashion, with great care to cover the important areas the student needs to develop to become a good writer. There are sections covering the different parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.), sentence structure, paragraph structure, topic sentences, etc. It looks very thorough. The time we had been given to use the material before the review was due did not allow us to get very far through the curriculum, but I can't wait to continue on my way through the material with my son.

Now, just to add some balance here, my enthusiasm for this product does not infer that my son likes it. I am the one who likes it. It looks thorough; it looks systematic. It looks like something my son needs. My son doesn't like it. Don't take it personally. My son hates school. My usual disclaimer is, "My son doesn't like it. He hates everything." I've had to adjust that statement because we recently stumbled across something that he liked... But I will save that for another review.


POSITIVES:
First of all, I have long liked WORLD Magazine and God's WORLD News.  I had never been to their website, and now that I have seen it, I am amazed by all it offers. Learning more about Write with WORLD, I really like what I see. This curriculum has a lot of potential.

I personally share for my son the goals WORLD sets out as reasons for creating this writing curriculum.  Again, from their website,  "Write with WORLD aims to produce young writers who love writing, can write effectively, and intelligently share ideas, beliefs, and their worldview. We hope to support a generation of young believers who aspire to use their writing skills in the service of God's Kingdom and explain effectively the reasons for their beliefs."  I love these goals! And I know, from personal experience, that a lot of homeschooling moms really need help to provide this type of education for their children.

So, I love that this program seeks to:

• teach critical thinking;
• use advertising the student is familiar with to teach this critical thinking;
• teach writing skills to a level that prepares the student for college;
• teach a Biblical worldview;
• remedial where student skills are lacking.

CRITICISMS:
This is a new curriculum. The copy I received is part of a pilot program, so the comments I make here may enable WORLD to address the areas I am having problems with. So, knowing that these issues may be corrected before you receive these materials as a purchase, this is what I found fault with in these materials:

• I am not finding a Table of Contents to help me on my way. There is a TOC on-line, but I want it in my book, and I don't want to have to print it out myself.
• I do not see a section in the Parent/Teacher book for "Getting Started" to tell me things I need to have available for my student, no "Teacher Overview" for the year. Lesson 1 tells the student he/she will need for the lesson his "Writer's Journal", a dictionary, a thesaurus, a timer, a high lighter, magazines with photographs and advertisements. Is the entire curriculum laid out this way? Will I have to pre-read the entire book, lesson by lesson, capsule by capsule, to make sure we are not scrambling at the beginning of writing class to find the required items for each lesson? It would be nicer if there were a schematic in the Teacher book telling what items to have ready for each lesson.
• In spite of the list on the bullet above, Lesson 1 then instructs the student to write questions down in his "Conversations Writer's Journal (CWJ)". I have no idea what that is. Am I supposed to buy an additional book? Or do we start a plain book and give it a name? I am finding many things unclear. In fact, I think they merged "Conversations:" with the previously mentioned "Writer's Journal", and without transition started calling it the "CWJ".
• avid, read the definitions, and then "read through the sentence where avid appears again. Choose the meaning that best defines the word..." I really had to search more than necessary to locate the word. It would have been helpful if the sentence had simply said, "Now read again through the paragraph on the previous page where avid appears..." (italics added to show the added words, and I changed where "again" is to make the sentence flow).
• This is supposed to be a "Year 1" curriculum (as in a "one-year" curriculum), but at quick glance I only see 16 weeks-worth of assignments. I have not yet determined what the assignments are to be for the additional 20 weeks of the school year. [It might be in there. I might just be missing it. I also don't see it in the TOC, and as I mentioned, there is no Teacher Overview for me to look at.] 

A FEW FINAL THINGS:
This program seems best suited to students who already like to write. However, it is probably most needed by students who do not like to write. It is not Charlotte Mason style learning (my normal educational style). I suppose it may lean more towards a Classical style of education, but I'm not sure.

The program does not require a lot of teacher prep, but it is wise to read through the days work in advance, know what is coming, and make sure you are prepared with all the little things that each capsule asks the student to have on hand, such as colored pencils, thesaurus, etc.

This publisher is most certainly Christian in orientation. This program most probably would offend secular educators.

You can see a sample of the student book for Write with World, Year 1, HERE.

Write with WORLD [Ordering Here] Year 1 costs $95, and includes the Parent/Teacher book and the Student book. The Student book can be reused if your student understands to not write in it. My son did not understand that. Before I could explain that to him, he had already written in the book. ::sigh::

WORLD is the same publisher that brings us WORLD Magazine and God's WORLD News, which you can also get to from the above ordering link.


DISCLAIMER:
I received printed copy of  Write with WORLD, Year 1, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. I receive free products in exchange for a review. The review is honest. If I like it, I say so; if I don't like it, I say so.

This has been a TOS Homeschool Crew Review.

To see more reviews of this product, click on the above Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew banner.

Let me know what you think. Throw me a comment. Thanks!