Apologia Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Review

This post contains affiliate links that will benefit the blog. My family had the privilege of trying Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition from Apologia for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. is the #1 publisher of creation-based science and Bible curriculum. They focus on Christian based homeschool curriculum. Their products are all taught from a biblical worldview. They have creation-based science, apologetics, language arts, Constitutional Literacy, and resources and books to help homeschooling families succeed.

Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition by Sherri Seligson is a creation-based general science curriculum consisting of a Student Textbook, Student Notebook and Solutions and Test Manual with one Test Packet. It is geared towards 7th grade to help students transition out of elementary to middle school, and to prepare for high school. Students will explore a wide range of science topics such as earth science, chemistry, physics, life science, biology, marine science, environmental science, science and creation, etc. This is great for homeschool science for middle school.

This Basic 3rd Edition Homeschool Science for Seventh Grade Set includes:

• Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Student Textbook
• Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Student Notebook
• Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Solutions and Test Manual with one Test Packet

Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Student Textbook is a hardbound textbook. This textbook has a total of 14 lessons/modules that explain general science and its many wonders. The book starts out with Apologia's Instructional Support that explains the curriculum parts. It then has a student notes section about the book with a course overview, activities explanation, lab equipment needed, and a description of learning aids available. Then it goes onto the table of contents. Each lesson has: a “Quaestio” which is basically means question in Latin, "What To Do" sections in green boxes, "Explore More" sections in purple boxes, vocabulary words in blue bold text, color pictures and charts, Experiments located on grid paper, Creation Connections and Think About This in gold text, "On Your Own" (OYO) Questions and writing prompts in dark blue boxes; and at the end of each lesson: Summing Up, Answers to the "On Your Own" Questions, and a study guide. At the end of the textbook there is a Lab Supply List, Index to help find things in the book, and Image Sources.

Lessons:

1. The History of Science - Search For the Truth
2. Scientific Inquiry and the Scientific Method
3. Documenting and Interpreting Experimental Results
4. Scientific Analysis and History
5. Earth Science - Astronomy
6. Earth Science - Geology and Paleontology
7. Earth Science - Meteorology and Oceanography
8. General Chemistry
9. General Physics
10. Life Science
11. General Biology
12. Marine Science
13. Environmental Science
14. Science and Creation

The Student Notebook is spiral bound which makes it easier to lay flat and stay open. This is a required consumable workbook and each is intended to be used by a single student with the textbook. At the beginning of the notebook there is an Introduction. This Introduction has Parent Notes, About Not Taking, About Experiments, About Grading, Grading Experiments, Experiment Grading Rubric, Recording Grades, Experiments, Exams, Grade Recording Chart, Student Notes, Taking Effective Notes From Science Texts, and Lesson Schedule. The middle section of the workbook consists of: What To Do prompts, Vocabulary to be defined, Summaries to be filled out, OYO questions to answer, History of Science timeline instructions to follow, etc. for the student. The last section in the workbook is the Appendix with a Lab Report Checklist, Lab Report Grading Rubric, and Image Credits.

The General Science, 3rd Edition Test Pages and General Science, 3rd Edition Solutions and Test Manual are packaged together. The test pages has a test for the student to complete after each module. This comes in a softcover and is in black and white. Within the solutions manual are answers to the study guide, summary and tests. This comes in a glossy softcover and is in black and white.

Author Sherri Seligson on General Science's Big Ideas:

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I used this curriculum with my daughter Teela who is going into 5th grade and 11 years old. Even though this is actually for middle schoolers I think she did well with the content, but some of the lessons took her longer than it suggested, especially since she was distracted with summer. It suggests the each lesson/module should take about 2-2 1/2 weeks to complete, working four days a week for 45 minutes to an hour to work on this so the student completes the course in 33 weeks. For this review we did this for about five weeks starting at the beginning of the book, which got us through Lesson 1 (The History of Science - Search For the Truth) and Lesson 2 (Scientific Inquiry and the Scientific Method) during the review period.

Explore More activity about the distribution of food coloring in both cold (Teela's right) and hot (Teela's left) water.

The textbook has a lot of wonderful full color pictures and charts that make the learning a lot more fascinating. You could make spelling lists with the vocabulary words from each chapter too. I love the wonderful lesson by lesson lab supply list located in the back for knowing what to have on hand for the activities from each lesson. It is super helpful! Having an answer key for the "OYO" question sections was a tremendous help to me as well.

General Science Experiment for Surface Tension of Water

We loved using the link to the course website that is referenced in the textbook. It had a lot of fun third party websites that contributed more information to the study of different things. We especially loved links on: How to make Ancient Egyptian Papyrus, Model Si Nan of Han Dynasty, Greek Philosophy, Roman Coliseum, The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System, Galileo Journey to Jupiter Project, Video about Surface Tension, Medical Evidence in the Old Testament, Mars Global Surveyor photos, online tour of The Lowell Observatory, Mars Rover Mission, Great Salt Lake State Park, etc. There was a lot more too.

Teela reading the textbook.

The Student Notebook is all in color like the textbook. I like that they also have activities that included science Experiments and Explore More sections from what was taught in the textbook. These were lots of fun and were hands-on way of learning the material. Teela loved these the best.

Teela working out of the Student Workbook.

Having the Test Pages and Solutions and Test Manual was very helpful as well. These come shrink wrapped together. I didn't have to print these out myself and had them for Teela to work from. I am glad that these were given in the set we received.

I love the Apologia's Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition. I would recommend this highly to anyone searching for a creation-based curriculum about general science for middle school grades in homeschool. Apologia also has other great homeschool curriculum for science as well that I would love to check out and some others that I have reviewed here.

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Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Basic Set is $119.

An MP3 audio CD and a Video Instruction Thumb Drive are also available for purchase as well to accommodate all types of learning styles. We; however, did not receive either of them for this review.

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Indescribable: 100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science Review and Giveaway

I received this book free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

Indescribable: 100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science is Pastor of Passion City Church and bestselling author, Louie Giglio's, first-ever children's book. It comes as hardcover devotional book and is illustrated by Nicola Anderson with fun four-color illustrations. Based on Louie Giglio's series for adults called Indescribable and  this book brings the amazing message of God's incredible creation to kids through scientific fact. It lays out the impressiveness of creation with scientific findings, photography, and delightful illustrations. Each devotion includes Scripture, a relevant illustration, a story, a life application, a prayer, and a fascinating science section called "Be Amazed". The "Be Amazed" section includes fun facts to read and science experiments kids can try. Great for ages 6-10.

These 100 devotions encourage wonder at God’s creativity with an in-depth look at...

• Space: Galaxies, Planets, and Stars

• Earth: Geology, Oceans, and Weather

• Animals: from Hummingbirds to Dinosaurs

• People: Our Minds, Bodies, and Imaginations

Inside Indescribable Sneak Peek.

What I Thought:
This devotional is unique and definitely gets you thinking. The science is enjoyable to read about and the topics engaging. I even learned stuff while reading the devotions to my kids! The author does, however, take a very literal view of the Bible which at times can take interesting twists and turns with the "facts". For example the 3rd devotion talks about how dragons were real and mentioned in the bible because of a scripture in Job. This might be stretching it a bit, but the scriptures do make you wonder what they could have been talking about.

The book is very nicely printed. The text is a bit small for my youngest, but still readable. The illustrations are adorable. The full color photos add depth to the awesome facts about science as well.

My kids and I loved reading these devotions and learning about both science and faith. I agree with the author that God is an unparalleled creator with an exhaustive imagination. Indescribable: 100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science  This would be a fabulous resource for homeschool, Sunday School, and other Christian Schools/Programs.

BUY IT
Purchase Indescribable on Amazon for $10.59 for hardcover book.




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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Wonders of Creation Coloring Book Review and Giveaway

My family and I love coloring! It is a favorite pastime in our household. It helps us slow down, relax, and mediate on just coloring the pages. This trend of "adult coloring books" is wonderful in my honest opinion. Coloring the shapes and patterns is actually soothing to me and it fills my need for being artsy...at least a little bit. With the high levels of stress going around these days, we need something calming to help us stay levelheaded and more mindful. Coloring is a fantastic therapy.

The Wonders of Creation: Illustrations to Color and Inspire is a coloring book that is published by Zondervan helps us also contemplate God's amazing world. This coloring book has a gorgeous foil embossed cover. It has 96 pages of back to back detailed black-and-white illustrations of animals, landscapes, and other wonders of our created world on high quality paper. The drawings are illustrated by Cindy Wilde and Pimlada Phuapradit. Promises hours of coloring inspiration in any hue of your choosing. You may use felt markers, coloring pens, coloring pencils, or even crayons to complete each page. Just make sure your art media doesn't bleed through to the other side since the pages are double-sided.

I love this particular coloring book myself because of all the lovely, whimsical pages of Eden-esque flora and  fauna from around the globe. The pages are filled with line art of intricate patterns and fanciful scrolling designs. I love that the Wonders of Creation includes a couple pages at the beginning to explain this artwork. This book is great for ages tween to adult, but my girls who are younger loved watching me color the beautiful pages and flipping through the pages just to look at them too. It is a unique element to my personal quiet time and devotions.

BUY IT
This would make a wonderful gift for someone and Mother's Day is coming up! You can purchase it from Zondervan for $15.99.



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Prize: Win a copy of Wonders of Creation: Illustrations to Color and Inspire.

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review and an opportunity to give a copy away. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

FishFlix.com Living Waters: Intelligent Design in the Oceans of the Earth DVD Review

My family and I had the privilege of watching the FishFlix.com Living Waters: Intelligent Design in the Oceans of the Earth DVD for this review to use in conjunction with my own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

FishFlix.com is a Christian based company that develops family-friendly movies. They have children's Christian movies, apologetics, educational, Christian history, biblical movies, dramas, romance, action and other feature films. They focus on bringing these wonderful wholesome films to their viewers.

Living Waters: Intelligent Design in the Oceans of the Earth is the third DVD from The Design of Life series by Illustra Media. Earlier this year I reviewed Flight AND Metamorphosis from them. This documentary series explores creation and helps make a scientific case for Intelligent Design. This is a step in a different direction than that of the usual Darwinian evolutionary science or scientific materialism documentaries that we have seen in the past. The Living Waters DVD goes into specific life in the waters of the Earth and tells us about the incredible complexity of their biological systems. First it talks about dolphins and their sophisticated use of echolocation, a type of sonar that can calculate the precise distance, shape, location, size, speed, direction, and internal structure of an object. Next it looks at sea turtles and the impressive navigation of the oceans with a natural magnetic compass inside these long distance travelers. Then it follows the Pacific salmon and their amazing sense of smell that aids them on their migration from the ocean back to their birth place in the stream beds. Lastly it mentions the Humpback Whales with their magnificent songs and ability to stay fertile underwater and in extreme conditions. This film is 68 minutes long and has a narrator and speakers in different scientific fields of expertise that talk throughout the films about each subject.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

My family are all fans of documentaries that teach about science and nature. Since my family is Christian we don't subscribe to the belief that humans came from monkeys. We follow the biblical approach of Intelligent Design. We love documentaries about science and nature that follow the same teachings.

Ocean life has always had a special place in my heart. My husband and I love cetaceans: dolphins, porpoises, and whales. When I was younger I wanted to be a cetologist and studied everything I could about them. I lived in Alaska some of the time of my youth and collected a scrapbook of newspaper clippings every time something would surface about them. I went to a touring museum exhibit in Anchorage that was featuring life size mechanical versions and a lot of neat information called, "Whales: Giants of the Deep". We used to live in Orlando, Florida and as soon as we moved there bought season passes to Sea World so that we could visit every chance we got with our three kids we had at the time. We have been whale watching here in Oregon, spent some of my time scuba diving and snorkeling in the ocean off of Curacao (a Dutch Island in the Caribbean), and my husband has swam with dolphins in Hawaii as well. They are such magnificent and intelligent creatures. I believe that there is so much that these creatures can teach us.

The Living Waters: Intelligent Design in the Oceans of the Earth DVD from FishFlix.com is a wonderful documentary that explores rivers and oceans and the complex living things that reside there. As in the other DVDs of The Design of Life series this too has spectacular cinematography footage, wonderful computer animation, and great musical scores. These can be compared to something from National Geographic or the Discovery Channel. I love this type of high quality, family-friendly films and I cannot wait to see more of what FishFlix.com produces.

This DVD is great for Christian based homeschooling. I would highly recommend this for any Christian homeschool that is teaching about oceanography, marine biology, zoology, biology, or science in general, to their students. It has some very in depth information and computer graphics that show anatomy and physiology of the inner-workings of these animals. This is geared towards older children as younger ones might not grasp the meanings fully. My younger girls who are 4 and 7 were a little bored with the various intellects talking about natural selection, evolution, and intelligent design, but loved when they showed the footage of the animals. My boys who are 13 and 15 seemed to be fascinated with it all and learned a whole lot about the animals featured.

We did notice that there was no mention of God in this film other than the words Intelligent agent/designer. Even though this DVD goes into evolution and tells about it in depth, the scientists featured on this film make a strong case for intelligent design because of the complexity of everything and how things cannot just happen by chance. This film has further cemented our belief in Intelligent Design. God's creations are so intricate and incredible!

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FishFlix.com Flight and Metamorphosis DVD Review

My family and I had the privilege of watching the FishFlix.com Flight AND Metamorphosis DVDs for this review to use in conjunction with my own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

FishFlix.com is a Christian based company that develops family-friendly movies. They have children's Christian movies, apologetics, educational, Christian history, biblical movies, dramas, romance, action and other feature films. They focus on bringing these wonderful wholesome films to their viewers.

My family are all fans of documentaries that teach about science and nature. Both Flight and Metamorphosis are two separate DVDs that are from The Design of Life series by Illustra Media.  This documentary series explores creation and helps make a scientific case for Intelligent Design. This is a step in a different direction than that of the usual Darwinian evolutionary science documentaries than we have seen in the past, making my job a little easier to try to explain the differences of opinion to my kids as my family doesn't subscribe to the belief that humans came from monkeys. These films are both around an hour long. They each have a narrator and speakers in different scientific fields of expertise that talk throughout the films about each subject. The footage taken for each documentary is amazing. They also take some of the footage and show you a perspective that cannot be seen with the naked eye through animation, microscope, and imaging software. The background music for each was very nice as well.

The Flight DVD is all about the wonders of bird's flight. It is the first volume in this series. It starts out with the egg and the developing embryo of a bird inside. We watch while it develops inside the egg, first just a few cells, then more until it starts to actually look like a bird. This is a complex and remarkable process in of itself. The bird finally hatches and the process of gearing up for first flight emerges. Flight for a bird is way more elaborate than one just sees from the outer surface. We get to see the inner workings of the birds with their skeletal, feather, and muscular structure and how very important these are for flight. I didn't know how intricate feathers really are until watching this film. After learning about how and why flight for birds works the film goes into three specific types of birds: the hummingbird, starling, and arctic tern. It talks about each of these birds and their unique characteristics: the hummingbird's unique flying skills, the starling's amazing acrobatic flight in groups, and the arctic tern's migration from pole to pole. As Flight closes it confirms Intelligent Design as being the only logical way that flight for birds happened.

The Metamorphosis DVD is all about the beauty and design of butterflies. It is the second volume in this series. In the film it shows the anatomy of a butterfly, how and where they lay their eggs, the emergence of a caterpillar, what caterpillars do most of their lives, the making of the chrysalis, the transformation of the caterpillar into the butterfly, and Monarch migration. Both the complete transformation of the caterpillar into the butterfly and the Monarch migration are very amazing things to behold! The fact that the caterpillar is made into a totally different insect is unfathomable especially if you try to factor natural selection in as a cause...you just can't, there is no way. There are way too many factors that happen perfectly every time for it to be something other than Intelligent Design. Butterflies cannot be formed by mere chance!

My family watched both of these DVDs together. We liked the spectacular footage and great musical scores used in both movies. These can be compared to something from National Geographic or the Discovery Channel. I love this type of high quality, family-friendly films and I cannot wait to see more of what FishFlix.com produces. We did notice that there was no mention of God in this film other than the words Intelligent agent/designer, but regardless of this these films have further cemented our belief in Intelligent Design. These are great for Christian based homeschooling. God's creations are so intricate and incredible!

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