Description

In Apologia’s Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition, students will gain an understanding of the world that surrounds them so they can appreciate the real-world relevance of scientific inquiry and the beauty of Creation.

Students will learn:

How to utilize the proper scientific method in a detailed and engaging way.
How to record data and report it.
How to read, create, and utilize several types of graphs (a skill that is found on SAT and ACT exams!).

Lesson Plans and Materials

The Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition, is written in a conversational format with the author talking directly to your student. Your student is guided through key learning strategies like how to think critically about what they are learning, identifying important parts of the information presented, taking meaningful notes, and completing experiments. Sold separately, the student notebook complements the textbook providing easy-to-understand graphics where students fill in the blank spaces as they read.

Open-and-Go Daily Schedule

This course is designed to be done 4 days a week. A suggested daily schedule is included in the student notebook (sold separately) so your student easily understands what is expected of them each day, while also providing flexibility to meet the needs of your student and family.

History of Great, Godly Scientists

Throughout this General Science textbook, your student will learn about many great historical and modern-day scientists who studied our world out of a desire to better know God as its Creator. As they engage with the curriculum, they will not only be invited and inspired to better understand science and the world around them, but also the God who created it all.

Hands-on Experiments

In early modules, specific portions of the text are highlighted so students know where to find important information and are guided through the lab write-up process. Although students may complete more than one experiment in a module, they are given the opportunity to choose to complete a single lab report, thus building on interest-driven learning. Lab report samples are provided so the students learn proper formatting. All of the experiments in this course utilize easy-to-obtain household materials to demonstrate complex scientific principles, so no special equipment is necessary.

Explore More with Bonus Hands-on Activities:
Middle school-aged children still greatly benefit from hands-on exploration, so like our elementary series, we include several optional Explore More activities to allow students to further explore the scientific concepts presented in each module.

Character-building Elements

Middle school students are in a transition period between childhood and adulthood and we believe that emphasizing and cultivating their character is an important step in their development. Thus in each module, parents are encouraged (and guided) to incorporate character performance into their student’s grades.

Test Taking Skill Building

There are tests provided for each module, however, students are given many study tips via their student notes within the Student Notebook, and a practice Study Guide they complete once at the end of each module. The first two module tests are assigned to be given as open-book tests so that students learn the format of this course and more easily transition to improve the skill of test-taking–a valuable skill for upper grades and even college work.

Final Hands-on Project

The final module is a fun and exciting culmination of the course. It has no exam! Instead, your student is given step-by-step instructions to build a Rube-Goldberg machine as a final project. This project incorporates many of the scientific principles learned throughout the year (such as combustion, buoyancy, simple machines, and more). Amidst the set-up instructions, your student will read testimonies from modern-day scientists, sharing how they see God’s hand as they work in their respective fields of science.

Easy Grading

Complete, step-by-step grading rubrics are provided to you as the parent, guiding you as you calculate your student’s module grade from their test, lab work, and character.