I received a set of three e-books ( Book 1, Book 2, Book 3) from Activity Bags to use with my children in our family homeschool. The experiments dealt cut a wide swath through the sciences, covering biology, general science, nature, chemistry, and the human body. I simply downloaded each e-book, opened it using Adobe Reader, and started "doing" science! Okay, there was a little more involved than that...but in all honesty, compared to many of the experiments we've done over the years it was almost as easy as 1, 2, 3!
All the experiments follow the scientific method ~ so your child will gain scientific understanding as they complete these experiments. Science is one subject many moms stress about, and having a resource that removes some of the stress can be very beneficial to the overall tone of the homeschool. The first thing I did was to read page 17 of Book 1 in order to learn how to assemble the bags. It's actually very simple. The "Assembly Instructions" were easy to follow ~ I started with a 1-gallon press-and-seal bag (you can use a 9x12 manila envelope). I just gathered the supplies and put them in the bag along with the lab sheets and a copy of the experiment's instructions, Experiment Log and answer sheet, placed a label on the front of the bag (which clearly details any dangers, choking hazards, etc), and set the bag aside for use when I assigned it. For example, the "Static Roller" bag (from Book 2) contained 2 empty soda cans, 2 balloons, and the paperwork. I made two copies of the Experiment Log, since I have two daughters using the Activity Bags. That was all I had to do! And grading is really easy using the answer sheet. It's a pretty fantastic way to teach the scientific method!
The experiments were easy to classify, so I didn't have any difficulty assigning credit to the correct science category because they've already taken care of that! If a particular experiment relates to biology or to chemistry, then it says so right in the e-book! I really, really appreciate that! I found it simple to give lab credit for completed experiments in keeping with my state's high school graduation requirements. Seriously, this is a nice feature. That alone is a huge selling point for me!!
So upon completion of the bag assembly, I choose which bags to assign to which daughter and viola! they were conducting fun, educational experiments. The recommended ages for Science Experiments In a Bag is preschool through elementary, but I found them easily adaptable for older students. By reading through the table of contents in our science books, I combined experiments with daily lessons. It only took a few minutes to plan ahead in this way, and as much as my kids love science experiments, it was well worth the extra time spent on planning.
At times I had my girls' do experiments together, and other times they worked alone. I wanted to try it both ways to see if I could recommend this to those homeschooling one child as well as those with multiple aged children. And I think it works well in either case! We are not currently involved in a co-op, but I did read about the Activity Bag Swaps and I think they would be fun and beneficial for all involved. Ready about these swaps and see if it might work for your homeschool group!
I was very pleased that my children learned while having fun with each experiment conducted. This has become my go-to product for science experiments! I especially love the log sheets! They are very thorough and give great real-life examples of the scientific method.
To read what others love about Activity Bags product line, click HERE.
To make a purchase, visit www.ActivityBags.com
Each e-book sells for $15, or you can purchase all three for the special bundle price of $39.
Disclaimer ~ I received this product free of charge for review purposes. All opinions shared here are solely my own.
Lord bless you as homeschool for His glory!
Day 234 done :)
Jan L. Burt
www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com
www.SavanasClayCreations.com
Comments
Post a Comment