Once upon a time, I piecemealed our science projects together, gathering bits of this or scraps of that from around our home to create three-dimensional demonstrations of what would otherwise be two-dimensional concepts. My kids were little, the experiments I had planned were basic, and the lessons could be learned with simple household supplies.
There was the time we put a stalk of celery into a glass of food coloring and water to show how plants transport water and nutrients, i.e., capillary action.
Then, there was the time we held a piece of tissue paper over a floor vent and watched it suspend and slowly lift to learn that hot air rises.
And who could forget the time we rubbed a blown balloon onto our heads to create static electricity?
In the early years, experiments were uncomplicated, easy to execute, and required minimum effort on my part.
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What NOT to do for high school lab experiments
When my firstborn reached her teen years and began learning difficult things like saturated hydrocarbons, vesicles, and covalent bonds, I naively assumed that I could just continue with this gather-and-go method. Before the school year began, I consulted the curriculum guide that came with her Physical Science program. I made two lists of experiment supplies--one containing items that we already had on hand like paper clips, matchbox cars, and wax paper, and one containing items I'd need to purchase separately, like centrifuge tubes, biuret solution, and 22-guage insulated wire--and began gathering what she'd need.
The trouble was, I quickly realized that you can't just buy 4 inches of insulated wire; you have to buy an entire spool of it. I also learned that there are dozens of conductivity testers sold online, ranging in price from $13 to just under $200. I had no idea which one was the right one for an at-home project. Even after days of research, I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger on any of them. Additionally, I discovered that if you ask the average Walmart employee where they keep their trisodium citrate, you'll be rerouted to five other average Walmart employees who may or may not know where it is. (Spoiler alert: None of them will have the slightest clue what it is, or better yet, where to find it. You'll leave empty-handed.)
To add insult to injury, months into the school year, when it was time to pull out the paper clips or the wax paper, she found that the box didn't contain enough or the roll was empty.
Sigh.
What to do instead
That year, her science projects went smoothly for both of us. I didn't have to run around town willy-nilly trying to gather a hodge-podge collection of random things, shelling out way more money and even more brain power buying individual items here and there. And she had everything she needed when she needed it. The kinesthetic component of frequent lab experiments layered her learning.
Now, three teens later, I'm still ordering Logos kits. Last fall, when it was my fourth born's turn to learn all about saturated hydrocarbons and the like, I didn't even think twice about hitting "purchase" on the Logos Science Lab Kit for BJU Press Homeschool Physical Science.
When it was time for his first lab, he opened a box of neatly packaged and organized materials and got to work.
What are Logos Science Lab Kits
- digital scales
- pipets
- beakers
- microscope slides
- laboratory balances
- modeling clay
- drinking straws
- chemicals
- dead animals for dissection
- styrofoam cups
Logos kits, on the other hand, provide the difficult-to-find supplies to do REAL experiments and nothing more. No instructions. No helps. Just supplies. These are kits that correspond with what a child is already learning and precipitate genuine ingenuity, discovery, and depth of study. They foster scientific thought by requiring a child to use the scientific method each and every time.
What I like best about Logos Science Lab Kits
These kits have made upper-level science so much easier for my kids and, more importantly, for me. I've not used them for elementary or middle-school level science because I didn't discover them until my kids were older. But if I could jump into Doc Brown's Delorian and go back to the early years of science, I probably would buy the elementary kits, too. Not only would I have saved myself some sanity, but I probably would have put a better shine on science for my science-is-not-my-favorite-thing kid who didn't really love my cobbled-together approach in his tween years.
Pro Tip for organizing
Better yet, have your teen do all of this! He'll not only become more familiar with lab equipment terms by reading the labels of all the items, but he'll also become more excited about what is to come. By insisting that he organize his own supplies before the school year even begins, you'll be greasing the wheel for future learning.
Oooh, I love the idea of having my student organize the supplies by experiment! :)
ReplyDeleteAnytime we can pass the responsibility onto our kids assuming that they are capable, we remind them that THEY ARE!
DeleteWe use Apologia Science for our elementary kids and love the lab kits that are put together by Nature's Workshop Plus. They save me from having to find things at the last minute and Nature's Workshop Plus is a family owned business in the next town over from me. My kids aren't quite at the sorting level, so I like that Nature's Workshop Plus puts the materials in ziplock bags by lesson.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I was wondering if there was something like Logos for other Science curriculums.
ReplyDelete