Apologia Exploring Creation With General Science

The following is a review of Exploring Creation With General Science, 3rd Edition from Apologia with the TOS Homeschool Review Crew. 

Over the last few weeks, my son has been working with  Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition published by Apologia. This Basic Set includes the 434 page hard-cover textbook, the 552 page spiral bound Student Notebook, and the softcover Solutions and Test Manual (a set of Test Pages). For this review, I had him work on several different modules to get a bigger impression of the entire curricula. 

Apologia Science was one of the first things recommended when my girls were younger when I asked more seasoned homeschool moms questions about what curriculum worked best. My daughters have different strengths and different learning styles, but when it came to science, Apologia worked for both of them. The girls both worked through Apologia’s elementary Exploring Creation series and Apologia’s high school sciences. There is almost a seven year age difference between my oldest daughter and my son. In some ways, their learning styles are very similar, yet what worked for her has not always worked for him. Last year we reviewed Apologia’s new Health curriculum. It was a perfect fit for his learning style, and he enjoyed working through both the book and workbook to the end. When I saw that the 3rd edition of Apologia’s Exploring Creation With General Science had the same format as the Health set, I knew it was another science class that he would enjoy. This new set also includes a packet with tests and answers. 

At this point in his homeschool, lessons that my son can do independently are a priority. This Apologia General Science book and workbook are made just for that. They are written to the student. I enjoy seeing him learn, and especially enjoy learning. Louisiana requires four high school science credits, and this General Science course gives a great introduction to many of those options including environmental science, chemistry, physics, astronomy, meteorology, earth study, geology, oceanography, and paleontology, and so much more, all from a creationist viewpoint. 

The module pictured above is Earth Science Astronomy. The timing of these lessons perfectly  coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Apolo 11 lunar landing 50 years ago which has been in the news so much lately. We learned that my uncle had worked as an engineer evaluating safety of the total launch vehicle! The workbook page pictured above is actually about the sun. 

The experiments included are hands on learning opportunities that correspond to the lessons. The book pages pictured above on the large tree slice have corresponding workbook pages about age testing and dendrochronology as well as a lab report. 

Another well timed coincidence was a moldy discovery last week. Neither my husband or me ate the baby carrots in our lunch one day. His ended up left in the baggie on the counter, but my bag was lost in the car. After two days of our Louisiana heat, he found my bag of carrots while cleaning out the car. While the ones still in the refrigerator were still great over a week later, the ones on the counter were turning black in places, but the ones in the car were slimy and white. These discoveries fit with the general biology section about mycology. 

My son will continue to complete these lessons independently, with assistance from me for scoring tests. 

In conclusion, I continue to recommend Apologia science as one of my top homeschool resources. Visit the crew blog by clicking here to read more reviews. Visit Apologia on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Instagram, and be sure to tell them hi from Jennifer at A Glimpse of Our Life.