Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: A Science Curriculum for K-8 and Older Beginning Science Learners, Vol. I, Grades K-2

by Bernard J. Nebel

“Awesome science for home-school or classroom.” – User reviewScience is such a vast realm of knowledge and skills, it is hard to know where to start or what direction to go. In these volumes, Nebel distills teaching science into distinct “learning progressions” that develop knowledge and understanding in systematic, incremental steps. Following these progressions will guide students toward a broad comprehension of facts, ideas, and concepts embracing and integrating all major areas of science. Furthermore, the described methods of presentation, which emphasize first-hand observation and reasoning, will guide students to practice and develop the mind skills that underlie all scientific discovery. The learning progressions and emphasis on “discovery learning” make these books valuable for older beginning science learners, as well as K-8 students, and serve in preparing them to master the Next Generation Science or other state science standards. A place for ongoing Q and A, discussion of problems, and sharing of ideas is provided at no additional charge ( bfsucommunity.com).

Genres: Science, Education

500 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2014

Reviews

[Ardyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The contents, curriculum arc, and lesson plans are phenomenal... but it feels impossible for me, a lowly homeschooling mother without confidence in teaching the sciences.

My one major qualm, even were I up to the task: all this from kindergarten to second grade seems... perhaps unnecessarily aggressive? Brownian motion for 7yo students? It's hard for me to picture successful delivery *and* retention with some of these very abstract concepts on the nature of matter.

[Amanda Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was overjoyed to find an inexpensive, secular science course for our homeschool.

This book lays out lessons that proceed in a logical manner, crossing every area of study. Each lesson is written easily enough for someone with a limited background in science to understand and teach. The experiments only *require* household objects, but a pan balance and a set of graduated cylinders would be helpful to have.

I had two issues with the book. The first is that the low cost comes with a trade-off, and that is a lot of prep work on the part of the teacher/parent. This means creating your own outline of lessons and finding things like storybooks and videos for further study and enhancement. The book does list some resources, but if those aren't available to you, then you're out of luck.

My second issue is that the flow chart is very difficult to understand. I finally just flipped through the book and arranged them in the order I liked best. I used the "required background" sections of each lesson to do this.

Overall, though, I'm quite pleased. Plus, my kids really enjoy it.

[Jacqueline M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fantastic elementary science curriculum. I know it's not for everyone but I ADORE that it goes across the major functions of science. It really does set a strong foundation for children to understand all science is connected. Chemistry/Biology/Physics work together and you cannot have one without the others. This is not a plug and play curriculum. It will require you to actually lesson plan, actively teach, and encourage experimentation and questions from your students. I think the author does an amazing job though and made my lesson planning relatively easy. I love that for each lesson he lists very helpful and age-appropriate supplemental materials. We do the lesson and our experiments and then use the supplemental books from the library as reading materials to drive the lesson home.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Still boring. Lessons inconsistent: some take an hour, some take 2 minutes. Some lessons assume you have a classroom full of kids at your disposal. I'm like 0 for 4 science curriculum someone save me.