Discovering Design with Earth Science

by Jay L. Wile

This laboratory-based earth science course can be used for either eighth or ninth grade. Most homeschooled students should be ready for it in eighth grade, but privately- and publicly-schooled students will be more comfortable with it in ninth grade. It covers the general properties of the earth’s geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. Students learn about all the sections of the geosphere (such as core, mantle, crust, etc.) and then they study each in more detail. When studying the earth’s crust, they learn about minerals, rocks, and the rock cycle. Plate tectonics is then covered, which leads to a discussion of seismic waves, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Students then learn about fossils and how both uniformitarians and catastrophists interpret those fossils as well as the sedimentary rocks in which they are found. A discussion that compares uniformitarianism and catastrophism follows, in which the strengths and weaknesses of each view are covered. After that, the hydrosphere is discussed. Students first learn the properties of water such as polarity, the ability to hydrogen bond, and heat capacity. That leads to a discussion of the hydrologic cycle and residence time. Students then learn about the waves, currents, and tides in the ocean. They then move on to the ice reservoirs on the earth and then the freshwater reservoirs. Water in the air is the last part of the hydrosphere that is covered. The atmosphere is then discussed, including the composition of air, the sections of the atmosphere, temperature gradients, and pollutants. This leads to a discussion of weather. The course ends with two chapters on space, one that covers the solar system and one that covers the universe as a whole. There are roughly 55 hours of laboratory instruction in the course. A kit that contains specific minerals, rocks, and fossils allows students to do very detailed experiments related to the geosphere. These include mineral tests, rock analyses, fossil studies, d

552 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Jay Wile learned about his love for chemistry when his dedicated parents bought him his first chemistry set. Many stink bombs and a few explosions later, he was hooked! Although he loved chemistry, he also had many other interests. For a while, he thought about becoming a concert pianist, but unfortunately, his fingers were not long enough (no kidding!). As he was finishing up his high school years, he became extremely interested in the theater and began to pursue a career in acting. Partly because he learned the science behind some of the special effects of the plays in which he performed, he eventually went back to his first love: chemistry.

He went to the University of Rochester in upstate New York to study chemistry, and while he was there, he began working on nuclear chemistry experiments. He became so fascinated with nuclear chemistry that he stayed at the University of Rochester and got a Ph.D. in that field. For several years, he did research in the field under the auspices of the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. This research led to several grants and many publications. While doing research, Dr. Wile was also an assistant professor of chemistry.

Dr. Wile's love of science is demonstrated by the many awards he has won for excellence in teaching and research. He has also presented numerous lectures on the topics of Nuclear Chemistry, Christian Apologetics, Homeschooling, and Creation vs. Evolution. He has published 30 articles on these subjects in nationally-recognized, peer-reviewed journals, and has 9 books to his credit, most of which belong to the award-winning "Exploring Creation with" series of junior-high and high-school science courses.

Reviews

[DanielandBrenna Capon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't emphasize enough what a gift this book is. While it may seem odd to rave about a textbook, that's exactly what I do when I talk about this text. Dr. Wile writes in a conversational style without sacrificing the critical thinking prompted by the topics covered. I would read gladly read it for pleasure, not just formal education.
While there are a thousand things I appreciate, I want to highlight three.
1) Dr. Wile teaches students to THINK scientifically. Instead of a bunch of fill-in-the-blank and "did you actually read it" low level questions & exercises, the text includes a few excellent questions at the end of each section that foster synthesis, analysis, and scientific reason. And he emphasizes how science works as a living discipline instead of treating it like a settled subject to be regurgitated.
2) Dr. Wile is fair in presenting the data and worldviews associated with controversial topics. This is so refreshing in the current climate of "SCIENCE" debates. In the end, his exploration of the topics ended up bolstering my faith more than the "slam dunk" style apologists.
3) The experiments/demonstrations are very doable (though we did skip a couple and were fine) but also actually show the science concepts well rather than just being fun or showy.

The only drawback, and it is tiny, was that we got the audiobook and didn't like how the reader pronounced "huge" or "human". 🤣

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to rate a textbook but my ds15 did well with this one.