Earth Logic Curriculum Review

Finding a good science curriculum for middle schoolers can be a challenge, and Eva Varga has created another option for homeschoolers. Eva is a former public school science teacher, and has quite a resume, so she knows how to write effective lessons with creative experiments.

Her Science Logic curriculum is a collection of secular lessons and activities for middle school students. There are three themes:

• Life Logic
• Earth Logic
• Physics Logic

Eva gave me a free ebook copy of Our Dynamic Earth (part of the Earth Logic theme) to review.

Our Dynamic Earth is a ten week course, with two lessons for each week. It appears to be a very flexible program; there is no daily schedule or checklist. Instead, there are lesson plans and hands-on activities to demonstrate the science being learned. Each lesson begins with objectives, a list of needed materials, and an overview. Then Eva jumps right in with the science. You’ll find lots of scientific vocabulary and diagrams in the lessons. Then there is some type of activity. These vary greatly from complex backyard projects to kitchen table experiments to paper models. Some of the activities require specialized items, and Eva gives suggestions for where to find them.

Most lessons have additional websites to explore for further information. Some lessons have a list of good living books to read and extension activities. Other lessons have diagrams to label, a webquest, or flow charts. Each lesson is quite different from the other. Eva has done a good job of tailoring the activities to the information rather than following an arbitrary pattern.

As a secular curriculum, Our Dynamic Earth is based on evolutionary science.  There are two entire lessons devoted to this teaching – “Earth’s Beginnings – Timeline of the Earth” and “The Fossil Record.”  And of course, the evolutionary terminology and assumptions are evident throughout the curriculum.

Who will like this curriculum:

1. Secular homeschoolers
2. Hands-on homeschoolers who crave complex experiments and demonstrations
3. People with a backyard (at least two projects require a large open space outdoors) and access to specialized materials (ammonium dichromate, ammonium nitrate, zinc dust, sand samples, rock samples, for example)
4. People who enjoy variety
5. People who want the facts laid out quickly and clearly so they can quickly move on to the fun experiments and their own explorations (versus living books or textbook approaches)

Each course comes in an ebook format for $14 and two different print formats for $17 and $20. Visit the Science Logic site for more details. I’m sure Eva will be happy to answer any questions you have.