Opinions on Great Science Adventures by Dinah Zike

[King Alfred Academy]

I plan to continue doing nature study as our primary way of doing science next year. Lots of nature walks, programs at local nature centers, lots of reading, ect. will make up most of our science. However, I also would like to add in a more "formal" science curriculum to hold me accountable. I am learning that I need that sort of thing.

I was looking at GSA and like the idea of making all of the "mini books" along with the experiments. I think my boys would like that as well. I am looking at the insect/arachnid one or the plant one so that it will be easily tied into our nature study.

What have been your experiences with this program.

Thanks!

[St. Theophan Academy]

I have the insects/arachnids one - I loved the "idea" of it, but the implementation just was not worth it for me! I tried to copy the books so we could have 2 sets, and that did NOT work well at all - and really, the little books are no where near as engaging as a few simple living books in color. Not to mention, they aren't going to hold up well with a house of boys :) I like some of the projects and ideas, but really decided there was far too much work involved with a small return in terms of learning. Plus it is really set up for a classroom, with lots of PS standards focus, and lots of group "investigations". If you really enjoy the hands on stuff, I would find a good lapbook - I just found that this was not worthwhile for us.

[Lori D.]

My take on Great Science Adventures:
Each is a framework of how to study a specific science topic, broken into 24 lessons, plus the reproducible pages for making little "minute books" suitable for lapbooking. To make this a complete science, you really need to get the items for doing some of the experiments, and also check out additional books from the library for some in-depth information. On it's own, it might be enough teaching info for a 3rd-4th grader, and the "artsy-craftsy" appeal of the little booklets is probably at that level as well.

How GSA works:
You end up making 24 booklets (one for each lesson), plus a little paper "bookcase" to hold them all. As far as time: you'd need to photocopy all of the paper booklet masters, and if you sat down and cut and folded all of them up in one sitting, I'd guess it would take you 6-8 hours.

As far as what the book teaches, while listed for grades 1-8, I'd say realistically each book is probably best for grades 3-5. Maybe for a 2nd grader good with scissors who loves crafts and who is bright in science, or for a 6th grader for some of the extended science labs.

My suggestion would be to use these books as supplements for the experiment/resource ideas, and skip the booklets if you're not into that aspect.


What each Great Science Adventure looks like:
Each lesson is more of an outline on how to teach a specific topic. Each lesson is 2 pages long, containing:
- bullet point list of key concepts to cover
- list of any related vocabulary words
- directions for a longer "science fair" type experiment
- directions for putting together the booklet and sentences to dictate/write in the booklet (simplier or more complex levels here, depending on your student's ability)
- activity idea and how to turn the activity into another booklet, or research/paper ideas for older students
- suggested other activities, books, or resources

See sample pages at www.christianbook.com by searching for the particular book you're interested in.


I bought several of these; only used a few pages out of the Tools and Technology one to make some of the booklets and graphics for a science co-op, and ended up selling them, as they just didn't fit our sons way of learning/enjoying science -- they like lots of "real books" and hands-on experiments and kits (and I like kits that have just about everything already in them so I don't have to pull it together), and they never liked cut/paste/coloring activities. GSA just didn't match up for us in any of those areas.

BEST of luck, whatever you go with! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Patricia in WA]

Hi there! Thanks for the blog message. I sure missed you all while I was away.

As for GSA by Zike, I have used several titles. The kids liked them (dd more so than ds) but I was exhausted photocopying. In order to get double sided copies I have to manually flip the paper which made it more time consuming. We made huge lapbooks of all the projects. I would have continued if I had not had a boybarian toddler at the time. I might do them with him in a few years since he is especially crafty. My auditory son did not enjoy them as much but that crafty stuff is not his thing. He would rather I just sit and read to him. I do feel they learned from them and they gave us jumpingoff points for several topics.

HTHs,

[GailV]

You know, everyone says to only use these if your kids like crafty stuff, BUT:

My dds are queens of scissor crafts. They adore little books. And they did NOT like Great Science Adventures. It was Just. Too. Fussy. Not enough science for the amount of time spent on the program.

I keep looking at them, wanting to buy them, wanting it to work this time. But the kids have specifically asked never to have to mess with them again.

[nestof3]

Okay -- confession.

I have the World of Insects and Arachnids one (and maybe others?)

We are spending the entire year studying invertebrates, and I have found it fabulous. I have collected all sorts of reproducible/worksheet/coloring books over the last 9 years of homeschooling from the used homeschool bookstore and yard sales. I have found all sorts of great online resources.

We are currently studying insects (this will wrap up our invertebrate study), and do you know I DID NOT use this book?

I love paper crafts, my 6 year old loves paper crafts, I love little hands on paper activities which reinforce science concepts. I can see where some of the diagrams would be useful for us, or useful for lapbooking/notebooking, but I opted to use my other resources.

By far, the best free (and almost best resource) I found for insects is from www.learningpage.com (http://www.learningpage.com). They even have a mural you color and assemble, adding the insects to it. There are insect fact pages, just like Dinah Zikes' book, and coloring pages. There are great worksheets as well.

I absolutely love anything produced by Donald Silver (the same guy who writes the One Small Square books). He has great reproducible books with adorable little interactive booklets. I believe they were published through Scholastic.

I also love most reproducible books by Scholastic, Mark Twain Media, Frank Scaffer, Mailbox Magazine and Teacher Created Material.

My boys just colored a page from a Dover coloring book of a mosquito, assembled a mosquito life cycle interactive strip, and labeled the parts of a fly (a self-created worksheet). We just finished our study of the order Diptera (flies, mosquitoes, gnats).

Usually, I read a book (or books) aloud on the topic we are studying and then follow up with some sort of activity -- coloring, drawing, labeling, or other worksheet.

In my opinion, a subscription to Enchanted Learning would be very beneficial and more open-ended than the Dinah Zike GSA.

I do love the books that show little booklets and graphic organizers to use -- they are great!

[King Alfred Academy]

Thanks for your insights, Ladies.

I may check around some more and figure out if I can come up with something on my own!