It has been a few years since we have had an online subscription to the e-Science Homeschool Science Curriculum from Supercharged Science, but we’ve been using it as a supplement over the past few weeks and my kids have been learning a lot! This online resource can be used as a stand-alone homeschool science curriculum, or as a robust supplement for science-loving kids.
With your online subscription, you can use the site in several different ways. The main ways are to have your students view the materials by grade level or by topics of interest. My kids did a little mix of each, so I’ll tell you what they were up to when they were logged in to the program.
When you go in by grade level, it has a list of scientific concepts to cover with your child on that grade level. If you plan to use Supercharged Science as a stand-alone science curriculum, following this recommended sequence of topics, readings, video lessons, experiments, and worksheets is the perfect way to ensure a well-rounded and complete science education for the school year.
If you click on one of the topics, it will take you to a page with information about each scientific concept that the child will learn about and gives some extra, basic information about the topic as well. You can start navigating through the lessons, download evaluation packets, and download and print supply lists from this page.
I am very impressed with the quality and QUANTITY of science experiments available! When you choose one, it doesn’t just take you to some video or to a boring text page explaining things. No way!
Supercharged Science gives a text lesson, videos, supply lists, instructions, review questions, data logs for information regarding the experiment, and more. They also recommend other experiments your child might like to do, and many of them have ways to adapt the lesson and experiment for younger students and for more advanced, older students.
As I have mentioned, there are many topics of study listed on the Supercharged Science website. These can be adapted to all ages using the helpful hints and tips and at your own discretion. This makes it easy to combine kids of all ages in the same family to learn concepts together and work on projects and experiments at the same time.
A student could easily just hop around from topic to topic and learn something new every day! That’s mostly what my kids have been doing, and it’s been a simple way to get them engaged in learning all about science without a lot of pressure from me to get it done. I haven’t heard a single complaint from anyone!
A neat feature for students using another program on their own or with a co-op….
Something I found interesting, and wonderful for homeschoolers, is that they’ve lined up curriculum you might be using with resources that are already on Supercharged Science. It lines it up with lectures, experiments, and links you to other complimentary experiments and lessons on the website. This is a great way to supplement and give more depth to the lessons for this popular high school science course. If you have a kid who is very science-y, don’t miss it!
There are over 2 dozen homeschool science courses that the Supercharged Science e-science course lines up with, either with experiments or full lessons. Look at their conversion chart for more information.
Check out the example below to see how Supercharged Science has enhanced Apologia Chemistry with detailed videos and complimentary lesson recommendations:
Supercharged Science has a section where it shows how it can be lined up with Apologia Chemistry for High School.
How We Used Supercharged Science
I assigned Supercharged Science to my kids 3-4 days per week. They usually spent their time reading lessons, watching videos, and sort of getting caught in a rabbit trail of finding out more and more. Honestly, before they knew it, they spent a good deal of time on the site each day it was assigned.
My kids did several experiments with the program. We’ve mostly completed the ones with supplies we have handy around the house, but we are planning to have a week or two of science experiment fun this summer and will acquire the supplies for a dozen or more experiments to complete in one big swoop!
In the meantime, my sons have enjoyed visiting the website, reading the lessons that looked interesting to them, watching the videos, and learning a lot of in-depth scientific information in a way that really makes sense and sticks with them. They’ve spent between 15-45 minutes, a few times a week, on the site.
My 3rd grade son enjoyed the lesson where there was a project to make a DIY microscope and telescope. This can be found in the 3rd grade life science portion of the website or I was also able to find it by topic in Unit 16: Life Science 1 , Lesson 4.
He had no idea it could be this simple to recreate something that we regard as a highly technical piece of equipment. He enjoyed checking out common household objects with his microscope and then answering a few questions about it when he was done.
He thought the homemade telescope was cool, too! We went outside and he wanted to look at the little toy in the backyard with it.
In addition to the videos explaining this microscope and telescope lab, they offered suggestions for buying professional equipment, and linked to additional experiments and lessons to learn about this more in-depth.
One of the experiments that my 6th grader did had to do with kinetic energy. He used a ramp and some toy cars to learn about potential energy and kinetic energy. The lesson taught him about different ways that the cars lost energy, such as through sound energy and heat energy due to friction, but reinforced the idea that energy is never truly lost, it is just changed.
With the lesson, there was a printable with information about the experiment, including the instructions, and a table to fill out, as well as questions to answer.
On the website for this lesson, there were also links to download and print a data sheet for K-8 students, and then there was also a link for a data log sheet for more advanced students. He found this particular experiment under Sixth Grade Physics of Energy when looking around for new things to check out. He can’t wait to do the roller coaster experiment in a few weeks!
Crazy Temperatures experiment about the senses and the temperature sensors in our skin, as performed by my 3rd grader.
I also liked that I was able to pair my kids together to do some experiments. In an Ear Tricks activity, my 12 year old and 7 year old took turns being blindfolded while the other one clapped in different parts of the room. The blindfolded child had to guess where the noise was coming from. The results were funny when the blindfolded person plugged up one ear, because it was so much harder to determine the direction of the sounds!
Ear Tricks Experiment from Supercharged Science, which we found in the 1st Grade Lessons.
Learn more about this monthly subscription-based e-Science Online Learning Program on the membership page. There you will find current pricing information, samples, state standards, FAQ, technical requirements, and so on. There is even a special offer to give Supercharged Science a try with a deeply reduced trial period.
Aurora Lipper has created such a dynamic, rich website with an array of lessons and full color, engaging videos to go along with them. It’s fun to learn this way from her, because you can tell that she truly loves science, and it makes your kids think that maybe they do, too!
Keep in mind that this program does NOT teach creation OR evolution. I love that, because I feel much confident letting my kids roam around on the website without me being there to help tell them about both sides of that like I have had to do with many other programs!
There are so many grade levels and topics to explore on the Supercharged Science website. It would be impossible for me to list all of the details myself! Please click the banner below to read more reviews by other families trying out the same online homeschool science curriculum.
