First, The Critical Thinking Co. is known for putting out quality resources that are full of activities that really get students thinking, so I expected no less from Surfing the Net: Science. And I was not disappointed. This resource is comprised of one page after another of interesting, varied learning experiences, not just worksheets.
If you are like me, I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet as it relates to my students (my own children, in this case). I want them to have tons of experience in navigating the online world as a learning resource, but I also want to protect them from unwholesome surprises. And, to be honest, while I can totally eat up an endless wild goose chase online, personally, that's not what leads to the most fulfilling learning experiences for my kids.
Enter Surfing the Net: Science. Organized by overall topics, students are led through web-based learning experiences, much like following a map and site seeing all along the way. Topics include:
Animals
Atmosphere
Ecosystems and Habitats
Energy
Geology
Plants
Space
This is not a curriculum. It's a supplemental resource that could complement any science curriculum and is specified for grades 3-6. Honestly, though, I think it could be useful on up into the upper middle school grades and beyond, especially for older students with less experience using the Internet as a learning tool. Click here to go to the Critical Thinking Co.'s web site listing for this item. From there you can click on "Click to Look Inside" to see the table of contents and sample pages.
What do I like?
Organization: I want to be able to easily find what I can use in a resource without having to go through the entire publication. The table of contents is right there and lists all the subtopics covered in each main subject.
Attention to Learning Styles: From worksheets to online dissections to games to videos, there is something for any kind of learner. We all know we need to hit as many learning modalities as we can to really make learning real for our kids, and I think the author of this work did an outstanding job in this area.
Critical thinking skills: Surfing the Net: Science is also formatted and developed in a way that promotes critical thinking skills. The activities that accompany the web searches engage the students in really thinking about each subtopic--processing what they are seeing or playing or listening to online. This goes way beyond the hidden word searches that are often touted as unit studies online.
Complementary nature: I love putting unit studies together, uniting a variety of resources into a set of learning experiences for my kids. That's how I plan to best utilize Surfing the Net: Science. If I need a web-based learning experience that goes along with one of the subtopics covered, it's there already for the using, saving me hours of chasing rabbits and verifying the kid-friendliness of potential online destinations for my students.
What's not to like?
The unpredictability of the Internet: As I have reviewed this resource, I found at least one link that was expired. That's not the author's fault; it's the nature of our online world. So, there's one more reason to preview all links before adding the kids into the learning equation.
Point of view: Most of the visitors to this blog are Christian homeschoolers. As I previewed links provided in this resource, of course, I found that they are not geared toward a specifically Christian perspective. Nor is that ever an objective in the accompanying activities. Okay, here is my personal approach to this. I don't want to so shelter my kids from what I don't agree with or believe that some day down the road they are hit with a truckload of stuff we never even dealt with. I use a lot of resources not geared toward a Christian perspective mainly because there's still a lot of good stuff to learn. Basically, it's the old adage about not throwing the baby out with the bath water. However, that does also mean we as Christian teachers need to be diligent in previewing links in this case. Just because it's a great resource in many respects doesn't negate our responsibility as teachers to do our own homework, so to speak!
What about the kids' reactions?
They really liked the hands-on nature of this book, namely getting to do things like virtual dissection! There are also exercises that give them a chance to take what they learn and then throw in their own imagination, and that kind of activity is a big hit with my bunch. It was a little inconvenient with the e-book version to have to print off the pages to be able to write their answers, but I don't see a way around that, and it wasn't a huge deal. I realized as my particularly curious thinker was working on the lesson about amphibians that this is also a resource that kids like her would eat up as something to go to when they just want to learn in general and need a direction to get started. (Having said that, always, always know what your kids are doing online. We bear that responsibility as teachers and parents, and it's a very serious one.) It's also a great resource to begin teaching the basics of Internet research in guided sessions with students.
On to some more important specifics......
As I shared above, Surfing the Net: Science is available to order in either a print or e-book format. Same price either way. With the e-book format, you can click on the links to go straight to the online resources that go with each lesson.
What about cost effectiveness? Both the print and e-book formats are $24.99. At first, I was skeptical about how great of a deal this is. But, you know what? It's a very well-organized and very useful resource, so even this thrifty homeschooler has to admit it's a reasonable price for what you get. This book represents hours and hours of research and work on the part of the author, with the result being that it will save me both a lot of late night hours online and a lot of energy that can go to something else for our home school. But would you like to save a little bit anyway? Of course! Then, here you go with a savings offer from The Critical Thinking Co.!
15% Off Any Size Order! Click here to go to their web site.
Details: Offer expires 10/31/2013 at Midnight PST. Use Coupon Code BLOGR814. Online prepaid orders only. Valid one per customer. Offer does not apply to iOS or Android apps, bundles or manipulatives such as Attribute Blocks, Interlocking Cubes or Pattern Blocks. Offer may not be combined with other discounts or offers, and is not retroactive. Not valid on wholesale orders.
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