Go Science makes science exciting (a TOS Crew Review) -

I have been a member of Library & Educational Services for a few years. It is free to sign up with them — just fill out the registration form as a homeschool family. Soon you will start receiving e-mails full of fabulous deals on truly great books and resources. They offered the TOS Crew our choice of 2 DVDs from the GO Science series featuring Ben Roy. The episodes were originally created for a religious TV show. I really like his tag line: “Every time we learn something about SCIENCE, we learn something about our CREATOR GOD!”

Mr. Roy has an enthusiasm for science that is contagious. From the first clip we viewed, you could tell he cares not only about children finding science exciting, but also how science points to God. This is not a typical video of science experiments with steps explained and the what scientific principal or theory is being demonstrated. Some of the demonstrations are easily reproduced by your children at home. Others are not safe to do so without proper equipment and safety measures. But that is not the point of these videos. Many of the demonstrations shown fall under the label science phenomena.

My younger children were the ones most captivated by the video. The 2 year old was even watching intently and screeching with delight when things were blown up or went “boom”. I hope he is not getting too many ideas! All of my children enjoyed watching. The eldest (11 yo girl) found it a bit young for her – yet she didn’t stop watching. 😉 I indulged the frequent requests for watching these videos. Anything that gets my children excited about science and the Lord is tops on my list!

One of the videos we chose is Volume 3 which features demonstrations with magnets and electricity. A live audience of children of all ages is present. The children are brought up and used to help and be part of the experiment. This has inspired my children to want to learn more about magnets. The video does not have full explanations – but has certainly brought about many discussions and exploring on our own. I think we will have to plan a full study for a “summer science” unit.

Demonstrations include:

Monster Magnets
A/C Electromagnet
D/C Ellecromagnet
Making a Compass
Static Electricity
Light Bulb
Jacob’s Ladder
Conductivity
Solar Energy
Tesla Coil
Color
Cut Paper Halves
Heat Engine
Plastic Pre Forms

The second video we chose is Volume 4 which features states of matter and chemistry. I think this is the favorite of us all. The demonstration on chemical luminescence caused many ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. The explosions were definitely the boys’ favorite of all of them.

Demonstrations include:

Chemical Luminecence
Exploding Bottle
Exploding Balloons
Flash Paper
pH
Root Beer Float
Liquid Nitrogen
Single Cell
Optical Illusion
Lycopodium Powder
Camouflage

These DVDs are available through Library & Educational Services (L.E.S.) individually ($8.97) or as a set of all 6 ($47.95). To learn more about Ben Roy, check out his website or Facebook page.

The Crew families were able to review the videos of their choosing. Be sure to check out reviews of the whole series by starting at the Crew blog.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received 2 Go Science DVDs from Library & Educational Services for the purpose of review. I was not required to write a positive review; all opinions expressed are my own.