Go Science {A Review}

Library and Educational Services sent us two DVDs from their NEW Go Science set recommended for ages 4-12 (from the DVDs). We choose Volume 6: Chemistry and Volume 7: Engineering, Design, Flight ($8.97 each).

The Go Science videos come from a Christian TV broadcast and are several short segments lasting about 6 minutes each. Ben Roy invites children to help him out with his experiments. He introduces them and then they help him with the experiment. 

Volume 6: Chemistry has a running time of 59:31 minutes and has 11 segments. It includes the experiments: 

1. Milk and Food Coloring
2. Elephant Toothpaste
3. Stains
4. Staying Dry-Diapers
5. Lava Lamp
6. Instant Snow
7. Silly Slime
8. Hydrogen Bubbles
9. Grain Elevator
10. HHO Generator
11. Mentos Fountain

Volume 7: Engineering, Design, Flight is 56:09 minutes and has 11 segments.  It includes the experiments: 

1. How Much Will it Hold
2. Leaning Tower of Lyra
3. Nail Balance
4. Trebuchet
5. Centrifuge
6. Walking on Eggs
7. Bed of Nails-Small
8. Rocket Balloons
9. Vinegar Rocket
10. Toilet Paper on Paint Roller
11. Film Canister Rocket

Our Experience
Ceesa had been having some trouble with eye allergies and we needed to take a trip into the doctor's office (about 45 minutes away), so I decided it was a good time to use the DVD player in the car to watch a session or two. We popped one in and away we went. 

The kids seemed to be really excited. I heard lots of interesting comments. After a couple of experiments Jo-Jo said, "These are so cool." Ceesa said, "Who is this guy? He's awesome! (she looks at the case) Oh, I see it's Ben Roy." Then Li followed up the conversation with, "Wow! That's amazing!"

They watched Volume Seven on the way to the office without stopping the DVD. When we got out of the office (some eye drops, nose spray, allergy meds, and a prescription later), they were ready to watch Volume Six. 

By the end of watching the first DVD, the girls were saying, "Every time we learn something about science, we learn something about our creator, God" (which is the tag line at the end of each segment) and Li was singing "Jesus' Love is Bubbling Over."

After watching them, the kids were inspired to try some of the experiments out for themselves. 

The Experiments we Tried
We tried out a couple of experiments from each video. There are others the kids want to work on too, but we need to make a run to the store for some of the materials. One I keep getting a request for is Elephant Toothpaste.

From Volume 6: Chemistry, we did Staying Dry-Diapers and Mentos Fountain.

From Volume 7: Engineering, Design, Flight, we did Leaning Tower of Lyra and Centrifuge.

What the Kids Think About the Go Science DVDs and What They've Learned
Jo-Jo says she's learned how little things can be very dangerous. Small particles are bad to breathe in. And when you add things that seem harmless to one another, they can have a reaction. Like with the mentos and pop, when added together they explode.

She liked how there were cool experiments. She especially  liked the chemistry experiments and talked a lot about the Elephant Toothpaste, Stains, Staying Dry-Diapers, Instant Snow, Hydrogen Bubbles, and the Mentos Fountain. Watching chemical reactions is a fun way to pass the time.

Ceesa says, "I learned that if you step on an egg one way it won't break and if you step on it another way it will break. One of the videos has some kids stepping on eggs and they didn't break."

She liked that there were kids in the videos that helped him do the experiments, that Ben Roy just wasn't doing it all himself. 

Wishing you homeschool blessings,


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