We have an interesting product to share with you today. Supercharged Science. Interesting, because it is unlike anything I have ever seen. We were privileged to review the e-Science Premium Membership which is $57 per month. This resource is intended for all grade levels (K-12). Another option is $37 per month for K-8.
I was told that the heart and soul of this science curriculum membership is the experiments. I think that is absolutely true. Aurora, the teacher in all videos, has a love for science that shows through in every demonstration. You can tell she is excited about what she shares with you! Once you watch the demonstration, your kids are excited to go do the experiment themselves. The experiments are the door for further learning. A springboard. And if you’ve been around my website for very long, you know I am very fond of springboards!
Case in point.
We watched the Pop Rockets Experiment. First, I should clarify. Each lesson has several paragraphs of reading before the experiment. It’s interesting stuff. This one was about thrust and force and laws of motion. How rockets work. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I don’t think my kids are ever terribly interested in the reading. I like it, and we are all learning. After several minutes of reading, there is a short video demonstrating the experiment for that lesson. And when I say short, I’m talking about 1:30. Then, an ingredients list and instructions plus further reading. After we finished watching the video, my boys decided we should try strapping LEGO men to the “rockets”. One of my little ones asked if ours would go up into space since we were doing it outside and not in a room with a ceiling like the teacher. I’ll let you decide from our video what you think.
**No LEGO® Men were harmed in the filming of this video.
In addition to the experiment shown in the lesson, we decided to add a second experiment with Diet Coke and Mentos. This one demonstrates chemical reactions to create force, but doesn’t really illustrate thrust. We wanted to explore the concept of chemical reactions a little further and I just happened to have this kit laying around. Springboard.
The number of lessons and video experiments on the Supercharge Science website is staggering! The good thing is this. In the beginning you are limited to 20 lessons. As soon as you complete those lessons, more lessons open up. If at any point you want to jump ahead, or work on lessons on a different subject, the people at Supercharged Science will happily add access to those for you. I believe the initial limitation is just to keep it from being overwhelming, but you do have access to anything you need if you ask.
Some of the lessons are in printable form. You watch the video, then print out the lesson to do the reading, gather materials and complete the experiment. The end result is the same, but not all lessons are formatted the same. Most of the materials are things you probably already have around the house. Like the lesson on Newton’s Law used a ball. Sometimes, you might have to go get extra supplies — like Alkaseltzer tablets or film canisters. Or in our case, a LEGO® man willing to be given up in the name of Science. They are not expensive and those were used in our favorite science experiment ever, so totally worth it.
Free Copy of the Science Activity Video Series and Guidebook.
Would you like to see an overview of the many experiments included? Watch this video:
My Bottom Line: Supercharged Science is a fun way to enjoy science in your homeschool and could certainly serve as a full science curriculum for all of your children K-8. I would not consider it a complete science curriculum for upper levels.
LEGO is a trademark of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this web site.
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