Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
NatureGlo’s eScience MathArt & Science Course Bundle from NatureGlo’s eScience was created by Gloria Brooks to encourage children, 12 and up, to enjoy learning through nature. These MathArt and Science courses can be used as electives, unit studies or as supplementals. These courses contain videos, study guides, and extra hands-on activities. And when you are done checking off your lessons, there will be a digital award! The Science courses include marine biology, marine zoology, herbs zoology, and more. The MathArt courses include learning about ancient cultures, snowflakes, patterns in nature, and more.
Our Experience:
I’ve been looking for a science program for Christie’s freshman year and thought that NatureGlo’s eScience could work for her. When we received access to the program, I thought that we would begin with The Geometric Beauty of Snowflakes. I chose this 3 week course, because I thought she would enjoy learning about snowflakes. This three week course was divided into weekly lessons. Some weeks had 4 days worth of activities and some had more. There were videos we watched together, then Christie answered the worksheet questions in a computer document, as we didn’t have a way to print out the worksheet pages. In this course there were also optional art activities. Christie made a neat snowflake out of popsicle sticks as one of the art activities.
After learning about snowflakes, she decided to focus on the 3 week Marine Zoology 1 course. She was to learn about hermit crabs, mandarin fish, and queen conchs. I’m not sure what happened during the course, but the program didn’t recognize that she had worked on it. Since that was the case and I was trying to fix it, I discovered that she still needs to go back and finish the section on queen conchs. She typed up the answers to the worksheet questions for this course too. This course wasn’t intensive, so she chose to move on to the 6 week course, Marine Biology: Jellies, Mollusks and Whales of the World.
It was just this week that Christie began learning about jellies. This course is set up like the others with the videos, slideshow download, study guide, and different activities.
I’m planning on having Christie finish the semester with more of the marine biology courses. She will be learning about cephalopods, marine turtles, snakes and mammals, deep sea creatures, marine invertebrates, oceanography, and marine plants. She is going to be watching the videos or viewing the slideshow download, answering the questions on the worksheets, playing Quizlet games, and completing art or literature projects.
My Thoughts:
I thought that NatureGlo’s eScience courses had a nice variety from marine biology to ancient cultures. I liked how the courses were self-directed, so students can progress on their own without needing constant help from their parents. I also like how there were the videos that Gloria Brooks had done as live classes, but there were also slideshow downloads. I thought the slideshow was nice, because the videos don’t work for everyone and vice versa. I think these courses would be a good supplement for some high schoolers and a good course for others. The digital awards make it for fun everyone!
There were parts that didn’t work as well for us. When we were in a location with slower internet, we couldn’t watch the videos. They simply wouldn’t load. That was when we had to depend on the slideshow download. When we were able to watch the videos, Christie found the students’ talking and drawing on the screen a distraction. I thought it was too, because it would interrupt the thought process. The other part that was difficult was navigating the site. There were occasions when we had to go to a different site and watch other videos only to have them show up later in the lessons. It would be easiest if all the videos and activities were on one site and there weren’t as many links.
Christie’s Thoughts (9th Grade)
NatureGlo’s eScience MathArt & Science Course Bundle is a good program for people who like to watch a lot of videos. There are a lot of topics to choose from, so there is probably a class for everyone. I did the snowflake course, one of the marine biology courses, and one of the marine zoology. I thought it was interesting to learn about all the different shapes of snowflakes that aren’t commonly seen. It was also interesting to learn about the mandarinfish and the comb jellies.
I think that in the lesson videos there should only be the teacher and no kids, because sometimes it is distracting to have someone drawing all over the screen when they’re not supposed to. On a whole this is a pretty good program, but it does not challenge me enough.
I think this program would be good for people of all ages.
Social Media Links:
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YouTube: youtube.com/user/1hasc
Recap of Pertinent Information:
Product Link: NatureGlo’s eScience MathArt & Science Course Bundle
Vendor Information Link: NatureGlo’s eScience
Age Appeal: 12 years and older
Format: Online- videos and downloadable PDF worksheets
Price and More: Please check the product link for current prices and more information
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