BJU High School Physical Science Curriculum
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BJU Press has really upped their science game in recent years. Not that BJU hasn’t always been a solid choice for home education, it just always felt too textbook-y. In our homeschool, we have always tried to not recreate the school experience and dry textbooks were seemed to convey that feeling.
When my friends at BJU told me that they were revamping their science curriculum, I thought it was a great idea, but I was really expecting just a spruced up version of an old textbook. That is not what they sent me to review.
BJU High School Physical Science
Physical Science is often used as an 8th or 9th grade science option. Consider it an intro high school physics and chemistry. BJU Physical Science covers subjects like matter, mechanics, electromagnetism, sound, optics, and an introduction to chemistry. It does this through an engaging textbook full of images and diagrams that help further explain the text and hands-on experiments that bring the text to life.
Knowing how the physical world works is an important base in the study of science and life. When students understand there are unseen forces in the universe that govern how everything relates, they are more able to see the big picture. Physical Science teaches things like how pulleys work to overcome the force of gravity and how simple machines get tasks done with less energy. This knowledge will come in handy at some point even if they don’t go into engineering.
Physical Science is a subject that could be fascinating or very boring. It really depends upon the curriculum and the teacher. I really think that the BJU High School Physical Science could be a lot of fun, as well as teach great basic science.
Related post: The Benefits Of BJU Chemistry
What I Like About BJU Physical Science
- I’m a visual learner, as is most of the population to some degree. The new BJU High School Physical Science definitely plays to the visual learner from cover art to inside photography and diagrams. These images really help to explain the text.
- Each chapter starts with an everyday problem that needs to be solved with the information contained in that chapter. It sets anticipation for what is to come and makes reading the text not just reading to read, but reading to find answers.
- The lab manual contains two experiments for each chapter that are lessons within themselves. The lab manual walks the student through the experiment from introduction to recording data to determining what happened and why.
- There is a complete lab kit available. No more searching for that one rare item each week.
- The teacher manual includes the full textbook with margin notes, suggested course schedule, tips, and a toolkit CD withe extra images, quizzes, hand-outs, and more.
Not A Secular Curriculum – but that’s ok
I need to throw this in, because it is a question I get about every science curriculum I review. If you are looking for a secular science, this may not be for you — or it might be. BJU Press Physical Science is unapologetically Christian-based. I am a Christian and a scientist, so I am generally cool with curriculum than includes Biblical principles as long as it doesn’t compromise the science.
BJU uses the Bible to support scientific facts, not in place of. There are several places that Christianity is weaved into the curriculum (an explanation of a Biblical worldview at the beginning of the book and in some of the scientist’s biographies), but it does not detract from the science. I would recommend BJU Press Physical Science to Christian and secular homeschoolers alike.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for a solid Physical Science curriculum for your homeschool high school student, BJU Press Physical Science will definitely fit the bill. This would be a great way to prepare for further study in chemistry or physics or to give your non-science student a good overview of each.
If you are looking for a high school chemistry curriculum, read about the benefits of BJU Chemistry!