At a recent homeschool conference I was fortunate to have booth space right next to Jason Lindsey, "Mr. Science." Boredom was impossible with all of the activity going on next door. Lindsey would enlist children to participate in simple experiments and activities, asking them questions, and explaining science concepts. Children of all ages loved it, although some were a little wary of the rocketing film canisters propelled by carbon dioxide gas produced by Alka-Seltzer tablets.
Lindsey's primarily work is visiting schools to teach science through hands-on activities to both students and teachers. However, he also has a number of resources of interest to homeschoolers. Most of his science education is designed for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. He explains on his website that the goal at these grade levels should be to "gain a strong understanding of the scientific method through experiments. Also, students should gain a basic understanding of concepts in life science, earth science, and physical science."
His goal is to help accomplish the first part—understanding the scientific method through experiments. To help parents (as well as teachers) accomplish this, he provides an "Experiment of the Week" for free on his website. These are very short and simple experiments for which he includes a video and two pages of instruction and explanation. The site also has instruction pages for experiments for the previous three weeks.
In addition, Lindsey sells an "Ultimate Science Kit" with all materials for ten experiments plus experiment cards with step-by-step instructions ($70).
All of the above resources are designed for use with secular groups, so there is no religious content. However, Lindsey is a Christian, so he has also written Beyond the Science Lab, a book with 13 science experiments that include biblical applications. Note that this book includes some of the "Experiments of the Week" so you will find some redundancy in the experiments themselves if you use both. Each experiment in the book has a Bible Truth and pertinent Bible verse, a list of required resources (generally simple household items), instructions with photos, an explanation, a Biblical connection, definitions of science terms, and two or three questions. (While the book is available through internet distributors such as Amazon, the price seems to be significantly lower ($14) when ordering through the www.hookedonscience.org.) On the web page with the description of this book, Lindsey has even more experiments that you can access for free, each with short videos, instructions, and a "quiz" page for students.
Check out the site and try some of his free experiments for yourself. Lindsey certainly has a lot to offer to homeschoolers who want to make science fun for their children.
