Our review of the 5th grade Science Lessons and Investigations workbook. Learn what we love, and what we would change about this homeschool curriculum.
Click to read also: Household STEM Activities for Kids
Disclosure: I’m a member of Timberdoodle’s blogger review team, and they sent me this product to review. I did not request or receive any other compensation, and all opinions are my own.
Our Review of the 5th Grade Science Lessons & Investigations Workbook
What You'll Find on This Page
My 5th grader enjoys workbooks, and so I agreed to review this Science Lessons & Investigations workbook that Timberdoodle sells for 5th grade students.
My daughter dove right into this book, completing first a survey of the neighborhood ecosystem. She loved getting hands on, so this was the perfect first activity for her.
I photographed this particular page because I loved her answers to the Venn diagram. I wouldn’t have thought about wild and domesticated animals sometimes being the same animal, but she’s right!
Click to read: Animal Observation Log – Free Printable Activity
We went through a series of activities, and she definitely preferred those she could complete completely on her own without needing my help.
Exercises ranged from simple experiments or investigations that could be done at home to writing exercises, diagrams for students to fill in, and diagrams for students to create.
What Did We Like?
This workbook included a nice range of activities. I especially liked the ones that got my child investigating the world they live in scientifically. My daughter also really liked the illustrations in the book.
What Would We Change in this 5th Grade Science Curriculum?
Like all of the other curricula I have reviewed this year, this workbook would benefit from some color!
Our second critique is more a matter of personal preference. This is a very clearly teacher led curriculum. My daughter enjoys being independent in her learning as much as possible. So she would have preferred to have the activities set up so that students can complete them on their own, asking adults only if they need extra help.
Even as a parent leading learning, I would have preferred for the explanations and activities to be on the same pages, more often than they were.
The Verdict
We will keep using this book even though it requires more hands on presence from my than my daughter would like. I will probably let her jump around a lot so that she still feels like she is in the driver’s seat. She should cover most, if not all, of the material by the end of the year.
We will also supplement with science documentaries, hands on experiments, and more colorful and engaging science books!
Have you ever used this Science Lessons & Investigations book? What did you think?
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
I think the only child driven science experiments I’ve really seen were all activity books, not actual curriculum.
Good point. But why?