Chemistry 101 (The 101 Series) Review

 

It’s hard to believe that this is my last review of the year with the Homeschool Review Crew. I end it with one of my favorite subjects-science. I was delighted to receive a physical product and be introduced to The 101 Series and their Chemistry 101 DVD Course.

 

The 101 Series makes more advance science easy for homeschoolers. They have 3 topics available:

 

Physics 101
Chemistry 101
Biology 101

Chemistry 101 is a 4 DVD set. There are 19 segments or lessons. The lessons vary in time from 20-45 minutes. This is a full year of chemistry if you utilize all components of the program. The DVDs are a high quality filming and are actually very engaging. There are several graphics. The program is challenging. For those who are a bit unsure with teaching Chemistry this really makes it easy.

What’s on the DVD:

DVD  1 –

Periodic Table
Intro and the Last Alchemist
Birth of Modern Chemistry
The Bold Russian
Lots of Mystery Rays
The Like-able Rutherford
The Periodic Table at Last!
The Periodic Table - Main Group
The Periodic Table - Quantum Mechanics

DVD 2 –

Chemistry Essentials
Neutrons, Isotopes and Ions
Compounds and Molecules Part 1

Compounds and Molecules Part 2

Balancing Equations
Essentials Wrap-up

DVD 3 –

Meet the Elements
The Four Main Columns
Non-Metals and Poor Metals
Transition Metals
Rare Earth and Radioactive Metals

DVD  4 –

The Future
The Future of Chemistry Part 1

The Future of Chemistry Part 2

This is a complete Chemistry course that is an Accreditation Program with labs for you to do. You can use this as a credited high school course. On the 4^th disc you have PDFs that you can print out. One is a 128 page Guide Book that is basically information presented on the DVDs. It is broken down by each segment. It does have footnotes, biography, and information for further investigations outside of the DVD. This is a nice feature that I would recommend to print out for your student and put it in a 3-ring folder.

 

There is a section on how to apply this as a high school credit for Accreditation Program. This is well put together and detailed to help you utilize this option. The Guide Book also has a Quiz for the program and discussion questions. There is an answer key available also. The students are encouraged to write a report and to keep a record of their labs. Your student is to keep a notebook throughout the course. There is a printable form to keep track of hours. There is even a schedule! You could easily adapt the schedule to fit your homeschool.

 

You can print out the Periodical Table and also some important scientist to familiarize yourself with.   

 

All the supplies are listed to complete the labs. For Chemistry you have 30 hours of labs. The supplies to complete the labs can be found in your house or easily obtained.

 

Just in case you are wondering here is the breakdown of all the lab hours in The 101 Series. Chemistry 101 and Physics 101 show the labs on the DVDs.

 

Lab hours

Biology 101 = 20 hours

Chemistry 101 = 30 hours

Physics 101 = 40 hours

How did I use Chemistry 101 in my homeschool?

Okay, so my kids are not doing any high school work. You may be wondering why I wanted to review this course. My family loves science. The reality is that it’s been almost 30 years since I have done any type of chemistry. I’m showing my age! Chemistry was a topic I enjoyed but, also struggled with. With that being said, I wanted to prepare myself to be able to teach my kids chemistry with confidence. I didn’t do any of the labs myself as I just watched all the DVDs and looked over the PDF and all the available resources. I had my 10 year old son and 14 year old daughter join me a few times while watching the DVDs. They enjoyed their time when they watched with me.

The fun thing is that my kids are already intrigued with chemistry and we have bought a few chemistry kits that are age appropriate for them throughout the years. I make it a point to do a few experiments every year with them. Next year I have some basic chemistry for them and I want to introduce them to the periodic table. I wanted to give myself a refresher course so I can teach them with confidence.

 

Final Thoughts:

Don’t let High school science scare you with teaching your kids. This is a solid chemistry course. From what I seen with Chemistry 101 I would expect the same quality with the other courses. It’s easy to implement and preparation is simple. Thanks to the hard work put into this series. It's a Christian base program created by a homeschool family.

Whether you need a complete chemistry curriculum or a refresher course this will work either way. 

The 101 Series has exceeded my expectations and I look forward to using this curriculum with my kids. I am interested in exploring the other courses they offer.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the101series
Twitter: https://twitter.com/the101series/ @the101series
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/the101series/

Don’t forget to see what other from The Homschool Review Crew think about The 101 Series as some of them have reviewed the Physics 101 and Biology 101.