CrossWired Science: Sound, and Fluid Dynamics Review

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CrossWired Science is a new curriculum we were fortunate to review in our homeschool. Before I started using it, I did research to make sure it would be a good fit for us. Recommended for any age, per their website, they do recommend it's primarily designed for ages 4-18 which makes it very versatile to grow with your children or to be utilized across many ages which is nice. One of the sentences that appealed to me on the CrossWired Science site was, "Our prayer is that learning about the beauty and wonder of the world God has lovingly made would be a journey whole families could go on together." I was pleased to read that knowing that this is a curriculum that helps other see the glory of the Lord. For our review, we were able to use Sound, and Fluid Dynamics. This program can currently be either as a full curriculum for three months of science or a supplement so there is versatility. Upcoming additions will expand it to a six-month full curriculum to eventually a six-year curriculum. 

Getting Started:

Getting started was easy and what I like about CrossWired Science is one e-mail can be used for every child as well as yourself which simplifies the entire process. I chose the suggested Standard Calendar feature that utilizes the curriculum for 1 1/2 months and starts out with week one, for example:

• Monday - Core Videos 1 and 2 
• Tuesday - Core Videos 3 and 4
• Wednesday - Gold Digs/Digging Deeper - extra worksheets/resources to expand knowledge and a quiz at the end
• Thursday - General Links
• Friday - Reading

We began with the Global Sound unit which contains a Direction button and an Info button. Clicking on the Direction button provides a quick pop up that explains there are eight core videos along with recommendations on how to implement the timing. There are also suggestions for adding more tasks to make the lesson more robust for different children requiring more. CrossWired Science covers different scenarios thus making it very versatile. The Info button pop-up provides a basic understanding on how the curriculum will be absorbed by a child over time.

The Sound Unit Core Video and Lessons:

The Sound unit Lesson Page First Timers contains four videos featuring Audible Vibes, Sonar and Infrasound, Bats & Moon Explosions and Elephants and Lanternfish. For the purposes of this review, I will focus this part on Audible Sounds which we started with a short video almost seven minutes long. It's very engaging, the sound is good and easy to follow and understand. The graphics really provide a great understanding of what they were teaching. We also liked how they not only covered sounds from our body relative to talking but also how it relates to musical instruments. When they did discuss the sinuses, my youngest exclaimed now she understood why her head hurts with sinus headaches now.

After the video, they completed the worksheets which we found was a great took in helping to ensure that they retained and understood what they just watched. After completing the first video, I decided that for subsequent videos, I would have them review the worksheets first, so they knew what to pay particular attention to while watching the video. This really assisted them in listening better so they could hone in on key facts that they needed to record on the worksheets. The information in the video is provided in order to what they have to write down on the worksheets so it's really helpful to have them complete as they listen or to listen to the video twice. I learned a lot as well! Here is page 1 as an example:

One part of the video had them pushing down on their larynx to feel the vibration as well as to hear how it can sound if you push down or up. The interactive functionality is also a nice feature of the video.

As you can see, she thought it was funny hearing their voices change.

At the conclusion of video 1, there was a Test Your Knowledge section that was an online 10 question quiz. There is an option to see all the questions and answers so the child understands what he or she missed. Once you complete it, you are unable to start it again. The quiz concludes that lesson and you move on to the next one.

The screen shot below shows a progress tracker that allows the user to easily return where they left off:

Sound Experiments:

Once we finished with the first four videos, we were introduced to Sound Experiments. The first one involved bird sounds which was an interesting one for them as I always point out when Cardinals are singing. There is an instructional allowing flexibility on how you want to use this with your students. I placed the page and some research paper in a binder and even though we started watching and listening, we will use this over a period of time as suggested. They even provide a Sound Journal for all the experiments and at the end of the page, is a place for the student to enter information about the experiment(s) they did online which constitutes a quiz.

After the Experiment section, the Research Topic is next. This is also very flexible and CrossWired Science provides complete instructions and guides the student along with what is needed of them. All of the information I have provided for the review thus far is accessible under the student's view. There is a separate area for teachers which I will briefly cover a little further down.

Fluid Dynamics Unit:

Fluid Dynamics is the next unit we started even though we did not finish the Sound unit as we wanted to provide our initial thoughts on this global topic. Just like the Sound unit, this unit provides great vivid videos that are engaging, thorough, easy to understand and do teach important facts and fundamental information about the topics. It was just right for my 11-year-old while not boring for my 15-year-old. It also has the worksheets and tests to further encourage material retention. This was a favorite for my eight-year-old granddaughter due to the video covering sharks and birds. They also cover historical facts about each topic such as Daniel Bernoulli who was born in 1740. He contributed to the concept of fluid dynamics. Other topics such as how birds can fly and land with reduced air flow are included.

Both units contain other links which some are still being refined while others are accessible. This is an example of one of the experiments with the Fluid Dynamic unit:

Parent/Teacher's Resources:

This area provides many options that include:

• My Account - this area provides the dashboard, orders, subscription, downloads, addresses, payment methods, account details and a log out feature.
• Manage Students: ability to manage students and group leaders.
• Student Progress is broken down by student and provides a download feature to a CSV file.
• Quiz Results
• Teacher Resources is equally comprehensive and includes:
• Super Tips for Using CrossWired Science
• Calendar suggestions that is broken down to Core Videos, Reading, Experiments, Devotions, Research and General and Unit Links and finally, Stretching Each Global Topic to 8 Weeks. There are six printable calendars
• Student Dashboard Information
• Suggested Calendar is the same as what is found under Teacher Resources
• Unit Worksheet Answers
• General Links provides videos for each of the Units 
• Unit Links provides additional videos for each Unit too

Overall Thoughts:

Overall, I think CrossWired Science is an extremely comprehensive and great online program. I am excited to try this with my students and can't wait to see all the other material as they finish the curriculum.  The 29 lessons in all are easy to understand and with the engaging videos presented in such a fun invigorating way, it kept my student's interests with the just right length of video. Each "Global Topic" is "crosswired" to many subject areas which is why I feel it's a robust and comprehensive program. I look forward to incorporating some of the other exercises available, or soon to be available, such as experiments, research, reading a book and much more! Sound, and Fluid Dynamics definitely drew the interests from my students.
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A subscription is for one year but if purchased during the launch year (March, April or May 2019), the subscription will be extended slightly longer and run until July 2020.
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Check out what others on the Homeschool Review Crew a division of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine thought by clicking on the (photo) link below: