Pages: 498
Grade level: 3rd – 6th grade
Course type: textbook
 
What is Physics Level 1?
REAL Science Odyssey- Physics Level 1 is a secular homeschool physics curriculum. Students learn the key concepts in physics through an incremental series of lessons. They start with basics, like matter and motion, and progress to magnetism and electricity. Age-appropriate math and labs are woven into the course, providing students with many opportunities to apply the scientific method and reinforce their knowledge.
 
The course guides elementary-age learners as they Read, Explore, Absorb, and Learn physics:
Read– Fun, engaging readings introduce big ideas and details for the chapter. The text is designed to be read aloud to students, fostering questions and discussion.
Explore– Carefully crafted, hands-on experiments demonstrate physics concepts in the real world and give your students practice using the scientific method.
Absorb– REAL Science engages visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic learners, to help every student understand and retain key concepts.
Learn– with Physics Level 1, you don’t just learn about the literal forces that shape our world, you learn how science is done!
 
It’s also important to understand what REAL Science Odyssey is not. This curriculum is NOT:
A random selection of labs. It’s a fully developed, incremental homeschool science curriculum.
Too hard for elementary students. Children are very capable of learning the basics of how the physical world works, when it’s presented in an exciting and accessible way.
Lightweight. Children will learn REAL physics, from Newton’s Laws to relativity (with a bit of quantum weirdness thrown in), and they’ll use the real scientific method.
Dry or boring. Thought- and question-provoking readings aid in remembering facts, and engaging labs bring concepts from the page alive.
Influenced by religion. All REAL Science Odyssey courses are secular and based on valid, empirical science.
 
Who can use Physics Level 1?
We recommend Physics Level 1 is targeted to 4th grade, or ages 9-10, but can be used successfully with students in grades 3-6. Labs, readings, and assignments can be adapted easily to students of different ages. Read aloud and transcribe written answers for younger students, and give older students more independence.
 
While many of us weren’t exposed to physics formally until high school (if at all), younger students are completely capable of building a solid foundation of physics knowledge. In truth, your child has already studied physics! Every baby performs an experiment of dropping items from their high chair, deducing for themselves the concept of gravity. RSO Physics Level 1 invites students to explore physics in the everyday world around them. They experiment with household objects and build models to learn how simple machines follow the same laws that govern the universe.
What’s more, you don’t need to have a science background to use this homeschool science curriculum! All materials are written with the physics novice in mind, so you don’t need to do a lot of extra research in advance of the lessons.
 
You can also use Physics Level 1 as part of a co-op or with multiple students. If you’re using the curriculum with more than one student, you can purchase extra copies of the consumable student pages separately.