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ScienceFusion Homeschool
Homeschool Science Program Grades K–8
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ScienceFusion homeschool science program offers robust lessons with extensive print and online content. Every day is an opportunity for students to ask questions, think critically, and make informed decisions. These skills are the foundation for success in science and in life.
ScienceFusion at home
- Online curriculum encourages multi-modal learning
- Write-in Worktext uses visual clues to help students progress through elements
- Leveled labs connect hands-on learning to the text and digital content
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Why?
eLearning Curriculum
The eLearning Curriculum engages your students with interactive features, embedded video, clickable write-in responses, and more. Today's digital natives utilize a full online science curriculum, including digital lessons, virtual labs, Video-based Projects, animations, simulations, and access to science eTextbooks.
Write-in Student Edition
The new design of the ScienceFusion write-in Student Edition allows students to take notes, draw sketches, and record data on pages of their textbook.
Leveled Labs and Activities
ScienceFusion's holistic approach to inquiry-based learning uses Essential Questions to connect what students learn in a hands-on setting to the content and skills learned in the write-in textbook and the digital lessons.
Inquiry Labs
To help you match instruction to your child's needs, inquiry levels are provided for every lab of ScienceFusion, including guided, directed, and independent inquiry.
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Preview
Preview the Program
See our ScienceFusion digital curriculum for yourself! Preview this engaging science program below.
Videos
View ScienceFusion digital lessons!
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Multi-Modal Learning With ScienceFusion Homeschool | HMH
Multi-modal learning for Science
As the technology has changed, so has the way we learn. You may notice that your children are not only more wired than you are, but also grew up in a techno–drenched atmosphere that has trained them to absorb and process information in fundamentally different ways. This generation of students is more likely to be equipped with laptops and mobile digital devices than with spiral notebooks and No. 2 pencils.
To meet the needs of today's student, ScienceFusion is designed for multi-modal learning and teaching. This means two very important things:
- Every lesson is designed to be accessed in print, digital, and hands-on environments.
- Learning strategies are specific to the learning experience.
No two students are alike, and each student learns in different ways—visual, kinesthetic, reading, or writing. With ScienceFusion, every lesson is accessed in multiple ways, and you get a full curriculum of digital and print lessons that are complementary. Content isn't merely repeated in multiple formats—rather, each lesson provides unique options so students can learn and apply new concepts and skills.
Learning strategies are specific to the learning experience. Learning in front of a laptop requires specific learning strategies. An eTextbook or learning strategies found in a print student edition do not fully meet the needs of today's digital learner. ScienceFusion digital lessons use cutting-edge research into online learning to deliver a true eLearning curriculum with digital lessons and virtual labs designed to introduce concepts and skills, provide interactivity and feedback, track and assess.
It is this interactive, multi-modal learning model that truly sets ScienceFusion apart. And it's what makes it easier for you to teach and reinforce concepts, to promote deeper understanding, and to reach your student and his or her unique learning style.
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Packages for Grades K-8
ScienceFusion is Available in Homeschool Packages for Grades K–8
For grades K–5, kits include materials for one year of science study. In addition to traditional science topics, each elementary homeschool package includes a unit on science and technology, progressing from science skills to understanding technology to the engineering process.
For grades 6–8, we offer eleven modules, ten covering key life, earth, and physical science topics, plus one on science and technology careers. These modules are not designed as full-year science curriculum; three modules can be completed in one year. Modules are appropriate for all middle grades, so parents can choose whether to mix life, earth, and physical science topics or focus on one.
Middle-grades Modules Include:
- Cells and Heredity
- The Diversity of Living Things
- The Human Body
- Ecology and the Environment
- The Dynamic Earth
- Earth's Water and Atmosphere
- Space Science
- Matter and Energy
- Motion, Forces, and Energy
- Sound and Light
- Introduction to Science and Technology
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Features
More than a traditional science program and more than an online science textbook, ScienceFusion offers over 3,000 interactive lessons, simulations, videos, virtual labs, and animations in an environment fusing print and digital experiences.
ScienceFusion kits for Grades K–5 include a full-year science curriculum in one package, while the middle grades homeschool kits offer life, earth, and physical science modules that can be organized according to your needs and interests.
While ScienceFusion is arranged around familiar life, earth, and physical science topics, the interactive write-in textbook format helps students learn science in a relevant and engaging way.
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Science Textbook
Write-In Textbook
Inquiry on Every Page
The ScienceFusion write-in Student Edition is built to address the unique learning needs of today's students. From the verbal/visual format on every two-page spread to the critical thinking developed on every page, ScienceFusion provides all learners with access to the content and skills required for science success.
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Elementary Level
ScienceFusion for Grade K
Kindergarten Homeschool Pacing Guide (195kb)
Table of Contents
- Unit 1: Doing Science
- Unit 2: Animals
- Unit 3: Plants
- Unit 4: Habitats
- Unit 5: Day and Night
- Unit 6: Earth's Resources
- Unit 7: Weather and the Seasons
- Unit 8: Matter
- Unit 9: Energy
- Unit 10: Motion
ScienceFusion for Grade 1
Grade 1 Homeschool Pacing Guide (278kb)
Table of Contents
- Unit 1: How Scientists Work
- Unit 2: Technology All Around Us
- Unit 3: Animals
- Unit 4: Plants
- Unit 5: Environments
- Unit 6: Earth's Resources
- Unit 7: Weather and Seasons
- Unit 8: Objects in the Sky
- Unit 9: All About Matter
- Unit 10: Forces and Energy
ScienceFusion for Grade 2
Grade 2 Homeschool Pacing Guide (255kb)
Table of Contents
- Unit 1: Work Like a Scientist
- Unit 2: Technology and Our World
- Unit 3: All About Animals
- Unit 4: All About Plants
- Unit 5: Environments for Living Things
- Unit 6: Earth and Its Resources
- Unit 7: All About Weather
- Unit 8: The Solar System
- Unit 9: Changes in Matter
- Unit 10: Energy and Magnets
ScienceFusion for Grade 3
Grade 3 Homeschool Pacing Guide (301kb)
Table of Contents
- Unit 1: Investigating Questions
- Unit 2: The Engineering Process
- Unit 3: Plants and Animals
- Unit 4: Ecosystems and Interactions
- Unit 5: Changes to Earth's Surface
- Unit 6: People and Resources
- Unit 7: Water and Weather
- Unit 8: Earth and Its Moon
- Unit 9: Matter
- Unit 10: Simple and Compound Machines
ScienceFusion for Grade 4
Grade 4 Homeschool Pacing Guide (337kb)
Table of Contents
- Unit 1: Studying Science
- Unit 2: The Engineering Process
- Unit 3: Plants and Animals
- Unit 4: Energy and Ecosystems
- Unit 5: Weather
- Unit 6: Earth and Space
- Unit 7: Properties of Matter
- Unit 8: Changes in Matter
- Unit 9: Energy
- Unit 10: Electricity
- Unit 11: Motion
ScienceFusion for Grade 5
Grade 5 Homeschool Pacing Guide (350kb)
Table of Contents
- Unit 1: How Scientists Work
- Unit 2: The Engineering Process
- Unit 3: Cells to Body Systems
- Unit 4: Living Things Grow and Reproduce
- Unit 5: Ecosystems
- Unit 6: Energy and Ecosystems
- Unit 7: Natural Resources
- Unit 8: Changes to Earth's Surface
- Unit 9: The Rock Cycle
- Unit 10: Fossils
- Unit 11: Earth's Oceans
- Unit 12: The Solar System and the Universe
- Unit 13: Matter
- Unit 14: Light and Sound
- Unit 15: Forces and Motion
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Middle School Level
ScienceFusion for Middle School
ScienceFusion addresses the needs of all learners of middle school science curricula while allowing teachers to organize content to meets their classroom needs.
Life Science
Module A: Cells and Heredity
Unit 1: Cells
- The Characteristics of Cells
- Chemistry of Life
- Cell Structure and Function
- Levels of Cellular Organization
- Homeostasis and Cell Processes
- Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration
Unit 2: Reproduction and Heredity
- Mitosis
- Meiosis
- Sexual and Asexual Reproduction
- Heredity
- Punnett Squares and Pedigrees
- DNA Structure and Function
- Biotechnology
Module B: The Diversity of Living Things
Module B Pacing Guide (108k)Unit 1: Life over Time
- Introduction to Living Things
- Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection
- Evidence of Evolution
- The History of Life on Earth
- Classification of Living Things
Unit 2: Earth's Organisms
- Viruses, Bacteria and Archaea
- Protists and Fungi
- Introduction to Plants
- Plant Processes
- Introduction to Animals
- Animal Behavior
Module C: The Human Body
Module C Pacing Guide (103k)Unit 1: Human Body Systems
- Introduction to Body Systems
- The Skeletal and Muscular Systems
- The Circulatory and Respiratory Systems
- The Digestive and Excretory Systems
- The Nervous and Endocrine Systems
- The Reproductive System
Unit 2: Human Health
- The Immune System
- Infectious Disease
- Staying Healthy
Module D: Ecology and the Living Environment
Module D Pacing Guide (173k)Unit 1: Interactions of Living Things
- Introduction to Ecology
- Roles in Energy Transfer
- Population Dynamics
- Interactions in Communities
Unit 2: Earth's Biomes and Ecosystems
- Land Biomes
- Aquatic Ecosystems
- Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
- Changes in Ecosystems
- Human Activity and Ecosystems
Unit 3: Earth's Resources
- Earth's Support of Life
- Natural Resources
- Nonrenewable Energy Resources
- Renewable Energy Resources
- Managing Resources
Unit 4: Human Impact on the Environment
- Human Impact on Water
- Human Impact on Land
- Human Impact on the Atmosphere
- Protecting Earth's Water, Land, and Air
Earth Science
Module E: The Dynamic Earth
Module E Pacing Guide (140k)Unit 1: Earth's Surface
- Earth's Spheres
- Weathering
- Erosion and Deposition by Water
- Erosion and Deposition by Wind, Ice, and Gravity
- Soil Formation
Unit 2: Earth's History
- Geologic Change over Time
- Relative Dating
- Absolute Dating
- The Geologic Time Scale
Unit 3: Minerals and Rocks
- Minerals
- The Rock Cycle
- Three Classes of Rock
- Earth's Layers
- Plate Tectonics
- Mountain Building
- Volcanoes
- Earthquakes
- Measuring Earthquake Waves
Unit 4: The Restless Earth
Module F: Earth’s Water and Atmosphere
Module F Pacing Guide (169k)Unit 1: Earth's Water
- Water and Its Properties
- The Water Cycle
- Surface Water and Groundwater
Unit 2: Oceanography
- Earth's Oceans and the Ocean Floor
- Ocean Waves
- Ocean Currents
Unit 3: Earth's Atmosphere
- Energy Transfer
- The Atmosphere
- Wind in the Atmosphere
Unit 4: Weather and Climate
- Elements of Weather
- Clouds and Cloud Formation
- What Influences Weather?
- Severe Weather and Weather Safety
- Weather Prediction and Weather Maps
- Climate
- Climate Change
Module G: Space Science
Module G Pacing Guide (150k)Unit 1: The Universe
- Structure of the Universe
- Stars
- The Life Cycle of Stars
Unit 2: The Solar System
- Historical Models of the Solar System
- Gravity in the Solar System
- The Sun
- The Terrestrial Planets
- The Gas Giant Planets
- Small Bodies in the Solar System
Unit 3: The Earth-Moon-Sun System
- Earth's Days, Years, and Seasons
- Moon Phases and Eclipses
- Earth's Tides
Unit 4: Exploring Space
- Images from Space
- Technology for Space Exploration
- History of Space Exploration
Physical Science
Module H: Matter and Energy
Module H Pacing Guide (185k)Unit 1: Matter
- Introduction to Matter
- Properties of Matter
- Physical and Chemical Changes
- Pure Substances and Mixtures
- States of Matter
- Changes of State
Unit 2: Energy
- Introduction to Energy
- Temperature
- Thermal Energy and Heat
- Effects of Energy Transfer
Unit 3: Atoms and the Periodic Table
- The Atom
- The Periodic Table
- Modeling Chemical Bonding
- Ionic, Covalent, and Metallic Bonding
Unit 4: Interactions of Matter
- Chemical Reactions
- Organic Chemistry
- Nuclear Reactions
Unit 5: Solutions, Acids, and Bases
- Solutions
- Acids, Bases, and Salts
- Measuring pH
Module I: Motion, Forces, and Energy
Module I Pacing Guide (138k)Unit 1: Motion and Forces
- Motion and Speed
- Acceleration
- Forces
- Gravity and Motion
- Fluids and Pressure
Unit 2: Work, Energy, and Machines
- Work, Energy, and Power
- Kinetic and Potential Energy
- Machines
Unit 3: Work, Electricity and Magnetism
- Electric Charge and Static Electricity
- Electric Current
- Magnets and Magnetism
- Electromagnetism
- Electronic Technology
Module J: Sound and Light
Module J Pacing Guide (112k)Unit 1: Introduction to Waves
- Waves
- Properties of Waves
Unit 2: Sound
- Sound Waves and Hearing
- Interactions of Sound Waves
- Sound Technology
Unit 3: Light
- The Electromagnetic Spectrum
- Interactions of Light
- Mirrors and Lenses
- Light Waves and Sight
- Light Technology
Module K: Introduction to Science and Technology
Module K Pacing Guide (137k)Unit 1: The Nature of Science
- What Is Science?
- Scientific Investigations
- Scientific Knowledge
- Science and Society
Unit 2: Measurement and Data
- Representing Data
- Scientific Instruments and Measurement
- Models and Simulations
Unit 3: Engineering, Technology, and Society
- The Engineering Design Process
- Risk/Benefit Analysis
- Systems
- Materials Science
- Bioengineering
- Engineering and Society
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eLearning & Teaching with Technology
Experience Science in a Digital World
A complete online curriculum for students and teachers ScienceFusion is the most complete science program available to homeschoolers. In addition to an interactive worktext, we offer companion technology that includes more than just an online version of the textbook. ScienceFusion eLearning components create an entirely new online learning environment, ensuring that when students go online, they will learn science through specially designed lessons and activities.
Our digital lessons are designed to be flexible, so that you can assign the parts that are the most appropriate for your student. With constant inquiry and interaction using simulations, animations, and video, ScienceFusion gives you a fast, engaging way to reach a wider range of learning styles and abilities—in a format that's fun and familiar to students.
Michael DiSpezio Lunar Landing
Alligators Up Close
Puts All Your Resources in One Place
The Teacher Online Management Center is designed to make it easier for you to access all of the program resources–teacher and student–to assist you in planning, teaching, assessing, and tracking your student's progress. ScienceFusion offers parents 24/7 access to targeted, research-proven resources, which will never get lost or misplaced, giving you the flexibility to pick and choose the right resources. The Teacher Online Management Center offers you a professional-quality management tool to ensure your child's success in science.
The Teacher Resource Bank includes Teaching Guides for Above-Level, On-Level, and Below-Level Students, and all lessons and virtual labs include extensive teacher support.
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Digital Curriculum
The school day doesn’t have to end when the bell rings. ScienceFusion Homeschool Common Core supports the digital classroom with a full suite of mobile learning resources optimized for smartphones, eReaders, tablet devices and home computers.
What you’ll find when you log on:
Student Interactive Digital Curriculum (Student Access)
- Digital Lessons in English and Spanish
- Electronic Student Edition with audio for every page
- Video-Based Projects (Grades 6–8), including teacher support pages and student activity worksheets
- Student Edition Audio in English and Spanish
- People in Science features
- NSTA SciLinks®
- Interactive Glossary visuals and audio in English and Spanish
- Unit Quizzes for student self-assessment
- Lab Manual PDFs (Grades 6–8)
- Virtual Lab Datasheets printable student pages
- Extra Support for Vocabulary and Concepts printable student pages
Teacher Digital Management Center (Teacher Access)
From lesson planning to classroom instruction, the Teacher Digital Management Center allows teachers to instruct, assess, track, and monitor in a digital space. The online management center includes:
- Full access to Student Interactive Digital Curriculum
- Electronic Teacher Edition
- Access to NSTA Professional Development resources
- ExamView® Test banks
- Media Gallery of visuals that can be used for multimedia presentations
- Downloadable, editable versions of all resources and assessments, which can be scheduled and assigned to students
- Teacher support for digital lessons, Video-Based projects, Virtual Labs, customizable PowerPoint® presentations, and Teacher Resource Bank with graphic organizers, writing models and rubrics, inquiry skills mini-lessons, reading mini-lesson activities, plus more.
SciLINKS® is a registered trademark of the National Science Teachers Association. ExamView® is a registered trademark of eInstruction Corporation. PowerPoint® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
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FAQ
What are Big Ideas and Essential Questions?
It goes without saying that a primary goal for your students is to develop understanding of science concepts that ensure well past the next test. The question is, what is the best way to achieve that goal?
Big Ideas
Big Ideas are generalizations—broad, powerful concepts that connect facts and events that may otherwise seem unrelated. Big Ideas are implicit understanding that help the world make sense. Big Ideas define the "folders," or units, of ScienceFusion. Each is a statement that articulates the overarching teaching and learning goals of a unit.
Essential Questions
Essential Questions define the "files," or information, in a unit. Each Essential Question identifies the conceptual focus of a lesson that contributes to your students' growing understanding of the associated Big Idea. As such, Essential Questions give your students a sense of direction and purpose.
With ScienceFusion, our goal is to provide you with a tool that helps you help your students develop Enduring Understandings in science. Our strategy for achieving that goal is to provide lesson plans with 5E-based learning experiences organized in a framework informed by schema theory.
Approach & Components
Why is ScienceFusion the best program for my student?
Program Design
As we designed ScienceFusion, we applied cutting-edge research to build new tools (eLearning Curriculum) and to overhaul more traditional ones (Write-In Student Edition).
More than technology or print materials, it's the way ScienceFusion meets the needs of today's students and teachers that makes it the next-generation science program. In your evaluation, consider the following questions and discover how ScienceFusion stands apart from other science programs.
What does 360° of Inquiry mean?
With ScienceFusion, every click, every page turn, every lab and activity is an everyday opportunity to ask questions, think critically, and make informed decisions.
- Stands apart from traditional programs that compartmentalize student learning
- Students develop inquiry skills, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills, science concepts, and vocabulary through inquiry and application
- Engages students in the process of science on every page, in every digital lesson, and in every hands-on activity
Why is multi-modal learning important?
Traditional programs repeat the same content across multiple formats, but with ScienceFusion you get a full curriculum of digital and print lessons that are complementary.
- Provides a new learning experience with every lesson, lab, and investigation
- Makes it easier for you to teach and reinforce concepts
- Enables you to reach all learners in their unique learning style
What is the difference between traditional textbook and a write-in textbook?
Traditional textbooks assume students can read and comprehend content text. With ScienceFusion, the innovative magazine-style format makes science accessible to all learners.
- Provides opportunities to take notes, make sketches, and record data right in their textbook
- Departs from the traditional column layout with up-to-date research on how today's students learn
- Accommodates both left and right-brain learners with visuals designed to integrate with text
What is an eLearning Curriculum?
Learning in front of a laptop requires specific learning strategies. That's why ScienceFusion applies cutting-edge research into online learning and online classroom management.
- Delivers dynamic science lessons with more than 3000 videos, animations, simulations, and virtual labs
- Gives you 24/7 access to innovative digital lessons and virtual labs
- Enables you to introduce concepts and skills, provide interactivity and feedback, track, and assess—all from one platform
Discover the power of ScienceFusion’s 360° of inquiry to engage your 21st-century learner!
ScienceFusion offers a wealth of features found in no other program that will help your students develop science and technology skills they need. See them in action in this preview! For example:
- Highly engaging, interactive content—produced by lead author Marjorie Frank (you know her from Ranger Rick, Discovery Kids, and Weekly Reader!)—is developed at just the right level to reach students in every grade.
- Active learning approach gets students to think like scientists—they're asked to make connections, apply what they learn, and draw conclusions throughout every lesson.
- True eLearning curriculum and Online Teacher Edition help you create a multimodal 21st-century learning environment—for every lesson in the print edition there is a different, but complementary, digital lesson.
- Unique Virtual Labs and STEM-focused Video-Based Projects further engage students in the scientific method.
- Easy-to-access teaching support—discussion prompts, strategies, differentiation, and assessment tools—help you ensure that learning sticks!
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